Business Analysis and Process Consulting for Foresbys - Essay Example

Business Analysis and Process Consulting of Individual Essay Entering the Problem Situation Foresbysis a company that is engaged in the business of providing cleaning services to its corporate clients. It had started off as an office window cleaner and has expanded its scope of services into specialized cleaning, security services and gardening activities. The specialized cleaning services included cleaning activities required after catastrophes like, fire and floods or cleaning associated with graffiti on building walls. Expression of Problem Situation The issue at hand for this project is expansion of the company in order to become one of the national leaders in provision of cleaning services and also to extend the scope of business activities performed. Formulating Root Definitions of Relevant systems Products and practices that can be incorporated for the expansion of service offerings as well as reduction of impact on the environment by Foresbys include that of introducing home cleaning services, waste management services, recycling services and security service for homes as well as offices (Checkland & Poulter, 2006). Waste management and recycling businesses share synergy with cleaning services because waste, that is produced and eliminated in a process of cleaning, needs to be disposed properly. Also, such waste management is required by each one of the client, who employ cleaning services invariably. Hence, there appears to be some definite synergy between the business and the proposed issue of change. Building Conceptual Models and Human Activity Systems Once the contract for cleaning was secured, the company sent their cleaning agents to the said location for performing their tasks within specified time frame. The cleaning agents were qualified officials who had the requisite training in safe and efficient cleaning of office premises and were also trained for specialized cleaning. To improve upon the existing distribution and operations structure, Foresbys can form specialized teams who were capable of handling specific jobs, rather than multiple cleaning activities at once. This would not only instil efficiency at specific work, but also increase the speed of cleaning tasks undertaken by the company (Checkland, 2000). The customers shall pay for proper disposal of their waste material and company can also charge them with a premium price for using environment friendly and safe products while performing cleaning activities. Customers are becoming increasingly concerned about the environment and shall be willing to pay additional prices for the environmental cause. Furthermore, it would provide the company with a sustainability edge over other cleaning businesses in the country. Socially responsible company behaviour shall also help in improving brand image for Foresbys. Comparing Models with the real world The present recycling business in the country primarily focuses on collection of household wastes and selling them to dedicated buyers for reuse. The real world case of recycling is rampant and more popular with household wastes and this model can be replicated into management of office waste. For this purpose, the company shall have to first contract with buyers of waste paper and waste electrical equipments. Foresbys shall not find it adequately feasible for establishing a recycling plant just yet because of the huge amount of investments involved in plant construction and machinery and equipment purchases. As a consequence, the middleman model fits perfectly. Also, clients are already available from the existing customer base. The business of cleaning shall also gain sustainability with proper disposal of wastes after cleaning activities (Wenger & Synder, 2000). Defining Changes that are Desirable and Feasible The present way of sourcing business can be enhanced and upgraded by way of introducing appropriate web technologies. The company can launch their own website and take online orders and contracts of cleaning services. Incorporation of recycling services would require the company to undertake specialized staff recruitment with the knowledge of recycling systems. The recycling business shall be combined with waste management service so as to retain core competency of the staff. This would cover the waste collection staff, waste segregation workforce and recycling mechanical staff. Furthermore, the by-products of waste disposal, like, biogas and biofuel, can be sold in the market for the purpose of generating revenues, which shall compensate for additional cost borne by the company for waste management (Checkland, 2001). Taking Actions to improve the real world situation The present business situation for Foresbys involves only cleaning of offices and buildings along with delivering specialized cleaning services. In order to improve present business situation, the company could look into a newer recycling niche, where recycling of paper and associated wastes produced largely within office premises can be conducted. They can also expand into recycling electronic wastes in offices. This would not only present the company with a newer market, but also provide synergy of an already existing client waste, who is willing to avail such waste management and recycling services (Winn & Keller, 2001). CATWOE Clients: The new clients with additional businesses shall include home owners in upper class localities, offices and corporate houses, government offices and any individual who desires to avail cleaning and waste management services. Actors: The actors shall be Foresbys business and its staff. Transformation: The general business of cleaning shall be supplemented by a more environmentally responsible practice of waste management and recycling. This shall bring in a complete transformation of the core business activities of Foresbys (Weber, Lovrich & Gaffney, 2007). Worldview: Cleaning services involves extracting wastes from offices and houses. The detergents and cleaning agents used are also toxic and need to be properly disposed so that the environmental damage caused as a result of cleaning is least. For this very purpose, it was found that recycling of waste could be a feasible and collaborative business activity. Additionally, recycling and waste management services shall share the same clientele as that of cleaning services, which in turn would provide the business some synergy that was needed. Owner: The new system can be brought about by company staff and as a process of management decision. Environmental Constraints: Given constraints to this new business, addition and expansion of old business shall entail certain financial constraints, which can be changed only as a part of management decisions (Rouse & Sage, 2007). Reflection The above case of expansion of Foresbys, a company engaged in cleaning services catering majorly to the corporate, presents a perfect example for handling soft issues while planning and structuring the expansion process. The business aims to expand and grow into a national competitor in the industry. For this, I realized that it would be necessary for Foresbys to involve itself into other businesses, which could provide some synergy into the expansion process. Foresbys specialized in providing cleaning services, which is why I suggested that it should also go into waste management and recycling business wherein the company could make use of existing customer set so as to deliver waste management services. Also, use of environment friendly material in cleaning shall establish Foresbys as an environment friendly and sustainable organization, which would contribute towards improving brand image. The SSM technique helps in the provision of solutions for complex situations and to problems that are addressed in situations where common agreements cannot be formed. It provides business solutions that are more sustainable in nature (Wilson & Haperen, 2010). The above situation again was the expansion of a business activity into unrelated areas so as to increase business scope and market standing, but in a sustainable fashion. The study of SSM in this area provided me with insights into ways in which a particular problem of sustainability and of business confusion should be aggressed in a systematic and synchronized manner so as to arrive at the most plausible solutions. The CATWOE technique, which is a part of the SSM study, makes sure that definition provided for the root is comprehensive and rigorous. The use of CATWOE within the SSM analysis presented a clearer picture for the method by which the company shall approach the key issue at hand. This also brought out impacts that the proposed organisational changes would have on different stakeholders and this ensured proper consideration of all such facts. CATWOE analysis provides clarity to different issues that have provided with multiple perceptions and tries to make the same explicit. The CATWOE attempts to apply different perceptions on a common platform and provides a comprehensive understanding that caters to various perspectives. I realized that the analysis helps in allowing stakeholder assertions, positions, assumptions and data and information integrity. SSM had presented me with a learning system concerning ways to address issues that involved a social context or a soft problem. SSM functions have helped me in gaining a higher understanding of the problem as well as recognising the concerned parties of the issue and the organizational change process (Wilson, 2001). The SSM process also effectively identifies definite synergies between the existing and proposed business and ways in which the latter would utilize company’s existing customer base in an efficient manner (Moores & Gregory, 2000). I have come to understand that Soft System Management is a part of urban management systems, where planning and structuring a business is not end of the decision making process. Planning involves a number of human elements wherein it is necessary to encompass social elements of the business along with being politically correct with business dealings. This critical element of the planning process had for long been neglected by the management teams who reckoned that planning was merely a way of being process oriented and methodological with structured and well-laid out system of events. This encompassed many elements of operations research and systems engineering. It has been noticed that the learning of SSM has helped me in managing the issues that contributed towards ill management of planned and structured procedures in operations research and systems engineering. The planned procedures were found to be largely unsuccessful because of irrational intervention into the human activity. The study of SSM helped me realize the importance of considering human elements in any planning process for the purpose of ensuring success in implementation and achievement of desired results. The use of SSM tools contributes towards analyzing and decision making with consideration of impact created by such decision process on the stakeholders, thereby effectively solving a predefined situation or problem. I understood that no problem can be free of involvement of human element and therefore, prior to setting out for seeking the right solution, one must basically opt for analysis of the situation. The primary problem is also an interrelationship of many other smaller problems and as a result, the worldview is critical for provision of judgment of the situation. Improvements in such situation come about through debates, persuasion and perceptions. References Checkland, P. & Poulter, J. (2006). 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GIS measured environmental correlates of active school transport: A systematic review of 14 studies. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 8(1), 39-44. Read More