A Practical Implementation Plan for Andrews Electronics Company

Strategic planning is a critical tool that the management employs in determining the financial health and growth capabilities of an entity (Wolf & Floyd, 2017). As such, a business strategy defines an entity’s direction on a specific goal as predetermined by the leadership, while also offering the platform of assessing the viability of various decisions made in the course of undertakings. A well-formulated strategy is inclusive of, among other things, the critical activities that the entity intends to undertake and how they meet the set objectives. While a firm may proactively set appropriate and relatively achievable strategies, there is also a likelihood of not achieving such policies (Wolf & Floyd, 2017). Thus, the planners and significant stakeholders in decision-making should explicitly form an outline of the possible ways and structures that will be followed in implementing each strategy. This paper will elucidate a practical implementation plan that Andrews Electronics Company can employ in executing its strategy. 

Action Plan 

Objectives 

The following is set of goals which will form the basis of the various undertakings of the company. 

To maintain an unmatched order accuracy record. 

To maintain the industry’s best in-stock rate on commodities. 

To ensure a customer-friendly environment with effective and efficient feedback. 

To maintain appropriate financial leverage in the electronic sensors industry. 

To maintain profitability and financial stability. 

To partner with customers to provide solutions. 

To improve research and development to achieve high innovativeness in products offered by the company. 

Strategy Initiatives 

The following set of strategic initiatives will be employed to achieve the company’s mentioned above goals. 

The identification of crucial players and stakeholders. 

Continuous reassessment of milestones and achieved projects. 

Effective internal and external communication. 

Constant evaluation of customer needs. 

Revaluation of the current information systems and technology. 

Critical Success Factors 

The company’s progress will be weighed against several factors, which will go a long way to shed more light on the practicality and effectiveness of strategies. Nicoletti (2017) recommends the consideration of the entity’s strategic focus, which entails management, planning, and leadership. Second, it is crucial to identify people who implicitly or directly play a role in the undertakings of an entity. In effect, people include the organization’s staff, development departments, and personnel management tools. Further, operations will also go a long way to determining the success of the business strategies put in place. Operations entail the various procedures and processes of an organization as well as work. Fourth, the company’s financial concerns determine the success of strategies (Nicoletti, 2017). An entity measures its finances through accounting procedures, which businesses also employ to report the financial position and the incomes of the entity. Finances are powerful determinants as they are not only measurable but also concrete. Lastly, the entity’s marketing aspects will also play a vital role in determining the success of the entity’s strategic plans. Marketing facets range from customer relations to sales and responsiveness (Murphy, 2015). 

Key Performance Indicators 

Key performance indicators (KPIs) vary with the nature and size of an entity. Also, some entities apply various performance indicators within each department. There exist several applicable performance indicators that Andrews Electronics Company may adopt in revaluing progress and viability of procedures as stipulated by the company’s strategies. Three primary KPIs will be employed in this implementation plan: marketing KPIs, Sales KPIs, and Social Media KPIs. Marketing KPIs entail measurable values that marketers use to assess the effectiveness of various promotional tools (Terho, Eggert, Haas, & Ulaga, 2015). Having marketing metrics portrays the efficiency of activities such as customer engagement and brand awareness (Murphy, 2015). Examples of marketing KPIs are customer acquisition cost (CAC), customer retention, and marketing spend per customer. 

Sales KPIs, on the other hand, involve the measures that a company’s sales team will use to evaluate the organization’s revenue generation. In effect, sales KPIs are efficient to employ since sales are relatively measurable. The company will apply sales KPIs ranging from growth metrics to status indicators (Bai & Sarkis, 2014). Growth sales KPIs include (but are not limited to) monthly sales growth, average profit margin, and sales opportunities. Status sales KPIs include examples such as average purchase value, product performance, and customer lifetime value. 

Furthermore, the company will apply Social Media KPIs in partial fulfillment of customer relations assessment and campaigns undertaken via the various social media platforms. The company has several social media platforms where it creates product awareness and other promotional activities. Also, the organization employs its multiple social media platforms to interact with customers. Social Media KPIs measure the effectiveness of campaigns and such online interactions (Fan & Gordon, 2014). Usually, the assessment takes place on a monthly bases by applying efficacious indicators. Such metrics include (but are not limited) the number of likes, followers’ growth, social shares, and traffic conversions (Fan & Gordon, 2014). 

Time Frame 

The point in time at which each strategy will be implemented is critical in developing the overall plan. The efficiency of a program is inherent with the implements required and the company’s objectives. Table 1 below shows the estimated period that the recommended initiatives will take to be implemented fully. 

Table 1 

Initiative Timeframes 

Guiding Policies 

The implementation of strategic initiatives requires among other things a set of principles that will guide the actualization of such actions. A guiding policy will act as a channel through which the operations will flow. The company will adopt the following policies to guide its strategic initiatives. 

Focus on customer group through engagements and an effective response and feedback system. 

Research Policy- this policy will guide the collection of relevant information pertaining to the electronics industry within which the company operates. 

Personnel Management Policy- This policy will stipulate the conduct, responsibilities, and benefits as well as the targets of employees, who will play various roles in the implementation of the strategic initiatives. 

Accounting Procedures and Practices- The policy will outline the various standards that preparers of financial statements must adhere to during the accounting cycle. 

Systems 

Usually, implementing a strategy encompasses various macro and microsystems in an organization. The company will adopt three vital systems: technology, reward systems, and decision processes. Technology depicts the knowledge, skills, tools, and equipment as well as work methods that the company can incorporate into its operations and procedures. Kash, Spaulding, Johnson, & Gamm (2014) find that an excellent technological system must be in line with the objectives of the strategy at hand. One of the critical approaches of the Andrews Electronics Company is differentiating its products, which will indeed require the appropriate technology to do that. 

Subsequently, the company will employ a reward system to implement its various strategies. A reward system is an essential tool that encompasses incentive plans and personnel management. These incentives can be offered in the form of financial and non-financial aspects. Financial incentives include (but are not limited to) bonuses and salary raise. Non-financial incentives include recognition, challenge, and other intangible rewards. The reward system will ensure that the company meets its strategic initiatives as most of these plans relate in all aspects to human interactions within and outside the organization. Employees are arguably one of the most crucial stakeholders of an organization. As such, the company should focus on providing a conducive working environment and appraisal of the members of staff (Kash, Spaulding, Johnson, & Gamm, 2014). 

Lastly, the company will incorporate substantive decision-making processes to facilitate the sound judgment of the various concerns affecting its initiatives. Implementing an action is s process in itself, and will entail a thorough assessment of options and strategies alternatives. Such decisions that will arise in the process of implementing initiatives include resource allocation, prioritization of processes and assigning job responsibilities. Resource allocation will entail apportioning various resources the organization’s departments while process prioritization will involve a critical analysis of the initiatives and deciding which, to begin with as a whole. Assigning job responsibilities is a process that incorporates departmentalization of tasks and procedures, and is a human resource management function. The management should ensure that job assignment is appropriate regarding skills and other qualifications such as working experience. 

Processes 

The following processes will facilitate the implementation of strategic initiatives across the various functional levels of the organization. 

Goal-setting- This process involves developing objectives at various levels of the initiatives to allow outcome assessment and progress analysis. 

Analysis- At this stage, the company will critically review the components of each of its initiatives. 

Strategy formation- The company will formulate various strategies and ensure that they are interrelated and oriented to its corporate goals. 

Implementation and monitoring- The two are the last stages and involve actualizing initiatives and reviewing them to create room for improvements. 

Procedures 

The company will apply the following procedural activities during the task formation. 

Team formation- This procedure involves the development of various teams within the organization to allow team building and corporation. 

Scheduling- At this point, the organization will consider the timeframes assigned to various strategic initiatives, and designate appropriate persons to oversee the completion of plans within such time. 

Data collection- The management will need to gather information about the organization’s plans, previous strategic plans and their accomplishments or failures, financial records, and risk analysis. Also, a review of data will occur at this point to allow informed decision-making. 

Resources Needed 

Key resources will be needed to implement the strategic initiatives, some of which are common to all procedures. The resources can be categorized broadly into three: human, financial and technological resources. Human resources are arguably the most critical implements that the company will require to see to it that it meets the predetermined initiatives. Human resources will take the form of the company’s employees as well as external parties whose services are critical in the organization’s procedures and processes. Financial resources, on the other hand, entail the monetary support that the organization will need at each stage of the initiatives’ implementation. Such resources will meet costs at departmental levels as well as other expenses that the company is likely to incur in the course of its undertakings. Financial resources will also meet the costs at the initial and planning stages. Implementation costs must be outlined in the company’s budgets. 

Lastly, the company will employ technological resources which are primarily intangible factors such as intellectual properties and computer software. These resources will play a vital role in implementing every strategic initiative as all strategies relate to technology in various aspects. Technology will allow for improvement of systems and efficiency of procedures and processes. Nonetheless, the company should ensure that only appropriate technology is employed as not all technological solutions can be practical. The proposed technological resources are software solutions as well as the skills of technicians within the organization. 

Accountability 

Having accountability within each strategic initiative will necessitate the adoption of various teams, whose primary mandate will be to ensure that individuals are accountable for their actions. The following groups will be created to ensure that things are done in the most appropriate way for the accomplishment of the organization’s objectives. 

Functional Team- This team will implement initiatives at the various organization’s functions. Examples include design, sales and purchasing functions. 

Virtual Team- This kind of a team is virtual in the sense that its members do not necessarily sit together or hold face-to-face discussions. Instead, such members relate from different geographical positions and zones and work together for a common goal. 

Self-directed Team- In an open business environment, employees are motivated to come together and form groups on their own. 

Balanced Scorecard Strategy Map 

A balanced scorecard strategy map is a diagrammatical illustration of the interrelationship between the company’s objectives and the set strategies. The proposed balanced scorecard (BSC) will perform the following set of tasks. 

Communication of strategies to interested parties. 

Informing all stakeholders of their various assigned tasks about the strategic initiatives’ implementation. 

Prioritizing projects, procedures and processes. 

Assessment of progress through monitoring the outcome of initiatives. 

Figure 1 below shows an active map that the company can employ to assess how effective the set strategic initiatives can meet its long-term and short-term goals. 

Figure 1: Comprehensive balance scorecard (BSC) map (Balancedscorecards, 2018). 

The inception of the entire business strategies is at the learning and growth level. At this point, the company assesses previous strategies and implements changes recommended from such undertakings. The BSC map illustrates the various strategic combinations that the organization will partake to meet the best-desired outcome. In effect, this outcome must be colinear with the pre-set company goals. Further, customers play a vital role in the implementation of initiatives as shown in Figure 1. The major processes involved insofar as customer relations are concerned with communicating products and services pertinent information to them and creating a conducive interaction channel. Internal business processes are the fundamental activities of the entity in that they are the procedures through which the company will implement its strategies. In effect, these procedures enable the company to actualize its objectives. 

Core Competency Diagram 

Core competencies are the organization’s capabilities, the assessment of which enables the management to maintain a competitive advantage (Espinoza & Ukleja, 2016). These abilities range from coordinating diverse production skills to incorporating technology into the business of the company. The proposed core competency diagram will shed light on the various strengths of the company and how they interrelate with the strategic initiatives. Principal among the company’s competencies includes leadership, business, and personal skills. Figure two shows the identified core competencies of the organization (Espinoza & Ukleja, 2016). 

Figure 2: Key competencies identified for typical organizations (What is core competency (core competencies), 2018). 

References 

Bai, C., & Sarkis, J. (2014). Determining and applying sustainable supplier key performance indicators.  Supply Chain Management: An International Journal ,  19 (3), 275-291. 

Balancedscorecards. (2018). What is a Strategy Map? A short and simple guide for 2018. QuickScore Balanced Scorecard Software . Retrieved 27 November 2018, from https://balancedscorecards.com/strategy-map/#strategy-map-overview 

Espinoza, C., & Ukleja, M. (2016).  Managing the Millennials: Discover the core competencies for managing today's workforce — John Wiley & Sons. 

Fan, W., & Gordon, M. D. (2014). The power of social media analytics.  Communications of the ACM ,  57 (6), 74-81. 

Kash, B. A., Spaulding, A., Johnson, C. E., & Gamm, L. (2014). Success factors for strategic change initiatives: A qualitative study of healthcare administrators' perspectives.  Journal of Healthcare Management ,  59 (1), 65-81. 

Murphy, J. (2015). Delving into the Mind of the Market - Understanding the Real Stakeholder Drivers.  The Stakeholder Balance Sheet , 33-59. doi: 10.1002/9781119206132.ch3. 

Nicoletti, B. (2017). Critical Success Factors. In  the Future of FinTech  (pp. 161-175). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. 

Terho, H., Eggert, A., Haas, A., & Ulaga, W. (2015). How sales strategy translates into performance: The role of salesperson customer orientation and value-based selling.  Industrial Marketing Management ,  45 , 12-21. 

What is core competency (core competencies)? - Definition from WhatIs.com . (2018).  SearchCIO . Retrieved 27 November 2018, from https://searchcio.techtarget.com/definition/core-competency 

Wolf, C., & Floyd, S. W. (2017). Strategic planning research: Toward a theory-driven agenda.  Journal of Management ,  43 (6), 1754-1788.