Best Snacks Problem Solution
Stephanie Curry
MMPBL 550-Creativity, Innovation, and Organizational Design
May 28, 2012
Sara Garski
Best Snacks Problem Solution The snack food industry has become increasingly commodity-based over the past ten years, and while the competition has increased, differentiation among the competitors has decreased. This gradual change in the industry has caused sales to slip, market share to decrease, and stock prices to fall. The unwillingness of the company to change to the needs of the market has put the company in a position to lose its long-held premier standing in the industry. In addition to the financial and economic problems facing the company, the employees are distressed about the upcoming changes that the president of the company has implied will soon occur. Also, the employees believe that the company has done a poor job of promoting innovation in the industry which is why the organization if declining in many areas of the industry. For Best Snack’s to succeed, they must confront the problems they are faced with, and change the corporate culture from top to bottom.

Describe the Situation
Issue and Opportunity Identification

Several issues face Best Snack’s in the increasingly commodity-based snack food industry. In a depressed economy, consumers are more likely to buy snacks based on price rather than brand loyalty (University of Phoenix, 2012). This turn in the economy has presented several problems to the leadership, all of which the management team has decided it is time to solve. As the economy takes a downturn, it is essential that Best Snack’s maintains a competitive advantage over the competition. Declining sales, market share, and recently in the past several years, stock price has led the company to reassess the current situation, to decide if the company should make some much needed changes or offer variation to the products since changes that the consumers can see first-hand are the most recognized form of innovation (Davila, Epstein, & Shelton, 2006, pg. 35). According to Decision Innovation (2012), incremental innovation is characterized by: • Utilizing or enhancing current core competencies and capabilities • Modest technological changes from existing platforms, products, or services • Responding to customer needs identified from current offers • A more predictable path or process, particularly with respect to costs • Often following a formal stage-gate process • Prolonging the market life of a product or service while sustaining the competitiveness of existing products in the market • Enabling continued growth with low risk
Incremental innovation provides Best Snack’s with solutions that will provide the company with enough sustainable innovation to propel the company above the competition. The ability to learn faster, better, and more cheaply than the competition can mean the difference between maintaining market leadership and barely surviving (Davila, Epstein & Shelton, 2006). It is the responsibility of the management team at Best Snack’s to discover what will invigorate the organization’s innovation and creativity so that the company can carry on for another 150 years as a leader in the industry.

Stakeholder Perspectives and Ethical Dilemmas For Best Snack’s to achieve long-term profits and sustainability, high-quality customer relationships are important. To gain that sustainability with consumers the company must establish and maintain a lasting relationship it is essential that the company is based on ethics. Good business ethics leave a permanent impression on customers, and that impression builds trust which in turn retains loyal customers and creates new ones. By encompassing a moral business ethic throughout the company, Best Snack’s can regain lost customers, and gain new ones.

Frame the Right Problem It is vital for Best Snacks to provide innovative and creative alternatives that will renew the corporate philosophy, and revamp employees and management through redesigned alternatives. Through incremental innovation, Best Snack’s can remain at a competitive advantage in the snack food industry.

Describe the End-State Vision By rejuvenating and innovating Best Snack’s Inc., the company will position themselves to remain a top competitor in the snack food industry for another 150 years.

Identify the Alternatives and Benchmarking Validation

In a declining market where it is most affordable for consumers to buy snack foods based on cost, it is more beneficial for the company to make small but significant incremental innovations to the current product line. By slightly modifying the current product line, followed by introducing one or two new innovative products, the organization has a better chance of achieving the desired end-state goals. The current change in the economy has left the company unable to rely on the previous ways of achieving success. One of the best strategies that companies have found to achieve this success is through benchmarking. Innovation within an industry is about developing and expanding new markets. It is about creating ways to reach and satisfy new customers in appealing ways. Coca-Cola understands that in order to thrive as a company, they must continue to look ahead, and plan for future trends and influences that can affect innovation if companies are not properly focused. Although the company has been around for 125 years, many innovations throughout the years have kept Coca-Cola a frontrunner in the industry. From new innovative packaging as technology progressed to the introduction of new products, the company experienced dramatic changes in marketing and merchandising, but the companies focus remained on the happiness of its customers. By going into the market, observing, and listening to its consumers and franchise partners, the company can work smart, and remain responsive to change in the ever-changing environment. The company believes that working together as a collaborative team by sharing ideas across departments allows the employees to be increasingly inspired and motivated to achieve exceptional results. In order for Best Snacks to compete with the new emergence of the competition, the company needs to reorganize its focus, work smart, and listen to the changes that occur in the marketplace. If Best Snack’s adopts the Coca-Cola vision, the company can retain its long-standing success in the snack food industry. Another company that has achieved success through innovation and creativity since its beginning is Legal Zoom. Legal Zoom was founded in 2001 by four co-founders- Robert Shapiro, Brian Liu, Brian Lee, and Eddie Hartman. From the beginning, the mission of the company was to provide accessible and cost-effective ways for people to fulfill common legal requests. The company provides legal documents for people and businesses without having to retain a lawyer. Legal Zoom brought forth the accessibility and technology necessary for businesses to manage their affairs in a narrow-minded legal industry. As Legal Zoom has continued to grow over the years, the company needed to find a way to innovate the company, so that the company could continue to grow and thrive in the aggressive business environment we live in today. Legal Zoom created a new on-line consulting service that connects customers to licensed attorneys, to offer advice when crucial. Customers are able to schedule on-line appointments with attorneys to get advice in personal and business matters. The company charges a low monthly flat rate to its customers where they receive 30 minute consultations to discuss various legal requirements. Since the company’s establishment, Legal Zoom continues to create alternatives to the customary partner structured law firms. This continuous innovation that has put legal alternatives back in the financial reach of entrepreneurs all over the country is why the company has persistently succeeded in the legal industry. If Best Snacks wants to continue to gain market share in the industry, the company must maintain the same level of innovation that Legal Zoom has done throughout the years. Benchmarking will benefit the organization because it will guide them through the decision-making process. By assessing other organizations within and outside the organization, such as Coca-Cola and Legal Zoom, Best Snack’s can make several unstructured, non-programmed decisions that can affect the innovative culture of the company. Innovation and creativity is the key to long-term growth for Best Snack’s, particularly to gaining a sustainable competitive advantage over the competition. It is also important for Best Snack’s to empower the management staff and the employee’s to challenge the status quo, and work past the declining economy to provide innovative and affordable snack food products for the consumers to purchase. Empowering the employee’s and the management staff learning to adequately communicate new ideas to fellow staff is critical to the continued success of the organization. Employee empowerment is achieved by seeking out the talent within the company. Encouraging communication, collaboration, and redefining the goals to all the employees so that they desire to make their goals the same as the company goals is one of the simplest ways to empower the employees or reveal hidden talent that exist in a positive fashion.

Evaluate the Alternatives Many times, making a choice between several seemingly "equally good" alternatives may prove to be overwhelming in decision making. Under such circumstances, "weighted average method" is a simple mathematical technique an organization can follow to get a clearer picture on what is a better choice. By using a weighted average chart to calculate the relevance of the alternatives available to Best Snack’s in respect to the organization’s goals, the company is able to determine the principal alternative(s). In the case of Best Snack’s several alternatives and a combination of the alternatives existed, but product creativity and packaging innovation (Coca-Cola, 2012) in combination with employee and management empowerment, by the results of the weighted average graph scored the highest for numerous reasons. By empowering the employee’s and management staff, and bridging the communication gap in the hierarchy levels, the company can achieve several desired goals such as job satisfaction, innovation boosts, and the financial satisfaction the company seeks. By changing the company’s collaboration style, Best Snack’s can position themselves for continuous business benefits, and utilize the innovative power of shared knowledge. If Best Snack’s implements the previous strategies, they can satisfy all the directly and indirectly involved stakeholders.

Narrowed List of Alternatives Innovation is the key in providing the business results that Best Snack’s is looking for, and for increasing profits. Collaboration, communication, and employee empowerment is essential for the company to change the workplace environment that has previously been holding the company back in terms of innovation and creativity. After a thorough assessment of the alternatives available to the organization, semi-radical innovation offers vital changes to the organizational environment that incremental innovation cannot. The current company culture is not conducive to the amount of innovation and creativity that is necessary for Best Snack’s to improve the company’s current state. Innovating the packaging of the products can add value to the products that the company sells if it meets the demands of the customers through options such as: 1) Recyclable packaging 2) Tamper-proofing 3) Non breakability 4) Child-proofing 5) Easy open packaging, easy storage, and easy carry options

Identify and Assess Risks Mitigation techniques and strategies have emerged in the business world as fundamental elements of successful management approaches. Risks are particularly distressing in any industry where one inadvertently wrong decision can turn profits into disaster for a company. Best Snack’s solution to the occurrence of risks revolves around careful planning prior to the initiation of the organization’s cultural change program. The company plans not only to engage in forward planning, but also they will form a management training program that allows the managers to “buy-in” to the program before they commence with the change initiative for the entire company. Also, by launching several programs at the beginning of the cultural change initiative such as the Employee Assistance Program (EAP), the New Venture Division, and the use of the innovation funnel, the company hopes to counteract any risks that could occur throughout the process.

Make the Decision Innovation requires a different kind of management than other business matters; it requires the managing of substantial amounts of creativity. Moreover, it entails structured processes and sufficient resources to successfully manage creativity. In the past, Best Snack’s mismanaged innovation and creativity by hindering its development. For the company to revitalize the innovation process at the 150-year old company, it is critical for the company to change the organizational culture (University of Phoenix, 2012). After careful analyzing the advantages and disadvantages of the proposed alternatives, the organization decided that it would be in their best interests to create several strategic initiatives to ensure the company remains a top competitor in the industry. Through product and packaging innovation, employee empowerment, anticipation of the customer’s needs, and changing to meet the environmental and economic needs; the company is positioning themselves to regain the company’s former status.

Develop and Implement the Solution Implementing change initiatives within the organization requires ample planning for the strategy to succeed. According to Loesch (2010) “Human beings resist change, even when a particular change is in the best interests of the person making the change. Even when embraced, change is difficult, particularly when it involves giving up a current behavior and adopting a new one. Furthermore, adopting a new way of doing things involves a lot of trial and error that often leads to anxiety and frustration” (p. 29). For change of any kind to be successful, the company needs to communicate with the management staff and the employees that the change is needed for the company to have continued success. Creating a sense of urgency facilitates motivation and initiative throughout the organization so when it comes time to initiate the change everyone is ready. Strong leadership and evident support from key employees is necessary to convince the remaining employees that change is crucial to the success of the organization. Once the urgency and motivation are in place, it is time to obtain participation and involvement from all the management team and the employees (Kotter & Schlesinger, 2008). Once the organization has secured the involvement of the employees, the management staff should offer support (Kotter & Schlesinger, 2008). At this time, Best Snack’s will share the EAP (Employee Assistance Program) to offer assistance to any employees that has a difficult time handling the changes happening within the company. Best Snack’s will also implement a New Venture Division within the organization that is comprised of specially selected employees and management staff that will aid only in the development of the new corporate culture that the organization is working hard to establish (Jones, 2004). The expected function of this division is a critical element to successful innovation in all industries. It is crucial for the company to continue to reevaluate and redefine every aspect of the decisions that Best Snack’s is implementing so that if any problems should arise, they are able to deal with them promptly, and in a timely manner.

Evaluate the Results Evaluation of change initiatives is crucial to sustaining participation and involvement from all employees to sustain long-term results throughout the organization. Effective evaluation cannot happen without sufficient resources. Monitoring the progress and evaluating the results belongs to the New Venture Division to ensure that the company is reaching the goals and level of success that they set out to achieve. To gain the cooperation of the employee’s in the evaluation process, the department needs to focus on learning what is working and what is not working with the new change initiative. Evaluation should be thought of by the employees as a tool to improve any problems that may arise. Evaluating results is a continual process that should not stop until the goals of the employees are intertwined with those of the company. When Best Snack’s has regained its prominent status within the industry, profits are rising, and the company has regained its market share, the organization should be satisfied with their results.

Conclusion It is important for the management staff and the employees to work together and follow through to ensure that the change initiatives are fully implemented in a timely manner to achieve the desired end state goals and results. By identifying the problems that have led to the company’s recent decline, they can tackle the dilemmas that are facing the company. A corporate culture change initiative is exactly what the company needs to redeem its long-held leadership position within the snack food industry, regain market share, and increase profits. By following through, evaluating results, and fixing any problems that arise, the company secures success once again.

References
Jones, G.R. (2004). Innovation, intrapreneurship. Retrieved from University of Phoenix eBook Collection.

Kotter, J.P., & Schlesinger, L.A. (2008, Fall). Choosing strategies for change. Harvard Business Review, 86(7/8), 130-139.

Loesch, P.C. (2010, Spring). 4 core strategies for implementing change.. Leadership, 39(5), pg. 28-31.

Robertson, T. (2012, Month Day). Negative effects of employee empowerment. Houston Chronicle. Retrieved fromhttp://smallbusiness.chron.com/negative-effects-employee-empowerment-18691.html

University of Phoenix. (2012). Best Snack's Inc, scenario one . Retrieved from University of Phoenix, MMPBL-550-Creativity, Innovation, and Organizational Design website.

Table 1
Issues and Opportunities Identification
| | | |
|Issues |Opportunities |Reference to Specific Course Concept |
|Technology change through product and |Best Snack’s has the opportunity through |A change to a product or service that a company offers |
|service offerings. |the introduction of new products to offer |in the marketplace—or the introduction of an entirely |
| |something new to its consumers to try and |new product or service—is the most easily recognized |
| |reignite the interests of the customers |type of innovation because consumers see the changes |
| |that they had originally lost due to its |first-hand. In today’s fast-changing market, consumers |
| |static state in product innovation. |have come to expect significant and recurring |
| | |technological innovation of this type.(Davila, Epstein,|
| | |& Shelton, 2006, pg. 35) |
|Incremental innovation |Although incremental innovation is an |Incremental innovation leads to small improvements to |
| |option, it is probably not an option that |existing products and business processes. It can be |
| |Best Snack’s should choose simply because |thought of as an exercise in problem-solving where the |
| |any small improvements will not impact the|goal is clear but how to get there needs to be |
| |business enough to make any strong |solved.(Davila, Epstein, & Shelton, 2006, pg. 35) |
| |improvements. | |
|Nonprogrammed decisions |It will be necessary for the management |Nonprogrammed decisions are novel and unstructured. No |
| |staff at Best Snacks to make a number of |rules, routines, or standard operating procedures can |
| |nonprogrammed decisions because they are |be developed to handle them. Solutions must be worked |
| |trying to regain previous market strength |out as problems arise. Nonprogrammed decision making |
| |that allowed them to be a leader in the |requires much more search activity and mutual |
| |industry for 100 years. By adjusting the |adjustment by managers to find a solution than does |
| |company’s decisions to change to today’s |programmed decision making.(Jones, 2004, pg. 369) |
| |business environment, they will reposition| |
| |themselves in the competitive snack food | |
| |industry. | |
|Semi-radical innovation |Unfortunately, the incremental innovation |A semi-radical innovation can provide crucial changes |
| |that Best Snacks tried to use in the past |to the competitive environment that an incremental |
| |has not provided the company with any |innovation cannot. Semi-radical innovation involves |
| |success. In fact, it has actually hurt |substantial change to either the business model or |
| |the company over the past five years. |technology of an organization—but not to both. Often |
| |Declining sales, market share loss, and |change in one dimension is linked to change in the |
| |falling stock prices has left the company |other, although the concomitant change may not be as |
| |in a weak second in the industry. By |dramatic or disruptive. |
| |stepping up and making substantial changes| |
| |to the current business model, with the | |
| |use of semi-radical innovation, the | |
| |company hopes to take back its previous | |
| |success. | |
|Learning to learn |The learning to learn process is a way to |This type of learning consists of structured processes |
| |share with Best Snacks how the company is |to assess how well the organization learns and changes.|
| |adjusting to all the semi-radical |This big picture perspective is critical to ensure that|
| |innovations the company must make to |the investments in innovation are yielding maximum |
| |reestablish the organization’s success. |return and that the organization is building |
| |For Best Snack’s to learn how to learn |sustainable innovation. The Learning to Learn cycle |
| |they must see learning from a different |questions the current processes as the best way to |
| |approach, an approach that is centered on |innovate. By questioning what is pursued and how, the |
| |treating learning with significance and |organization is more open to new ideas and taking |
| |importance. To be successful, the |educated risks (the type of risks that can have large |
| |organization has to test the existing |payoffs). |
| |learning process. Important to the | |
| |company learning how to learn is the | |
| |company’s ability to change how they are | |
| |currently learning. | |

Table 2
Stakeholder Perspectives and Ethical Dilemmas
| | | |
|Stakeholder Groups With Competing | | |
|Values |The Interests, Rights, and Values of Each Group |The Ethical Dilemma Based on the Competing |
| | |Values |
|List: Group X | | |
|versus Group Y | | |
|Management Team |Profitability, Competitive gains |The values of the management team benefit the |
| | |consumers but are conflicting for the |
| | |competition. |
|Consumers |Product variety, quality |The consumers desires benefit both the |
| | |management team and the competition |
|Competing Company’s |Gaining market share, Leading the industry |The competitions values are conflicting to Best|
| | |Snacks because if they are at a competitive |
| | |advantage then Best Snacks are not achieving |
| | |their goals. |

Table 3

Analysis of Alternative Solutions
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Table 4
Risk Assessment and Mitigation
|Alternative |Risks and Probability |Consequence and Severity |Mitigation Techniques and Strategies |
|Product and packaging |Higher costs |Loss of profits and loss of |Innovation funnel |
|innovation |Inferior quality |customers |Structured idea management process |
| |Low | | |
|Employee empowerment |Increased arrogance |Conflicts will rise between the |New venture division |
| |Confidentiality and security risks |hierarchy levels and relationships| |
| |Lack of experience means bad |will suffer between employees and | |
| |decisions |managers. An increase in mistakes| |
| |Medium |could occur as well as unnecessary| |
| | |company risks could be taken. | |
|Observing and changing to the |Employee turnover |Employees may be apprehensive |Employee Assistance Program (EAP) |
|economy |Manager refusal to buy-in to the |about the changes taking place and|Management training process |
| |initiative |leave the company. If the | |
| |Medium |management staff does not accept | |
| | |the changes taking place then it | |
| | |will be difficult to get the | |
| | |employees to do the same. | |

Table 5
Pros and Cons of Alternative Solutions
|Alternative |Pros |Cons |
|Packaging and product innovation |Increased Profit |Higher Costs |
| |Gain target customers |Inferior Quality |
| | | |
|Employee Empowerment |Increased confidence levels of employees |Over confident employees |
| |Increased productivity |Insubordinates |
|Observing and changing to the economic |Increased innovation levels in the industry |Have to have total buy-in |
|environment |Increased in sales |Loss of confidence in employer |

Table 6
Optimal Solution Implementation Plan
|Action Item Deliverable |Timeline |Who is Responsible? |
|Management training |One month from implementation |Executives and management |
|Communication with employees |Three months from implementation |Executives, management, New Venture |
| | |Division |
|Employee empowerment |Six months from implementation |Executives, management, New Venture |
| | |Division |
|Corporate Culture Change |Nine months from implementation |Executives, management, New Venture |
| | |Division |

Table 7
Evaluation of Results
|End-State Goals |Metrics |Target |
|Innovative culture |New Venture Division audits |100% of employees |
|Open communication between management and |New Venture Division audits |95% of employees |
|employees | | |
|Gaining target customers loyalty |New Venture Division audits |85% customer loyalty |