Using business concepts and other information relevant to the study of Essay

Using business concepts and other information relevant to the study of organizational structure and culture - Essay Example The project makes an analysis of Greggs the Bakers, which operates as one of the largest retail bakery chain in UK. The company had started as a very small concern but has demonstrated rapid growth and now has more than 1400 outlets. It is even listed in the London Stock Exchange and has plans to expand its outlets even further. The project aims to bring forth the changes occurring in the company with special relevance to the business theories and concepts. Special emphasis has been provided with regards to the company’s change strategies with were implemented through the use of innovative techniques and mechanisms and with the introduction of such products which were unique and not produced by any of its competitors. Changes taking place in Greggs the Bakers Greggs and Bakers have been demonstrating rapid organizational change. Organizational change is the process in which organizations move from their present state to a desired future state with the view of attaining effecti veness (Jones, 2008, p.10). The objective is to optimize its use of resources and using them in improved ways such that the organization is able to add to its value and consequently improve its performance. The rapid growth of the firm from small scale bakery to one of the largest bakery chain in the world demonstrates the company’s dramatic organizational change. The change process includes numerous acquisitions of bakeries and expansion steps. During the 1990s, the company was most aggressive in its expansion strategies and took over as many as numerous Bakery Oven chains of more than 100 shops in the year 1994. In fact in another four years, the company’s number of shops exceeded 1000 and by the year 2010, the number crossed 1500. This included its first all night store which was established in Birmingham. It primarily supplies its products from its large bakeries, however, a number of shops of the company also have their own bakeries. In terms of the number and sca le of is outlets, the company possesses double the numbers of stores in Britain than Starbucks, about 300 stores more than Subway and 200 numbers of stores more than McDonalds. This shows the rate at which the company has grown and has been successful in expanding its operations across the United Kingdom. Application of business theories and concepts Gaining Competitive Advantage The company tried to develop on its core competencies in order to achieve competitive advantage in the market. In fact it has been successful in doing so by producing its own unique products, maintaining its qualities and own system of distribution (Hill & Jones, 2009, p.6). The company introduced its own recipes and dishes. Its bakery product like the sandwiches, which are made freshly on the premises and their sausage rolls accounts few of the special dishes that has found immense popularity among masses. These recipes are sold by more than 2 million numbers in a week. It also sells a large range of other baker fresh stuff and other local special dishes which are primarily for the high street customers. The company has been trying to its operations using its unique products to different parts of the world. Promoting efficiency, speed and efficiency The promotion of efficiency, innovation and speed comprises of few of the major changes that the organization implemented in order to add value. The better the organization functions, the faster is it able to create value in the form of better production of goods and services. Research reveals that the capacity of organizations to create values is directly related to its ability to use innovative measures and better ways of producing quality goods and services (Jones-a, 2010, p.14). The company tried

Product Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Product Development - Essay Example Some of the well-informed customers often work out what improvements need to be made before other customers are aware. Some ideas are also arrived at by seeing what the products lack and rushing to bridge the gap. Sony is known for its innovative products. With Apple iPod being a big success with a market share of 80% in the digital portable media player market and sold over 30 million iPod devices by 2005. A market research of about 20,000 iPod consumers was undertaken in order to receive a feedback. The sample was random and consisted of subjects surveyed in diverse geographical areas of the UK and France. The target segment included current iPod users and future iPod purchasers as well as those who were planning to purchase a home sound system or a high-level stereo system within the next year. The fact that emerged most often was that multiple numbers of speakers were used to project sound in the room, and this was slightly frustrating and the positioning required some effort. The separate speakers like the Dolby Surround Sound 5.1 standard based speakers, required several wires to be installed and once the speakers were installed, their positions were fixed and the sound was confined to the one spot. Portability was an issue. The survey subjects welcomed the idea of a single integrated speaker doing the work of the multiple ones. Idea generation Brainstorming sessions were held to discuss the gap in the market for the Sony Speaker. With the spark for an idea generated, the cross-functional team consisting of manufacturers, market researchers, financial analysts and advertising agencies met to discuss and develop the concept. The benefits of having a cross-functional team were that it brought in expertise from all related departments. The diversity of the team members brought in different cultural viewpoints that added to decision making potential. It helped reduce inefficiencies because problems were addressed such as the dimensions of the speaker and the types of possible packaging in the initial process itself, rather than addressing them afterwards, which might have proved costly at the end of the product development process. The idea generation sessions that were on going, specific and involved, resulted in several viable alternatives. These were carefully screened to see if they aligned closely to the goals and strategy of Sony they were compatible to the existing production and packaging lines could be marketed through the current distribution channels and promotional expenditure that would be required Concept Development and Testing Careful analysis of the concept design, product/packaging prototype, justification, feasibility, delivery model was undertaken. The need for an integrated speaker replacing several speakers capable of throwing sound to various areas in the room was an interesting product idea to pursue for the Research and Development department. The product would be Sony's new spherical speaker that can be placed in the middle of a room to project sound in all directions. This would be instead of the consumer having to buy many speakers to project the sound inwards. It would include the following features: Delivers, stereo sound using reflector technology Automatic tuning receiver for reception up to 150' from the transmitter Built-in 4 watt