VanDePutte OLEOCHEMICALS: Major Issues And Recommendations In Case Analysis Essay.

The executive summary should identify the major problem/key issues that confront management and summarize your findings and recommendations. It should motivate the reader to go on to read the main body of the case analysis in order to understand the rationale for those recommendations made at the end.

The executive summary should include a one- or two- sentence thesis or purpose statement that explicitly outlines the purpose or point of your case analysis.

The executive summary should explain the purpose of the analysis, identify the main points to be addressed, provide a brief summary of the case analysis, and a brief rationale of the recommendation.

A Thesis Statement is a one- or two- sentence statement that explicitly outlines the purpose or point of your report. A thesis statement explains the purpose of the assignment, identifies the main points to be addressed, provides a brief summary of the assignment, and

Body of Analysis

Review the attached case study (under the Course Information link) and respond to the following questions.

What is the situation—what do you actually know about it from reading the case? (Distinguishes between fact and assumptions—critical understanding)
What issues are at stake? (how do the issues relate to our readings)
What questions do you have—what information do you still need? Where/how could you find it?
What problem(s) need to be solved? (Opportunity to discuss European integration, enlargement, treaties, policy, environmental issues, single market)
What are all the possible options? What are the pros/cons of each option?
What criteria should you use when choosing an option? What does that mean about your assumptions?
Your proposal recommendations for the company moving forward

An effective conclusion gives the reader reasons for bothering to read the paper. One of the most important functions of this paragraph is to bring in fresh insight. The conclusion and recommendations should flow naturally from the thoughts and arguments preceding it. The conclusion should provide a bridge to help your readers know what's in it for them and show why your analysis and reasoning should matter to them.

Thesis statement

The current assignment focuses on the issues faced by the fourth generation owners of the VANDEPUTTE Company. The company is located in a small town in the west of Belgium and uses linseed as the raw material for the production of a range of products such as linseed oil, soap and liquid detergents (vandeputte.com, 2018). The company is a world-class leader on the production of linseed oil is well reputed across Europe. In the year 200, the company decided to expand its business venture by the creation of a new company VANDEPUTTE OLEOCHEMICALS (OLEO). The company wanted to produce plant based polymers from linseed oil. However, the OLEO group of companies suffered from a number of challenges such as shifting from a low tech industrial business to marketing and development of innovative and technological products. The company got a kick start when they were approached by PEUGOT. The company was into manufacturing carpets and was looking forward to replacing their petrol-based PVC carpets with plant-based carpets made from linseed seed. The VANDEPUTTE OLEOCHEMICALS were happy at the prospect of the merger and had put up a new factory for production of the plant based carpets.  Tests and researchers conducted in this regard further supported the findings of the research that linseed that excellent polymerization properties. However, at a later stage they had found that the manufacturing equipments were specifically designed to work with PVC polymers. Therefore, the entire construction design turned out to be faulty and led to a huge failure in the expansion business (De Massis, Frattini, Kotlar, Petruzzelli & Wright, 2016). However, one of the major loopholes in the merger contract signed by the company was that no clause was mentioned in the contract for the provision of compensation in terms of breach of contract. Therefore, the company lacked the proper legal rules and guidelines which resulted in the company facing huge number of losses.

Thesis statement- “Shifting from family tradition to entrepreneurial innovation”

The VANDEPUTTE OLECHEMICALS had faced massive failure during merger with the PEUGOT group of companies due to the lack of required business infrastructure. However, the company believed that it has sufficient brand name and excellent product quality that could provide the company with a competitive advantage over others in the similar market domain.  However, there were a number of internal loopholes faced by the company, which hindered the success of the company in the large scale market. The OLECHEMICALS lacked an adequate number of sales and marketing consultants, which made interacting and engaging with the potential client bases difficult for the company (vandeputte.com., 2018).  As stated by Christian, one of the board members of the company the organization was unable to recruit the right kind of employees, who possessed knowledge regarding both the technological aspects of linseed oil as well as possessed the required amount of business interpersonal skills such as communication and persuasion abilities. Additionally, OLEO did not conduct any market research which could result in gap in understanding and analysis of the current market trends.  As explained by  Luc , one of the directors of  OLEO  there was no  need for any marketing analysis  as he could  simply trust his  instincts for  identifying the pattern of customer demands. However, there was a need to analyse the physical chemical properties of linseed oil through sufficient lab tests, which could help in determining the extent to which it could replace some of the synthetic polymers dominating the market (Garcés-Galdeano, Larraza-Kintana, García-Olaverri & Makri, 2016).

Issues at stake

Thus, focusing upon the current situation of the organization a number of issues were found such as recruitment challenges faced by the company. As stated by one of the directors of the company, they were unable to recruit employees with the right qualifications. The lack of skills could be coped up by providing sufficient training to the employees (Leitch & Harrison, 2016). Additionally, organizational dispute further affects the decision making a process of the business venture (Burton, Sørensen & Dobrev, 2016).  Christian was of the opinion that conducting a market analysis could help the company in understanding the changing dynamics. This view was however contradicted by Luc who thought that recruiting an experienced marketing lead could help in coping up with the gaps within the organizational process. Additionally, in order to cope up with the losses suffered due to the merger with the PEUGOT group the company needed additional support from partnering agencies. However, the organization was also dropped by some of its trusted financial partners. In order to pay the salaries, loans, repayments the OLEO group needed an annual production of 9,000 tonnes (vandeputte.com., 2018). However, the company in its initial stage hardly managed to produce 4,000 tonnes which were not sufficient to meet the demand of the growing demand and supply chain (De Massis, Frattini, Pizzurno & Cassia, 2015).

In this respect, a number of options could be used to solve the problems faced by the OLEO group of companies. Some of these were attaining sufficient stakeholders for the company. The company was also dropped down from the list of priority based client by some of the banks and financial institutions, which had been sponsoring the company ever since inception owing to the lack of financial guarantors. Therefore, integration with some of the business partners could help the organization in getting sufficient profits (Ingram, Lewis, Barton & Gartner, 2016).  However as argued by Kickul & Lyons (2016), putting excess power in the hands of the partnering agencies can result in power disputes.

Additionally, the organization also suffered from hindrances offered by a number of marketing channels due to the some of the erroneous reports generated during the research trial and error methods regarding the ill effects of linseed oil. In this respect, the company could conduct a detailed research and the papers should be published to the concerned agencies. However, the lack of an effective legal practising guideline can also result in the sufficient losses being incurred in the part of the company (Jaskiewicz, Combs & Rau, 2015).  Additionally, the company receives 80% of its raw materials from Canada and the rest from other countries such as Ukraine, UK and Germany. However, instated of depending upon the additional number of distribution channels the company can manufacture its products near to its raw materials source, which will help the company in cutting the additional costs generated (Kammerlander, Dessi, Bird, Floris & Murru, 2015). The company also needs to revise its legal policies which can help the company in avoiding any future breach of action. Some of the criteria which could  be used for choosing the future options are conducting a marketing  analysis which could  help in  predicting the future returns as well as ensure that a  promising growth  of the company. Additionally, choosing such an option would also help in understanding the market risks.

Conclusion 

The current assignment focuses upon the issues faced by a company owing to its transformation from a family based enterprise to an organization of international stature. However, the company faces a number of issues due to lack of experienced staffs who could engage potential clients.

Additionally, the company was also suffering from the lack of sufficient financers which could help the company recover the additional costs.  In this respect, the company was also dropped down by some of its potential investors. In this respect, engaging with additional stakeholders can also help in gaining sufficient guarantors for the business. 

References

Burton, M. D., Sørensen, J. B., & Dobrev, S. D. (2016). A careers perspective on entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 40(2), 237-247.

De Massis, A., Frattini, F., Kotlar, J., Petruzzelli, A. M., & Wright, M. (2016). Innovation through tradition: lessons from innovative family businesses and directions for future research. The Academy of Management Perspectives, 30(1), 93-116.

De Massis, A., Frattini, F., Pizzurno, E., & Cassia, L. (2015). Product innovation in family versus nonfamily firms: An exploratory analysis. Journal of Small Business Management, 53(1), 1-36.

Garcés-Galdeano, L., Larraza-Kintana, M., García-Olaverri, C., & Makri, M. (2016). Entrepreneurial orientation in family firms: the moderating role of technological intensity and performance. International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, 12(1), 27-45.

Ingram, A. E., Lewis, M. W., Barton, S., & Gartner, W. B. (2016). Paradoxes and innovation in family firms: The role of paradoxical thinking. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 40(1), 161-176.

Jaskiewicz, P., Combs, J. G., & Rau, S. B. (2015). Entrepreneurial legacy: Toward a theory of how some family firms nurture transgenerational entrepreneurship. Journal of Business Venturing, 30(1), 29-49.

Kammerlander, N., Dessi, C., Bird, M., Floris, M., & Murru, A. (2015). The impact of shared stories on family firm innovation: A multicase study. Family Business Review, 28(4), 332-354.

Kickul, J., & Lyons, T. S. (2016). Understanding social entrepreneurship: The relentless pursuit of mission in an ever changing world. Routledge.

Leitch, C. M., & Harrison, R. T. (2016). Identity, identity formation and identity work in entrepreneurship: conceptual developments and empirical applications. Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, 28(3-4), 177-190.

Suess-Reyes, J., & Fuetsch, E. (2016). The future of family farming: A literature review on innovative, sustainable and succession-oriented strategies. Journal of rural studies, 47, 117-140.

vandeputte.com. (2018). vandeputte.com. Retrieved  11 February 2018, https://www.vandeputte.com/en/oleochemicals-linseed.htm