Proposal and Marketing Plan
Integrated Summary Report for Wordplay Greeting Cards
Executive Summary
Wordplay Greeting Cards’ (WGC) business downturn is attributable to specific factors relating to the loss of uniqueness and innovativeness of the company. The competitive environment along with the issues involving its personnel presents major problems in the improvement of the company. Innovation and change is the company’s ultimate goal. Nevertheless, the constant lacking and deficiency of initiative and adaptation has taken its toll in WGC in general. Bryce and Dancetty Consulting provide this report as an instrument in pinpointing the areas to which WGC could improve. Along with the observations of the consulting firm, the arguments and suggestions are supported in this report by the past and existing organizational studies. To this end, this report intends to recommend further studies on this area in order to essentially achieve the organizational goals of Wordplay Greeting Cards.
Chapter
1
Causes of Business Downturn
Upon the conclusion of the first meeting of Bryce and Dancetty Consulting and its client Wordplay Greeting Cards (WGC), the firm has uncovered several issues that contributed greatly to the downturn in the business performance of WDC. Bryce and Dancetty Consulting have summarized it into four categories: competitive environment, personnel issues, lack of innovation, and climate change. The following will specifically discuss the observed barriers that held WDC’s progress at bay.
Competitive Environment Organizations are now in a vicious field where cutthroat completion is commonplace among the players in their respective industries. The struggle to survive is dictated by the competitive advantage to which these companies possess. This appears to be one of the main problems of the firm with a major greeting card company as its main competitor, Hallmark. With its competitor acquiring a huge bulk of the existing market share, WGC has been encountering barriers in getting hold of an improvement with regards to sales and number of consumers. Personnel Issues
Another issue that has taken a great impact on WGC is the existing concerns of turnover in the personnel. The management of the human resource has constantly been equated with an improvement in the performance of the organization. (Patterson et al, 1997) As observed in the context of WGC, the company may have been encountering problems with the morale and motivation of its personnel, specifically on those on sales clerk positions. The organization has to acquire different employment techniques to complement their current situation as a business entity.
Lack of Innovation
Companies are frequently caused to experience the changes that occur around them. In the present period, the modern-day roles of the organization have been varying as growth triggered by improvements in innovation and other theoretical works emerged. (Rousseau, 1997, 515) In the case of WDC, their ability to deal with pressures on the external environment is seen as a major barrier in carrying out innovations in the firm.
Climate Change
For several years already, the description of an organization as an entity has been employed to distinguish its dynamic characteristic. Wordplay Greeting Cards is not exempt on that phenomenon. With every attempt on innovation posed by the company, a considerable change in the culture of the organization is required. The Bryce and Dancetty Consulting have discovered the existence of some level of resistance to these changes within the organization. With certain adjustments in the way managers handle their subordinates, Bryce and Dancetty will be able to help WGC in assuaging this predicament.
Chapter
2
Sales Clerk Turnover
As indicated above, one of the problems of WGC is related to its management of personnel. Initially seen as a problem in compensation, WDC rectified it by providing financial augmentations in the compensation of the sales clerk. (Refer to Appendix 1) However, the rate of turnover relented. This prompted Bryce and Dancetty Consulting to surmise that indicated that the problem in WDC is not limited to compensation alone. The issue now rest on the motivation of not only the sales clerks of the company, but with the employees in general.
To this end, Bryce and Dancetty Consulting adhered with the theory presented by Herzberg. In the said theory, it claimed that individuals were motivated by a couple of different groups of what he characterized as motivators and hygiene factors. (Neff, 2002) The latter are not there to boost contentment or pleasure within a specific job, but are there to assist in putting off discontent. They take account of a respectable salary, working environment and the manner the company looks at and care for its personnel. Motivators, on the other hand, are features of the job which motivate individuals and take account of acknowledgment, responsibility, the character of the work and other means in which employers can develop the setting within which individuals work. Thus, the management have to concentrate their attention to the motivating factors to offer positive motivation, even as the hygiene factors similarly have to be satisfied. Still this claim points to Bryce and Dancetty Consulting’s points pertaining to the possibility of acquiring good performance will bring about with the existence of job satisfaction among the sales clerks.
Chapter
3
Wordplay Research Design
The following is a summary of a report regarding the internal environment of Wordplay Greeting Cards. The research included a survey of the existing websites that could help WGC in improving its innovativeness and creativity. This intended to measure the external environment of the firm with reference to the creativity and innovativeness of similar firms. Moreover, the project also included creation of a research tools to measure the level of creativity and innovativeness within the company.
Wordplay Greeting Cards
1. Website Identification and Evaluation
In the research made by Bryce and Dancetty Consulting through the internet, it uncovered several sites that proved to be useful for Wordplay Greeting Cards. There were eight websites found in the internet that bear some worthy information regarding the improvement of creativity and innovativeness in the organization. (Refer to Appendix 2) The research indicated that companies like WGC who’s suffering from low creativity and innovation should benefit largely on the implementation of an effective market research. (QuantumBooks, 2006) This will allow WGC to not only find out the necessary adjustments needed to innovate and be creative, but also establish the areas that actually need improvement. On a similar note, it will also be of huge help to the organization if it finds creative individuals within its ranks. (Freeman, 2004) Finding these individuals and empowering them would bring about the necessary prerequisites needed by the WGC to adapt to these changes that entail from innovation. Moreover, career mobility (Costello, 2005), Motivation,(Black, 2006), and career planning (Seneca Corporation, 2006) were also highlighted as major factors that would sustain the creativity of employees. Along with other factors such as the media (Freeman, 2004), work environment (Costello, 2005; Swicegood, 2001), leadership and open communication (Rule, 1998), Bryce and Dancetty Consulting was able to look into the areas of concern within the WGC organization.
2. Questionnaire Design
The Bryce and Dancetty Consulting firm opted to use the questionnaire as a tool since it is easy to construct having the rules and principles of construction are easy to follow. (Refer to Appendix 3) Moreover, copies of the questionnaire could reach a considerable number of respondents either by mail or by personal distribution. Generally, responses to a questionnaire are objectified and standardized and these make tabulation easy. But more importantly, the WGC employees’ replies are of their own free will because there is no interviewer to influence them.
3. Rationale
Bryce and Dancetty Consulting opted to employ employee feedback as opposed to consumer feedback. Bryce and Dancetty believe that the concerns of creativity and innovativeness will be handled and pinpointed much effectively through this manner. Moreover, other studies have indicated that the use of employee feedback entails other advantages for the company. According to Collins (2002), the use of employee feedback will make the employee of empowered in a certain manner. This means that the use of WGC of such means will make its employees feel a sense of importance as they are regarded as significant parts of the organization. Ahmad, McKnight, and Schroeder (2001) corroborated this claim and added that such a tool will improve the morale of the workforce. Bryce and Dancetty have produced a research plan that wholeheartedly reflects the interest of WGC’s management. It is its belief that this plan will be instrumental in propelling WGC into their next level of “creativity” and “innovation” and ultimately to their new found success.
Question Design
Bryce and Dancetty would similarly like WGC to look into the possibility of using new technology in improving the competitive advantage of the organization. It proposed the following research question: “What technology can be used by Wordplay Greeting Cards to gain advantage over its competitors?” Through the use of quantitative research, the needed information would be gathered from the external environment of the organization.
Chapter
4
Summary of Culture Changes
In this part of the research, Bryce and Dancetty took into consideration the possible change in the culture of WGC and its major competitor.
Wordplay Greeting Cards and Climate Change
Bryce and Dancetty realize that creativeness and uniqueness of the cards and messages were the factors that driven the success of the Wordplay Greeting Cards in the industry. The recent studies have indicated that organizational culture is directly related to the morale of the organization. (Schrodt, 2002, 189) This means that knowing the level of organizational morale may lead to the discovery of the overall culture of the organization. In the case of WGC, the creative enhancement generally depends on the designers and artists who are motivated. (Mauzy and Harriman, 2003) These designers are considered in the frontline with regards to the organization’s uniqueness and creativity. Ogbanna and Harris (2002) presented that the front-line employees are those who are more aware of the existence of the culture in the company as compared to the management level employees. This may pose a considerable problem considering that it is the managers who should be aware of the conditions prevailing in the culture of the organization. To this end, it is commissioned to these managers to encourage creativity and a certain level of autonomy to the designers of the WGC such there impact of the change in culture would be insulated.
Competitors
Bryce and Dancetty also took into consideration the major competitor of WGC, Hallmark. The study found out that the said company covers an international market share with distribution to over a hundred countries. (Micro Strategy, 2006) Its success may be attributed to the innovativeness of its staff and its rapport with the management. (Polilli, 1990) With Hallmark Cards development of effective strategies, nurturing and protecting the creativity of the designers, and open communication with its workforce triggered the success of Hallmark in its chosen industry.
Chapter
5
Corporate Office
An appointment for the presentation of findings will be provided by Bryce and Dancetty Consulting in front of the executives of Wordplay Greeting Cards. Computer applications are going to be used to ensure clarity of the data as it is conveyed to the audience. A copy of the report will be handed in leather bound fillers to allow individual scrutiny of the report. Questions regarding the report will be entertained after the presentation. It is recommended that the corporate office issue a memorandum indicating the need for region officers to be acquainted with the findings of the study.
Region Officers
A copy of the report would be sent to these region officers across the country. This would be sent concurrently with the memorandum sent by the corporate officers in the WCG headquarters. The two documents are to be accompanied by a package containing pamphlets made by Bryce and Dancetty Consulting indicating the major points of the report. It is recommended that the region officers issue a memorandum to store employees to carefully study the issued pamphlets.
Store Employees
Along with the memorandum, pamphlets containing the major points of the report would be given to the store employees. The employees are encouraged to read and familiarize themselves with the contents of the pamphlets.
Chapter
6
Conclusion
The summary has indicated the areas on which Wordplay Greeting Cards should take into consideration upon improving its uniqueness and creativity within the organization. Provision of flexibility in the company requires empowering the individual employee through the amalgamation of personnel management, organizational strategy and management strategy. Moreover, internal factors and external elements should be closely considered by the organization so as to adapt to the changes that may ensue once these internal and external elements become huge enough to implicate the operations of the organizations. In addition, the study intends to be an impetus for further research on the area of creativity and innovation. With a much larger scale and more detailed review of the organization, WGC would be able to contend with its internal issues eventually accomplish its organizational goals.
Appendix 1
Appendi
Job Description Revision Form
Company: Happy Times Greeting Cards
Location: Corporate Owned Stores
Job title: Sales Clerk
Current Job Description:
This is an entry-level hourly position that handles the following tasks:
- Compute charges for merchandise or services and receive payments.
- Prepare merchandise for display or for purchase.
- Recommend and provide advice on a wide variety of products and services.
- Answer telephones to provide information and receive orders.
- Greet customers and discuss the type, quality, and quantity of merchandise sought for purchase.
- Keep records of transactions and of the number of customers entering an establishment.
- Explain company fees, policies, and procedures.
Future Job Description / Recommended Changes:
- Explain company fees, policies and procedures in a contingent way depending on the current situation on hand.
- Assuring that sales or customer visit quota is achieved within a specific period of time (day, week or month)
- Greeting customers at all times but discuss the type, quality and quantity of merchandise to asking, regular or bulk-buying customers.
- Solicit customer feedback through simple service evaluation sheet located in front of the cashier
- Prepare merchandize for display or for purchase according to the clerk’s assessment
- Maintaining inventory, sales and customer records and other pertinent store data for weekly report to the general manager.
Examples of How Changes will Impact the Job:
- There may be busy days which can limit the responses and actions of the clerk like answering phone, recommending products and organizing displays. Attaching quotas can lift pressure and over-stress to clerks.
- There may be customers that are just making excessive “fun” and interference with their product queries. Keeping the subjective judgment of clerk in tact will not only defer waste of time but also will make clerk more efficient.
- Clerk effort like smiling, greeting and assisting customers may not reflect in store quantitative quotas. Evaluation sheets will not only provide the platform to evaluate clerk behavioral performance but also may serve as the company’s way of trusting the clerk (as if the clerk will not forge the evaluations sheets).
- Current inventory may not sell very well. Giving clerk the freedom to solve this difficulty through self-assessment can induce confidence of oneself and selling skills.
- Multi-tasking can provide the needed challenge and hedge the repetitive nature of the job.
Reasons for Changes:
According to Herzberg, these changes can stand as real motivators unlike the mere prevention of the sources of dissatisfaction from salaries and supervision (Accel-Team, 2005). Job enrichment will create greater opportunities for individuals to increase variety, responsibility and accountability. Thus, achievement and recognition is embraced in clerk performance due to autonomy and identity derived in the revised job design.
x 1
Appendix 1
Appendix 2
WEBSITES
ADDRESS
DESCRIPTION
Quantumbooks
http://www.quantumbooks.com/Creativity.html
This site begins by pinpointing precisely where it is that WGC needs to now focus their attention: on their customer via their employees.
GuardianJobs: Creative Urges
http://jobsadvice.guardian.co.uk/discoveryourniche/story/0,,1218885,00.html
An article on this site written by Hilary Freeman focuses primarily on the creativity needed to break into the arts and media industry
eLearning Centers @ Seneca
http://ilearn.senecac.on.ca.
This website contains a variety of information about creativity. It describes the essence of creative and how it can be implemented on the job, including its use in career planning. The website also identifies three ways to stimulate one’s creativity.
Robert Alan Black, Ph.D
http://www.cre8ng.com
This website describes what happens to an organization when it has a creative workforce. The said website also shows why there is a need for changes. This website gives motivational suggestions to management on pushing their employees to become creative. It also gives motivational suggestions to the personnel on making themselves more effective in the workplace
All Business: Fostering Creativity
http://www.allbusiness.com/management/change-management/586664-1.html
Highlighted by the article of Craig Costello on five roadblocks that stifle creativity and innovation
Management Insights
http://pubs.acs.org/subscribe/journals/ci/31/i11/html/11manage.html
This website notes that “there is no innovation without creativity”. The site states that there are five creativity criteria: attitude, behavior, skills, structures, and environment.
Fostering creativity in the camp environment
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1249/is_6_71/ai_53450368
This website notes that a creative organization is described as having idea people, innovative leadership, and open communication. Important to an organization is that management is encouraging the staff to discuss ideas and show their passion for a project, and then be supportive, support the risk and tolerate errors. This website also discusses finding ways to positively challenge the staff, and develop creative endeavors to craft new programs that are original, refined, or revised.
The 24/7 learning environment: A thoughtfully designed work environment can foster creativity and the exchange of ideas
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m4467/is_12_55/ai_83045838
The author notes that today’s workforce is different than those that have come before, and therefore different methods must be employed to keep them motivated and invigorated to be their most creative.
Appendix 3
Employee Feedback Form
Creativity and Innovation in the WGC Environment
Bryce & Dancetty is conducting an assessment on the current level of creativity and innovativeness within the Wordplay Greeting Cards culture. To enable the researcher to make the appropriate conclusions and recommendations for this study, this study is hence initiated. Your participation is highly appreciated. Information given will be treated in strictest confidence.
Part I – Personal Information
Direction: Please fill out all the necessary information about yourself.
a. Age (check one):
18 – 24 ( ) 25 – 31 ( ) 32 – 38 ( ) 39 – 45 ( ) 46 – 52 ( ) 52 up ( )
b. Sex (check one):
Male ( ) Female ( )
c. Civil Status (check one):
Single ( ) Married ( ) Separated ( ) Divorced ( )
d. Educational Attainment (check one):
Elementary ( ) High School ( ) Some College ( ) Associates ( )
Bachelors ( ) Masters ( ) Doctorate ( )
e. Years of employment with the company (check one): 1 year and less ( ) 2-3 years ( ) 4-5 years ( ) 6-7 years ( ) 8 years and over ( )
Part I I– Workplace
Directions: Circle the number that best corresponds to your answer.
1 - Strongly Disagree
2 - Disagree
3 - Uncertain / Neutral
4 - Agree
5 - Strongly Agree
I believe that the company has used creativity and innovativeness
to create the best products and services.
1 2 3 4 5
I believe that the company has not used old products or concepts
in creating new products that are sold.
1 2 3 4 5
I believe that the company currently sells products that are unique and different.
1 2 3 4 5
I generally adapt to change easily.
1 2 3 4 5
My manager encourages open discussions and values a free-share of ideas.
1 2 3 4 5
I understand the policies, processes, methods of operations, values, and goals of the company.
1 2 3 4 5
I get involved and share knowledge and experience with my group.
1 2 3 4 5
I work with my manager in working towards the strategic direction of the company.
1 2 3 4 5
The company promotes an “Open Door” policy.
1 2 3 4 5
The company encourages participation and involvement in expressing ideas and creative thinking.
1 2 3 4 5
Employees are encouraged to take advantage of opportunities in the workplace.
1 2 3 4 5
Management motivates employees
to set goals for self-improvement.
1 2 3 4 5
I listen, and accept advice, suggestions and constructive criticism from management and others.
1 2 3 4 5
I have a good rapport with my manager.
1 2 3 4 5
I would like to see changes implemented in the current management structure.
1 2 3 4 5
I am physically comfortable in my working environment.
1 2 3 4 5
I am a person who can make something marvelous out of very little.
1 2 3 4 5
I use my imagination and intuition in my day to day thinking process.
1 2 3 4 5
I share creative ideas with my fellow employees.
1 2 3 4 5
I dispose of mental models (i.e., preconceived notions).
1 2 3 4 5
I feel that risk-taking and personal creativity is promoted at Wordplay.
1 2 3 4 5
Wordplay offers creative courses to promote creativity skills.
1 2 3 4 5
Management offers a creativity measuring plan that includes the proper availability of resources.
1 2 3 4 5
Management offers a creativity measuring plan that includes creativity rewards.
1 2 3 4 5
Wordplay promotes creative decision-making.
1 2 3 4 5
Wordplay work environment offers a creative corporate culture.
1 2 3 4 5
Dear WGC Employee,
.
Thank you for your time and effort concerning this noteworthy cause.
We assure you that all information provided will be treated in the strictest of confidence.
Thank you once again for you valuable input!
Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com
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