Introduction
The main business goal of the Asia Division of Biotech is to come up with a versatile team with a pioneering spirit in a dynamic and challenging environment that is meant to enhance the development of unique best-in-class critical methods and essays that are not only sensitive but specific in measuring and monitoring the safety and efficacy of the company products. The division is guided by the mission of becoming a preferred service partner and building a reputation for professionalism, performance, productivity, and meeting the profitable goals (Alvesson & Sveningsson, 2015). This paper lays down the Asia Division of Biotech unit strategy management plan that comprises the description of the organizational structure and culture, the breakdown of the products and services and the communications plan. The project organizational structure is chosen for this plan, where it is considered to facilitate the establishment of the authority for the vertical coordination and control as opposed to the formation of horizontal relationships (Rothaermel, 2016). The plan further gives an analysis of the reasons why the chosen communication plan is suitable for the division and the essence of the breakdown of the company products and services.
Description of the Organizational Structure
The project organizational structure is the best structure chosen for the Asia Division of Biotech since it allows the management to establish and distribute authority for vertical coordination and control as opposed to the formation of horizontal relationships (Jamal & Abu Bakar, 2017). The main goal of the division is to communicate a shared vision, motivate, and empower others through the creation of a culture of ethical decision making and innovation (Bowers et al., 2017). The project organizational structure shown in the structure below has the capability of facilitating the creation of this culture as it strives towards the realization of improvement of the production process.
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Most of the projects related to the improvement of the quality and efficacy of biotech products are complex in the sense that they comprise some interdependent and independent activities (Alvesson & Sveningsson, 2015). Most of these projects are structured in such a way that the work process flows horizontally, diagonally, upwards, and downwards. In most cases, the direction of flow of work is highly dependent on the distribution of talents and abilities of the business organization, where the Asia Division of Biotech needs to apply the talents to the problems that are prevalent. The division needs to cope up with such situations, which has led to the emergent of the project organizations and matrix organizations (Hogan & Coote, 2014). The chart below shows the chosen organizational structure for the Asia Division of Biotech.
A project organization is temporal and designed to achieve specific results by applying the knowledge of the specialized teams across different functional areas of the business organization. In this case, the project teams are tasked with focusing on the energies, resources, and results on the assigned projects (Hogan & Coote, 2014). The organizational structure is essential for the current business plan because upon completion of the project, the team members from the cross-functional departments are required to review their previous positions or they may take up positions for new projects (Alvesson & Sveningsson, 2015). For example, the Division Research and Design director is placed in the organizational chart to find the ways of integrating green and sustainable materials into the cosmetics, which has not been carried out on a large scale in the past. The director will be responsible for ensuring that the cosmetic products are not only sustainable but of high quality to meet the current market needs.
The project organizational structure enables the company to create products that have not been introduced to the marketplace in the form of mass production, which will give the business company a competitive advantage over similar players at the global scene. The organizational structure also offers the position of the person responsible for the process of local testing under research and development (Rothaermel, 2016). Local testing will have a critical impact on the success of the products, bearing in mind that it will ensure that the company offers a top range of products to the consumers to keep up with the pace of competition (Porter & Heppelmann, 2014). Local testing is the best way in which the division can ensure that it is delivering excellent cosmetic products through performance o rigorous quality checks beforehand.
Local testing will help the division to measure the impacts of aging products and that the products can withstand the test of time. Through having a person in charge of local testing, the company will monitor the potential threats from substitute products that may offer competition. Local testing will help the division to find out the possible flaws in the products as compared to their use in the market (Bowers et al., 2017). It is also with the formation of the research and development personnel in charge of local testing that the division will ensure that the products are safe for the consumers. Product testing will also be applied to consumers. Local testing will fall under the same umbrella, where the division will successfully determine the levels of consumer acceptance beforehand (Alvesson & Sveningsson, 2015). The company is striving towards providing new and innovative products to the consumers, where the process of testing will ensure that the production process leads to robust products that will assure the division strong customer and brand relationships.
The project organizational structure is also meant to help the company in addressing its challenges related to the process of production and management of the overall organizational goals. The organizational structure is chosen for the division because it is regarded as a valuable tool in the sense that the work at hand is defined by specific goals and target timeframes for completion (Hogan & Coote, 2014). The work is also unique and unfamiliar to the business organization, where such an organizational structure will help the management to accomplish the independent activities using specialized skills as shown in the organization chart.
The group seeks to present the cultural complexities that should be monitored and addressed. In such a case, the director is required to bring a facility online in the area in which the biotech division currently lacks presence, which could lead to possible cultural dilemmas (Murray, 2010). The GoTo group should consider bringing in current employees from other locations, even though this option will have its own complexities from a cultural standpoint. Communication and lack of cross-cultural understanding will be the main barriers to the success of bringing in current employees from other locations (Alvesson & Sveningsson, 2015). The director should address the issue of cross-cultural differences by promoting and appreciating cultural differences. In this case, the director must set some time to ask the employees and co-workers to share the aspects of their culture among the project teams.
The project organizational structure will enhance cross-cultural understanding as it is regarded as an accommodating kind of structure (Bowers et al., 2017). The structure is set up in such a way that the current employees from other locations will not be required to change their culture, but rather provides a common ground where each employee will respect and embrace cultural differences. For example, the director will be required to ask the employees to give a "Lunch and learn" presentation that will feature the foods, ceremonies and religious aspects of their culture. Such a practice will not only promote the levels of socialization but also give each employee the opportunity of learning about and appreciating each other's culture (Alvesson & Sveningsson, 2015). The employees will also be invited to write feature articles in the newsletter of the company or about the internal communications about a particular culture to promote high levels of appreciation of the cultural differences.
The other method of understanding the business cultures in foreign countries will be the learning about how different countries view the act of bribery as a big part of the business for some cultures, while it is illegal in some other countries including the USA. Understanding how different countries perceive the act of bribery will help the employees to adopt a different culture as required by the rules and regulations of foreign soil (Rothaermel, 2016). Since the location of the new facility will have some cultural differences from what other locations do, the Biotech will have to recognize the difference and expect its employees to adhere to the Biotech’s standards.
Breakdown of the Products and Services
As part of the agenda of reaching out to the company goal of innovation, Asia Division of Biotech will walk to a new wave of consumer biotechnology products that will transform the world. The company will put sophisticated science into the easy-to-use kits by miniaturizing the world of biology. The management will have to understand that the world is currently a cusp of the post-antibiotic era, where the discovery of novel antibiotics will become a pressing issue across the globe (Alvesson & Sveningsson, 2015). The management will have to understand that just as the technological world involves mining bitcoins, the biological world involves mining microbes for novel antibiotics. For example, the company will have to apply sophisticated and innovative technologies like the MicrobeMiner to crowd-source antibiotic discovery. Such products will align with the Biotech's mission of meeting the sustainable, green, and human-friendly mandate as they do not pollute the environment.
The Biotech division will also launch natural products and plant synthetic biology as part of the agenda in fulfilling its innovative mission. The Asian traditional medicine is currently becoming a breakout star of the world of analytical chemistry (Pollack & Pollack, 2015). Biotech will leverage on this breakout to incorporate the tools that will be used to analyze biological samples quickly and efficiently. The company understands that there is rich knowledge of scientific support for the efficacy of traditional therapies that are currently derived from natural products including plants and fungi that have the potential of treating certain diseases (Rothaermel, 2016). The experts in the Biotech division will apply their understanding of the molecular basis for the efficacy of natural products to synthesize medicines in controlled and regulated bioprocesses. For example, the experts will launch the production of designer microbes meant to catalyze chemical transformations as part of the process meeting its objective in contributing the traditional Asian medicines (Alvesson & Sveningsson, 2015). The division will, therefore, shift away from the current use of biofuels that have the potential of polluting the environment to the bionic plants and natural product biosynthesis that is sustainable.
The division will also shift towards smarter bioelectronics and biosensors that will help in detecting the neurodegenerative diseases. The engineering department understands that the brain is a collection of impulses that are connected by a network of neurons (Pollack & Pollack, 2015). On its part, the division understands that cognitive brain-signal processing is essential in the determination of the existence of neurodegenerative diseases (Alvesson & Sveningsson, 2015). The inclusion of smart bioelectronics and biosensors will enhance the process of diagnosis of biomarkers, which will improve not only the health outcomes of the patients but also the quality of service provision in the Biotech Division. For instance, the division will concentrate on the supply of smart bandages that have the capability of monitoring the infection risks while releasing extra antiseptics when the risks are found to be high.
Communication Plan
The Asia Division of Biotech requires a roadmap that will show how the division will communicate with the corporate headquarters, suppliers, other divisions, and internally (Men, 2014). The communication plan will be an essential tool in the course of implementation of the change management in the division, where it will help in breaking down resistance to change by helping the stakeholders to become more engaged (Bowers et al., 2017). The communications planning process will be concerned with defining the types of information that will be shared among the stakeholders, the specific audience, the format for communication, and the timing for its distribution.
The first step in defining the most effective communication plan for the Biotech Division will be to figure out the type of communication that the stakeholders will require from the project to make sound decisions (Alvesson & Sveningsson, 2015). This first step is known as communications requirement analysis. This process is essential for the division as it will help in filtering the most valuable information from that which is less valuable for communication. Communicating valuable information, in this case, will not imply that the management is always trying to paint a rosy picture. Instead, the process of communication will include good and bad news, which will create an open platform from which the stakeholders can improve (Hogan & Coote, 2014). The rule of thumb is that the stakeholders not to want to be buried with too much information even though they need enough of it so that they are informed and can make the most appropriate decisions for the division.
The next step is to select the communication methods including the selection of viable tools that will enhance the sharing of information among stakeholders. Communication technology will often impact on the ways of keeping the stakeholders in the loop. The communication methods will come in different forms including the written reports, conversations, emails, formal status, and online databases. The project manager should put into consideration several factors before trying to reach out for the best communication methods that will keep the stakeholders engaged (Rothaermel, 2016). The fast factor is the timing of the information exchange, where the best communication framework should allow for the updates of the information. In this case, the project manager will have to analyze between procuring new technologies or use the systems that are currently in place.
The other factor that will be used in selecting the communication tools is the staff experience with the technology. The reason for choosing a communication tool is to enhance information sharing among the staff members. The experience of the staff in the usage of the technological applications helps in the way information they utilize the application. The duration of the project environment is another essential factor that should be considered when selecting the information sharing technological applications (Bowers et al., 2017). At some point, training may be used to enhance the use of specific technological applications. For this project, the technologies that will be chosen will have the capability of working throughout the life of the project even though they will offer the room for upgrades or updates at some point.
Effective management of expansion projects requires a sound communication plan. Different projects call for different ways of distribution of information. The communication plan for the Biotech Division will document the types of information that the stakeholders will be required to have, the time when the information will be distributed and how the information will be delivered (Alvesson & Sveningsson, 2015). The types of information that will be communicated include the project status, the scope statements and possible updates on the progress of the project. Moreover, the stakeholders will want to understand the project baseline information, the possible risks, action items including the key performance measures. The information to be communicated will be determined early in the planning phase because the teams will be required to develop the project planning documents.
The next phase of the communication plan will involve selecting the best types of communication. The division is made up of different departments, which implies that there will be different communication types that will be used across the levels of management for the Biotech project (Hogan & Coote, 2014). The team members working in the same offices will be required to arrange meetings regularly and discuss the project informally at other office functions. On the other hand, the teams working in different departments or the virtual teams will require electronic communication (Rothaermel, 2016). Planning for the communication types will be a proactive step in evading miscommunication that could harm trust to team members in the project culture.
The synchronous type of communication will be chosen if the parties to the communication are taking part in the exchange at the same time. The best models of communication that will be used in this case will be telephone and skype conferences. Other technologies in use will include the computer-assisted conferencing, conference calls, instant messaging and texting (Hogan & Coote, 2014). The division will utilize the ability of built-in cameras, especially in personal computers to facilitate the video conferencing.
The modern communication technologies will enhance the connection between the project teams anywhere in the world. Remembering the timing and the time zones will help in ensuring that the communication of the messages is carried out during the working hours. Time zones will be determined about the time zone of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich. Moreover, the communication plan will involve the asynchronous type of communication, where teams are spread out across the time zones. These methods will be applied when the parties are not present at the same time (Rothaermel, 2016). For example, the use of mail and package delivery, fax, emails, and, and project blogs.
The last step in the accomplishment of the communication plan will be the assessment of the new communication technologies. The complexity of the new communication technologies will give the requirement that there are assessments carried out to ensure that the stakeholders are familiar with their use. Assessments will also be carried out to ensure that the new technology provides a competitive advantage for the project as depicted by the reduction in the costs, saving of time and eliminating errors. Assessment of the technology will also ensure that the communication plan offers a competitive advantage for the project.
Conclusion
Asia Division of Biotech has the opportunity of realizing its corporate goal development of unique best-in-class critical methods and essays that specific in measuring and monitoring the safety and efficacy of the company products if it adopts the project organizational structure and by putting in place a sound communication plan. The increase in the levels of global competition will mean that the company should be proactive in communicating a shared vision, motivate and empower others, and create a culture of ethical decision making and innovation. The new business strategy plan shown will allow the company to gain an insight into the current status of the industry by the application of the external and internal tools, where the results from the analysis will be used in designing the business environment of the division.
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