Assignment Sample on Integration of Business Functions
Two Forum post
Forum post 1
Operational management was currently facing huge challenges in performing adequately in today’s environment, such as follows.
Globalization- Aligning with market trends and innovation development is a major challenge faced by the operations managers as it demands proper planning, equipment, and resources. Globalization is an important step for a business organization like Austin Martins as the organization has planned to expand its business in the previous years. According to Warner and Wäger (2019), it is an important step from the organization’s point of view, as interactions need to be placed with other people, companies, and governments. The necessary barriers that arise in expanding business have gradually started to decrease and provide opportunities to reach new markets. On the other hand, Operational managers faced lots of challenge activities as they needed to face competition from the local origin as well as around the globe. Evolution of technology, operational managers needs to keep them updated with modern technologies about artificial systems and software to enhance the Austin martins’ production.
Sustainability- Enforcement of adopting green technology for reducing carbon footprint is about potential challenges faced by operation managers. Sustainability is one of the key terms that manufacturing organizations frequently use and has lots of debates whether Austin Martins has appropriate resources to make them sustainable in future (Lee and Lee, 2020). Concept of sustainability is based on three main pillars: social, environmental, and economical, and operational managers need to maintain these items by adopting some innovative approach for their organization.
Forum post 2
Other organizations from the automobile industry are currently trying to expand their business in those countries where other organizations do not penetrate and are suitable for their business. An effective communication process needs to be adopted to meet the challenges of operational management. According to Debenedetti et al. (2021), it is their responsibility to communicate effectively with their internal as well as their external stakeholders to maintain their production and consistency to a huge extent. Effective communication is an important approach taken by operational managers of Jaguar, Rolls Royce, as it can help their operational efficiency in demand planning and demand forecasting.
The modern issue that was identified in the European continent is Brexit which can create many problems for the organizations present in the UK. Operational managers faced lots of problems due to this political instability and needed to take positive measures to restructure their organizations (Lin et al. 2019). Application of Brexit can create huge problems for manufacturing organizations as their supplies’ cost seems to be readily increased, and it ultimately damages the lifestyle of their citizens. Many organizations were trying to shift their organization to new areas to enhance their business, and it is quite challenging for most of the operational managers.
Eassy
1. Introduction
A business function is a process that helps an organization to carry out their enterprises by dividing core elements of the business into different segments for enhancing their business. It has been divided into several parts for the production of their final goods by maintaining their standard of quality. This essay aims to research the business functions and identify strategic changes for the last ten years in Aston Martins. It is necessary for every organization to identify their changes for the entire decade and helps them to know about their mistakes. Identifying these mistakes in their strategic management Aston Martins can take necessary preventive measures for preparing new models to enrich their business strategies in a successful way.
2. Background of the organization
Aston Martin is considered one of the largest car manufacturing organizations in the markets of the UK and a specialist in preparing a wide variety of sports cars in a suitable way. Aston Martin has been carrying out their business since 1913 and provides an opportunity for their customers to grab their favorite models that seem to be changing every decade. On the other hand, it has been found that Lagonda gained its image as the first luxury car across the world. In 1947, Aston Martin bought their main competitor and started to produce innovative models of cars for their customers suitably (Aston Martin, 2021). As the days were going on, Aston Martins’ performance was started to increase, and the structure of their models seemed to be more attractive.
Aston Martins established previous models at the starting period of 2010 V12 Vantages, CC 100, and Cygnett (Aston Martin, 2021). In 2020, it was found that the Organization was starting to produce new sports cars for the braking part in formula one with racing models. Due to this reason evolution of their models seemed to take place by maintaining carbon emission to a greater extent and enhancing safety of their customers.
Development of technology seems to be rising to a greater extent within a short period of time, and compared to the last ten years; evolution seems to have grown to a huge extent. According to Warner and Wäger (2019), many people were becoming concerned about environmental factors, and for this reason, many organizations were trying to reduce carbon emission by using modern technologies. Modern technology has influenced manufacturing of cars and has taken a new phase with artificial intelligence, changing the nature of leadership styles and cultures in their workplace.
3.1 Leadership
Leadership is an important element in present workplace conditions, and it is essential to have a suitable leader in their organization. Before ten years ago, the importance of leadership was present, but it has gained tremendous importance in the last few years. According to Debenedetti et al. (2021), present leaders can easily take huge challenges and find a unique way to solve their associated problems in a suitable way. Ten years back, leaders followed the traditional model of leadership, which is based on command and control systems for Aston Martins. It created problems for their workers and faced difficulties for completion of their projects. However, it has been found that modern leaders always provide a keen interest to communicate with their employees to understand their problems. Due to this positive approach, employees of Aston Martins get motivated as leaders always take active hands to support their workers.
Previously it was observed that leaders always tried to command and asked their workers to complete their work of their own by providing mandatory training. However, it was identified that present leaders from Aston Martins try to understand the mistakes of their workers and, on the basis of it, provides training and coaching processes. According to Hertwichet al. (2019), it results in motivating their employees and enhancing their products to such a greater extent. Due to the advancement of technology, many people come to know about current business leaders’ leadership styles and try to maintain these skills in their workplace. Presently leaders can easily adopt Transactional leadership models, which can help them to monitor their employees regularly and provide feedback on the basis of it. Previously leaders did not provide interest to maintain cultural diversity in their organization; in the present scenario, leaders always try to maintain a suitable workplace for all their employees.
3.2 Structure
In the year 2010, there were 2450 employees present in the organization, and the present scenario states that it has increased to some extent and rises to 3000. The organization’s funding history showed that the year 2015 showed that it is 305 million pounds, and it has increased to a greater extent in 2019 and rises to 455 million pounds (Aston Martin, 2021). It has been estimated that the organization can successfully manufacture around 5200 luxury cars in a suitable way. Aston Martins has their ability to attract their customers with their power, soul, and beauty of their models in a successful way.
Automobile industries were readily using artificial intelligence and modern techniques in their cars to provide huge facilities for their customers and focus on reducing carbon emission to a greater extent. In the last ten years, car manufacturing organizations have taken the initiative to reduce the level of pollution gradually as it is not possible to take these necessary steps within a few months (Visnjicet al. 2018).
3.3 Culture
In the UK, diverse nature of the population is currently present in the country, and for this reason, employees in Aston Martins coming from different communities. Culture that was present ten years back seemed to be more drastic for the minor community and differentiation prevails in the workplace. According to Clemons et al. (2017), due to this reason, many problems seem to arise in Aston Martins, and it leads to a decrease in their productivity as the overall performance of their employees is dependent on organizational performance. However, the present scenario has identified that all the hierarchies and leaders come to communicate with their employees. According to Hossainet al. (2019), it helps to understand their problems in order to minimize these relevant issues as soon as possible. It can lead them to appreciate their employees by providing promotions, incentives, and other healthcare facilities for all of their employees.
Aston Martins does not pay attention to the gender-based system in their workplace and provides necessary facilities for their workers for deserving employees. According to Atzet al. (2021), it helps their employees enhance their work quality and does not provide interest towards any kind of bribery systems in their organization. Leaders of the organization were always trying to build a strong team with their employees by building trust among each other.
3.4 Market condition
In the UK, lots of people were fond of luxurious cars, and it created an opportunity to grab attention from a large number of customers. Their models’ cost starts from 149,000 pounds, which is not easy for a common person to afford, and for this reason, the organization tries to grab attention from high-class citizens. According to Rodenet al. (2017), discussing these facts about ten years back, it has been identified that most of the people were purchasing cars from other brands as it has lower prices. Due to these reasons, Aston Martin has tried to expand their business in other countries to foster their sales to a huge extent. This decision’s main reason is the decreasing sales rate of their luxury rates from 2007 to 2012, as 7000 units of their cars sold in 2007, and rapidly decreased to 4200 in 2012 (Aston Martin, 2021).
Aston Martin needs to start their business in Indian markets and share that price of their cars ranges between 1.8 cores to 4 cores. However, in 2020 it seemed that their sales dropped down about 32% for the pandemic situation, but their new DBX SUV has saved them from major losses as 1171 units sold in this segment (Aston Martin, 2021).). The modern market scenario for an automobile industry comprises lots of competitors in the markets like Mercedes Benz, Jaguar, Toyota, General Motors, and others. According to Lee and Lee (2020), in order to enhance their markets in a suitable way, Aston Martin needs to adopt some modern technologies and needs to lower their pollution to a greater extent. Aston Martin needs to provide some facilities for predictive technology and improve their customers’ safety in a suitable way.
3.5 Environment
In the year 2018, a major campaign brought out protesting against climate change and demands to reduce carbon emissions from large organizations and created stickiest in major cities. According to Lin et al. (2019), in this period, people became more concerned about the severe effects of pollution and on the basis that most of the organizations in the UK have started to focus on renewable sources of energy. It has been found that an increase in demand has taken place for electric cars by Tesla, which can reduce carbon emission at a huge rate. Most of the organization has started to take necessary steps for enhancing their business in more sustainable conditions and saving the environment.
However, previously ten years back, many organizations have provided some research in order to identify the sources that were creating pollution to a greater extent. According to Frank et al. (2019), particular items need to be reduced at the initial stages, which can only help in decreasing pollution. Besides this, lots of accidents seem to occur in this current situation, and for this reason, self-driving systems have been developed to secure their customers.
4. Role of business functions
4.1 Marketing
Product- Aston Martin is a stylish brand from its initial stages and enhances its customers with its styling and performance. Aston Martin always provides immense horsepower and luxury, and with its stunning performance, it can easily attract many people for its products. Aston Martin always showed their aggressive nature in adopting modern technologies when it is beneficial for their improvement. According to Mitraet al. (2018), in the previous years, it has also been identified that adopting modern technologies in their organization has helped them to create new models with completely new looks. Some of Aston Martins products are Vantage models, Rapide S, Vulcan and need to take immense care from their owners as these cars need high maintenance cost.
Price- Aston Martins always provide top-class facilities for their customers, and for this reason, the prices of their products rise to a greater extent. According to De los Rios and Charnley (2017), it is only suitable for the upper and the higher class people as it has their premium pricing range. It can be obvious that their customers might be CEOs and CXOs; it is only beneficial for them to afford these products. From its initial stages, the organization’s main motto is to provide a high standard of products consisting of high prices and currently also sticking on it.
Place- Austin Martins needs to sell their products from large outlets that can be easily accessible from a large number of people. However, the situation of their outlets remains the same, focusing on attracting young adults and women as they were fond of attractive cars to a greater extent.
Promotion- It was found that Austin Martins has adopted some strategies in previous years as social media platforms had not prevailed to a huge extent in that period. According to Subramaniamet al. (2019), besides this, they also provided their promotions on radios and distributed pamphlets for their customers as they provide related information about discounts and offers present in these items. In the present situation, organizations can easily advertise on their digital platforms like Facebook and Youtube to enhance their business.
4.2 Operation Management
Operation management is a process that helps to plan, organize and supervise the entire modeling of cars for Austin Martins. In the previous years, it has been found that the hierarchies have only gained this opportunity to make necessary decisions and make plans on the basis of it. According to Damert and Baumgartner (2018), in recent times, scenario has changed completely in order to take an important decision hierarchy to call all of their employees to represent creative ideas to solve any problems. In this way, some ideas seemed to be appropriate, and in this way, they can help their managers to make necessary decisions by themselves. On the other hand, it helps in the enhancement of engaging their employees in the workplace and keeps them motivated by providing sufficient importance to their ideas.
Tesla has taken some important steps in order to reduce costs and maintain their quality by designing a suitable approach for goods and services. Another important step adopted by Tesla in order to maintain their quality management of their products, they shifted their workplace towards manufacturing units in a suitable way. According to Bohnsack and Pinkse (2017), due to this shipment, managerial workload has increased but enhances their products’ quality and does not depend on the suppliers. Austin Martin needs to adopt these modern operations in their work to enhance their quality and reduce the cost for their customers.
4.3 Human resource management
Human resource management is an important aspect for every small or big organization; Austin Martins has their enhanced human resource team present in their business structure. According to Moradi and Vagnoni (2018), human resource management’s role is to recruit and select new employees, screening, interview, performance management, employee retention, and others. In the 21st century, Austin Martins has taken some necessary steps to make their employees trained with modern technologies and tries to motivate them gradually. However, in the last few years back, HR management has identified that HR management does not provide immense interest in employee retention. Thus, Austin Martins has lost many of its efficient workers. As the days were getting passed, competition in the market has started to increase to a greater extent; many new organizations started to join this automobile industry.
The efficient and skilled employees left their organization due to the lack of HR management facilities and got employed by other organizations. Austin Martins understand their mistakes and restructure their systems, and provides immense importance on employee retention, which is beneficial for their employees as well as for the organization. According to Nasonet al. (2018), besides this, if any employee finds lacking in their work, needs to identify their problems and provides necessary training on the basis of it. Despite that, it helps to monitor their work regularly and provides a decision-making process for completing their task positively (Fenget al. 2018). Efficient HR management systems also help in securing their position in the organization and helps in playing an active role in a team.
4.4 Finance
In the year 2017, Austin Martins has gained huge profits after selling more than 5,000 cars and made a pre-tax profit of 87 million British pounds. On the other hand, it was found that in 2016, the organization faced a huge loss of 163 million British pounds (Aston Martin, 2021). In 2020, it was found that Lawrence Stroll had bought some shares of Austin Martins with 182 million British pounds, and due to this reason, a sparkling revamp may seem to have occurred in the automobile industry. Due to this financial turnover, Austin Martins can launch mid-engine vehicles within 2022 and enhance their models for F1 races, increasing their revenues rapidly.
4.5 Analysis of competitors
In the year 2010, there were very less amount of competitors in the markets of Austin Martins like Bently Motors, Ferrari, McLaren Performance Technologies. Evolution of technology and the rising nature of population provide huge growth for the small organizations and create threats for Austin Martins. In 2021, competitors list has increased to a greater extent and comprises some huge names such as Mercedes Benz, Audi, Jaguar, Toyota, and Tesla (Aston Martin, 2021). One of Austin Martins’ biggest competitors is Tesla, as they were producing electric vehicles and attractive performances of their models at competitive pricing. According to Khannaet al. (2019), most of the organization was trying to adopt modern technologies and produce sustainable products to attract their customers and reduce pollution to a greater extent.
Based on the current trends, Austin Martins has also started to enhance their environmental performance by maintaining a standard for ISO 14001. Main objective of the organization is to reduce their energy consumption and factory emissions to a greater extent. In terms of annual revenue, it has been found that annual revenue of BMW has increased from Austin Martins. BMW has collected 115,124 British pounds, and Austin Martins has acquainted 1.1 billion British pounds (BMW.com, 2021). Analyzing these facts, Austin Martins needs to enhance their business process with some sustainable features in their models. In this present situation, most of the organizations were capable of producing attractive cars in the markets. According to Vaskelainen and Münzel (2018), in order to enhance their profits, Austin Martins needs to focus on producing some electric vehicles.
5. Conclusion
Present essay has concluded that it has been prepared on the basis of integrations of business functions and shed its lights on business performance of Austin Martins in the following years. Present essay comprises a detailed analysis of the Austin Martins’ background and their performance in the last following years. In the next stages, strategic changes that seemed to have happened in the last ten years have been discussed, analyzing some important factors of the business. It comprises the changes that seemed to have occurred in Leadership styles, culture, structure, and environmental factors. Along with it, role of the business functions that were changed from the previous ten years was illustrated by using some important factors in order to explain the entire facts stunning changes that seemed to have occurred in marketing policies, human resource, and operational management also raising the number of profits with their competitors.
Reference List
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