Whittaker’s or J H Whittaker is a reputed confectionary located in New Zealand. This business organization is currently second largest chocolate brand that operates in New Zealand. It has been seen that the management of the business organization somehow owns more than 40% of the chocolate market of New Zealand which can be looked at as a major success of the business organization (Clarkson et al., 2015). It has also been observed that more than 30% of the production of the organization gets exported to many countries and the business concern is generating a good reputation of the New Zealand’s chocolate industry and also becoming a global brand day by day. The organization was founded by James Henry Whittaker in the year of 1896 in Christchurch and it has earned huge reputation in their domestic market of operation (Humphries, 2017). The business organization earned a good reputation due to their good quality products and also for the company’s strong initiatives regarding social responsibilities.
The analysis has shown that the company was not taking in to consideration the use of effective communication that had led to the losses. The company also needs to get a better insight regarding the CSR theories so that it can promote the products in the market along with the advance use of technology. The report also provides recommendations based on the findings so that the company can take up the policies and increase its rate of attraction in the market.
The aim of the research will be that to provide suitable recommendations to the company so that it can help in increasing their market attraction among the customers: This can be done by the following ways:
The scope of the project will be to take the company in to consideration and increase their consumers in the New Zealand market. The project will cover fundamental theories regarding effective communication so that it can provide a better insight to the company. It will also provide ideas regarding the use of social media so that it can attract the consumers towards the company that are present in the market.
The primary purpose of the project is to give an overview regarding the characteristics that the company needs to take up so that it can interact with the consumers in a better manner. The increased rate of interaction with the consumers will result in increasing the competitive advantage of the company in the market.
The communication that is effective in nature is necessary for the business to improve its operations. The use of proper communication techniques will help the management in planning, organizing, controlling and motivating the employees. The use of communication also helps in building relationships with the employees so that the duties and responsibilities entrusted upon them can be carried out in a proper manner (Shockley-Zalabak, 2014).
Organizational communication helps in addressing primary areas that are present within the business. This helps in eliminating the forced communication that is present within the organization as well. The advantages of communication in the organization are as follows:
(Kramer, 2014)
Communication is one of the vital pillars of management. It is very important for the management to use communication so that the confidence of the employees can be increased (Wehmeier & Winkler, 2013)). Communication can be non-verbal or verbal in nature that will help the administration in giving proper insights to the employees.
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is one of the basic practices of business that are being accepted by the organizations. Most of the business organizations are taking up CSR practices so that it can help in building a proper image and reputation in the market (Costa & Menichini, 2013).
The CSR techniques plays an integral role in increasing the competitive level of the organization so that it can help in giving an advantage to the firm. This helps the company in making proper arrangements so that it can help the business to prosper in its operating market. It also helps the company in being closely associated with the stakeholders as well (Huang, Cheng & Chen, 2017).
The primary focus of the business organization is to achieve its sales target by increasing the level of production so that a better rate of return can be provided to the stakeholders and the employees. The European Commission had stated that CSR is the accumulation of duties by the organization that has a positive impact on the society (Siddiq & Javed, 2014)
The business organizations that take up CSR activities helps in increasing their level of profit to a significant level. Additionally, the organizations that take up CSR activities are also more committed towards benefitting the customers so that they can maintain goodwill in the market (Clarkson et al., 2015).
The use of CSR in the organization helps the management in reducing the level of liability in the society so that they can continue with its operations in a proper manner. Most of the firms in the recent times are taking up CSR policies so that it can help them in managing their work environment in a proper manner and the employees can be motivated as well.
Corporate social duty gives employees a feeling of unparalleled joy. The representatives take pride in teaching needy individuals who have not received go to customary schools and get formal instruction. The use of CSR exercises helps in strengthening the bond between the employees so that they can work together as a team (Costa & Menichini, 2013). The changes in the corporate levels due to the increase in the devotion time of the employees help in increasing the level of production so that more products can be available in the market. This will help the customers in connecting with the customers so that better rate of returns can be seen in the organization (Siddiq & Javed, 2014). It also helps in increasing the level of trust of the customers towards the organization, which results in increasing the customer base as well.
The competitive nature that is present among the organizations help in increasing the work environment in a positive manner (Costa & Menichini, 2013). This will help in reducing the shift hours of the employees so that they can maintain the balance between work and life.
Innovation and introducing latest technology efficiently affects the operations of business. The use of latest technologies help the organization in gaining advantages so that the management can earn better profits by increasing the level of production as well. The use of proper framework helps in increasing the business relations so that the data that is being stored can be secured as well.
The use of innovative technologies help the organization in maintaining a positive relationship with the customers due to the change in the user-interface (Nah & Saxton, 2013). The raw materials can be purchased at a proper manner and the deficiency can be identified as well. It also helps in increasing the level of communication so that the firm can manufacture the products at a faster rate (Trainor et al., 2014).
The use of innovation also helps the organization in dealing with the needs so that the production can be enhanced and the assets of the company can be stored in a proper manner as well. The distribution centers also help in dealing with the expenses that are related to storing the products so that it can be made available in the market (Scarborough & Corbett, 2013).
Most business organizations of the today’s world are accountable to security dangers and vandalism in the workplace by any kind of third party sources. The use of the latest technologies help in securing the information that are related to money and other data so that the organization can maintain a competitive advantage in the market (Johnston & Marshall, 2013). The use of proper security gateway allows the business in securing the prospective data that cannot be accessed by other companies.
Collection of data can be done by two types, either by collecting primary data or by collecting secondary data relevant to the topic of the project. Primary data can be collected by the researcher by interviewing the respondents of the research or by surveying the researcher can collect data which may appear important in the course of action of the project (Taylor, Bogdan & DeVault, 2015). On the other hand, information can be collected from numerous secondary sources also and those are company websites, annual report of the chosen business organization, numerous government and private websites, journals, books and many more.
For this particular business project data had been collected from numerous secondary sources of information like journals, books, websites and magazines.
Qualitative data analysis is a scientific method where the researcher after collecting information relevant to the topic of the research project can analyze the non-numerical data. This type of research work refers to the definitions, concepts metaphors, and descriptions of numerous objects and many more and is immensely useful to conduct the research work.
Quantitative research and data analysis is another useful tactic to conduct the research work accurately (Silverman, 2016). It may be referred to as an empirical investigation of observable phenomena by mathematical and computational strategies. The researcher can choose quantitative research in order to develop mathematical models and hypothesis and important theories. Quantitative data analysis can be performed when the researcher has to analyze any mathematical data.
The literature review that has been conducted provided insights regarding the use of effective communication so that it can help the company in interacting with the important stakeholders as well as the consumers. The researcher has considered analyzing it with the secondary sources, as there are many literature available with respect to communication and the ways through which it can be enhanced within the organization. CSR is also an important aspect of the company, as it will help in gaining popularity of the company in the market where they are operating. It helps the company in connecting with the society so that it can increase its market attraction.
The use of technologies will also be studied using the secondary sources, as it will help the researcher in providing better recommendation with the use of advanced technological methods. The use of the technologies that will be beneficial for the company will help in increasing the level of efficiency of the company as well so that the more number of products can be delivered in the market.
It is nearly impossible to establish; whether to lower the cost of the company and at the same time increasing the generation of revenues. There are several factors that influence within a domestic or international market. It can be observed from the collected data that the company Whittaker’s has applied several methods to increase the revenue so far (Taylor, Bogdan & DeVault, 2015). The company understands the fundamental metrics of increasing profitability; therefore they prefer increasing their annual revenue to a certain scale. In terms to increasing the sales, Whittaker’s has applied a successful marketing strategy so far, however, from the collected information; it can be found out that the company has not been able to provide much benefit to the customers. There have been several stock clearance sales; however the company has not conducted any other procedure for identifying its customers’ choice so that they can offer more benefits in order to increase the sales. The collected data also indicates the face that Whittaker’s has always picked a right price for its customers after a detailed research on the other competitors. However it can still be observed that the company has products that are mostly high end. As indicated in the annual report of Whittaker’s, the company has been able to reduce costs in order to increase its profitability, however in last few years the profit margin has not been significantly high.
Whittaker’s has always utilized the traditional methods for communicating within the organization along with its customers. The annual reports indicate that the company has allotted a huge budget for the organizational communication. The company recruits a group of employees every year who can communicate with the customers and the other stakeholders face to face (Taylor, Bogdan & DeVault, 2015). This form of organizational communication has been given the most importance in the company so far. In addition to that Whittaker’s also communicate with its stakeholders through telephonic communication. It has offered the management of the organization to get instant feedback about their products and service, therefore telephonic communication has been much praised in the company. The company also put importance on the print and broadcast media for promoting their products to a wide range of customers (Bartel, Baldi & Dukerich, 2016). The company publishes newsletters, advertisements in newspapers and magazines, brochures and journals in order to communicate with its target customers and promote their products. In terms of broadcast media, Whittaker’s utilizes channels like radio and television to reach their customers. These channels have been effectively utilized for product promotion and branding of the company. In the recent times, the company has taken different means for marketing through the social media channels such as Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube; however, this has not been much successful. The company has official pages on the social media websites, but it can be observed that these pages have not been much popular amongst the customers.
The collected data indicates that Whittaker’s has not collaborated with any of their competitors so far both in the domestic and international market. As the company is considered to be the second largest chocolate brand in New Zealand, the company has taken over more than 41% of the domestic market, however in the international market; it has only been able to expand in Malaysia (Whittaker’s 2018). Nearly 30% of the products of the company are exported, yet the company seems to lack in bringing innovation to most of its products (Whittaker’s 2018). Furthermore, it can also be observed that the company has not collaborated with any of its competitors for any such combined products or any other ventures. The company reports and journals indicate that there have not been innovative and successful collaboration solutions for the company as well. The marketing campaigns have always been conducted with the in-house employees; therefore a major lack in the marketing strategy can be recognized.
From the above data analysis, it can be observed that Whittaker’s does not offer much benefit to its customers and most of their products are high end ones, which are difficult for the consumers to purchase where the company is operating. Even in the international market, the company has not been able to expand much due to a lack in its pricing strategy and poor networking. In order to do that the company requires to significantly applying a marketing strategy that can drive their sales up. This can be done through reducing the production costs as well, as the company can also get more innovations to the products by bringing new product ranges in the market. However, it can be observed that reducing production cost may not be a great idea in this purpose, as Whittaker’s always prefers providing the best products to its customers. The company has been a trusted brand in the country since its inception; however Whittaker’s can consider applying sustainable methods for producing the chocolates. If sustainable chocolates are produced by the company, it can initially increase the costs however in the long run it will be adequately effective to increase the profitability of the company. At the same time the company needs to identify their problems so that they can bring the solutions to it. In terms of increasing sales price marketing has been considered to be quite popular as it can communicate the values to the customers who are mostly price oriented. Therefore Whittaker’s requires reviewing the existing marketing and pricing strategy for increasing their sales in both the domestic and international markets.
The company has so far utilized the traditional communication methods for both the internal and external communication. They have not banned the social media channels however it has not been much effective for the company as well. However it is worthwhile to mention that social media marketing has evolved its uses beyond the conventional marketing ideas and it has been proved to be an effective customer service tool and important medium for communication amongst the stakeholders. Therefore the company needs to be more flexible with the social media channels. Even if some companies like Whittaker’s have considered social media channels as a major obstacle to increase their productivity it needs to be understood that if there is a balanced usage and it is correctly manage social media channels can improve the overall efficiency of the workplace to great extent in both the terms of business procedures and boosting the employee morale. In addition to that it can be mentioned social media can be providing more ways for the external business usage as it can give a Direct Access to the wide range of customers in both the domestic and international market. In addition to that it can also improve the brand awareness and project the brand identity in a positive light in front of the customers. It can also be seen that social media usage can help the companies to build a sense of trust even if they are communicating with the customers in a casual way. They can also reach out to the people who adore and support the brand along with learning there major interest can help the business process to enhance and it can also provide a foundation to a successful marketing strategy as well. It has been observed that if a company maintains a strong presence in the social media they can easily build an authoritative and trustworthy brand image in the market.
Business collaborations can also be effective for Whittaker’s as it can increase the engagement of the employees and it will provide the company much lesser time to reach their target customer base. Collaborating can also foster innovations in the company along with redefining the work force. If Whittaker’s collaborate with their competitors for bringing a new product range they can also give more information and knowledge to share, therefore it will enhance the assets of the company as well.
Conclusion
To conclude, it can be said that the company, Whittaker’s needs to come up with various effective business strategies that can help them to boost their sales not only in the country, but also in the international market. The company aims to become the top chocolate seller in New Zealand, therefore it would require effective strategies along with reviewing their existing ones for further modifying. With a successful usage of the social media and an effective marketing strategy along with successful collaborations with other competitors for bringing innovation in the product line, Whittaker’s can easily reach its goals and objective. In order to do that, the company may need some of the effectual strategies to follow. The next section of this report provides some potential recommendations that can be applied for achieving the goals within a given timeframe.
Thus it can be recommended that the organization needs to communicate with the employees in an effective manner so that it can help the employees in organizing the work in a proper manner. The use of proper communication will also help the employees in providing valuable feedbacks so that the management can take necessary steps that will help the company to run in a smooth manner. It will also help in motivating the employees, as effective communication will lead to understanding the problems that are being faced by them in the work place. This will result in making the work environment friendlier in nature.
The use of proper communication in the work place will also result in providing proper data to the employees so that they can understand the nature of work that needs to be carried out in the work place. This will help the employees in understanding the duties and responsibilities that they have toward the organization so that it can result in the success of the company.
The CSR activities that will be taken up by the company will help in meeting the needs of the society as well. This will help the customers to be attracted towards the company due to the fact that the company will be taking up the strategies that will help in reducing the environmental issues. The stakeholders of the company as well will have proper information regarding the work that is being carried out in the organization so that it can be transparent in nature.
The CSR activities will also help the company in building up a better reputation in the market so that the customers can switch from other brands to the company. This will help in increasing the base of the customers so that the level of profits can increase as well. This will result in providing competitive advantage to the company so that it can help in providing efficient services.
The use of technological advancements in the company will result in reducing the cost of production, as the use of machines will help in reducing the time to a great extent. This will help in increasing the level of production so that the products can help in increasing the level of profits as well. The innovation will also help the company in tackling the customers in a proper manner, as it will help in gathering proper feedback from them regarding the products that are being available in the market.
The company with the help of latest technologies will also avoid the accidents that may take place among the employees, which may hamper the level of production. This is due to the fact that the use of machineries will reduce the manual labor to a great extent. This will also help in increasing the level of efficiency of the organization as well.
References
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