Strategic Plan Essay
Instructions:
Write a 700- to 1,050-word section for your business model and strategic plan in which you add your strategies and tactics to implement and realize your objectives, measures, and targets.
Include marketing and information technology strategies and tactics.
Develop at least three methods to monitor and control your proposed strategic plan, being sure to analyze how the measures will advance organizational goals financially and operationally.
Determine the best possible options for evaluating the strategic plan.
Explain the ethical issues faced by the organization, summarize the legal and regulatory issues faced by the organization, and then summarize the organization’s corporate social responsibility.
Include in this section the possible implications of the triple bottom line (people, planet, profit) on the strategic plan and its implementation.
Write a 350-word executive summary defining the new division of existing business. Share your Vision, Mission, final business model, and value proposition, and list your key assumptions, risks, and change management issues. Quantify the growth and profit opportunity and planned impact on various stakeholders.
Note: Any investor should be eager to meet with you after reading your executive summary.
Using the University of Phoenix Business Model and Strategic Planning Outline as a guide, combine Parts 1, 2, and 3 of your completed business model strategic plan with your Final Business Plan Model assignment and Executive Summary. This includes the Business Model, Vision, Mission, Values, SWOT Analysis, Supply Chain Analysis, Balanced Scorecard, and Communication Plan from prior weeks. Your consolidated final strategic plan should be 4,200 to 5,250 words in length.
Solution
Final Strategic Plan
Executive Summary
Amur Fitness Company opened its first door back in 1996 and began as a small corporation where the neighborhood can perform their exercises and help in building their fitness. Later, professional athletes such as Tommy Hearns and Tommy Platz started training at Amur Fitness Company. In 2000, the company began their venture of advancing through franchising. Fast Forward to the present Amur Fitness Company has now over 300 franchises in the US and 17 countries globally. The Company is planning to add $140, 000 in the fitness center of cardiovascular and also to be a 24/7 facility every day with child care.
The company forms personalized surroundings for all to follow their fitness goals. Amur has the best equipment and best training systems. Amur Company prepares its customers for success by having the best programs of weight management. Even with their success, they do not want to stop. They are proposing a new division to advance further and expand the organization in stateside and globally without the brick cost and mortar. This new division will give a leverage and competitive edge to which some of the company’s competitors do not have. It will embody the mission of “more than fitness, it’s a way of life” (Collins, 2014). In spite of having leverage and a competitive edge, it will give an extra facility and convenience to our customers and even in the future.
Amur Company has a mission on the following:
(i) Creating people-focused workout environment thus promoting confidence in our Customers
(ii) Promoting our client’s success in meeting their fitness goals
(iii) Celebrating our client’s victory and helping them set new fitness goals.
Amur Company has the following objectives
(i) Exceeding 50% class capacity by the end of the first year performance
(ii) Acquiring over 200 memberships by the end of the first year performance
(iii) Increasing 20% membership by the end of second year process.
Amur Company has created a safe environment for both employees and customers, and this has helped the company become more successful than before. The Company is also planning to achieve environmental goals of having enough electricity and efficient installation of energy thus helping in maintaining the corporate. The paper will focus on the strategic plan for the company.
SWOT ANALYSIS
SWOT analysis is an essential tool that is utilized by anyone before the start of the company or within progress of the enterprise. It allows the company to distinguish their current stand on where they are in the market and where they can take it in the future. Amur Fitness is a corporation that deals with providing training facilities and expertise to athletes and other fitness enthusiasts. Amur has many gymnasiums that serve its members all over the country. People visit the gyms and seek advice from their experts. In the paper, the SWOT analysis analyze the external and internal factors based on strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats and trends that the company of Amur is facing.
External Forces
Amur Company has a variety of forces and trends that do impact strategic choices.
Legal and regulatory- it plays a significant factor in the strategic plan and company’s success. Key factors such as taxes and availability of qualified employee have a significant effect (Steiner, 2014). The new division has been added to the original site of qualified trainees, nutritionist, and some staff and this will make the company avoid any legal issues.
Economic- In Amur Company, the factor will play a big part since it is relying on significant expansion of physical fitness. There is a downfall in economic in many regions of the world and having to work out videos and recipes of new division will help the company remain fixed despite the defeat.
Environment analysis- Amur Company may get influenced by some of the outside elements in reaching its goal and in mission accomplishment, and the company can only overcome this by determining the proper strategy that can sustain the business.
Internal Forces
Nevertheless, internal environment is uniformly essential because it analyzes the inside aspect of the operation of the company and internal guidance. “Performing an internal environment will enhance better understanding of the functioning of the business such as marketing, production, and leaders of the group” (Sadler & Craig, 2003). The understanding internal factor of the company will enable the business to design strategies that can minimize risk.
External Factors
| Factors | Strengths | Weakness | Opportunities | Threats | Trends |
| Economic | Small capital on implementing the new division and still on giving services that are quality | Problem in determining the outcome due to depression of the economic. | Big opportunity when growing the brand name and when growing franchise domestically and overseas | Global downfall of economic | Higher presence of internet and recovery of economy is still going on. |
| Global | All over the world, physical fitness along with healthy living is an essential aspect | Not everyone has access to computers and internet even with access of videos on online | With minimal cost, expanding globally is very possible. | Many competitors in the industry are many and may be able to duplicate our products. | Physical fitness and healthy living is widely growing globally. |
| Legal and Regulatory | In improving strategic ideas, rules and regulations are regulated. | When dealing with online exercise training, it may be difficult to monitor rules and regulation. | Awareness of rules and regulations access, increases trust leading to more profits. | The growth of the company can be slow when there are big amounts of online scams. | With access of rules and regulation, it is becoming easier to access online. |
| Environmental | With qualified and certified employees, there is excellent support. | Now days, the community is busy convincing people well-being does not take much time could be a challenge. | Ability to be able to exercise in any environment. | There are no personal interactions | Growing trend of working out at home. |
| Competitive | New type of service that currently no other membership of gym is giving and whole day access to videos and recipes. | Duplicate by other competitors. | Profits from the new division could be maximized to expand business and grow franchise. | Not only there can be competition duplicating facility, competition can as well grow. | Business of physical fitness has the capability of growing globally without brick and mortar. |
| Innovative | With technology, combination of both physical fitness and well being gives better training and service. | New division addition has the possibility of slowing advancement for workers. | Fitness and technology can attract new clients. | It could be difficult when coming up with new ideas for exercises. | Consumers are always on the look for something better and fast impacting. |
| Technological | It is quick, dependable and to maintain is easy. | Due to economic downfall, not everyone has access to devices of mobile and computer. | Possibility of more workouts online on personal can be possible with constant growth technology. | It can result to loss of profit when videos are copied and shared as torrent file. | Consumers are always on search for options. |
Internal factors
| Factors | Strengths | Weakness | Opportunities | Threats | Trends |
| Structure | A well-structured design will increase the new division along with the older one. | Low moral within employees if there is a mistake on the structure thus slowing down growth process. | Proper structure will permit monitoring company’s progress. | Ignorance of the employees on the structure thus potentially hurting the business. | Consumers tend to move towards a well-structured company. |
| Strategy | Rapid growth if there is aggressive strategy along with proper marketing campaign. | Rapid growth can lead to risks that are unexpected. | Continues presence particularly through flat forms of social media. | Slow growing process if not well accepted by other culture. | If there is provision of convenience, a demand for physical fitness is expected to grow. |
| technology | Increased service of the customer | Needs to be monitored with constant security update so as to avoid any risk. | There can be more concise if there’s constant technology growth. | A better idea from the competitors and even develop the idea. | Prices seem to decrease with growth in technology. |
| Culture | The company has a corporate culture based on innovation | Culture and happiness of employee lags behind the gym operation | Improve corporate help to attract resources of human that are quality | Widespread dissatisfaction of jobs if there is failure to keep workers happy. | The company has a continued effort to maintain high level of culture in the culture of the organization. |
Any organization must evaluate its
both attributes of external and internal that can give proper decision so as
the company can succeed. Amur Company has difficulties and problems ahead, but
they have used SWOT analysis to guide them and help them achieve their
goals.
Innovation at Amur Fitness Company
Innovation is happening in today’s world in almost all aspects of life. Companies have to be innovative to be competitive in today’s market. Businesses stand to benefit when they implement innovative management styles and processes (Steiner, 2014). Companies today should seek to have innovation as their primary focus and guideline hence it should be present in all aspects of the organization. Innovation should be visible in the mission statement, vision and company values to enable it to be part of the daily activities of the enterprise.
Innovation gives business the power to come up with new ideas and products that help to give the customers the best satisfaction. The company gains a significant competitive advantage over rivals who fail to innovate. The other advantage of innovation is that it enables businesses to come up with more efficient methods of working (Steiner, 2014). Companies should conduct an analysis to find out where they can change so as to improve efficiency. This paper will look at innovation and a sample of how it applies to a company.
New Product- Fitness Mobile Application
Amur Fitness is a corporation that deals with providing training facilities and expertise to athletes and other fitness enthusiasts. Amur has many gymnasiums that serve its members all over the country. People visit the gyms and seek advice from their experts. Statistics show that a colossal number of people do not visit the gym at all. Many people are interested in keeping fit and being healthy but are not keen on visiting the gym for various reasons. The management, in its duty to increase sales, decides to come up with a product to suit the large population of non-gym goers.
The mission statement of Amur is “To be at the forefront of good personal health and fitness.” The company has to stay innovative to be at the front line in the fitness sector due to heavy competition. The management envisions a product that will be readily available to all people as well as be easily applicable. Amur Fitness has a whole new division focused on offering suitable home training equipment for weight trainers, cardio, aerobics and all other categories. The new group can reach a wider range of clientele since the products are designed to fit within small spaces like people’s homes. The vision statement “To provide the best in health and fitness” paints a clear picture of the desired outcome of Amur Fitness.
Competitive Advantage
The new division comes up with a revolutionary idea of creating a mobile application to cater to all its members and also new subscribers. The aim of the application is to provide customers an easier interface to deal with the company. They see all the products at a go, and since they are well categorized, it makes it easier for consumers to locate their preference. The application also enables customers to get help on any technical aspects of the equipment that they purchase. Some customers may buy training equipment and have difficulty in using it while others may be training in a wrong and harmful manner. Such problems are alleviated by this application since help is only a touch away. This application can be easily downloaded for free by all Android and iPhone users.
High competition is the reason Amur came up with the new division to stay competitive and make more profits. Other companies have websites to give information as well as a social media presence. Amur sets itself apart by going further to offer this application to enable quicker and easier interaction with the consumers. The ingenuity of this idea is emphasized by the fact that Australia is a very advanced smartphone market with a penetration rate of approximately 85%. The company has a huge market to tap into since people are using their mobile phones more to access the internet.
The new division that deals in home training equipment specifically targets individuals who like to train but don’t go to the gym. People may avoid the gym due to congestion, distraction lack of freedom or shyness among others (2016). This new division helps these people to gain access to easy-to-use home training equipment. Consumers are now able to train in the comfort and privacy of their homes without any limitations. The application offers everything from training routine, the positioning of the body and feeding program among others. Amur Fitness are an innovative group and hence this app is regularly updated in line with any changes and discoveries in body fitness and health. The division can stay competitive since the application enables them to reach a larger number of people than competitors who only rely on social media and websites.
The vision statement of the new division is “A fit and healthy world.” This vision is in line with the aspirations of the company. The health and fitness of the consumers are crucial to the enterprise. One of the values of the company is honesty. The company genuinely cares about the customers and always strives to ensure that they provide them with the best services and products.
Business Model
The business model considers how a company conducts its activities to achieve its objectives. The aim of any business is to make profits but the values that guide their practices differ among groups (Sadler & Craig, 2003). Originally, the company sold gym equipment like other stores by stacking up inventory in showrooms to allow customers to browse through and buy. It was a profitable model since it worked efficiently, but the management saw a niche. The new business model based on the application helps to limit the use of showrooms, and this represents a significant reduction in the expenses incurred. Instead of the showrooms, equipment can be stored in a single warehouse, and the customers browse via the application. This new business model ensures that the company can cut costs on warehousing while increasing sales by offering the app to everyone. Amur can stay way ahead of the competition while still being profitable. The company holds another competitive advantage in being the first mover. People are creatures of habit and don’t always welcome change hence the application is likely to command a loyal following even if other companies duplicate the idea.
The vision of the new division is to make the world fit and healthy. It does this by offering easy-to-use home equipment and real-time assistance and other services via the updated mobile application. The long-term vision of the company is to provide the best in the way of health and fitness. The idea of the new division and that of the company are both working towards a common goal of offering the best products and services while remaining competitive. The two visions are based on the mission of the company to stay at the forefront of fitness guided by the value of honesty to the customers.
The company’s vision, mission, and values help to guide them towards achieving their goal. The mission always sets the goals of the organization clear, and the new division is well established to realize the long-term vision of the enterprise. The values of being honest and reliable guide the company as well as the new division. It means that the application is based on well-researched data to come up with the most efficient appliances for the consumers. The company should always strive to live by their values since it is what gives the customers confidence and trust.
Ethics
The company and its new division aim to abide by the ethos of honesty and reliability that they have built a name. The objective is to ensure that the corporation always operates at high ethical standards so as to maintain good business practices.
Culture
The company continues to maintain high ethical standards, and this becomes associated with the enterprise. They form a rich culture based on honesty, and hence they gain trust from both new and existing customers. A culture can only be established by the consistent activities that the company engages.
Social responsibility
The purpose of a business is to make profits but companies today have to be responsible for the environment they live and operate in. The situation involves the customers, employees, community, and natural environment. The company has a social responsibility to ensure good working conditions and rights for the employees. The customers should be given the best quality possible at all times without compromise. The business encourages healthy living and holds campaigns and competitions to sensitize the people on the practices and importance of healthy lifestyles. Promoting healthy lifestyles might be considered as strategic social responsibility in the case of this company.
Implementation Phase
Through implementing traditional financial performance metrics, a company is able to achieve its past operational information. When it comes to prediction of the future operation of the company and achieving the strategic objectives of the company, the traditional financial performance metrics is not well suited (Sadler, 2003). Through analyzing the different perspectives of a business, a company is can comfortably transform the strategies into productive objectives and efficient way to measure the execution of the strategic plans.
As a management system, the Balanced Scorecard reflects the strategic objectives of a company in metrics of performance (Malathi, 2014). The four perspectives of a Balanced Scorecard includes; First, the financial perspective; second, internal processes perspective; third, customers perspective; and fourth, learning and growth perspective. Under this perspectives, required feedback is provided that determines how effective the strategic plan of the business is executing so that the required alterations can be made.
Financial Performance
Under the financial perspective of the business, the company will focus on the financial goals that will lead to maximizing of profits and a positive view of the company by the perspective of shareholders. Different goals are implemented depending on the business cycle. The main strategic objectives that Amur Company will consider will include the following; In the first place the company will consider expanding its market share into new markets by the end of the year. The share in the market determines how the company will perform in terms of its how much it serve in the market geographically. By increasing the number of locations that the company will operate will in a great way improve the operation of the business. In the second place, the company will introduce new and unique services in the gym within few months so that profits can be maximized. Increasing the services offered at the gym will require improvement of the existing equipment and employee skills. Third, increase profitability after implementing new services in the market.
Objective Specific Measure Targets
Market share Expanding By the end of the year
Profitability Increase After few months.
Competitive position Expand New services
Customer Perspective
Under the customer perspective, focus is on how customers view the company. Also, it addresses the ability of the business to serve its target customers so that the financial objectives can be achieved. Through introduction of new services and technology in the gym, the company will increase its level of customer satisfaction and retention of existing customers. Also, expanding on the market share will improve the retention of customers and introducing others by increasing accessibility. As a result of introducing new features and improvement of existing services in the company, the customer value will be achieved.
Objective Specific Measure Target
Improving customer satisfaction Introducing new services End of the year
Customer retention Increase services and customer relationship Throughout the operation of the business
Customer value Improve on customer relationship Throughout the business operation
Internal Process Perspective
Under the perspective of internal process, the objectives focus on the most important processes that satisfy the requirements of the customers and shareholders. Through this processes the success of the company is determined. The process of performance in the company in the company will be measured in terms of the number of customer turnover in the gym. Through marketing of the business using different marketing tools, the process of performance in the gym will be improved. Marketing will be implemented throughout the operation of the business. The company will consider improving the structure of the gyms when improving the market share of the business. In operational metrics, monitoring of the entire perspective system and data of the company is achieved. The business aims at improving the entire technology that will ensure that proper reports are developed and necessary actions taken in the right time. This will include training employees with required to assess operational metrics.
Objective Specific Measure Target
Process performance Marketing of the business Throughout
Improvement of structures Improve on the market share In six months
Operations metrics Improving technology Annually
Learning and Growth Perspective
Under learning and growth perspective, focus is on how the business intents to learn, expand and transform so that the strategic objectives of the business can be achieved. Much emphasis is on the employees of the business. The company will focus on ensuring that employee satisfaction is achieved. Through motivational techniques such as rewards, employees in all areas of the company will be rewarded adequately in order to encourage them and ensure that they deliver the best in their work. This will be done on monthly and yearly basis in form of contests and prizing. In achieving satisfaction of employees in the company, retention of the best performing employees will be achieved. Besides this, the turnover of employees will be increased after the company introduces new business locations. This may be achieved after equipping new services and expanding the business. Through the corporate culture that the company has that is based on innovation, the company will have a competitive advantage in the industry. The culture of the company encourages strong relationship between the employees and the customers. Through improving the corporate culture company, customers will be attracted to the business thus increasing the profitability margins of the company. The corporate culture will focus more on quality and customer satisfaction and will be reviewed annually.
Objective Specific Measure Target
Employee satisfaction Reward and motivation Throughout operation
Employee turnover and retention Improve on motivation and expansion At the begging of every financial year.
Nature of organizational culture Improving the corporate culture. Annually
In the development of the strategic objectives of Amur Company, the Balance Score Card has been used in the analysis. Through the perspective of financial performance, customer perspective, internal processes perspective, and learning and growth perspective, the strategic objectives of the company has been developed and analyzed. Providing enough information and equipment that will ensure growth of the business. In the objectives of the business, the aim is to support and encourage the business environment of the company and its customers regardless of location and cultural background.
Under the strategic objectives, explanation have been provided over what the strategy will achieve in each perspective. Also, the specific measure of each of the objective has been analyzed with respect to different perspectives of the balanced score card and how it will measured. Lastly, the target that each measure is required to achieve has been highlighted.
Strategies and Tactics
Based on the conditions of the external and internal environment, the strategic plan has determined some tactics that need to be implemented to attain their set goals. Development of business strategy is a process that involves all levels of management from the high-level strategy development in their domains such as setting daily or weekly sales objectives.
Gym and fitness are a highly competitive industry, and many small and large corporations are fighting over the share of the market (Fitness, 2015). Amur Company will be more competitive financially by raising the share of the market of its operating system of fitness. Intense marketing will allow the company stays in business. It will ensure that the corporation is made known to the public through the quality of services is offering and its mechanism of pricing. Advertising and promoting the Amur Company will lure customers into visiting the gym session. The company should ensure it appreciates the views of its customers and the public and target towards meeting those wants.
Information and technology will ensure Amur Company adopts the modern services. The company can advertise its products through advertising online and sell their products through the internet if there is an innovation of the web. Before embarking on the internet by selling its products and advertising them, they should come up with an appealing website so as they can meet the wants of every customer.
In 2012, Amur Company was operating with $30.5 Billion net profit. Though the figure is impressive, the organization can improve this by lowering some of the expenses in the department of research and development which account total revenue of 13% (Collins, 2012). This goal can be attained by removing projects that are low performing that doesn’t show high potential for future success. An internal audit of assets of technology will assist in identifying projects that can be scrapped. This will permit the company to diverse its expenses on research and development to more profitable sectors of the enterprise.
From an internal perspective, the most significant strategic plan of the organization is to enhance retention of its talented employees such as engineers of the equipment and machines and other project managers in the company (May 2010). They should correct the problems that arise by implementing a more robust benefits plan and putting the focus on enhancing the corporate culture. This will decrease the turnover rates of an employee over the course of 4 years, and this is important for the company.
Methods to Monitor and control strategies
To monitor and control strategies make sure that the strategies are in line with the goals of the company and where appropriate, take action against those deviating from the plan. Various methods can attain it. One of the methods is setting up the proper structure of the company that will ensure the business is configured in the best way possible so as to meet its objectives. It can include in each function that has its manager; you set a functional structure (Farris, Va Aken & Letens, 2013). The managers will make sure that their operations are contributing to the goals attainment of the organization. Unlike if the organization decides to function as a single unit, functional structures will make sure that each administration is adequately contributing to the finances of the company. Operationally, it will assist in distinguishing every output of the department from others.
The second method is by employing the right human resources and appropriate time schedules. Human resources will ensure that individuals who are skilled and qualified are involved in the organization functioning and that their output is more than the financial value. With the proper schedule, it will ensure that all strategies are implemented within the relevant time so as to contribute to the efficient operation and achieve value for money.
Lastly, a key way to monitor and control strategies is by availing adequate funds for marketing, information and strategies of CSR. If there is no money, plans cannot be implemented according to plan, and although they require a significant commitment of funds, the benefits outweigh the costs.
Ethical, Legal and Regulatory Issues in the Company
One of the ethical issues the company is facing is failing to act ethically towards its shareholders. In a company, it is moral to choose ethics above self-interest. For the company to be appreciated by the society, they should opt to improve its corporate image.
One of the legal issues is the company failing to comply with the legal standards of the nation in which the Gym operates thus the company has many court cases. The society appreciates any company that complies with the law.
One of the regulatory issues being faced by the firm is failing to abide by regulations that govern the company’s operation thus it gets into problems with the regulatory bodies. If they can solve this issue, they can help in boosting the image of the organization among the members of the society.
Corporate Social Responsibility
If the company engages in CSR, it will seek to maximize the wealth of stakeholder and put the interests of others into consideration. The company is likely to gain good will from the society if it behaves in a responsible way (May, 2010). Society wants every company to work towards positively affecting its wants and therefore, they should refrain from activities that will damage the surrounding and those that don’t show respect for humanity.
References
Collins, P. M. (2014). Siberian Journey: down the Amur to the Pacific, 1856–1857. The University of Wisconsin Pres.
Farris, J. A., Van Aken, E. M., & Letens, G. (2013). Organizational Performance Measurement.
FITNESS. (2015). Retrieved from http://anytimefitness.com/ MissionStatements.com. (2015). Retrieved from http://www.missionstatements.com/
May, G. (2010). Strategic Planning. Business Expert Press.
Malathi, E. (2014). Balance Score Card. Saarbrücken: LAP LAMBERT Academic Publishing
Rafinejad, D. (2007). Innovation, development, and commercialization. Boca Raton, Fla: J. Ross.
Retrieved 30 September 2016, from https://www.edmonton.ca/programs_services/documents/PDF/StrategicPlanningForDumi es.pdf
Sadler, P. & Craig, J. (2003). Strategic management. London: Kogan Page
Simerson, B. K. (2011). Strategic planning: A practical guide to strategy formulation and execution. Santa Barbara, Calif: Praeger.
Steiner, G. (2014). Strategic planning. [Place of publication not identified]: Free Press.
Rafinejad, D. (2007). Innovation, development, and commercialization. Boca Raton, Fla: J. Ross. Retrieved 30 September 2016, from https://www.edmonton.ca/programs_services/documents/PDF/StrategicPlanningForDum mies.pdf