Tech Time, Business Plan Example

Company Structure

With the current focus on expansion and growth into software sales and development, it is important to address the structure of the company, including its primary divisions and their levels of interaction upon which specific business-related decisions are made that impact the organization as a whole.

The website services department is responsible for providing services to its customers in regards to website design, development, implementation, and maintenance. This group must maintain constant and positive communication with its customers in order to improve customer satisfaction, retention, and to attract new customers to the organization with a successful and proven service.

The software development department is responsible for the design and development of new website software that will be sold to market to customers who are looking to develop their own websites with an established platform in place. This group currently possesses the responsibility of developing, testing, and introducing the proposed software package to market, in conjunction with the work of other departments in order to achieve success with this new product in the future.

The sales department is responsible for conducting sales calls, identifying customers who may be interested in the website services that are currently available and future software programs, and to retain customers through continuous communication and support from the marketing team in order to expand sales and revenues for the organization, particularly as it plans to launch a new product to market in the near future.

The finance department is responsible for managing all financial-related objectives and performance measures for the organization. This includes regular financial analyses and projections, as well as areas such as accounts payable and accounts receivable to ensure that all customers receive the services that they are promised by the firm and make all of their payments in a timely manner.

The marketing department is responsible for all areas of marketing and promotion for the organization, including advertising in the form of radio, print, online, and television promotion as needed, the development of sales flyers and other promotional materials to disseminate to interested and probable customers, and the continued expansion of marketing efforts to encompass the new software to be introduced to market in the future.

The human resources department is responsible for recruiting, hiring, training, and supporting the needs of all employees, including but not limited to issues regarding compensation, benefits, grievances, legal and labor-based regulations and requirements, and supporting a vast paper trail regarding all employees and their history of employment within the organization.

The operations department is responsible for conducting and managing all operations, from design and manufacturing, to integrating these areas with marketing, finance, human resources, and sales in order to ensure that the organization is able to operate under a strong infrastructure with the most qualified employees in place to perform the required roles and responsibilities of the business.

Recently, the organization has struggled with communication among its different divisions and with respect to idea sharing and acceptance. Since there is a lack of discussion regarding a number of issues, this requires an examination of the critical areas where the organization has faltered and where its employees have not been motivated to share their ideas with others. It is important for each department to identify its relationship to other departments and to recognize the need for open communication and information sharing among colleagues, all of which will promote a more positive and meaningful approach to the business and its operations over the long term. For example, the marketing department cannot perform its duties without the information that is required to promote the products and services that are available, and this is achieved through a greater understanding of the roles and responsibilities of the website and software teams. In addition, finance cannot bill for services and manage projections without figures and revenues which are generated by the sales team. Each of these pieces requires an examination of key variables that ultimately contribute to the overall direction and focus of the organization in the context of its operations and core values. Understanding these relationships more effectively will play a critical role in shaping the environment in which the organization is able to operate and function at an optimal level.

Communication

The case study demonstrates that communication within the organization is sorely lacking in many areas and requires further analysis and evaluation from all employees in order to identify possible solutions to existing problems. It is necessary to develop a greater understanding of the communication barriers that currently exist and to recognize the value of enhancing each division of the organization by minimizing these challenges and aiming to improve communication at all levels. This is a difficult challenge that requires continuous improvement because it reflects a need to explore the areas where communication is sorely lacking in order to address possible solutions that may have a positive impact on the organization and its people. There are considerable efforts required by all divisions in order to accomplish improvements in communication that will contribute to positive and lasting results, all of which will trickle down to the customer base in a positive manner.

First and foremost, the leader of each division within the organization must learn how to effectively communicate in order to achieve the desired outcomes in minimizing limitations and challenges that exist throughout as a direct results of these barriers. There are significant issues that must be addressed that influence how decisions are made at the organizational level, and some of these limitations may include competition within the organizational ranks, frustration with between the older division and the newer one out of jealousy or the reallocation of resources, and a lack of understanding regarding the needs of employees within each division and how they must communicate in order to achieve the intended results. There are many layers where communication is limited and under which it is often difficult to focus on the needs of the customer base. Therefore, it is necessary for each employee to take a step back and to look at the larger picture of the organization in order to be effective in meeting its goals and objectives over the short and long term.

It is important for employees within each division to be cognizant of the consequences of poor communication, particularly as the organization currently struggles with its efforts to launch a new software product to add to its existing portfolio. The manager of the software division must be willing to share information with other areas of management in order to share the ideas and knowledge that are required to meet expectations and to demonstrate an ability to work proactively towards a set of common and realistic expectations. The communication strategy that must be considered for implementation involves weekly meetings among the management team in order to establish goals, expectations, and other needs within the context of other groups within the organization. The weekly meeting approach will incorporate a predetermined agenda in order to satisfy the needs of the group and which will encourage individuals to play an important role in shaping the dynamic of the communication infrastructure within the organization that will affect employees at all levels. Weekly meetings will serve as a first step in accomplishing these objectives and in demonstrating a need for sound and reasonable communication at all levels.

This communication strategy will improve the already existing structure because it will enable the management team to recognize its weaknesses with respect to communication in an attempt to minimize these issues and to improve outcomes for all areas of the organization. In addition to the weekly management meeting, other recommendations include a different leader each week who will moderate the meeting and direct the discussion to align with the predetermined agenda, as well as an email summary of the meeting and mandatory comments from the management team to be provided via email to the moderator before the next week’s meeting. These comments will be shared among the management team in order to address areas of need and barriers that may be impacting the organization on a variety of levels. It is believed that these options will be useful in addressing the needs of the organization and in expanding the knowledge and resources that are shared in a professional manner. It is believed that this strategy will promote full disclosure and will enhance the deliverables that must be met by each department in the context of contributing to the greater good of the organization across all divisional areas.

Management

Each manager who attends the weekly meeting is responsible for executing the vision of the organization that has been identified and which may evolve over time; therefore, these managers must share this vision with their staff members and also be prepared to meet any required deliverables within the proposed timeframe. The key to a successful framework and infrastructure is to communicate the issues that are relevant to all teams and to ensure that the responsibilities of each team are clearly identified and supported by the management team as a whole. If there are differences in opinion regarding how these activities should be carried out, this may interfere with the ability of the organization to reach its full potential. As a result, it is important for the team to recognize its inherent talent pool and to optimize the knowledge and resources that are available in order to meet the broader goals of the organization. Each manager must be able to address the outcomes of the weekly meeting with staff members and apply these recommendations within their respective divisions; for example, open communication must include sharing schedules and limiting overlap in resource allocation and in projects that could be enhanced by cross-divisional support and collaboration. This could be applied to the website development, software, and marketing departments, for example, through shared ideas and resources that will enhance sales growth, the quality of the products and services that are available, and the financial matters that are impacted by these decisions in different ways. This will engage managers and employees in identifying areas where efficiency and cost effectiveness might be achieved through cross-cultural collaboration across different teams to improve organizational performance.

Marketing Strategies

Product: The website design service has been successful to date, but the emergence of the software product requires an examination of the projected target audience in order to market the program to the appropriate groups once it is available.

Price: The new and unproven software product has not yet launched; therefore, the appropriate price point and marketing strategy to identify potential sales targets must be established prior to its official launch. This will enable the product to sell without succumbing to keeping excess inventory on hand.

Place: The prioduct in question must be targeted to the appropriate groups within desirable market areas. Customers seeking software solutions for web design may live throughout the world; therefore, an international marketing approach must be considered if the product is feasible for international sales.

Promotion: It is expected that the promotional strategy for the new software program will be contingent upon the product’s deliverables and level of practicality for consumers. Therefore, promotion must be specific for a given target audience and must reflect a need to further explore the context of advancing the product through a successful launch and promotional strategy to improve its level of success.

Economics

From an economic perspective, identifying areas of weakness within the business model will be useful in advancing the positive economic potential of the product over time. Factors such as competition within the industry and branding may be challenging and require an economic analysis in order to achieve the desired financial results upon launch and for the foreseeable future.

Global Business

This product would benefit from expansion because the product may be sold worldwide and could attract customers from around the world that are interested in purchasing the product for their own use. At the same time, legal restrictions regarding software across different countries could limit the potential of the product to be successful in an international platform. It is important to identify the risks of launch as well as the benefits of an international presence in supporting the product and its potential for successful growth and opportunity over the long term.