The Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC) operates as a water and wastewater utility company. It is one of the largest water and wastewater utilities in the country with close to 2 million people served in a more than 1,0000 m 2 area and also owns and manages over 10,000 miles of water and sewer mains. Founded in 1918, the organization has tremendously grown to become what it is today, managing to close in hundreds of millions in revenue (Gonzalez & RUDZKI, 2015). Its success is mainly owed to the type and effectiveness of how the organization is managed through effective strategies (Gonzalez & RUDZKI, 2015).
The entity is driven by its vision “to be the world-class water utility, where excellent products and services are always on tap” and mission “we are entrusted by our community to provide safe and reliable water, life’s most precious resource, and return clean water to our environment, all in an ethical, sustainable, and financially responsible manner” statements. The company also incorporates a suitable business model to ensure it does not only beat the competition and thrive in its respective industry but also thrives in its actualization of profits and growth. As illustrated in the company’s five-year strategic plan designed in 2016, the business model adopted by the company can be described as a traditional one where the organization creates, delivers, and captures value in the economic, cultural, and social contexts of its market.
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The primary objective of the company is to provide safe and reliable drinking water and wastewater services to its customers. This objective is evident in the organization’s mission and vision statements. Also, inspired by the priorities of enhancing customer experience and community engagement (and attaining a high level of excellence in its services), the company has managed to gain a sustainable competitive advantage by becoming the largest utility service company in its areas of operations.
The company has a vision of becoming a world-class water and wastewater service company. Therefore, it aspires to be a leading company in its respective industry. Through this, as reflected in the company’s business plan, the management identifies critical business needs that are essential in driving the company to a prosperous future. As such, it makes sure it attracts and retains the most customers and attains the title of the best company among its existing and potential customers. It offers its products and services (drinking water and wastewater services) at the best quality and also through excellence.
To accomplish the mission, vision and objective statements of a company, however, there is the need to adopt plans of actions aimed at achieving such targets. The strategic priorities of the company (which are also used by the management in fulfilling the mission and vision of the company) include improving infrastructure; enhancing customer engagement and experience; business process excellence; and protecting people, infrastructure and systems. Additionally, due to the constantly changing business climate, while coming up with strategic action plans for its goals for a specified period, the company thoroughly scans its environment (both internal and external). Scanning is done with the objective of identifying key strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats as well as trends in the sector.
Through the above, there are strategies such as establishing water management programs, the transformation of water and waste utilities, incorporation of IT infrastructures and other technological aspects, and developing environmental stewardship programs among others. The effectiveness of these strategies (especially the ones used to achieve the objective evidence identified above as aligned to and designed to accomplish the mission and vision statements of the company) can be analyzed through the Three Tests Winning Strategy. Three Tests Winning Strategy is a management instrument used in gauging how effective a strategy is for an organization (Grant, 2016). In this case, the strategies are aligned with the company’s situation, boost performance, and encourage a sustainable competitive advantage.
The primary focus of any profit-making business is on its customers. By enhancing customer experience and community engagement, WSSC is promised not only excellent financial performance but also a sustainable competitive advantage and achievement of the goals of the organization. To this end, enhancing customer experience and community engagement can be described as (according to the three tests of a winning strategy approach) a winning strategy. This is because it facilitates competition, fits the mission, vision, and objectives of the organization, and improves the financial performance of the company.
Competitive advantage is improved when the needs and expectations of the customers are not only met but also exceeded. Customer loyalty will be attained thereby improving levels of sales. Through this, financial performance through revenues and profitability are improved, making it possible for the company to accomplish its vision of becoming a leading water and wastewater service company in its regions through strategic growth and development. Other deliberate priorities such as excellence in systems and services as well as collaboration with the community are also winning strategies.
References
Gonzalez, J., & RUDZKI, R. A. (2015). Raising the public sector bar through private sector best practices: Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC), one of the nation's largest and oldest public utilities, turned to best-in-class procurement practices from the private sector to deliver significant savings to the bottom line. Supply Chain Management Review .
Grant, R. M. (2016). Contemporary strategy analysis: Text and cases edition . John Wiley & Sons.
