Supply Chain Management Course - Essay Example

?Company Analysis Time Context The time definition of the case study originates from the events of the ongoing discussions, which is during a timewhen the Success Inc. required engaging a new supplier. After seeking for a supplier, Creative works emerges as an interested candidate and proceeds to an appointment with Success Inc representatives. Creative Success appearing to be in an ambiguous relationship with ten other suspicious companies participated in the routine confirmation and clarification that Success employs. There is scanty financial or operations data on the partnership that the companies which prompts Success Inc to approach the negotiations in a cautious manner. Despite the fact that Creative Works Limited is interested in the supply engagement with Success Inc, the preparations for the presentation appears to be poorly done. The presenters fail to explain the actual legal relationship held with the suspicious companies and appear to approach the agreement in a rather casual manner when compared with the contractor. Follow-up research on the actual performance of the individual companies, party to the ambiguous relationship, reveals that some grave concerns such as bankruptcy and unclear objectives leading to a doubtful termination of the negotiations. 2. Viewpoint Creative Works Limited case study takes the perspective of the case from the managing director’s position, as he is involved in the negotiations as the highest company official. The point of view is that of Leslie Smith, who acts as the facilitator in the negotiations. As the purchasing manager, most issues in the negotiations touch on the decisions required from the purchases department and understanding the underlying issues is important for the process. 3. Central Problem What is the relationship that Creative Works Limited has with its partners? In the negotiations, it is clear that the relationship that Creative Works Limited has with the several named companies is not defined and it appears to confuse even top company officials such as the managing director and the director. Complex relationship without a definite structure on how the managing director of Creative Works Limited obtains the proxy status over the individual companies presents a challenging negotiation beginning. In analyzing the Creative Works Limited structure and its authority over the other companies, it is difficult to generate the responsibility and liability that the Creative Limited would assume in the transaction. In standard corporate practices, several players must have clear engagement terms for use in determination of the roles played in business context. The reason for this is so that each party to the agreement knows its terms of engagement and responsibilities. This aspect is conspicuously absent from the explanation given by the managing director and the director involved in the negotiations. This brings about the question: Why is Creative Works Limited uncomfortable revealing its true relationship with its partner companies? 4. Statement of Objectives a) Must Objectives i) To present a professional team capable of performing negotiations on behalf of the alleged partnership. Comparing the compilation of the negotiating delegations, Creative Works Limited team appears to be inferiorly put together. (Compiling a professional negotiation team is specific and measurable. It is possible to determine how equipped a negotiator is on company matters). The professional team should be able to clear the air regarding what relationship the company has with its partners. ii) To establish the scope of their business interactions that Creative Works has with its partners assuming that the different companies exist as individual companies but cooperate with Creative Works in certain respects. (Establishing the scope of interaction is specific in that it unearths ambiguous perceptions of relationship. It is possible to measure scope by the extent of legal implication in case a partner contravenes healthy contractual relationship as Success Inc expects). Creative works will be in a position to state why it partners with the organizations in question. iii) To establish the financial status of Creative Works and its credibility and viability as a supplier (This is specific in that obtaining books of accounts is a major indication of performance. Measuring performance is the easiest determination of reliability of a prospective supplier.) b) Want Objectives i) Success Inc may consider dropping the suspicious supplier and avoid the risks involved. (this option may cost the company possible benefits if done hastily and out of oversensitivity) ii) Success Inc may offer technical assistance to the apparently struggling company(ies) in clarifying their issues and save on time and create future ties for beneficial interactions. (this option may not be welcome at Creative Works and may negatively affect the relations from the beginning.) 5. Areas of Consideration a) External Environment i. Threats Creative Works Limited faces a threat from companies with a simple structure that does not act as a baggage in explaining the complex partnership structure (Cohen 4). Alternatively, the threat of falling into the problems of the partner companies such as Coughing Bear Limited bankruptcy related issues is potent. ii. Opportunities There are untapped opportunities that Creative Works must consider in the imperfect partnership with the ten companies. Firstly, the strength of performing mergers and closer ties than the erratic and amorphous arrangement would ensure better results. Working together would have been a unique strength if Creative Works Limited considered appropriate exploitation. Secondly, a unique opportunity presents in the form of concentrating in business as a single entity and delinking from the other companies that have productivity issues. b) Internal Environment i. Strengths A wide coverage of the market through a number of affiliates enables the company to target the market from a larger context than when conducted alone. Additionally it would be considered that the many partners accept to cooperate with Creative Works Limited due to its apparent stronger status that allows it to assume the negotiator. ii. Weakness Management approaches adopted by the Creative Works Limited prove to be out of touch with the expected business ambitions. As an illustration, the role of the managing director and the director present at the negotiation table are presented to be unaware of the most basic structure fact of explanation their organization. In addition, associating with the questionable companies raises questions of the ambitions of the company for future operations. 6. Alternative Courses of Action Alternative 1 Composing a stronger negotiations team with a legal representative capable of anticipating expected responses and satisfy the clients. Satisfying clients may require application of extra negotiation skills, which should be considered in the composition of the team. The strong team should be able to convince the customer’s negotiating team of the relationship that exists between Creative Works and its partners and why this is the case. Advantages and Disadvantages Accurately composing a negotiation team enables presentation of the best possible case that the client would be looking for. The disadvantage of expertly composing the company’s negotiation team may be expensive and not meet the exact requirement of the client. Alternative 2 Creative Works Limited might consider merging with the partners and simplify the structure in order to reduce related complications in dealing with third parties. By considering this option, the company will clearly the air in regard to its relationship with its partners. Advantages and Disadvantages Merging the companies together may be advantageous in facilitating the presentation of the negotiation as a single case and hide negative images of smaller companies under the success of the Creative Works Limited. One conspicuous disadvantage of merging the companies is the transfer of negative attributes of underperforming companies, which may reduce the competitive image of the company. Alternative 3 Asking for more time to present the required information would be admissible during the negotiation if the Creative Works Limited negotiating team was prepared to undertake such an option to satisfy the client. Apparently, a delay tactic is the best tool that the negotiations would employ to help build the case and avoid the casual approach observed in failure to answer even a single question relating the partnership. This would enable the negotiating parties more time to collect further information and perhaps understand each other with a better and wider scope. This will give Creative Works Limited to reorganize itself and consider its relationship with the partners. Advantages and Disadvantage The advantage of appealing for more time to deliver the expected answers would allow extra time to research on unknown facts on the business question raised. In addition, it is important in raising the confidence of the negotiator by delaying grilling to another time when answers can be found. The disadvantage of asking for time is impatience of the client, which may lead to cancellation of business assignment (Freud 336). One of the strongest advantages of delay tactic is perhaps allowing negotiators time to drop bias that may be picked during a heated moment or episode where individual views may clash in the meeting but resolve to adopt a common position after time-off. Negotiations are based on human feelings and emotions which may take over during the short time of discussions. Allowing time to settle the emotional perspectives and perceptions is important in generating better business ties between corporations. 7. Final Decision Alternative 3 is the best so far considering that providing the outline of relationships held with the partner companies acts in building the confidence of the client in engaging Creative Works Limited. Making accurate statements on behalf of the company even if the statement adversely affect the image of the company or partner companies during the negotiations is important. The advantage of stating the truth during the negotiations is important in generating trust, which is severely damaged when revelations later deliver inconsistencies. The main disadvantage of stating the truth is that it may expose the weaknesses of the company when it could be immaterial for future performance of the business. In respect of the above considerations, the company should consider investigating Creative Works Limited further. Considering that the information that the company’s agents/owners are not accurate means that the company’s reputation is at stake. Creative Works Limited should be dropped from the supplier list in case it is found to be an untrustworthy organization. 8. Detailed Action Plan a) The Activities i) Research on the company and its partners. This will include establishing the owners, dates of establishment, legality, structure, directors, activities and products and their liquidity. ii) Research on client’s expectations. The supplier should consider finding out what kinds of services the customer needs and the information that it needs to accurately provide it with. iii) Working on the structure of relationships and responsibilities. The two businesses should make it clear in writing the kind of relationship they are engaged in and what to expect from one another. This measure helps in avoiding future conflicts and helps in resolving them when they occur. iv) Composing the negotiation team. The negotiating team members should be competent enough to present credible ideas and establish facts that may be hidden. The negotiating team would best be composed of at least a legal representative and company directors. v) Planning for the negotiations requires a lot of information and some resources. The plan should include details such as date, time, venue, expected time duration, and a list of activities to be conducted. vi) Initiating contact with the clients helps in resolving some issues beforehand. Contacting the clients also goes a long way in making plans for future cooperation. b) Timetables of programs, c) Action officers responsible for implementing the plan and d) The budgeted costs Timelines for the programs Activity Timeline Official Budgeted Cost Research on the company and its partners Parent company (2 days) Distinct partners (4 days) Day 1-5 Lawyer (Lawyer’s understanding of the legal status of companies) Parent $200 Partners $800 Research on possible requirements of the client Contacting past contractors (5 hours) Analyzing and relating (5 hours) Day 6 Lawyer (review of contracts requires legal background) Past $200 Relating $100 Working on the structure of partners’ relationships and responsibilities Creating each company’s profile (5 days) Analyzing role each plays in the contract (4 days) Day 7-15 Lawyer (generating corporate relationships requires legal understating) Profiling $100 Allocations $500 Composing the negotiation team Hiring negotiation exerts (2 days) Extra staffing internally (3 days) -corporate law added advantage -negotiation skills vital Day 6- 10 Human resource manager (Staffing roles fall under HR department) Hire $500 Relocation $400 Training the negotiators General negotiation (2 days) Specific negotiation (1 day) Day 11-12 Lawyer (Legal requirements for corporate negotiation ) $100 Planning for the negotiations First meeting of the team -choosing team leader -choosing main speaker -debating anticipated queries Day 13 Purchases Manager and lawyer (Legal and purchases issues handled by respective experts) $500 Initiating contact with the clients Presentation of appointment request -Phone call -physical presentation Day 14 Lawyer (calculations and anticipation of level preparedness require legal interpretation) $50 Negotiations Series of meetings with a few breaks for preparedness and solutions From 17 to 30 Team (Lawyer, Purchases, Director, Managing director ) $200 Total $3,650 Works Cited Cohen, Steven. Negotiating skills for managers. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 2002. Print Freud, James C. Anatomy of a merger: Strategies and techniques for negotiating corporate acquisitions. Ne York, NY: ALM Publishers, 1976. Print Xxxx please link all togather the Central Problem with objectivea and the alternatives that we suggest to solve the Central Problem please make Central Problem what and why Read More