A. Executive Summary
1) Summary of Issues and Reasons for Change
The growing issues of obesity and health-related problems have become the driving force for many food industries to implement changes in the way they promote their business. For example, different food industries are faced with problems on how to make their company more appealing to the customers. Having a good public image is the problem of many food industries. With this, different food industries try to implement some changes in its marketing approach and attempt to give focus on the Integrated Marketing Communication.
The purpose of this report is about the agenda for a change management programme which will be implemented in Café de Coral.
2) Description of Change
In order for an organisation or industry to be more competitive in the marketplace, the management must always see to it that they use a management system and strategy that would sustain the capability, strength and competitive position. It is essential that the management team and the organization should be open minded in considering changes so as to cope and adapt to the latest development that are happening within and outside their environment. Industries which consider changes with their management system or any other critical aspects of their business operation are those industries which are aware of the positive benefits that these changes may bring. In many ways, change can make work easier, pave the way for future innovations or generally improve people’s lives. Similarly, change has been adapted by various work organizations for varied reasons.
In this report, the changes will focus on the marketing approach of Café de Coral, specifically in the implementation of the Integrated Marketing Communication. Herein, the renewed vision will be provided and other aspects which are important for the successful implementation of change will also be given.
B. Prescription of Change
Café de Coral is known to be one of the popular Chinese fast food brands in the world. The company is operating in different parts of the world and providing services in different customers. However, despite of the established brand of Café De Coral and contrary to its previous achievements; it seems that there is a need for the management to redefine its image. The current growing and bustling population is obviously different from the population of the previous decades in terms of health and nutritional attitudes and behaviours.
Today, People are more concerned with their health and figures than ever before. Obviously, the reason for this increased awareness is because of the fact that information is everywhere and every reports and research about diet seem to link fast foods with the growing number of fatness. Furthermore, there is also a number of emerging diet programs that promote and encourage the public to be figure conscious.
This would be a problem for Café De Coral because it has already gained the reputation of a fast food while competitors have already made measures to reduce fats in their products. The company needs to do something about and shift its positive image back. This calls for a new integrated marketing communication plan that should be appealing to current customers. The campaign should make the Café de Coral brand as something that is irresistible, then followed with the information that its products are already health friendly. In this approach, positive changes will be made. As the management realise these innovation or needs, Café de Coral decides to implement such changes the soonest possible time.
1) Vision for renewed Organization:
Innovation vision gives an uplifting and motivational statement of the ideal future or potentialities of the business. Herein, a simple vision statement integrated with the elements of the business’ strategy guarantees a sense of direction in which the whole industry can subscribe. Creating a vision, for example in innovation needs a prudent and careful thinking. As mentioned above, the vision statement that should be created must be inspiring, challenging, realistic and believable.
It is recommended that the vision statement that must be used in the innovation plan of the company is the first vision statement: To be known as a food industry that provides a health-conscious sub-image that would be consistent with the latest trend of health awareness.
2) Direction and scope of change
It can be said that the vision given above would be most suitable for the innovation in Café De Coral, since it adheres to the needs of the company on having a good reputation which can be recognised not only by the consumer of this generation but also to the future. In addition, this vision also provides a clear view on the main goal of initiating the innovation in line with the marketing strategy of Café De Coral, particularly the implementation of Integrated Marketing Communication. Further, this vision can also be referred to us enthusiastic and motivational, since it allows the stakeholders to have in mind that the company will have a competitive position since its target is not only to provide quality and satisfying products (meals) but also healthy and nutritious.
3) Speed of Change
In this initiating the new Integrated Marketing Communication for Café De Coral, it is recommended that the changes will be implemented the soonest possible time. Herein, the company may impose such change in 6 months.
4) Café De Coral Changes
The marketing concept has been defined as ‘the key to achieving organisational goals’ and the marketing concept rests on ‘market focus, customer orientation, coordinated marketing and profitability’. In a profit making business like Café De Coral, the firm obviously has to try and achieve this level of customer satisfaction as a way of staying ahead of the competition and making a profit. Specifically, this change will give emphasis on the Integrated Marketing Campaign (IMC) as part of the marketing strategy of the company.
Integrated Marketing Campaign aims to adopt a new health-conscious sub-image that would be consistent with the latest trend of health awareness and the growing concern in obesity among children and target market. In addition, its goal is to introduce the adoption of a new, separate low-fat menu for children, intended to counter the growing bad publicity being thrown at Cafe de Coral’s. The company is also aware that this kind of strategy which gives importance to the health of consumer would effectively inform their target market about the nutritional value of their food products and how they are different from the traditional Cafe de Coral’s meals. In addition, the innovation of Integrated Marketing Communication that would be implemented may be able to provide an effective advertising and public relations campaign that would successfully introduce the new Cafe de Coral’s to the public.
D. Proposed Action/Implementation Plan/Action Plan
This part of the report will give focus in the implementation plan that Café de Coral must follow. In order to implement the new Integrated Marketing Communication for Café De Coral, the company must be able to follow the following Action Plan. The model that will be used in this implementation plan is the Force Field Analysis Model.
1) Leveraging Change
To implement the changes properly, it is important to consider an analysis model which will help the company. In this particular change, Force Field analysis will be used. Force Field Analysis is an approach for looking at all the aspects for and against a certain decision.
That the need for change is higher than its opposing premises. Hence, the implementation of Integrated Marketing Communication for Café De Coral is really needed by the company. In the analysis, it seems that the change is viable. In order to avoid some problems, the management should see to it that the purpose and objective of the said change are disseminated properly within the organization. In addition, the finance management should allocate enough budgets to sustain the implementation of the change and the management must see to it that they efficiently implement the said changes in Café de Coral.
2) Renewing Structure and Systems
The initial implementation of the change may take place as soon as the change management plan has been modified and disseminated properly among the chose managers, employees or staffs of Café de Coral who will be involved in the said project. Since, the change process is the initiation of Integrated Marketing Communication, the management team in this change process will focus advertising as it will not only inform the public about the changes in Café de Coral, but also needs to inform the public about the healthy improvements made and the sales promotions designed.
In addition, a new commercial should be released that focuses on the new image of the company. It should show visuals and verbal encouragement in choosing healthy foods, or in particular, choosing the healthy products of Café de Coral. But the trick here is that the commercial should look like it favours the new healthy products more than the traditional products. The key is to emphasise the healthy options and then let the public decide.
· People Skills
As mentioned above, people are one of the essential factors that determines the success or even failure of the change process. In addition, they can be characterized by all manner of shapes, sizes, colors, ability levels and intelligence, sexual preferences, gender, first and second languages, national origins, religious beliefs, , personalities, and attitudes toward life and work priorities — and these are just a few of the essential aspects along which people vary. Hence, the management of Cafe de Coral, specifically those involved in the change process must be critically selected.
The innovative capabilities most needed in this change implementation are those that normally fall under the heading of communication or interpersonal skills. In order to have a successful change management process in Cafe de Coral, the management and employees that initiate the change process has the ability to listen and listen actively, reaffirm, reflect, elucidate without interrogating, to draw out the speaker, to direct or channel a discussion. In addition, the change agents are also able to plant ideas, and develop them. This is also helpful in order to avoid some resistance among other staffs.
3) Tailoring Culture
In order to tailor the culture aspects within Café de Coral, in line with its implementation of the Integrated Marketing Communication the normative re-educative strategy can be used. In this strategy, the people are considered as social beings attaches to unique cultural norms and values. This strategy is based on the idea that different people are inevitably active in order to satisfy their needs. In Café de Coral, this change strategy can be utilized appropriately, when the employees or the people in the organization have identified dissatisfaction due to different cultures and values. If the company has been able to encounter conflicts due to cultural differences this method can be used.
The key aspect of its used is that, this strategy focus on not finding the best information to provide guidance on the rational process but to seek an effective and efficient relationship between the value of the whole system imposed by the organisation including the stakeholder and the values of the internal or external environment of the company. The changes can be done through redeployment or reorganisation, and redefining of the existing norms and values that is currently implemented within Café de Coral as well as adapting to new development brought by changes.
4) Overcoming Resistance
In order to overcome the anticipated resistance, the management should see to it that all information regarding the changes is properly disseminated. In addition, the team manager who will be responsible for the implementation of IMC must highlight its innovation capability.
a) Ongoing innovation capability
Implementation of the changes within Café de Coral requires an uncommonly broad and finely practiced set of innovation capabilities of the people within the Cafe de Coral.
· Political Innovative Capability
Industries are considered as social structures. Without people there can be no institution. Lose sight of this reality and any would-be change agent will likely lose his or her head. In addition, organisations are fervently and strongly political. In this manner, change agents are being risky on not joining the political complexities. Hence, it is one of the most critical areas wherein the management or change agents involved in the change process within Cafe de Coral must make their own judgments and keep their own counsel.
· Analytical Innovative Capability
In implementation of changes, change agent must be able to avoid mistakes by becoming more analytical in every decision they made in line with the change process. Herein, Insights are considered to be helpful, even functional, and sometimes shines with intelligence, but it is difficult to sell and may be impossible to defend. An articulate, sensible and well-argued analysis can be disregarded and even restrained, but not effectively contested and, in most instances, will carry the day.
Two specific sets of innovative capability are very important here: (1) systems analysis or workflow operations, and (2) financial analysis. In this manner, the change agents of Cafe de Coral have the ability to separate and reassemble the systems or the operation focusing the change process in novel way. In addition the change agents of Cafe de Coral have been ability to identify the political and financial impacts of their implementation of changes.
Furthermore, since Cafe de Coral is known to be an economically stable industry, the company also has the innovative capability in terms of financial and technological resources. With these innovative capabilities, the company may guarantee a successful implementation of change process.
5) Leadership of Change
In a change management process, the role of the management leader who will be involved in the process must also be highlighted. In this manner, this part of the paper will provide the key roles of the management leader and member to ensure successful implementation of the changes in Café de Coral. Leadership style is the pattern of behavior used by a leader in attempting to influence group members and make decision regarding the mission, strategy, and operations of group activities. Applying the right leadership style in the right moment and situation is the best approach in effectively managing a change or decision situation. The transformational leadership style is the right one and the most used during the organizational change of strategies, and culture.
In line with the change management process within Café de Coral, the leaders who will be responsible for the whole process must encourage and support innovation and open discussion of issues and ideas among the members so that challenges may become opportunities rather than threats.
The leadership in a change management process creates a strategic vision, communicate that vision, model the vision, and build commitment to the vision by being consistently involved in the process of changing. By acting as role models, these chosen leaders must inspire employees to put the good of the whole organization above self interest. In addition, upon the implementation of the change process the team leader must also stimulate employees to be more innovative, and they themselves take personal risks and are not afraid to use different types of methods in order to achieve the collective vision.
6) Communication Change
Communication is an important aspect of work organizations. Through effective interaction, colleagues are able to share insights and learn from each other’s strengths and expertise. Indeed, as other authors have stated, effective communication must always be practiced as it is significant to individual health as well as for the creation of positive relationships. Specifically, the ability to communicate directly affects an individual’s stress levels, self-esteem and relationship quality.
In implementing or initiating a change management process or project, one of the most important tool the ensure success is the process of communication. In this manner, both internal and external communication must be included.
2.2.1 Internal
Communication within an organization goes beyond the concepts of effective speaking or listening, or what is commonly considered as linear communication. It is an interactive model which deals with feedback and reciprocal exchanges. According to surveys focusing on areas of improvement among corporations, communication is usually ranked first as an important element within the organization. Specifically, communication is recognized as an important aspect of an organization as it keeps employees well-informed and open to communication channels.
Hence, the management must insure that there are open avenues for employees to communicate new ideas, grievances, input and feedback in line with the change management process. It is important that the communication provided by the organisation is clear and consistent from within all levels of the organisation. It must address both organisational and individual employee concerns. Management behaviour will influence employee behaviour more than the words included in a communication. Employees assess the communication to see if the change meets their needs.
Internal Communication is linked to performance, job satisfaction, job avoidance, market conditions, commitment, culture and turnover. Communication process is useful to the success the change process. Herein, a clearly articulated mission or vision statement is an essential part of building the image of the innovation in the minds of the employees. Therefore, effective internal communication is needed during, before and after the change process has been done. If poor internal communications exist, it could lead to lack of job satisfaction, increased job avoidance, reduced performance and commitment and an increase in turnover
2.2.2 External
External communication refers to those stakeholders and other individuals which can be an essential part of the implementation of the change process. In this manner, the opinion of the key stakeholders who are not necessarily working within Café de Coral must also be valued. Laszlo and Jean-Franhois (2000) advised that customer involvement provides an opportunity for service companies to get direct and immediate feedback which may be helpful for the implementation of a certain project.
Effective external communications that educate customers and other stakeholders about the changes that will be implemented within the company and explaining to them the importance or significance of such innovation can also help in gaining the support of the external environment. External communication to the stakeholders outside the Cafe de Coral industry may be done through the use of different communication channels such as the internet Cafe de Coral’s website, or audio and video campaigns and printed materials such as magazines, newspapers.
E. Conclusion
The changes that will be implemented within Café de Coral are the used of Integrated Marketing Communication to enhance the company’s public image. In this manner, the company must be able to strategically plan the said changes and efficiently implement such change. It can be concluded that if Café de Coral should consider a comprehensive implementation or action plan. The company will be sure of having a successful Integrated Marketing Communication. Giving focus to the essential aspects of planning and implementation is the key to have successful changes within the organisation.
Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com
0 comments:
Post a Comment