Reflective Paper: Decision-Making Process

Executive Summary

The smartphone industry is booming with new companies entering the market. Samsung and Apple are the leading companies worldwide, however, in the Asian market, new businesses have emerged, and they are competing with these two giant manufacturers of smartphones. In the communications and technology industry, change is inevitable. Companies in this industry have to exhibit great innovative skills so as to survive the changes.

In this paper, the corporation of interest is the Conneworld Company that is a new firm entering the global market. Conneworld is an international company targeting various markets all over the world. The firm is based in Europe. Currently, Conneworld operates in Europe and Asia. Conneworld is facing significant challenges in the market. Some of them include; first, Conneworld products are not well known in the international market. Second, the company is facing significant competition. Some of the competitors have well-established brands and have been in operation for some time thus they are able to attain customer loyalty.

Like any other organization, the company has objectives as well as key issues that affect its operation. Change and competition are among matters concerning the corporation while it aims to enhance communication and, at the same, increase sales. Key issues are derived from situation analysis whereby SWOT and PESTLE analyses are conducted. Throughout this paper, skills taught in Cesim Simbrand are exhibited.

Reflective Report

Introduction

The smartphone industry is booming with new companies entering the market Samsung and Apple are the leading companies worldwide, however, in Asian market new companies have emerged, and they are competing with these two giant manufacturers of smartphones (Millward, 2014). In the communications and technology industry, change is inevitable. Companies in this industry have to exhibit great innovative skills so as to survive the changes.

Conneworld is a new company entering the global market. It is a newly founded corporation thus has no history in the market. Its products are not well known to the customers. The company produces high-quality smartphones at lower prices. Conneworld’s logo is a clear, detailed image of people holding hands and messages written: the connecting world, where the name of the company is derived.

Conneworld is an international company targeting various markets all over the world. The company is based in Europe. Currently, Conneworld operates in Europe and Asia. The corporation is facing significant challenges in the market. Some of them include; first, Conneworld products are not well known in the international market. Second, the firm is facing significant competition. Some of the competitors have well-established brands and have been in operation for some time thus they are able to attain customer loyalty.

However, the company has some advantages that it needs to exploit so as to achieve a competitive advantage over its competitors. Some of these benefits or rather opportunities include; first, Conneworld is producing products at a lower price. The price of the product is almost half of the price of outputs manufactured by other competitors like Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics. Second, Conneworld Company manufactures products that are compatible with various operating systems of other corporations. Third, the performance of smartphones produced by the Conneworld company is great thus the product is of exceptional quality.

Body

Situation analysis

So as to understand the Conneworld Company better various studies have to be carried out. Some of these researches include situation analysis whereby the micro, as well as macro environment, will be analyzed. To efficiently conduct such examination various forces influencing the company have to be evaluated. The analysis is conducted through SWOT and PESTLE analysis (Pearce & Robinson, 2000).

SWOT analysis. Strengths. Like any other company, Conneworld Company has particular advantages that enable the firm to compete with other enterprises. Some of these strengths include; first, Conneworld Company serves the international market which grants it significant market share to cover. Second, Conneworld Company products are compatible with other operating systems. The compatibility makes it possible for the company to target various markets and thus to increase its market share.

Weaknesses. Conneworld Company is a new entrant in the international market. It is concentrated in European markets even though it is expanding to other markets like the Asian market. Such orientation is hazardous for the company since failure in the European market can affect the performance of the corporation negatively. The miscarriage can be attributed to new entries offering substitutes to the product of Conneworld Company.

Opportunities. The smartphone market is enlarging every day as consumers from various geographical locations embrace technology. Conneworld Company offers products at affordable prices in response to the high demands thus covering markets in developed as well as developing countries. Low prices have increased sales of the company and this strategy grants the company a competitive advantage over other corporations like Apple and Blackberry whose prices are very high.

Threats. Globalization has made it possible for new companies to enter the international market. New firms producing substitutes for existing products are entering the market and thus high competition is experienced. Competition threatens the operation of the company.

PESTLE Analysis. Under the PESTLE analysis, external forces influencing the operation of the company are evaluated. Politics is one of these factors affecting the activity of the organization. Conneworld is an international company serving various countries with different political regimes. For instance, there are countries with democratic rule and others with a monarchical form of government. The economic difference in the international market is another force that affects the operation of the company. Conneworld ventures in various types of economies as it sells its products in developed as well as developing countries. The company operates in the communication and technology industry. As technology changes, the activity of the company is affected since strategies have to be formulated to help the company survive the change.

Society and culture are the other external factor influencing the operation of the company. People from different locations have different tastes and preferences. Some people are conservative and do not welcome change thus not embracing the product manufactured by Conneworld as they perceive the product as a threat to their culture. However, many consumers around the globe are adopting technology thus affecting the operations of Conneworld Company positively. The environment is one more factor influencing the functioning of the corporation. Climate change has increased sensitivity and thus services monitoring so as to curb the emission of carbon that has caused global warming. The last factor is the legal issues. Under this section, various laws have been implemented dictating the minimum wage as well as the working hours of any employee. This factor has affected the cost of production of the company thus resulting to constrain on the execution of cheap price products strategy.

Key Issues

In its operations, Conneworld like any other communication and technology company comes across various issues. Some of these problems include change and competition. The situation analysis conducted above shows that any company in this industry has to exhibit exceptional innovative skills. The reason for this is the fact that technology is consistently changing, and companies are always evolving their products. For example, Apple Inc. began its operation several years ago with producing Macintosh series of products. So as to keep up with the changes the company was forced to improve its products to the latest Macintosh laptops. The difference between the first products of the company and products manufactured now is very high. The ability of the company to improve its products and to keep up with the changes has helped Apple Inc. to stay in operation for this long (Victor, 2012).

Keeping up with change is expensive. Various activities are carried out so that the company can improve its products and at the same time satisfy customers. Some of these activities include conducting market research. While carrying it out customer feedback is analyzed, and the product is improved to address the comments made by the consumers. This process ensures that customer satisfaction is achieved thus his loyalty is received. Customer loyalty brings about increased sales and thus more profit is experienced; the company thus accomplishes its objectives (Victor, 2012).

In the technology industry, various companies are emerging. For instance, in the Asian market, various companies have developed, especially Chinese smartphone manufacturers, like Xioma. These companies produce substitutes for products offered by Conneworld Company. These smartphones are of low prices and thus attracting more customers. Competition forces the company to formulate strategies that help it attain competitive advantage and, at the same time, accomplish its objectives and goals (Victor, 2012).

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Objectives

To be successful a company has to set clear objectives that it has to accomplish (Pearce & Robinson, 2000). Like any other corporation, Conneworld Company has various objectives. First, Conneworld Company aims to enhance communication. Under this objective, the firm provides customers with communication devices to enable them to get in touch despite the distance at a low cost. In this regard, the company produces products that are almost half the prices of products manufactured by Samsung Electronics. Therefore, people from developing countries can purchase the smartphone and thus able to connect with people from other regions through Facebook and Twitter. Second, Conneworld aims to increase its sales thus improving its profit. Third, the company targets to provide its customers with a qualitative substitute for a product offered by giant smartphone makers like Samsung and Apple Inc.

Strategies

So as to achieve these objectives, Conneworld Company has to establish relevant strategies. In management, it is a crucial aspect. Strategies act as guidelines for managers. They help them know how to coordinate resources so as to achieve the objectives set (Anderson, Sweeney, Williams, Camm & Martin, 2011). There are various forms of strategies that organizations follow so as to accomplish their purposes. Some of these types of strategies include; business level strategy, corporate strategy, and entrepreneurial strategy as well as cross-border strategy. On a business-level strategy, Conneworld decided to formulate a hybrid strategy. It means that the company can produce high-quality products. Also, the strategy enables the company to manufacture products that are affordable to all sets of customers, especially, cost-sensitive consumers. Under the corporate strategy, Conneworld Company has decided to undertake an imitative strategy. It means that the company copies what is already presented in the market, for instance, the company offers smartphones at low prices like most of the Chinese smartphone makers. However, the corporation has to improve its products so it can attain a competitive advantage over other firms.

Due to political and regulation differences existing in various countries, Conneworld Company has to establish an individual cross-border strategy. This step is crucial as the firm serves the international market. The managerial team of Conneworld Company decided first to venture into markets that share laws and regulations dictated by PESTLE factors. As an entrepreneurial strategy, the company has taken an offensive approach. In this regard, the corporation has copied other companies in the market. Conneworld Company combines these types of strategies to create a general strategy that helps the company to satisfy its customers and, at the same time, increase its sales thus accomplishing its objectives.

Decision Assessment

In order to know whether the strategy was effective or not decision assessment is necessary. So far, the business level strategy formulated by the managerial team has been of a positive impact on the success of the company. This is so since the firm can manufacture products for all economy classes that are the rich and the poor. It is obvious since the company offers products at a lower price yet the quality of the product is high. In this regard, the corporation can achieve its objective of enhancing communication and, at the same time, increase its sales. Due to this, the company can enlarge its market share and thus make more sales which results in increased profit. The corporate strategy, however, needs to be improved. The company is producing what is already present in the market; it may become hard for the firm to attract customers since they can get what Conneworld Company is offering from other manufacturers of their choice.

The managerial team has to display excellent decision-making skills in this regard, or the company would fail to accomplish its objectives. Cross-border strategy, on the other hand, would help the company enter the international market at a low cost. Targeting markets with similarities will enable the company to venture in diverse markets and thus increase its market share. Using this approach results in higher sales and thus the higher profit is gained. The entrepreneurial strategy has also to be improved. The change in corporate strategy would affect the approach of the company. For instance, if the firm adjusts its strategy to be pioneering it is forced to change its approach from offensive to defensive. Conneworld Company has invested a lot in advertising as well as exploiting the concept of the marketing mix so as to make the product known and thus attract more customers (Freeman, 2010).

Decision Rationale

Forecasting is essential for any continued success of an organization to be realized (Polasky, Carpenter, Folke & Keeler, 2011). Conneworld Company has decided to embrace the aspect of the advertisement, so as to make the avant-garde design. The international market seems to be promising to the company even though it has only ventured into one region. If the corporation continues to improve its strategies in the next five years, it would have entered into many markets. According to decision round four, the high-end segment seems to appreciate the products Conneworld Company is offering. However, low-end segment customers have not completely approved products manufactured by the firm. Lack of the products being appreciated in low-end segment customers creates an opportunity that ought to be exploited. Due to the advertisements used in the near future, the company’s product will be appreciated by low-end segment customers, too, thus the sales will increase.

Currently, Conneworld Company employs media advertisements as well as internet marketing. These advertisement channels are not enough, and the corporation has to use poster advertisements as well as to conduct rallies whereby the company would deploy roadshow advertisements. Using all these forms of promotion, the company can reach out to many people. While conducting the roadshow the corporation can mix promotions and products in relation to the concept of the marketing mix to enhance effective advertisement (Proctor, 2014). Under this combination, company executives can demonstrate to potential customers the advantages of the product and thus attract more consumers (Gronroos & Shostack, 1983).

Simulation Assessment

According to the fourth round of decision making, smartphone markets are forecasted to continue growing rapidly. This process can be explained by the fact that economies are improving with various markets embracing the introduction of smartphones. Future growth predicted in the second round seems to be possible as there are different segments in the markets whereas the product appears to be appreciated in only one segment. The segment, not appreciating the product manufactured by the firm, acts as a potential market for Conneworld Company.

Decisions made in the fourth rounds seem to be effective in helping the company achieve its objectives as well as goals. These decisions would impact positively on the performance of the firm in the near future. For instance, the decision of abandoning advertisements would cost the company significantly. This solution is relevant as the company is not known to many, and advertisement is the only way to make the company’s products being known to potential customers.

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The decisions raised in these rounds also help formulate a strategy that the company can follow so as to improve its performance. According to them, the corporation has targeted particular potential customers. In regard to this, the company will be able to tailor-make products to satisfy the needs of these clients. In return, the firm would attain customer loyalty which is a competitive advantage. The performance of the company is thus affected positively as more sales are done which results in higher profit as well as communication enhancing. Communication is enhanced when large numbers of people have communications devices like smartphones. The performance of an organization is considered successful if it can achieve its objectives. In this case, the decision attributes to the accomplishment of the goals thus the performance of the Conneworld Company being successful (Parnell, Driscoll & Henderson, 2011).

The decision made in the fourth round also shows that the company has the potential market to exploit. This is an opportunity that the company has to use so as to enhance the accomplishment of its objectives. Forecasting made in the fourth round is therefore valid as it is clear that if the company uses the potential market it can experience rapid growth. The intention of the firm to use the potential market promotes the achievement of the objectives. In this regard, market saturation experienced in the European market would not affect the performance of the market as it would have ventured into the Asian market where the product is not saturated (Cesim Simbrand, 2014).

According to the decision of round four, it is clear that differences in segments experienced in the European market are not as great as the differences in the Asian market (Cesim Simbrand, 2014). These differences have a great influence on the performance of the company. The distinction can be attributed to the fact that Europe is a developed continent while Asia is a developing continent.

Decisions made by my team are not far from the decisions made by other groups. This is so since the decisions are the same thus suggesting that I was able to complete the task in Cesim Simbrand successfully. Through simulation assessment, I am able to identify the skills that I have acquired while performing this task. I was able to understand the process of decision making as well as to find out that decisions made in operations of any organization significantly influence its performance.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is clear that strategies are crucial for the positive performance of an organization. They help the managerial team to allocate resources so as to accomplish the objectives. With a clear strategy in place, the smooth accomplishment of the objectives and goals can be realized. Apart from having strategies, the decision-making process is vital, Simbrand helps understand this fact. One way or another, the decision-making process influences the execution of strategies and thus affects the performance of any organization. For decision-making to be made effectively, organizations have to realize the alternatives so that they can choose the best decision that affects their operation positively. Situation analysis helps the decision-making process as it enables people to understand the operating environment of the organization better. A better understanding of the operating environment helps to make the best decisions thus smooth execution of strategies that result in the accomplishment of organizational objectives can be granted.