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This analytical paper seeks to analyze the operations of Horizon Foods Company which is specialized in food production. The characteristics of market served by Horizon Foods and problems facing its operation are also applauded. In addition, the treatise examines the possible causes of these challenges and recommendations which a task force would adopt in order to restore efficiency, optimal productivity, and market segmentation. The guidelines to this analysis are the following questions.
What are the characteristics of the market served by Horizon Foods Company?
The market served by Horizon Foods is largely unutilized. At present, the company has no strategic marketing plan and only operates on sketchy blue print as the main marketing tool. Guidance, support, and leadership skills offered by top management serve to influence the market expansion (Coyle et al.734). The market consists of different segments of customers who experience unreliability of supplies from Horizon Company. This is a primary market where competition is minimal.
What problems exist at Horizon Foods?
Horizon Foods has no quantifiable marketing strategic plan to influence competitive and satisfactory business operations. To facilitate control and demarcation of a territorial market, long term series of plans should be the basis of marketing orientation strategy. Advertisement accounts for only two percent of product promotion.
Due to this, the company is not aware of the needs of various customers of different segments of the market (Coyle et al.734). It is unfortunate that the company loses many orders and customers because of lack of the capacity to meet such demands. Though the market seems available, top management team assumes formlessness in decision making and planning for inventory balancing for financial sustainability.
Production capacity cannot meet demand. As a result, the company is unable to efficiently manage inventory and distribution. The distribution and communication channel, which facilitate finance and marketing operations, are empty. With no proper warehouse, storage and subsequent delivery are in a pathetic form. As a result, the supply chain is wanting as it has no network echelons.
Why do you think these problems exist?
These problems occur due to lack of planning for market segmentation. Horizon Foods Company lacks for a quantifiable market creation, identification, and distribution strategies.
Marketing plan is inclusive of comprehensive forecasting tools. Since these tools are unavailable, it is almost impossible for the company to determine distribution monitoring compliments, such as the moving and weighted moving averages (Coyle et al. 734).
As a result, collaboration between marketing research survey and production is null and void. Subsequently, the company loses out on the benefits attached to an established marketing and distribution channels.
Another contributor to market unreliability is disorganization of the operations facets (Coyle et al. 734). Horizon Foods Company has no coordinating agencies for smother operations across its departments for sale and production to finance them.
There is no quality assurance and control team responsible for costing, appraisal, evaluation, and review of the distribution and production patterns. Since this part is inactive in the operation system, Horizon Foods Company cannot outsource and plan for production scheduling, distribution channeling, and marketing flow-through.
Thirdly, the marketing and manufacturing objectives are in conflict with the financial objective. Financial objective is to optimize profit. However, here, the distribution and marketing objective are lacking. Due to distribution, the financial objective is met. Unfortunately, Horizon Foods Company neither has ERP systems nor SAP which is responsible for maintaining customer-client relationship.
What would you suggest the company gaining “control over this product movement process”?
The task force team should concentrate on improving the demand side by financing efficiency in production. Besides, operational segmentation of the distribution pattern should reflect the consumers demand. In addition, at least 10% of the total production cost should go on marketing and product promotion.
Financing efficiency in production should influence profitability positively as long as the mode of funding is flexible enough to spread the risk across a definite period of operation. However, financing efficiency may require borrowing from financial institutions pegged on feasibility review.
Operation segmentation ensures accountability, responsibility, and efficiency of the production bundles, such as labor, capital, and equipment renting. Unfortunately, if the system is uncontrolled, it may sneak in unnecessary bureaucratic movements within the company and incite conflicts of interest. Marketing exposes company’s products to potential consumers. Marketing facilitates increased sales output. However, this is dependent on the opinion and reception of the targeted consumers and group and availability of funds.
Work Cited
Coyle, John J., Langley, John, Jr. C., Gibson, Brian J., Novack, Robert A., and Edward J. Bardi. Supply Chain Management: A Logistics Perspective. 8th ed. Alabama: Cengage Learning, 2008. Print.
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