BBS013-1 Foundations of Business Management Assignment Sample
Module code and Title: BBS013-1 Foundations of Business Management Assignment Sample
Part-1
Introduction
The report revolves around discussing the major issues that Original Creations have been facing. It will initially discuss the primary reason for the development of the report and following that the issues that the company is facing. It would help in identifying the issues and making recommendations accordingly. Further, the knowledge-based management program will be used to make recommendations. The report will critically outline the ways that the knowledge base can help in implementation so the company can address the issues they are going through. At last, several other recommendations are made for resolving the issues that the company is facing.
Reasons
Original Creations is an organisation that sells original lifestyle products with the help of mail brochures and the internet. The primary reason for preparing the report is that the company is going through several issues that are majorly responsible for decreasing its customer service. Customers are not satisfied with its products due to various reasons going in the company. One of the major reasons includes that the company has no manufacturing facility as they utilise diverse manufacturers based in the UK and the international market. The improper manufacturing facility is primarily accountable for less control over manufacturing and defective items (Dai et. al. 2018). Customers are complaining about different product defects leading to dissatisfying customers. The product designs are unable to meet the company’s expectations. It can be said that there is an urgency to take manufacturing facilities in hand.
Furthermore, it can be observed that there is an issue of poor communication between the different departments of the organisation and third parties that result in poor identification of representing the primary issue down the line. Other than that, lack of supervision is also an issue in the organisation. The expected sales rate from the leadership team is lower and reasonable for creating a product backlog in the warehouse. The count of products returned has been increased to a great extent that is a reason for poor customer satisfaction because of poor quality or product is not same as described. Hence, the consultancy report aims at featuring some management concepts that could help the organisation in resolving these issues.
Key Issues present at Original Creations
Improper manufacturing facilities: It can be observed that Original creations sell lifestyle products but they deal with manufacturers that are producing similar products for other companies selling similar goods and services. Here come the initial and major issues that the company is going through that are the lack of manufacturing facilities. The company doesn’t have its manufacturing facilities and asks the manufacturers to produce the designs as Original Creation requires. Due to this, they face several customer satisfaction-related issues and lack control over the manufacturing process (Dai et. al. 2018). The company order products they require but don’t have any control over manufacturing. They are not aware of the raw material used, the process of manufacturing, where this material is coming and more. Their primary manufacturers are based in the UK and overseas and have predominantly in China. They have no or less control over manufacturing.
Furthermore, the manufacturers are delivering the products but there is no proper examination of the product and its quality. Other than that, manufacturing products as per consumer requirements is what is majorly required to stay in today’s competitive environment (Rejeski et. al. 2018). It can be seen that the company offers a product design but they are not doing proper research about the market trends and consumer demands. It could be a major reason affecting the improper manufacturing process. If the company is not able to make a huge investment to develop a manufacturing process, they can cross-check the products and ask the manufacturer about the raw materials, product quality, and more.
Lack of communication: From the previous assignment, it can be seen that another major issue that the organisation is going through lack of communication between the company itself and the third parties involved. It can be observed that having the proper communication is must for achieving success in any organisation. Due to a lack of communication, the management team and leaders are not aware of the product designs or products delivered after manufacturing (Campbell et. al. 2020). This is a reason for the increased risk that could affect customer trust and faith. Original Creations are ordering products as per their requirements but due to poor communication, they are not aware of current market trends and latest designs. For example, the R&D department and product designing department would have a lack of communication and because of this R&D is not communicating about future trends and products demanded in the market. The product designing department is not highly concerned about it and placing orders without analysing the issue of product backlog in the warehouse.
Furthermore, leaders and managers are having poor communication and due to this, they are not conveying to employees the major issues that the company is going through. Many times, leaders and managers analyse that discussing a company’s issues and challenges with employees can result in decreasing their motivation and it can probably increase the staff turnover rate (Piehler et. al. 2019). But as per research, communicating about the issues and challenges can bring several diverse solutions that could help the company in bringing innovations and creativity.
Poor customer service: There can be seen as a major issue related to decreased sales and a lower rate of purchasing as expected by leaders. Further, they are facing issues related to increased product returns from customers due to poor quality or described product doesn’t match the actual product. It is related to manufacturing facilities as the company has less control over manufacturing processes and materials used for producing products. It can be observed that the products they are designed for manufacturing are not capable of meeting consumer demands. Consumers are not satisfied with the products as they are paying enough to get a quality product (Chithradevi and Nadda, 2022). Further, consumers are expecting a product as per it is described but getting something different. It has resulted in decreasing sales and increased product backlog in the warehouse. But the leaders are not aware and concerned about the issue and due to poor communication, they are not either communicating with departments so they can plan strategically to resolve these issues.
Poor leadership and management capabilities: From the three issues identified above, it can be seen that the company’s leaders and managers have fewer skills and talents to deal with such issues. It can be observed that either they are not aware of the issues their company is facing or they don’t want to take any steps further to handle the situation. Leaders are even not discussing the issues with other departments or employees so they could resolve them or can adapt to growing opportunities (Figueroa et. al. 2019). Further, leaders are not even taking care of manufacturers and interacting with them about product quality. It is the responsibility of leaders and teams to cross-check the product so they can analyse whether the product is the same as it is described. Cross-checking the products can resolve half of the issues as they can interact with manufacturers and ask them about product quality or defects. There is no team for removing defective products so they won’t be delivered to the end consumer. From the entire analysis, it is necessary to address these issues adequately.
Recommendations
From the entire analysis, it can be observed that Original Creations is facing several issues regarding their poor communication, lack of manufacturing control, and customer satisfaction. The section will recommend some strategies and concepts that could help the company in dealing with these issues.
Knowledgebase
The knowledge base is defined as a self serve online library of information in concern with products, services, departments, and more. The information in the knowledge base can be from anywhere. The content in this system can come from the ins and outs of the legal or HR department regarding the way the product works. It also includes diverse FAQs, troubleshooting guides, run books, manuals, and other data that could help the team (Konys, 2019). The major demand for knowledge base arrives due to the expectation of people as they need easy access to adequate information. Every organisation uses a knowledge base as per their requirements in various business operations including IT, Legal, or HR. With the help of knowledge base Original Creations can resolve their issues.
Improved communication: As observed the company has a lack of communication between third parties and different departments and this is resulting in poor customer service. With the help of a knowledge base, the company can increase the interaction and communication among team members and different departments (Kumar et. al. 2019). For instance, the designing team can update the product designs on the knowledge base software that could help the warehouse department in checking the product as per designs. If the product doesn’t match with the design and quality of product expected they can update several products having designing issues and the manufacturer that has produced it. It can help leaders in identifying the majority of defective products and the manufacturers that are producing and delivering them. Further, managers can communicate with manufacturers about product defects, quality and description and ask them to either re-manufacture it or change it. With the help of a knowledge base, the communication among the team would be increased and defective products could be returned.
Other than that, they can also ask their product designing departments to ask the R&D department about current market demands and customer trends so they can design accordingly. Further, communication with third parties can be increased by keeping all the data on the knowledge base. They can also increase their communication with customers. With the help of this, they can also resolve consumer issues effectively and conveniently (Abualoush et. al. 2018). Customers can also place complaints about product defects and product quality and this information would help them in communicating with manufacturers and aim at improving product quality and eliminating defects.
Increased control over manufacturing process: With the help of a knowledge base system, they can engage with their manufacturers and ask them to update content about the raw materials they are using and their quality for manufacturing products, from where they are sourcing raw materials, and the process of manufacturing a product is going through (Tootian et. al. 2020). It would help the company in resolving the issues that are the primary reason for increasing product defects and reducing product quality. Other than that, they can also ask questions related to product queries if they have any. They can also ask manufacturers about producing a product and updating it on software so they can examine the product and resolve the issues related to product designs initially. Therefore, without investing much in developing the manufacturing facility they can initially use a knowledge base system to increase control over the manufacturing process.
Figure 1: Benefits of Knowledge base management program. (Source: Knowledge base, 2020)
Excellent customer service: A knowledge base helps in offering consistent customer service by addressing their issues and asking questions. Customers can know about products without making any calls and searching for them on the knowledge base as per Abdi et. al. (2018). Further, it would also help them in asking additional questions related to products and a community will be there to answer all of these. Communicating and engaging with customers is the initial step to increasing customer satisfaction and identifying customer expectations from the products. While resolving their queries the community would be able to identify the products they are searching for or the market trends (Soltani et. al. 2019). It would help in enhancing product design that could further help in decreasing competitiveness in this sector.
Lower training costs: The knowledge base is supported by a strong knowledge management program that helps in assuring that newly recruited candidates are trained with the latest data and information and get adequate guidance. It helps in translating to a better work environment along with reducing excess costs. For example, if the newly recruited candidates can get manuals and roadmaps on the management program then they would be able to function properly (Bashir and Farooq, 2019). They can get training through manuals and can understand the way they have to work. They can also identify their roles and responsibilities appropriately. The company can also upload manuals for providing training to old employees for enhancing their skills and talents. Hence, a knowledge base is the best way to resolve the issues Original Creation is facing. According to Abbas, (2020) it majorly helps in improving communication among teams and departments that would resolve half of their issues.
Other recommendations
As per the analysis, it has been recommended that there is a need of organising meetings and seminars among different departments and teams for improving their communication (Laapotti and Pennanen, 2019). Through this, they can discuss the issues the company is facing like the reasons for lower sales as expected or increased product backlogs. In the meetings, they can also discuss different practices they can adopt to increase their sales and attract customers. Communicating with diversified employees can help managers in getting diverse solutions and they can choose the best and most beneficial. Further, they can also ask employees to find new manufacturers to reduce the issues related to product quality and product defects. Improving customer satisfaction is must for increasing sales and growth of any organisation and hence, changing manufacturers if they are not product effective quality products can be a good decision.
Furthermore, there is an increased need for surveying consumers about their demands, requirements, expectations from the company’s products and more. It would help them in designing products as per their demands keeping the issues in concern that customers are currently facing (Shen and Tang, 2018). They can also ask them about product defects and product quality issues so the communities can analyse the most common issues and resolve them effectively. They can also reach consumer with diverse digital platforms for promoting and advertising their products and services as it could help in attracting them.
At last, it has been recommended that they could invest and start their manufacturing facility so they can produce products as their customers are demanding. They can also choose suppliers to source raw materials for increasing the product quality and increasing customer satisfaction. Further, initially, they can initiate with smaller manufacturing facility to produce products so they can identify whether these products are satisfying and meeting customer demands (Chen et. al. 2018). This manufacturing facility would help in controlling all the production processes and the company can also change the product designs in between if required. It would also help them in designing products as they require and as per customer’s demands. Therefore, with these recommendation and knowledge base management program Original Creation would be able to address the issues they are currently facing.
Conclusion
From the entire analysis, it can be seen that the company is majorly facing issues related to poor communication between the company itself and third parties, poor control over manufacturing facilities and product defects, and poor product quality leading to decreasing customer satisfaction. With the help of a knowledge base management program, several recommendations have been made that could help Originals Creation in increasing their customer satisfaction along with increasing sales. The company needs to enhance its leader’s capability so it can plan strategically to aim at increasing sales and revenue. A knowledge base would help the company in increasing communication among teams and different departments, with manufacturers and customers as well.
Furthermore, they can also have low costs training that would help them in transferring all the essential information to newly hired employees so they can understand their roles and responsibilities adequately. At last, it can be concluded that there is an essential need for organising meetings and seminars so teams and different departments can communicate about issues and challenges. They must initiate with smaller manufacturing facilities so they can have more control over the manufacturing process.
Part-2: Reflection
The reflection section will aim at identifying the learning’s and experiences I have gathered from journal entities. Further, it will also describe the way I have used to understand the business case for this assignment and how it has helped me in developing the consultancy report. The skills represented below will be supported by examples and circumstances I have been through during the completion of this assignment.
Teamwork: The primary skill that I have gained during this assignment is teamwork as I was working in groups. It is essential to possess teamwork skills as individuals working in a team come from different backgrounds and have a different set of skills (Driskell et. al. 2018). With the help of this skill, an individual could cope with the conflicts that arise while working in a team. I am the kind of person who wants to work on my thoughts and opinions and doesn’t consider other thoughts and opinions. This was the major obstacle that I faced while working on the team. During this, I have been through diverse case scenarios that have helped me in identifying that not all the times my opinions and ideas are perfect. Sometimes other team members have something better to give.
Furthermore, after analysing this fact I have understood that working in a team requires a lot of patience, and listening skills. It is necessary to present ideas and opinions in front of the team but it is equally necessary to listen to other ideas. There was one time when the idea I shared was merged with other individuals’ ideas and after merging the ideas it has developed an excellent idea for completing the task effectively. Therefore, it is necessary to have teamwork skills so working in a team leads to the team’s success.
Communication skills: Communicating is the key to achieving success while working in a team. It is necessary to keep the communication going so ideas and opinions can be shared effectively (van der Vleuten et. al. 2019). From the analysis, I have learned that a lack of communication can result in an organisation’s failure. As described in the above case scenario, Original Creations was facing some major issues because of poor communication. Other than that, I have also identified that communicating while working in groups is also necessary as it helps in understanding other people’s opinions. I have seen two members of our groups get into conflicts because of poor communication and they have analysed that the other one is becoming an obstacle to implementing the idea. In this case, I have seen one member of our group have brought them together and made them interact so they can communicate the issues they have with one another. After communicating they have identified that they were just predicting scenarios in mind. Hence, from this incident I have analysed that communication is key; otherwise, there is the probability to increase conflicts and tensions among groups.
Numeracy skills: I have analysed that having numeracy skills also play a crucial role in achieving organisational success. From the case scenario, it can be seen that leaders from the company have some numeracy skills that had help them in identifying that their sales are low in comparison to their expectations. Through this, they can examine the reasons. Other than that, I have analysed that having numeracy skills while working in a team is also necessary and I have understood its essentiality when I was asked to complete some calculations. Initially, I was poor at calculations and possess no numeracy skills because of this the team has to guide me, and after guidance, I completed the assigned task. Further, after understanding the essentiality of numeracy skills I started to calculate the percentage and make difficult calculations through different online platforms have helped me in gaining this skill to a great extent.
Moreover, I have also started to work with some statistics data, charts, graphs, and pies to increase my numeracy skills (Miller, 2018). The development of this skill would further help me in analysing sales and other analytics if required in a future job.
Problem solving: Problem-solving plays a critical role in any organisation or any project submissions. There is a high chance of identifying several unpredictable issues that need an instant solution for meeting submission (Bourn, 2018). During this assignment, our group has gone through several issues that we as a team have solved after discussing with each other. One core part of solving a problem, while working in a group is discussing the issue and examining the root cause of the problem so the solution can be identified to resolve the problem. During our assignment, we faced issues while segregating tasks as every individual has some skills and some were not comfortable doing a particular task. For this purpose, we have documented the requirements of the task to be done and the skills of individuals and took their references as well about the task they have to work on. After documenting all these requirements we have identified the best suitable solution to these issues and then segregated tasks accordingly. This has helped me in offering the task to individuals as per their interests and skills so they can work with full enthusiasm and encouragement.
Technical skills: I have analysed that demands for technology are increasing and so is the importance of technical skills. Further, in the current assignment, our group has to make recommendations about the knowledge base management program that is technology helps organisations in transferring information to teams and departments (Cormack et. al. 2020). I have seen that poor knowledge about the technology has made our team issues in making recommendations and for completing the assignment I have to give it time to understand the technology initially. Hence, the demand for technologies is increasing the importance of technical skills. Due to this, I have started to get the basic knowledge about the most used technologies so I can at least work on simple assignments. These are some skills that I have analysed as important for increasing abilities and talent along with the essentiality of these skills in one’s life.
SMART Framework
| SMART goals | Analysis |
| Specific | I aim at increasing my technical skills and numeracy skills due to increased demand of technologies. |
| Measurable | I would measure the progress by completing some technological products and completing modules related to numbers and statistics. |
| Achievable | I could achieve success in 3-5 months. |
| Relevant | I am aiming at enhancing these skills as I aim at working in a sales forecast team. |
| Time-bound | I would achieve these skills after 5 months and completing 3 months of internship. |
References
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Knowledge base. (2020). [Online]. Accessed through: <https://www.atlassian.com/itsm/knowledge-management/what-is-a-knowledge-base>
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