Maria and her team are confronted with a number of different issues with an overall lack of direction being one of them. Everyone has their own idea of where the business should go in the future. Maria and her team will need to get a defined direction for successful business growth and to not only maintain current and future business operations but grow for the stakeholder’s expectations.
A Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats (SWOT) analysis for Great Italian Food Company (GIFC) will be very beneficially to determine appropriate path for the future. When the analysis mentions strengths it means a company’s internal strengths. Weaknesses are the company’s internal weaknesses. Opportunities are external opportunities the company faces. Threats are external issues the company are or will face. Appendix A shows a SWOT analysis for GIFC.
The GIFC needs to go through the six stages of decision making: identify and diagnose the problem, generate alternative solutions, evaluate alternatives, make the choice, implement the decision, and evaluate the decision. (Bransfield, 2015) Identify and diagnose the problem is to recognize that a problem exists and must be solved. (Bransfield, 2015) The most obvious problem being the need for the business to grow in order for the family to continue living the lifestyle they are accustomed to. The second is having a limited access to capital. The limited access to capital may only allow certain kinds of ideas to be considered. Another problem GIFC faces is everyone has their own idea where the business should go into the future with no real combined strategy. GIFC has too many stakeholders at play. All of Little Joe’s children are employed by GIFC and have certain expectations to maintain their lifestyles.
The second step is generating alternative solutions. Solutions could be ideas already done before or new creative solutions designed specifically for a problem. (Bransfield, 2015) This step of the decision making process links the problem to a development of alternative courses of action aimed at solving the problem (Bransfield, 2015). Everyone has done their individual brainstorming, but this could be a good time to get more of the Board of Directors’ ideas of grow. The ideas of the board are beneficial because some members own successful business within the community and want to see GIFC succeed. Benchmarking is a valuable tool to see how other businesses in the market operate. Benchmarking is the understanding of the “best practices” firms and to undertake actions to achieve both better performance and lower costs. (Bransfield, 2015) Benchmarking could generate new or better ideas and solutions for success.
Once all the ideas are on the table, it is time to evaluate them. This is the third step in the process. To evaluate alternatives, refer to the original goals. (Bransfield, 2015) “Which goals does each alternative meet and fail to meet? Which alternatives are most acceptable to you and to other important stakeholders? If several alternatives may solve the problem, which can be implemented at the lowest cost or greatest profit? If no alternatives achieve your goals, perhaps you can combine two or more of the best ones.” (Bransfield, 2015)
The forth step in the process is to make a decision after considering all possible consequences and outcomes. In some instances this step is the hardest because of the change that follows. A decision should be implemented very carefully with an adequate plan as a part of the fifth step of the decision making process.
A suggested adequate plan is listed below: 1. Determine how things will look when the decision is fully operational. (Bransfield, 2015) 2. Chronologically order the steps necessary to achieve a fully operational decision. (Bransfield, 2015) 3. List the resources and activities required to implement each step. (Bransfield, 2015) 4. Estimate the time needed for each step. (Bransfield, 2015) 5. Assign responsibility for each step to specific individuals. (Bransfield, 2015)
The last step is evaluating the decision. This step determines if the decision is meeting the intended goals. Placing quantifiable goals can help benchmark how the business is doing in respect to the predetermined goals. If the outcome thus far is not meeting the goals, then it may require further research. “Does the implementation need more time, resources, effort, or thought? Was this a bad decision?” (Bransfield, 2015) If the decision seems to be working then press forward for continued growth. If it is not then it is back to the drawing board.
A SWOT analysis, benchmarking, and going through the six steps of the decision making process will help the GIFC start to move towards successful grow for the future, while satisfying all the stakeholder’s needs. Maria, the Board of Directors and the other stakeholders now have the tools they need to make an educated decision for an upward growth for GIFC’s future.
Appendix A
SWOT analysis for GIFC
Strengths * Reputable family-owned business within the community * Experienced businessmen and women on the Board of Directors * Low priced menu | Weaknesses * Lack of access to capital * Lack of direction for the future * Too many stakeholders | Opportunities * Sell products in local stores * Revamping menu items * Entering a new market | Threats * Possibility of new businesses entering the Italian restaurant market * Change in customers’ desires * Change in local economy |
References:
Bransfield, J. (2015). Management 5000 (pp. 89-96). McGraw-Hill.
