Introduction
The significant changes that Shukran Shoe Company has gone through by having two subsidiaries in two different countries need critical restructuring. Principally, the internal change agents will play a major role in identifying the arising issues initiated by the change. The organization will need fresh strategies, plans, and policies that will place the company in a better position to meet its goals. Problems will arise from the major dynamics of the company, which may include cultural, structural, economic, and environmental changes. Moreover, the changes offer opportunities that the internal change agents will maximize the good performance of the company. The company, therefore, needs to strategize ways and plans of mitigating these problems and maximizing the opportunities brought by change. Therefore, the essay outlines various strategies that Shukran Shoe Company uses to reduce the problems occasioned by change and maximize opportunities that these changes present.
Overview
Change offers a number of opportunities, and the internal change agents are responsible for maximizing these opportunities. Sahadath (2013) indicates that some of these opportunities include creating a greater vision that helps direct the change process. Discussing urgency helps in examining the local, regional, and international markets and the competition in the market. The change also offers the opportunity of planning the improvement of a company’s performance. Vazirani (2013) argues that the human resources manager has an opportunity of allowing a specialist to analyze the situation and give a recommendation that improves the company’s performance. The study also highlights that change offers an opportunity to review the employee’s satisfaction, which is the major determinant of the output in the company.
Problems or Challenges
The challenges or problems associated with having subsidiaries in different countries and regions bring some obstacles that hinder institutional growth. Dianne, Andrew, Thomas, and Christopher (2013) Indicate that differences in an institutional environment, culture, communication, and business norms are common problems. In addition, the author emphasizes the need to recognize these problems in order to help the company in realizing ways of mitigating them. The long-distance plays the central place of all the challenges since communication is inefficient over long distances. Structural changes and decision making is also a major challenge when it comes to acquisition and merging the firms (Battilana & Casciaro 2012). Hence, these problems exist when merging different firms from diverse states and engaging in international marketing. Shukran Shoe Company faces such challenges when trying to merge subsidiaries located in Dubai, South Africa, and India.
Strategies to Mitigate the Problems and Maximise Opportunities
The internal change agents, such as the Human resources Management (HRM), should come up with strategies for reducing the damage instigated by these problems. Battilana and Casciaro (2012) stipulate that the company’s change agents should influence the organization, employees, and stakeholders to adopt the changes that are divergent from the company’s status quo. The human resources manager has a role of integrating different personnel through capacity building of different changes, training them about the new policies, and motivating the employees through appraisals (Vazirani 2013).
The study emphasizes the need to include all personnel of the organization into the occurring changes. Furthermore, the study helps the company overcome most of the problems since the stakeholders will be well informed. The success of merging the company relies on creating proper awareness concerning these changes. Some of the major strategies that the company can employ include communication, market research, employee motivation, structural developments, and awareness campaigns such as marketing and product promotion.
Communication
Communication is one of the strategies that are useful in solving the problems associated with the Shukran Shoe Company. In essence, communication comprises various stakeholders, employees, and other individuals involved in the company developments and operations. Some of the major types of communication that are evident in Shukran Shoe Company include vertical and horizontal communications. On the other hand, communication also exists between the company and stakeholders such as the suppliers, distributors, and governments where the business premises exist. Fundamentally, good and well-designed horizontal and vertical communication enables the organization to handle matters that regard product quality and employee performance. In the assertion of Vazirani (2013), communication is one of the major drivers required for successful change in an organization.
By dealing with issues like quality and employee performance through effective communication, the company achieves the much-desired consumer satisfaction, which in turn increases its consumer base and market share. Notably, good communication among the company, suppliers, and other stakeholders helps to minimize issues that usually arise because of communication breakdowns.
To minimize the challenges occasioned by increased marketing environment and maximize the opportunities, the company has to ensure that its communication systems and methods are effective. Imperatively, effective communication methods are very productive as they lead to the delivery of quality products and simultaneous solutions to problems. When employees and the top management communicate easily and conveniently, issues, which would have escalated to serious magnitudes, achieve quick and immediate solutions. Moreover, a good form of communication helps the company in facilitating the exchange of productive and smart ideas that can take it to a higher level as opposed to its competitors.
The platform created by a good communication method helps the company receive insights concerning how it can achieve the best in terms of quality and consumer satisfaction. According to Vazirani (2013), a successful form of communication in an organization facilitates the delivery of products that match consumer requirements. Therefore, by ensuring that it has a good form and method of communication, the company will be in a good position to minimize the challenges posed by the increased marketing environment and maximize the existing opportunities
Market Research
Diversification and increased marketing environment are always associated with differences in consumer preferences and trends. As such, by diversifying and increasing the scale of its market to other countries of the world, Shukran Shoe Company increased the number of consumers and their different preferences. Due to the increase in preferences and consumer trends, market research becomes one of the major strategies that are principal in solving the problems faced by the company and optimizing the present opportunities.
Good market research will not only help the company identify the existing demands in the market, but will also help it to identify the gaps that require changes, modifications, or developments. In addition, through market research, the company can easily know the type and kind of consumers in the market, and hence, tailor its products to match their needs. To increase opportunities in the marketing environment, organizations should undertake extensive market research (Sahadath 2013). As such, market research is one of the strategies that the company needs in order to address its present problems and utilize the existing opportunities in the market.
Imperatively, extensive market research is instrumental in ensuring that the company identifies areas of weakness and solving problems related to consumer satisfaction and product quality. When a company undertakes good market research, it identifies areas that require corrections and the nature of its target consumers, a factor that helps it to design its products in a manner that matches client expectations (Battilana & Casciaro 2012).
Therefore, market research is practical in helping the company to identify its target consumers and the existing trends, dynamics, and diversities in different countries. Through the identification of these diversities, Shukran Shoe Company can successfully tailor its products to match the requirements and expectations of its potential consumers in different countries. Moreover, through research, the company can identify the areas that hamper the delivery of its products and correct them. By identifying and correcting the gaps in the company, its market share will increase, and the present challenges that it faces will reduce.
Employee Motivation
Employee motivation comprises one of the critical strategies that can facilitate the successful solution of problems faced by Shukran Shoe Company and maximize the opportunities presented by the market. Some of the initiatives that organizations use to motivate their employees include training, pre-paid trips, rewards, and promotions (Dianne, Andrew, Thomas, & Christopher 2013). Importantly, the company needs to identify its employees using factors like performance, training needs, and level of enthusiasm. Identification of these factors leads to a good motivation program that best suits the needs of each employee, and in turn, presents successful outcomes to the organization.
Moreover, by using a good identification procedure, which facilitates employee identification, the company can take some of the employees through training and seminars and advance their performances. It is fundamental to assert that a good employee motivation program is essential in the success of an organization as it minimizes the problems that Shukran Shoe Company faces and helps it maximize the present opportunities effectively and conveniently.
Human resources are the most significant part of every organization, and their level of motivation dictates the performance and progress of an organization. Therefore, it is important to elucidate that employees are very vital in an organization, and their motivation determines the scale of organizational success. By motivating its human resources, Shukran Shoe Company can achieve higher production and advanced quality of its products.
Critically, employee motivation is very instrumental in ensuring that employees deliver their best and work hard, striving to achieve a collective objective of organizational success. According to Vazirani (2013), employees are the most important resources in an organization and determine its failure or success. The assertion compounds the significant role that human resources play in the company and outlines the essence of their motivation. In effect, the implication of motivating employees has minimised problems both in the present and future periods as well as in maximum utility of opportunities in Shukran Shoe Company.
Structural Developments
Structural developments make up another strategy that Shukran Shoe Company requires in order to solve its problems and maximize its opportunities in the market. Structural developments facilitate smooth and efficient production, supply, and delivery of products from the company to the end consumers. In addition, the products reach the desired destinations in their right quantities and qualities, a factor that boosts the level of client satisfaction. To counter infrastructural challenges that are present in some countries that Shukran Shoe Company undertakes its operations such as bad roads and weather conditions, the company needs to ensure that its plants and facilities meet modern standards.
For effective marketing, international companies should strive to ensure that their selected modes of transport and communication are not vulnerable to weather changes and poor terrains that are evident in some regions of the world (Dianne, Andrew, Thomas, & Christopher 2013). Facilities, plants, and other components used by the company to produce, supply, and deliver its products should be resilient, modern, and durable. By ensuring that its facilities match the required and modern standards, problems such as delays and distortion of initial product quality become minimal.
Principally, minimized delays and distortion of initial quality implies that the products arrive in their actual states, and thus, consumers receive what the company designs for them. It is fundamental to elaborate that using a good and effective structural design program that is comprehensive and covers all the components of the company, Shukran Shoe Company can initiate developments that can advance the quality of its products.
Sahadath (2013) explains that modern consumer needs products that are up to date in terms of quality and value. Since modern consumers are trendy and expect products that meet the latest standards, modifications, developments, and improvements of its structures, it helps Shukran Shoe Company increase its sales and win consumer demand in the market. By introducing products that are up to date in terms of quality and quantity, contemporary consumers, who value quality and utility for their money, become satisfied, a factor that is essential in dictating its progress in the competitive marketing environment. As a result, Shukran Shoe Company can successfully change and venture into international marketing.
Marketing and Product Promotion (Awareness Campaigns)
Awareness campaigns comprise marketing and product promotions and are among the strategies that Shukran Shoe Company can use in its quest to address the existing problems and maximize the opportunities in the competitive market. Evidently, awareness creation not only increases the amount of knowledge that customers have concerning the company’s products but also helps the company to understand the demands advanced by its target clients. Battilana and Casciaro (2012) elaborate that marketing and product promotions augment the extent of products delivered by companies because it connects them with consumers and creates a platform where they exchange ideas concerning perceived product quality. From the exchange of ideas using platforms such as social media, Shukran Shoe Company can tailor-make its products and successfully market them to the target consumers.
Marketing and product promotions focus on creating awareness and increasing the amount of knowledge that consumers have concerning products that Shukran Shoe Company delivers. By increasing the amount of knowledge and awareness in the minds of consumers, companies expand the scale of their potential clients, and hence, create a spectrum where they can source ideas related to their performance (Vazirani 2013). It is vital to assert that awareness creation focuses on increasing the amount of knowledge held by the consumers while increasing the amount of knowledge that a company has about its target clients and their preferences. As a result, Shukran Shoe Company cannot downplay the essence of marketing and promotional campaigns in solving its problems and maximizing opportunities in the market.
Conclusion
The essay highlights the critical strategies of ensuring that Shukran Shoe Company does not face hindrances in accomplishing its major goal of being the leading brand in the market. Remarkably, the internal change agent, in most cases, being the human resource department, play a major role in ensuring that the company embraces change in a positive way and maximizes the opportunities that the changes offer. The essay discusses strategies such as communication, market research, employee motivation, structural developments, and awareness campaigns as the major strategies useful in mitigating the problems and maximizing opportunities presented by the change.
Reference List
Battilana, J & Casciaro, T 2012, ‘Change Agents, Networks, and Institutions: A Contingency Theory of Organizational Change’, Academy of Management Journal’, vol. 55, no. 2, pp. 381–398. Web.
Dianne, W, Andrew, C, Thomas, G & Christopher, W 2013, ‘Organisational Change: Development and Transformation’, In Pucik, V & Evans, P and Bjorkman, I, Human Resource Management in Cross-Border Mergers and Acquisitions, Cengage Learning, Melbourne. Web.
Sahadath, K 2013 ‘Organizational Development, Change And Transformation’, Queen’s University IRC, vol. 3, no. 6, pp.339-357. Web.
Vazirani, N 2013, ‘An Integrative Role of HR in Handling Issues Post Mergers and Acquisitions’, SIES Journal of Management, vol. 9, no. 2, pp. 82-88. Web.