Business Development Plan - Assignment Example

Assignment 2 Business Development Plan Executive Summary The aim of this business development plan of Brookdale center is to suggest appropriate and best strategic options that can improve the efficiency and growth of the Brookdale center. The three pragmatic strategic options has been selected and discussed in this report. The positive and negative implications have also been discussed to clear different perspectives and aspects of the suggested strategic options. Table of Contents Executive Summary 2 Introduction 4 Part A 4 Overview of Business/Market Analysis 4 Part B 4 Moving Forward/ Detailed Plan 5 Strategic option 1: Revenue Generation 5 Overview 5 Model/Strategy: Michael Porter’s value chain 5 Implications 5 Strategic Options 2: Product Strategies 6 Overview 6 Model/Strategy: Glueck’s Approach 6 7 Implications 7 Strategic Option 3: Promotional strategies 7 Overview 7 Model/Strategy: Tailor-made strategies 7 Implications 7 Conclusion 8 References 8 Introduction Brookdale Center is a leisure and entertainment center, which was established by Jonathan Owen in 2001 and it was completed in 2005. The focus of Owen was to provide a luxurious service center to the customers, but the results were quite different from the expectations. The sales were low and quality of services was also not up to mark. Moreover, the employees of the Brookdale Management Enterprise were also very disappointed due to the autocratic leadership style of Jonathan Owen. The poor financial position and deteriorating services were forced the senior management to ask the Owen to step down. Thus, Gloria Withington has taken the charge as a new managing director of the Brookdale center. Now, the key objective of Gloria Withington is to boost up the sales and providing quality services to the customers. The team of strategy consultant has been called by the Gloria to identify the main problems and its pragmatic solutions. The strategy consultant suggested some strategic options that have been described in this business development report. Part A This section of the report explains the overview of the business and a brief market analysis of Brookdale Center that will help to suggest and recommend different strategic options for Brookdale Management Enterprise. Overview of Business/Market Analysis Brookdale center is a leisure and entertainment center that provides a variety of services to its target market. Multiple facilities are being offered by the Brookdale management enterprise. The facilities include sports stadium, cinema, leisure center, a big hotel of 100 rooms, stalls for farmers, outlets of various fast food and many other entertainment facilities. On the other hand, the Brookdale management enterprise (BME), that is handling the operations and functions of the Brookdale center. The employees of the Brookdale Management Enterprise especially young employees have many issues with the Owen the managing director of the Brookdale management enterprise. The authoritarian leadership style has affected the morale of many employees of the enterprise that ultimately led to affect the overall performance of the Brookdale center. There are many areas like Hotel, café, retail outlets and stadium that are considered as the important assets of the Brookdale center were poorly managed and handled. The promotional and pricing strategies were also appropriate. Thus, the performance of the Brookdale center is dismal that needs lots of attention. Part B This section of the report explains the detailed plan, in which three options have been discussed with their strategic models. Moving Forward/ Detailed Plan Strategic option 1: Revenue Generation The first strategic option that I have chosen to improve the performance of Brookdale center is revenue generation strategies. There is a dire need to generate high sales and revenue. Overview Revenue management is a tool for maximizing the revenues. There must be a flexibility in the prices. Revenue management is an art and science of increasing sales under the variable conditions[Pet13]. Revenue generation and revenue management is imperative in the hotel and airline industry, where it is significantly important to handle the revenues in the variable conditions. The price varies condition to condition and time to time. There is a need to handle the price and manipulate it, at the right time. The only thing in Brookdale case is to generate sales by providing value to the customer that is why I have selected Michael Porter, value chain model to address the problem of poor revenue. Model/Strategy: Michael Porter’s value chain We will use the Michael Porter’s model for generating profits and sustainable superior performance. The value chain model of Porter was based on its competitive model that explains how to gain a competitive edge over customer by providing quality services to the customers[Mic79]. The value chain and its analysis are used to describe the each and every activity that the organization performs and it also connects the performance with the competitive position of the organization. There are two kinds of activities. The first category is of primary activities and other category includes support activities[Kap00]. The primary activities consist logistics services, supply of services to the customers, marketing and sales. On the other hand, the support services include human resource and research and development division that help the organization to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the products or services[PCE01]. In the Brookdale case, where there is no culture of providing value chain to the customers. The services of Brookdale hotel are not well managed and the sales of retail outlets are also decreasing. The catering services are also nor appropriate to manage the conferences and stadium crowd. Thus, there is a dire need to create a value chain, in which all the inbound operations will successfully carry out in an efficient way. Similarly, R&D and human resource management department also need attention and some reforms. The morale of the employees is very low, there is a need to make support services stronger if Brookdale center wants success and growth. The Michael Porter value chain will not only help the Brookdale in generating revue, but also providing efficient services to the Brookdale customers. Implications There are many positive implications of Michael Porter’s value chain model, but on the other hand, there are some negative implications as well. The positive implications are; it will help the Brookdale management team to understand the areas that are generating low sales and need attention. Secondly, it will create a competitive edge for the Brookdale center. Moreover, the human resource management team will formulate such a policy that will help the employees to regain their morale. Whereas, it has also some negative implication like it will difficult to manage. It requires lots of planning and research, which is currently not possible for the Brookdale management enterprise. Strategic Options 2: Product Strategies The second strategic option that I have chosen to improve the efficiency of the product and services that are being offered by the Brookdale center. Overview Product strategy is a tool of strategic management[Phi08] that will explain the Brookdale Management Enterprise about how to manage the services or there is a need to introduce new products and services or to improve the currently offered services or products[Pra12]. In the Brookdale center, the Brookdale hotel, stadium, café and retail stores all need changes and improvements. For this purpose, I have chosen Glueck’s approach to analyze, which product strategy will prove appropriate. Model/Strategy: Glueck’s Approach The Glueck’s approach includes four important strategies to introduce new product or change the existing product. Glueck’s approach also promotes the innovations and changes in the product line. It consists of stability strategy, expansion strategy, retrenchment strategy and combination[ELL01]. The stability strategies are used by those organizations that are already consolidated in the market and want some changes for the survival or the growth. The second approach expansion strategy is risky, in which organization wants to expand its operations and functions. The expansion strategy is effective for those, which want to enjoy economies of scale and also capable of handling multiple operations in a variety of markets[Moh08]. The third Glueck’s approach is a retrenchment, in which organization wants to reduce its activities and abandon some of the market territories to eliminate extra burden. Furthermore, the last is combination, in which variety of strategies can choose to manage the products or services of the organization[App11]. In the Brookdale case, the stabilize strategy of Glueck’s approach is appropriate because there is a need to stabilize the current performance of the Brookdale center. All the services of Brookdale center are not effectively managed by the employees and management team of Brookdale enterprise. The haste that was shown by Owen in completed the leisure and entertainment center has affected the performance of the center and the Brookdale management enterprise in many ways. There is a need to stabilize the current product strategies. The transport must be provided to the visitors or customers of the hotel. The new catering service must be hired that can manage stadium and conference related events. The new plan must be formulated that can manage the events of retail outlets. The new schedules for the farmer’s market must be planned, that will have no clash with any of the events in the big cities like Manchester. In such a way, the Brookdale Management Enterprise can improve the efficiency and sales of the existing services. Implications This strategic option has also some positive and negative implication. The positive implications of this strategic option and model are; it is less risky. It does not demand highly creative team and highly innovative ideas[CAp09]. It is simple to implement. The current human resource team can easily adopt this option with a suggested model to stabilize the growth of Brookdale center. On the other hand, the negative implications are; it ignores the innovation and creative ideas, so it can difficult for the Brookdale center to gain competitive advantage over the competitors by adopting only stabilize strategy of the Glueck’s approach. Strategic Option 3: Promotional strategies The third strategic option that is needed for the growth of Brookdale center is promotional strategies. Overview Promotion and advertising help the organizations to create and introduce their brand to their target market[AAd11]. Only brand can differentiate the products and services from the competitor’s products. A brand is a name of unique services, product and design or sometime a combination of all. The brand identity and brand value can only be created by using effective and appropriate promotional and advertising strategies[Ade06]. There is a need of introducing new promotional and advertising campaigns for the Brookdale center. It will help to retain the existing customer and gain the new customers as well. Model/Strategy: Tailor-made strategies The best approach or strategy of promoting the product and services in this globalized world is tailor made communication or promotional strategies. There are many platforms available in this modern world that can be used as a promotional tool. The websites, social networking sites and advertisement posting on the popular and famous blogs can attract many customers. The tailor made strategies are those strategies that are already available, the organization only to exploit it for its own benefit. It reduces overall cost of advertising and promotional activities[PJS00]. In the case of Brookdale center, the sales are poor because of little focus on the promotional advertising activities. The site of the Hotel, where it is situated is very beautiful. It has been discovered that, there are more than 30000 fish in the artificial lake. Moreover, the sites look very beautiful, when different species of birds come on the site of the artificial lake. Apart from such a beautiful site, the bookings of the Hotel are very low. It is because of lack of attention on advertising activities. Furthermore, there is a need to promote stadium of Brookdale as well. Implications This strategic option has also some positive and negative implications as well. The positive implications are it will prove productive because it can bring lots of revenue for the company. Similarly, it can create brand value and brand identity of the Brookdale center. On the other hand, the negative implications are; it is risky for the Brookdale at this stage, where revenue is decreasing year by year. Likewise, it can increase the expense and cost of the Brookdale management enterprise. It may also require the services of a specialized advertising firm, which Brookdale cannot afford at this stage. Conclusion To sum up, it can be concluded that Brookdale center needs lots of improvements and changes. The current management of the Brookdale management enterprise is not effectively managing the operations of the firm. The above mentioned three strategic options can help the Brookdale center to improve its sales and position in the market. The Brookdale Management Enterprise needs clear vision and detail analysis before implementing ant strategic option. References Pet13: , (Jones, 2013), Mic79: , (Porter, 1979), Kap00: , (Kaplinsky & Morris, 2000), PCE01: , (Ensign, 2001), Phi08: , (Kotler, 2008), Pra12: , (Pragmatic Marketing Inc, 2012), ELL01: , (CHAFEE, 2001), Moh08: , (Ullah & Khanam, 2008), App11: , (Rao & Sivaramakrishn, 2011), CAp09: , (Rao & Sivaramakrishna, 2009), AAd11: , (Sunday & Bayode, 2011), Ade06: , (Adebisi, 2006), PJS00: , (Smit, 2000), Read More