MBA600 Capstone Project T On Wesfermers 1

Introduction

In case of gaining the knowledge regarding the business organization, the presentation of a portfolio is required. The study has shed light on knowledge transferring process and business operations of the orgaizations in the case of gaining the competitive advantage. Defining different concepts related to the marketing, the study has tried to discuss the value creation process, by following which the company has developed its strong brand image in the market. On the other hand, it has been identified that depending on the current business practices the future growth of the company has been analyzed. In this study, it has been analyzed that leadership and communication are the major elements for driving the growth rate of the company. At the end of this study, necessary aspects of managing the business operations have been mentioned. After the entire activity process, self-reflection has been given depending on the learning outcomes. After the self-assessment the study also shed light on the capabilities and learning experience while working as a team member.

Part A Activities

Marketing Mix is being considered as the crucial tool that helps to understand the service and products, which can help to satisfy the needs of the clients (Armstrong et al. 2015). The marketing mix can be executed with the 4ps such as product, price, place and promotion.

Product

If an organization will be able to introduce diversified products in the market it will be helping in case of developing strong brand image. Depending on the diversified portfolio it can be easier for an organization to grab large number of customers’ attention (Ke and Li 2015). Not only in the production purpose but also an organization can involve itself in insurance business. Using the appropriate marketing mix the company will be able to ensure the right product to the customers which can help them to fulfill their needs. Through using the marketing mix tool, it will be easier to understand businesses and the product or service which is being offered by the company. On the other hand, it is true that by introducing the effective marketing mix, successful marketing practices can be done in an organization.

Price

In case of Price, it can be said that it covers the actual amount which is being expected from the user against a product or services. Depending on the process of setting the product price the sales rate can directly get affected. Therefore, it can be said that the price range is interconnected with the perceived value of a particular product. Analyzing the pricing structure of an organization it can be said that in case of providing good quality of products in reasonable ranges to the people so that large number of people will get the chance to abele the products, the organizations develop the strategies (Shivany, Thirunavukkarasu and Kajendra 2015). It is also true that in case of developing a product price, the organization needs to be careful because if the price will be lower of higher than the perceived value, it can effect on its sales revenue.

Place

Place is being considered as an important element in the marketing mix. It is true that depending on the place of the store, the business revenue of an organization can get influenced. On the other hand, it is true that supply chain process in an organization and knowledge transferring process in the company are related to the place of the store. In case of expanding business the organizations can develop the business near the target market. As an example, Wesfarmers is the leading brand in Australia, depending on the location of the target market, the company has established its business.

Promotion

Promotion is being considered as one of the important elements in the marketing practices (Ghapanchi, Wohlin and Aurum 2014). In case of driving the decision making process of the customers the effective promotional activities are required. It has been identified that in order to gran the large number of customers attention, the promotion can be done through the social media like Face, book Twitter and Instagram. On the other hand, the company can also do celebrity endorsement, TV advertising and campaigns.

Market research methods and data analysis

Research and development practices are very important in case of understanding the strength, weakness, opportunities and threats of the company. Depending on the SWOT analysis framework, both the external and internal situation of the company can be analyzed. Market research and data analysis process is very important in case of understanding the SWOT framework.

SWOT is useful and powerful for setting the prime business opportunities. It is needed to understand the highly competitive industry. Using the advanced opportunities SWOT helps to develop the mind tools. Therefore, it can be said that through the SWOT analysis, the effective strategic plan for organizational development can be introduced.  In case of protection and self-preservation, SWOT analysis can help to analyze the weakness as well as threats in the external market. In this analysis, the criticism can be recognized regarding an organization, which can be beneficial in terms of bringing the organizational development. In this process, it has been identified that if the organizations will not use the SWOT tools, internal and external environment of the company will not be clarified.  Therefore, it can be said that the SWOT analysis is beneficial in case of understanding the pending threats of an organization. Some of the cases, it is beneficial for gathering the information regarding pending threats (Singh-Peterson and Lawrence 2015). It is true that in the SWOT analysis, not only internal environment of an organization, but also analyzing the external environment of an organization, it helps to develop environmental and technological changes in the workplace so that large number of customers can get attracted.

Competitive advantage through innovation and growth

Depending on the market research, the growth trend as well as the competitive advantage can be analyzed. The term competitive advantage indicates the process of gaining the superiority in the market that can help to deal with the business practices. In case of analyzing the competitive advantages of the organizations, Porter’s five forces framework has been discussed.

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Understanding the importance of innovation and growth

Innovation indicates the changing process that helps to create the effective products and ideas that cam help to gain the customer attraction (Ronningen and Lien 2014). On the other hand, it cannot be denied that depending on the creativity and innovation, the competitive advantage as well as rate of profitability and productivity can be improved. In case of successful organizations, it can be said that main USP of the organizations can be developed depending on creativity and innovation. With the initiative of innovation and creativity, the living standard of the people can be changed. In case of large organizations like Wesfermers, it has been identified that company has tried to bring the innovation through leadership and communication. On the other hand, analyzing the growth rate of Apple Inc, it has been identified that the company has also focused in innovation and growth. Therefore, in case of bringing the business revolution innovation is required.

In the above diagram, it has been discussed that depending on the innovative business model, it becomes easier for the organization to maintain the sustainable position in the market. Following the above model, the organizations need to establish strong organizational culture in the workplace.

Management competencies through Knowing, doing being model

Knowing, doing and being are the three important components in case of analyzing the management competencies. It is true that in case of implementing the managerial operations as well as business models, the organizations need to the Knowing doing being model. It is mentioned in this study that depending on the experimental learning practices, the issues are being solved by the company. It is influential in case of identifying the distance between the implementation process and challenges. It has been identified that depending on the practices of interdependence between management competencies, the critical thinking process of the people associated with the organization can be developed.

Importance of strategic change 

Not only for the big influences, but also change can be implemented for the small implementations in an organizations. It has been identified that by following the Kotter change model, the creative changes can be introduced in the company.

By following the 8 steps of the Kotter change model, in the workshop opportunities can be examined which can be analyzed from the research and development practices. Identification of true leader in case of developing the change model has been discussed. By following this the organizations can its effective leader with the transformational leadership qualities. It has been identified that depending on the changes the value are being created, which is important for developing the mission and vision of the company.

In the activities different business models and marketing tools have been discussed. It has been mentioned that depending on the business models, the financial as well as the marketing structure of the organizations can be improved. Analyzing the pillars of the business model the organizations will be able to introduce the efficiency in the workplace.

In the above model, is mentioned that product innovation, infrastructure management and customer relationship are important components for developing a successful business organization. Identifying the growth variables the organizations can follow, Two-by Two matrix and Structural equation model.  In the workshop, analyzing the mathematical distribution of the customer base of the company, the bell curve has been shown.

Technological advancement

After the introduction of globalization, with the increasing availability of technological equipment in the industry, the rate off productivity has been improved. On the other hand, using the search engine, different marketing related tools have become easier to understand. With technological advancement, social media has become one of the important medium for marketing (Small et al. 2016). It has been identified that depending on the digital skills, the rate of employment can be improved. It is true that after the introduction of digital skills, recruitment and selection process in an organization can be changed. Using the digital skills, large number of communities have been involved in the development process. It has been identified that depending on the technological advancement, the sales rate as well as the sales revenue of the company has got improved.

Business intelligence is being considered as the technology driven process, in which the information and data are being presented. The business intelligence also very important in case of incorporating the effective business practices for maintaining the standard business performances. It has been identified that depending on the effective business intelligence, the data analysis can be done in right manner. On the other hand, it has been identified that using the business intelligence the organizations can be able to introduced the effective data analysis process in the workplace.

Leadership plays an important role in case of developing the organizational culture. It has been identified that depending on the leadership practices the organizational culture as well as the performance of the employees can be improved (Singh-Peterson and Lawrence 2015). In case of developing successful organization, it can be suggested that transformational leadership should be followed by the company. In case of dealing with the external and internal challenges, the transformational leadership strategy is very effective. It can be said that it is responsibility of the leader is to develop the creative skills of the team members. By involving the employees in decision making process, innovative ideas are being introduced in the workplace.

Strategic mindset and knowledge development

Strategic mindset skill is very important in case of dealing with the business challenges. It has been identified that in case of improving the organizational operations and foster innovation in the workplace the effective strategic knowledge development process is needed. Using the effective strategies, the competitive advantage can be gained by the company. In case of business expansion, the strategic knowledge development process is required. In case of business expansion the marge and acquisition strategy for gaining the strategic advantage in the market can be beneficial.

After the implementation of business strategies, in order to analyze the growth, performance matrix is important. In the workshop Aglie measurement model has been discussed which can be followed for analyzing the growth rate. It is true that in case of increasing the productivity of an organization, the model was beneficial.

In the performance improvement model, rate of productivity, customer loyalty rate and marketing are being analyzed. The model ensures and identify the requirement for gaining the attention of clients. By following this model, the rate of productivity can be improved in an organization.  

Part B

I being strategic approach is very important in case of analyzing the activities. In case of discussing the activities I have developed a systematic plan where every activities have been mention. In the initial step, marketing concept has been clarified. In case of discussing the concept of marketing the 4ps framework has been discussed. In the framework, the company importance of the company and its price range and diversified products have been discussed as the important part of marketing. I have learned that analyzing the marketing process 4ps of marketing components are required. In this process I have learned that price, product. Place and promotion are equally important for knowing the marketing concept. 

In the second part, I have learnt about the importance of research and development. In this process, I have learned about two types of data such as primary and secondary. By collecting both the primary and secondary data, the internal and external environment analysis have been done through the SWOT analysis framework. I believer, in case of gathering knowledge about an organization, the SWOT analysis is necessary.

As per my understanding, competitive advantage is very important for gaining the unique position in the market. In the workshop I have learnt about importance of developing uniqueness in the market for gaining the popularity. Using Porter’s five forces analysis framework, the competitive advantage and its importance have been highlighted.

During the workshop, it has been identified by me that innovation is the major key elements in bringing the growth in an organization. In the theoretical perspective I have learned about different models.

As per my understanding, the role of digital skill, business intelligence and change management are important for bringing the innovation in workplace. By following the strategic mindset it has been analyzed that gaining the knowledge regarding marketing development and also developing a popular image in the market, it is needed.

On the other hand, in case of developing the organizational culture, leadership practice has been highlighted. I have learned that transformational leadership is very effective for dealing with the business challenges. It has been identified by me that change model is very important in case of bringing the innovation in the workplace. On the other hand, I have learned that analyzing the performance of the organization, I need to focus on performance matrix. Wesfermers has used the Performance improvement analysis model and Aglie measurement model so that it will be able to understand after implementing the improvement strategies the organizations is developing or not. During the learning process, I have analyzed that it I will be able to introduce the change management practice in my organization. It will be beneficial in case of managing the growth in my organization.

On the other hand, with increasing technological demands, it can be said that if the involvement of social media in brand image development process can be included, it will be beneficial for bringing the improvement in sales revenue of the company. I have also learned from the workshop that if I will be able to implement the effective leadership practices on my organization, it will to deal with the challenges in better manner.

Part C

As per my understanding team work can pay an important role for reducing the knowledge gap.  As a team leader I believe, it is important clarify the aim and objectives to the team members.  I also believe that knowledge can be easily transferred by the team members in the team. In case of transferring the knowledge, I have used my active communication skill. I strongly feel that communication as well as creative skills can be developed in a team with the proper engagement of team members. . In case of managing the activities, I have used different theories such as Tuckman’s theory of team development. In case of learning experimental learning practices have been followed by me so that my team can be able to learn by doing. I believe, it can be beneficial for me to understand the leadership techniques. As a leader I have earned that How to deal with my team so that I will be able to discuss the strength and weakness of my plan with them. During the interaction with the team members, I have analyzed their skills, which can be used by me in future. However, I have analyzed that after understanding my responsibilities I have conducted the plan by following which the team development plan will be introduced.

By using the strategies I have decided to discuss with my team members. In case of analyzing the organizational issues, I have decided to discuss the workshop activities with the team. I have also mentioned that in case of dealing with the organizational challenges, the effective team management is needed. On the other hand, it is true that depending on the discussion, I have analyzed that I was able to clarify the doubts of the team members. I believe, whatever I have learned from the workshop, if I need to apply it among the team members I need to focus on audio visual practices.  I have shown the model through pictures and videos, so that the team members can be able to understand the models and the implementations. However, due to some technological errors I have faced some challenges. I believe, if the technological errors would have been avoided, it would have been better. I have used the self-organizational skills to motivate the team members towards achieving their goals. I appreciated each of the employees so that they will be able to learn the activities in right manner. After conducting m own evaluation as a leader, I focused on the personality test, where I will be able to discuss the responsibilities with my team member and will also be analyze if they will be able to fulfill them or not.  I have used the trait theory and transformational leadership theory, for providing better training the team.

Conclusion

In the assessment I has been identified by me that the in case of portfolio, proper knowledge and skills are required. On the other hand, it has been identified that using the activities helped in the workshop the marketing concept has been clarified to the audience. By highlighting the organizational activities, business operational strategies hand knowledge transferring process have been discussed. Depending on the activities self-reflection has been done. At the end of the study, the effective qualities and different leadership practices have been mentioned, which are required in case of maintaining the business strategies in the workplace. It is also mentioned that through clarifying the activities to the team members, both the personal and professional skills of the team members have got improved, which are the part of leadership practices.

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Wesfarmers.com.au 2018. [online] Available at: https://www. Wesfarmers.com.au / [Accessed 3 Oct. 2018].