Planning and Control at FreshTaste

Executive Summary

For the purpose of this assessment, I identified FreshTaste as a small scale business in Mangere that was going through some planning and control issues. The factory is very busy as FreshTaste is known Auckland-wide for its tasty yet affordable Fiji-Indian sweets and snacks. There are 5 fulltime and 10 part-time workers employed at FreshTaste. During my research I found poor control issues at the factory.

This proposal is based on my research as a part-time employee and an observer at FreshTaste, Mangere.

Introduction

FreshTaste is a sweet/snacks manufacturer situated in Mangere, Auckland. They manufacture a line of sweets and snacks products that have the authentic Fiji-Indian taste that many immigrants are craving for in their new home of Auckland.

Purpose:

The purposes of this organisation are to:

• Make profits (get a 5% return on investment, at least, every quarter)

[Economic]

• Become the number one Fiji-Indian sweet/snacks manufacturer in

Auckland, surpassing Auckland Indian Sweets [Personal]

• Be recognised as a wholesome part of the Auckland Fiji Indian community

and support grassroots activity of Fiji Indians through our CSR programme

[Social]

Management roles/ functions and skills/ competencies

There are four levels in the management/ organisational hierarchy at FreshTaste. The Director is at the pinnacle of the organisational chart and the two people who liaise most with the workers and direct them in their daily tasks are the Chef and the Supervisor.

Then comes the Chef’s Assistant who is paid the same as other workers but has a higher standing in the organisation. All the packers and kitchen hands have similar standing and are like the minions of FreshTaste.

Problem solving and decision making at FreshTaste

The problem solving method identified at FreshTaste is that of the Six-Step Problem Solving Method.

The six stages are:

1. Define the problem: look at the situation and identify what the problem is. At FreshTaste this is mostly done by the Supervisor and Chef as they are the ones who are in the midst of all the work and with all the employees every day.
2. Analyse the problem: we then need to look at what type of a problem it is and why it exists. A good way of analysing such problems would be looking at cause-and-effect. At FreshTaste, the Director and Chef work closely together to look at any issues and problems that arise in the organisation. With their long experience in the sweets and snacks business in Fiji and NZ, they are well versed about the industry. A technique that helps out at this stage is the cause and effect diagram which the Director uses often.
3. Identify the potential solutions: after analysing the problem and looking at its causes and effects, the decision makers need to sit down and come up with potential solutions that can solve the situation. At FreshTaste, if the problem is at the kitchen or packing staff level, the employees are also asked to give their suggestions. The person in charge of collecting all the suggestions and handing them in to the Director is the supervisor.
4. Choose the best solution: after all the solutions have been collected the Director usually uses the pros-and-cons diagram to identify and choose the right solution for FreshTaste. The Director is very vigilant about keeping his finger on the pulse of the organisation.
5. Plan of action: this is where a plan needs to be made about what needs to be done, the timeline, accountabilities and budget (if necessary). A contingency plan is also important at this stage to look at a “plan B” if the first one does not work. At FreshTaste the Director is responsible for drawing up any plan of action. The issue identified in planning at FreshTaste is that there is a serious lack of contingeny planning at the organisation. When things go wrong, as the sometimes do, there is no Plan B for the employees to rely on.
6. Implement the solution: this is the final stage where the planned solution is put into action and should be accompanied by much monitoring and control by the management. The Director at FreshTaste works closely with the Chef to implement solutions at the factory.

Conditions under which decisions are made at FreshTaste

The two main conditions under which leaders in businesses make decisions are those of risk and uncertainty.

1. Uncertainty describes a situation where your decisions may have different outcomes that are unknown whereas
2. Risk is a situation where possible negative outcomes are clearer and management makes its decision based on the type and size of risk plus their ability to absorb such a risk. FreshTaste often takes on decisions made under the condition of risk as management decides to expand and/or decrease the company production numbers based on the seasons of the market e.g. Hindu and Muslim or other Indian festivals are accompanied by a huge injection of investment and part-time staff as the factory pushes its limits in production in the hopes of higher sales. This is a risk that needs to be taken in order to take advantage of the festival season.

Influence of Internal and External Environments:

Internal environment:

1. Leadership style:

FreshTaste Mangere Store Manager is an autocratic leader mostly. He makes his desions on his own whenever possible. He likes to do things fase and efficiently so he only has faith in himself to do everything right at the right time. This can sometimes work a deterrent for staff to work well and feel safe in their working environment.

2. Cultural style:

The Director and Chef are both Fiji Indian and come from the old-school management style that believes that the boss is always right. In the Fiji Indian culture, whatever your seniors say at work is always right and we are not supposed to question them. This is the work environment at FreshTaste also.

External Environment:

1. Failing to use proper standards of conduct: at FreshTaste there is often a problem of small accidents and mishaps occurring, namely that of unsafe working environment and not following the OHS procedures at work. The floor in the kitchen in linoleum and can get very slippery when wet. Whenever it is mopped there should be a sign put up but failure to do that many times has resulted in staff taking falls and twisting and/or spraining their wrists and ankles.

The Department of Labour expects all businesses to comply with the strict OHS code of this country and FreshTaste needs to up their game.

2. External Relationships: FreshTaste has external relationships with organisations like Radio Tarana and local Sangam groups. This is a strength to FreshTaste as people like to see the places they go to be visible at community events. This provides FreshTaste with much word-of-mouth marketability too.

Analytical Tool: SWOT

Theory: The SWOT analysis or matrix looks at analysing the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that can arise in any business venture or other kind of project. Some authors credit SWOT toAlbert Humphrey, who led a convention at the Stanford Research Institute (nowSRI International) in the 1960s and 1970s using data fromFortune 500companies (Humphrey, 2005).

SWOT analysis has been used below to analyse the internal and external environment at FreshTaste, Mangere:

Ethics and Social Responsibility

Two conflicting views of Ethics:

The two relevant viewpoints on ethical behaviour that can be discussed are utilitarian and individualism view of ethics.

1. Utilitarian view of ethics states that decisions are made for the good of everyone. To ‘do the greatest good to the greatest number of people’ (Schermerhorn & Wright, 2007). The utilitarian view of ethical behaviour is not present at FreshTaste as it is impossible for a small business like this one to think of doing greatest good for greatest number of people when they want to be making profits too.
2. Individualism view of ethical behaviour states that a person will do only what they consider to be the best course of action for themselves. That ‘primary commitment is to one’s long-term self-interests’ (Schermerhorn & Wright, 2007). At FreshTaste this is the view of ethical behaviour that is more prevalent at the organisation as the company is geared towards making profits and becoming well-known in Auckland as the number 1 supplier of Fiji Indian sweets and snacks. This will take a lot of work and is focused on the long-term interests of the company rather than anything or anyone else.

Two conflicting viewpoints on social responsibility:

The two relevant viewpoints on social responsibility that can be discussed are classical view and socio-economic view.

1. Classical view states that management should only look at making money and that a business has only one purpose: to make profits. It states that ‘management’s only responsibility is to maximize profits’ (Schermerhorn & Wright, 2007). At FreshTaste this is the view of CSR that is more prevalent at the organisation as the company is geared towards making profits. This takes a lot of work and is focused on the long-term interests of the company and making profits rather than anything or anyone else.
2. Socio-economic view is the newer way of looking at social responsibility of businesses. This view asks management to be a part of the wider community and to ensure that their business does more than just make profits. Socio-economic view requires that ‘management be concerned for the broader social welfare, not just profits’ (Schermerhorn & Wright, 2007). The socio-economic view of CSR is present at FreshTaste in a small way as FreshTaste does try to participate in community events and give back to the society.

But mainly FreshTaste, as a business, is more an example of classical rather than socio-economic view on social responsibility.

Organisational sustainability

By having a more individualistic ethical outlook and classical viewpoint of CSR, FreshTaste is ensuring its sustainability.

1. By gearing towards making profits and succeeding FreshTaste will achieve its organisational goals and last for a longer period of time in the sweets and snacks market.
2. By putting the company goals before community spirits and/or community work, FreshTaste can also ensure that the business achieves its goals and succeeds.
3. By being somewhat social-economic too FreshTaste can ensure that the wider Auckland community knows about the business and can put in a good word to potential customers about FreshTaste. This will ensure a more successful business for the company.

Planning at the Organisation:

There are three levels of planning at any organisation.

• Strategic planning:is made by the higher management, includes all long-term objectives and policies. The time period for such planning is 3-5 years; long-term planning.

Strategic plan for FreshTaste: - as seen through my research, I was unable to identify any type of strategic planning at FreshTaste. This is a problematic situation for the manufacturers.

• Tactical planning: this is done by middle managers and/or supervisors and is more focused on the how of the company. It describes the goals for the individual departments and their functions.

Tactical Plan for FreshTaste: - tactical planning is done by the Director and Chef at FreshTaste. They plan what needs to be done and how it shall be achieved at the company. The Director and Chef have a very good working relationship that leads to good tactical planning at FreshTaste.

• Operational planning:done at a lower management levl and focuses on daily or shortterm goals and planning.

Operational Plan for FreshTaste: - tactical planning is done by the Director and Chef at FreshTaste. They plan how daily goals and targets will be achieved at the company. The Director and Chef have a very good working relationship with the Supervisor and the Assistant which means that things are done well and targets are achieved.

Barriers to Planning:

1. The ‘we don’t need to change anything coz it all is working’ attitude is a barrier to planning at FreshTaste. This is more a result of the cultural identity of the owner/ operator and his Colonial Management style than anything else.
2. As seen through my research, I was unable to identify any type of strategic planning at FreshTaste. This is a problematic situation for the manufacturers.

Implementation and Control

Recommended Action plan

Control: Controlling is of three types

Feed forward: control that happens pre-activity. This is present at FreshTaste as the Chef checks up on staff regularly and strictly.

Concurrent Control: Concurrent controls are placed during production process. Concurrent control at FreshTaste is quite high like feed forward which means it sometimes gets de-motivational to the staff as they feel the Chef and Director are always standing over their shoulder, waiting for them to fail.

Feedback Controls: the final one. Done after activity. This is also done at FreshTaste but the problem is that most of the feedback given by people in supervisory positions to the floor staff is negative and disappointing. Positive comments are very rare.

Barriers to Control:

The ‘we don’t need to change anything coz it all is working’ attitude is a barrier to planning at FreshTaste. This is more a result of the cultural identity of the owner/ operator and his Colonial Management style than anything else.

Controls are too strict and demotivates staff. Management needs to re-look at this and train their supervisors and managers to be more positive and less ‘mean’.

Contingency Plan:

If any of the items on the action is not achieved on time or begun on time, the back-up plan will be to wait two weeks and reboot the programme.

References

Humphrey, Albert(December 2005)."SWOT Analysis for Management Consulting".SRI Alumni Newsletter(SRI International).

Schermerhorn & Wright. (2007). Management Canadian Edition. Toronto: John Wiley and Sons Canada, Ltd.

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