Realtor8 - Business Strategy and Organizational Structure - Case Study Example

Accounting, Behavior and Organization (8 Common Ltd) Name Institution Name Introduction Division of work with any organization provides and excellent means for achieving the company objectives. Coordination of the different work units also empowers the company to keep track of business processes. Organizational structure is defined as the way in which a firm groups its employees together to enhance activities, people and resources coordination thus allowing it to have control and manage its operations. This report using 8Common Ltd provides superb discussion of organizations structure. 8Common Ltd is an Australian Company headquartered in Sydney, and it is tasked with developing and distributing software solutions. In this regard, the report discusses company background, business strategy, and its organizational structure. Company Background 8Common Ltd is an Australian company that develops and distributes software solutions. The Company offers Expense8 which is an essential tool in the management of corporate and travel expenses; and Realtor8 which is a web based tool that allows and helps real estate agents to develop/build and maintain their websites. 8Common Ltd offers its software solutions on a software as a service basis (SaaS). Expense8 is a Travel and Expense management software solution tasked with managing and streamlining end-to-end processing of expenses generated by employees. This software solution allows for proper and easy client administration of expenses charged to corporate credit cards. Given this knowledge, Expense8 superbly enhances tax compliance, reporting, accounting, internal control and overall governance of expenses generated by employees. Business Information Service (NSW) Pty Ltd (BIS) is one of the companies under 8Common Group and it was initially tasked with providing Travel and Expense management solutions. By launching the Expense8, the company provides end-to-end tracking, payment, and authorization of expenses generated by employees. Expense8 is currently used in Australia, New Zealand, Japan and United Kingdom. Realtor8 on the other hand is a Content Management System (CMS) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Solution that singularly targets realtors. Realtor8 provides customized, customer branded websites, syndication, integrated to multiple listing services (MLS), and marketing solutions that empower realtors to generate traffic, leads, as well as maintain relationships with their clients. Realtor8 has the capacity to automate recurring tasks faced by realtors thus giving them more time to focus on managing and transacting their clients’ needs. This solution is available only on a SaaS basis. Combustion Labs Media Inc. (CLM) was primarily a North American company launched in 2000 and has since been providing CMS and CRM tools to real estate professionals. 8Common Ltd after acquiring CLM, it has maintained a large percentage of the company operations in Canada while only a small percentage is left to the rest of the world. Business Strategy 8Common Ltd primary business is the generation and distribution of Expense8 and Realtor8 software solutions. These software solutions help companies, their employees, and professionals to control costs, improve productivity, and for the case of Realtor8, generate leads. 8Common Purpose To help customers get organized, boost productivity and deliver results through software 8Common Vision To simplify how customers get things done The company’s strategy focuses on paying attention to how clients do things; and producing solutions which work. Competitive Advantages The company hold a substantial market share in the SaaS industry. The CLM and BIS operates CRM and ERP respectively and they estimated to account for 39% and 15% of the Asia Pacific SaaS expenditure. The rising trend of online real estate marketing: residential property buyers are increasingly using online channels to search for property which on the other hand compels agents and developers to adopt or have online communication channels The relatively buoyant residential property markets provides a wide customer base to the company Key Success Factors Scalable Business Model: the company’s businesses are highly scalable, have low capital expenditure requirements, high gross margin, and has the capacity to cater to large increases in customers. Strong growth prospects: there are massive opportunities for the company to expand its operations and deliver Real Estate and Travel & Expense management solutions into Asia. Established products and Diversified Client Bases: 8Common’s core solution products have been developed and produced for more than 14 years. The company has an impressive client base including top realtors in Canada, government agencies, together with large corporates in Australia. Accordingly, the company’s client base is highly diversified whereby that company does not singularly rely on one or specific group of customers. Experienced team: the company has an experienced management and board. Organizational Structure Organizational structure is the way a company organizes or groups employees together in order to co-ordinate, manage and/or control the company’s resources, people and activities. The organizational structure main focus is directed towards specific objectives and activities which are inclined to support organizational strategy. It is a kind of management control that guides the design of management accounting systems. 8Common Ltd is headquartered in Sydney, Australia with employees in Australia, Singapore, Canada with a dedicated outsourced team in Philippines. This company has a hierarchical organizational structure with independent work units. In essence, the company is an umbrella of different companies working together. The company consists of a management team that is led by the CEO and two senior management who are responsible for managing the operational subsidiaries i.e. The Group CFO and Managing Director for BIS; and the General Manager for CLM. 8Common Group Organizational Structure The company uses business based work units whereby each unit works in collaboration with other units to ensure the company meets its objectives. 8Common Ltd departments work together to ensure that company goals are successfully accomplished. The focus of work units is not only on its specific functions but rather the functions of one departments supplements the activities of the other department. In order to manage these functional work units across all company subsidiaries, the teams are supported by shared services which are specifically outsourced in The Philippines. The shared services include: Technology, Finance and Admin, Design for BIS, while CLM outsourced services include Technology and Client Servers. 8Common Group Organizational Chart Business based Work Unit Structure From the above diagram it is evident that 8Common Ltd use a business based work unit structure with most of its work units functioning together. For instance, although each organizational units is tasked with specific functions or duties they work together for a common good. There are two main work units from which the entire organization is built; BIS and CLM. The integration of these units is at a higher management level; however, BIS and CLM have similar departments which makes it easier for the company to keep track of its business processes. For instance, the BIS departments include: Technology, Finance and Admin, Sales and BD, and Client service. Similarly, CLM has the following departments: Client Services, Sales and BD, and Technology. The departments that are shared by two business entities are Technology, Design, and Finance and Admin. 8Common Ltd has been able to reap massive success due to the fact that its work units effectively work together through coherent coordination across all company departments. The business based structure has provided the company with a unique approach to business processes; there is direct interaction between the work units. Prioritization of business activities coordination has always been achieved. Direct coordination has always resulted into streamlined work flow. In the same way of discussion, by 8Common Ltd having a business based organizational structure the company majorly focus on business process which is essential in the optimization of the company activities across all departments. Significantly important to note, by optimizing activities across all departments ensures that no department fails in delivering on its goals thus maintaining the company’s competitiveness. The top management is always tasked with assigning targets that the company must achieve within a specified time period. The business based structure has empowered 8Common Ltd departments to collaborate for them to achieve set targets. For instance, the operation or activities of one department are critical for the success of another department. In this regard, if one departments fails to deliver, then the whole company is exposed to failure in accomplishing the set targets. Collaboration across all organization’s is critical for the company’s overall success. Planning is an essential aspect in any organization, in company setting where each department singularly handles its own activities it is difficult to have unified company goals and targets. Each department will ultimately plan its activities independently without considering the organization as a whole. Contrary to this, in company environment where collaboration is enforced, departments across the organization plan their activities together. For this reason, business based organizational structure allow a company to effectively plan on how to accomplish its organizational goals and objectives. The business based structure has enabled 8Common Ltd to excellently plan its organizational operations. Limitations or benefits which come with work units allows a company to various means of competitive advantage that are matched to dissimilar work unit types. By using business based work unit structure, J8Common Ltd has largely differentiated itself as the best company developing and distributing software solutions. Accordingly, the company has managed to position itself to reap benefits from massive opportunities that are yet to be exploited in Asia and other parts of the world. References 8Common Limited. (2014). Home. Retrieved from http://www.8common.com/ Read More