To demonstrate your understanding of Topics 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 of the unit and your translation of these into your written assignment.
Prepare and deliver a 10-15 minute team presentation on your written assignment. The presentation is to take the form of a competitive sales pitch to the business owner and the executive team. Your team presentation must be supported by a set of PowerPoint slides. Each member of the team presents for approximately 5 minutes.
The presentation must be based on your team’s written report submission. You should prepare the presentation with a view that your audience is the management team at your client’s business, (i.e. the firm that is the subject of the written assignment), including the CEO/owner.
We do not intend to conduct or assess presentations in Week 11 because this is revision week for MPM701.
Business Process Management (BPM) and Strategy
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
AutoTeknix Pty Ltd Company was established in 2013 with Henry Musk as its CEO. It’s an advanced manufacturing operation based in Mulgrave, Victoria. The plant now produces very successful Morpheus Console; hi-tech motor vehicle dashboard which can be tailored for and installed into any vehicle. AutoTeknix uses computer design blue print data from automobile manufacturers’ and advanced mobile web applications to develop customer tailored consoles where they place them in optimal positions which can be easily moved around on the AutoTeknix web interface by clients to suit their personal tastes. Their main aim and objective is to configure the console to include full on board mechanical and computing systems monitors and real time repair of exceptions using robotic, and install an intelligent on board ‘concierge’ called ‘James’, who via voice activation, will assist the driver with anything tailored into the console (from monitoring stress to delivering entertainment to booking appointments including driving the car i.e. autonomous capability and also a system that checks vehicle’s sensors, human sensors [bio sensors], mobile, Internet and satellite technologies to deliver state of the art, graphically depicted information, to inform the driver. Henry has built the business to perform most major functions that are typical of a medium sized enterprise.
Jet Lee is the ICT head in support of twelve employees. Under him is the Production Department headed by Danny Chrome in assistance of two employees, followed by Human Resource Department head, Margaret Jack with two human resources. She is then followed with Sales and Accounting Departments led by Rudy Murdock and Sid Gagatano with five and four employees under them respectively. Then comes the purchasing officer, Welsh with three assistants and Lin Fox as the as the warehouse sector head being assisted with eight employees. Last in the rank is R&D Department led by Stephanie Jobs in help of five employees.
1. INTRODUCTION
A preliminary business report shows a critical organisation or firm’s situation as well as providing recommendations. It also analyses, recognises and illustrates the characteristic of that given business or entity (Bowen, Morara & Mureithi 2009). The report allows an organisation to pick from a profit lose angle only if well monitored and implicated (Combi & Gambini 2009, pp. 42-59). AutoTeknix Pty Ltd has been facing several challenges including poor management by employees. The business experienced strong growth in its first few years, and this enabled it to overgrow. In 2016 things started to change. Sales were down and profits reduced. By 2017 things were worse. By mid-year, consumers reduced. The following report shall help the company on how to deal with the problem through problem analysis, business process management (BPM) and Strategy, propose a solution to the CEO, and provide solution considerations and also recommendations for the firm to return to its initial state.
Problem Analysis
2. BUSINESS PROCESS MANAGEMENT (BPM) AND STRATEGY
Due to increased competition in the current business market, companies and organisations are now looking into better ways of improving their sales, productivity, and net profit. This has been caused by globalisation and increased competition in the market environment (Nickels, McHugh & McHugh 2008). Due to this, BPM and strategy should be adapted and be used by AutoTeknix Pty Ltd to fit well in the current business environment with ease and without sales and profit sales margin fall. The BPM approach should be part of AutoTeknix Pty Ltd since it acts as a risk barrier and shall help the organisation with a full vision on how activities and operations are rolling and put in line business functions and the consumer’s interests. It shall also assist the executive in determining, deploying and measuring the company’s production productivity, thus lessening errors, expenditures and hazards optimising production. BPM shall help in both internal and external factors of the organisation since it shall be dealing with solving financial problems, giving quality needed by consumers and also facilitating guidelines for the whole process governance (Niehaves, Plattfaut & Becker 2010, p.292). In macro-environment perspectives, BPM shall help AutoTeknix Pty Ltd to deal efficiently with all conditions outside the business environment, including stiff competition from other companies dealing with the same product, the laws that are set to govern and guide businesses globally, and also the organization shall suit the current economic downfall yet they must produce motor vehicles for its customers.
In business position, the business process management (BPM) and strategy will help in providing guides on how the heads and department chiefs of AutoTeknix Pty Ltd work and operate (Pinto 2010). Value chains which are the value-adding activities that transmute inputs into outputs helping in the creation of a competitive environment shall also be boosted by this strategy in that when the value chain persists to dilate and becomes more obscure. AutoTeknix Pty Ltd should follow the BPM strategy in a five-step way starting from choosing which way to use the plan, enlightening all managers and department heads about the policy and defining to them its clear objectives, making decisions and then reviewing the strategy for quality performance.
3. PROBLEM ANALYSIS
Problem analysis is the strategic and organised way of an analytic drudge with the aim of improving a company’s performance (Rohloff 2011, pp. 380-403). The most agent problem in AutoTeknix Pty Ltd is that it has no proper and adequate documentation- record keeping and again it has poor automation employment. Ineffective documentation as reported by Danny during their meeting with the CEO, he says that he should get a filing cabinet in one of the days showing that he has none. This may have been brought by inadequate knowledge from the record keeper on how documentation is done. It may also be due to the laziness of the head in charge thus leading and creating don’t care situation and environment within the working environment in AutoTeknix Pty Ltd Company. It may have then led to uncertainty when faced with legitimate action or audit whereby the organisation may not be able to original records in a dated figure which may have led to outcomes with retention effort (Niehaves, Plattfaut & Becker 2010, p. 292). It may have also led to reduced productivity, affectivity and capital losses.
Proposed Solution
Poor automation employment also may have led to the decline of profit margin (Rosemann 2010, pp. 267-304). This is whereby someone with inadequate skills and profession is given a role, and task that he/she isn’t good at, for example, Sid may have been given a wrong area of automation as he just chose whichever address appears first on the order of the client and then sends the customer an invoice without care. This may have brought about mishandling of the positions hence poor performance due to a broader capability and performance gap. ‘As Is’ process elaborates the current business state as un-compatible. The ‘As Is’ of AutoTeknix Pty Ltd can be narrowed as in figure 1 in the appendix.
The process flow can be said to be a critical situation that is not quickly noticed (Ryu & Parsons 2012, pp. 707- 720). In AutoTeknix Pty Ltd process flow problem may have been seen during the meeting when there was tension among the members as one of their workmates as giving out some observations about the company’s activities. It can be said that there could have been something fishy within the workmates hence affecting the output and input of the organisation. Its control may be done by reshuffling of the members from their respective departments or employing qualified employees, who can be trusted. Figure 2 in the appendix shows an Output input cycle.
4. PROPOSED SOLUTION
A proposed solution is a suggested plan, idea, or an intention to do some changes in the business or organisation to realise a better improvement in the profit margin (Nickels, McHugh & McHugh 2008. A ‘business process architecture’ or a business plan can be said to be the business’ aims, and goals and the results were aiming at achieving the goals and objectives, following some activities before reaching its achievements. It can also be a gathered set of the number of operations before reaching succession or completion in a company (Simic & Dimitrijevic 2012, pp. 78-88). Its value in business industry is that it helps in mapping the future of a business. When used by AutoTeknix Pty Ltd, it shall not only secure resources at the start time but also shall help in understanding the business better and what it needs and actions to be taken thus improving its specific goals and objective ensuring long-term success. Management of cash flow shall also be easy. This is whereby it shall help in the creation of strategic plans and objectives that shall help the business not to become insolvent (Ryu & Parsons 2012, pp. 707- 720). Lastly, it shall help Henry Musk’s company to decide and choose whether it needs new assets and resources or not. Figure 3 in the appendix shows a ‘To be’ diagram process.
Suggestion based on ‘to be’ process, which is a designated state of the business process in a company, is that AutoTeknix Pty Ltd should have a room for the creation of new employees who may be needed in case of need of workforce and skills when demanded (Nickels, McHugh, & McHugh 2008). It should also have space for the employment of new qualified personnel with the required knowledge in the required field that is to be built. During a new technology change, temporary activities will be needed to handle the situation hence the organisation should also be in a position of giving a plan to be implemented when its time arrives. For practical realisation of maximum performance, there should be a plan for aligning the business activities including workers and financial issues, and then the management should be set in a more explicit way each having his/her qualified specific duty in his/ her trained area. The management should also have bigger plans to accommodate additional managers, directors and heads that shall be there to help and assist the CEO and other senior levels such as project managers and marketing team. Figure 4 in the appendix shows the new proposed team structure.
5. SOLUTION CONSIDERATIONS
Solution considerations are done in an organisation when undergoing redesign or simply reformation. During redesign development, it should be considered that any changes done may disrupt the company’s performance and employees’ too (Bowen, Morara &Mureithi 2009). Much time shall be wasted since time shall be needed for the implementation of the solution. More capital shall be needed as there shall be the plan to train staffs, and employees in AutoTeknix Pty Ltd for the new strategic plans on board and buying of infrastructures. Upon implementation, there shall be a third party interaction where some resourceful persons from successful businesses or more qualified personnel may be hired to monitor the implementation progress and analyse it critically- researchers. There shall also be a high risk take since the plan may fail to work or catch up slowly (Vom Brocke & Rosemann 2010). When looking at an upstream implication, the organisation may not be compatible with the new heads changes in case done since they need time to settle and learn the organisation ways. There shall also be a loose realisation from the early stages since the organisation needs time as well to settle. The officials and employees shall find a more laborious task of uniting from the start since they shall be very new to each other and they will not be in a position to understand each other better. When everything has been put into consideration, there shall be a higher downstream realisation in the business (Vom Brocke & Rosemann 2010). Profit net shall increase due to increased productivity. The demands shall be higher since a new brand shall be out and people will be there for it. Again, AutoTeknix Pty Ltd will now be fit to face the stiff competitions out there from companies that deal with commodities as it or almost closely related ones.
6. RECOMMENDATIONS
This is the most important part. To conclude, the company must be ready to change its normal operation and try a new implementation for a future better performance (Simica & Dimitrijevic 2012, p. 200). The following should be reinforced to enhance and promote the productivity and performance of AutoTeknix Pty Ltd.
- Improved efforts to collections of debts is recommended and this shall work effectively by the help of a debt collection department or agency.
- Do not prolong trustworthiness to slow debt payers and also payers in general of the AutoTeknix Pty Ltd Company including persistent customers.
- Discount to early and quick buyers should be offered so as to impress them, attract them and make them feel like the company really need the best for them.
- It is recommended that AutoTeknix Pty Ltd should use the best and catchy slogan in their products and logos during their campaign launch and also during their marketing periods.
- Do not employee employees’ who have no skills on what to do and have no ideas about the field they are given. This means that more trained personnel’s should be employed and assigned duties on their respective field of interest and profession.
- It is recommended that a better filling system be used to improve records keeping for future reference and auditing when needed at for proper analysis of the business progress.
- Employ a well-structured marketing team to help in the marketing and promotion of the products rather than relying on social media and words of mouth.
