The report is designed to analyze the strategic management process in Farm Fed which is a small poultry processing company. The report includes environmental analysis in which the strengths and weaknesses of company has been analyzed and after that the strategies have been devised. These strategies have been developed to review the company future position in market. The whole strategic management process has been reviewed and cost and benefit analysis has also been mentioned. In the end of the report some recommendations are also postulated out.

1.INTRODUCTION

In the current business world, in order to remain in the market, it is very important to have a strategic plan which should be followed by the management of the company (Barksdale & Lund, 2006). Plans, objectives and missions are developed for the people of the company to follow. It provides direction to the company and in this manner each and every step becomes easy to be accomplished by the company. Strategic management is a complete guide for the company as it is based on certain steps which helps in leading organization towards the attainment of its goals (Cheung et al., 2009). Under an effective developed strategic plan, anticipation and risk factors are also controlled. Stratgeic management implementation in the organizational operations help in making the plan implementation smooth and easy process. Strategic management in short is a whole plan for the organization.

1.1.INTRODUCTION TO THE COMPANY

Farm Fed is a poultry processing company which is a division of K & R Poultry Ltd. The plant is located in Fraser Valley, Canada. The company was formed in 1995 and since then the management has been focussing on production of best quality products which have resulted in high demand for Farm Fed products in the market. The company is marketing its products both provincially as well as internationally. The plant is certified from HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point). The main focus of the company is on the main stream processing of ducks, chickens, turkeys and silkie chickens as well as some small sized birds are also processed. Processing of small sized birds is an opportunity for small farmers as well as custom growers helping them to process meat in strict processing procedures.

The products of Farm Fed are locally produced by the poultry farmers. The diet of the birds is wheat based. The birds are free run in a way that the birds have the freedom to wader within the enclosed barn. The products are fresh as well as frozen. Under HACCP, anticipation, controlling, evaluation and hazard prevention is observed during the processing of meat. Any product which is unsafe is discarded under HACCP.

1.2.PLAN OF THE REPORT

The report is divided into various sections which cater different requirements of the exit competencies of this course. The company selected for this report is Farm Fed, which is a poultry processing company. In the first section of the report, introduction to the strategic management is given and the company information is given and the whole background of the company is given. In the second section,  goals are developed for the current report. The next section of the report provides internal and external environment is analyzed. There are different models that have been used in this section so as to unveil environmental actors influencing the company are mentioned. A brief strategic plan mentioning stakeholders and company culture is mentioned. In the end recommendations are also postulated out so as to assist company in further development of strategic management and the overall plan of the company.

1.3.OBJECTIVES OF THE REPORT

Objectives are developed to help lead whole report. There are certain objectives which will be followed in this report so as to stick to the strategic plan. The objectives of this paper are

• To identify key goals and objectives to be accomplished through the strategic plan
• To identify Farmfed strengths and weaknesses and then availing opportunities in the environment to utilize the strengths.
• To provide a complete strategic plan on the objectives which are suggested.
• To present recommendations to the company so as to improve financial performance of the company.

2.BACKGROUND OF STRATEGIC PLAN AND DEVELOPMENT OF GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

In this section of the report, the goals and objectives are developed which will further be used to develop the strategic plan.

2.1.BACKGROUND OF STRATEGIC PLAN

The strategic plan is developed for Farm Fed, which is a poultry processing company. This company is a Canadian based company and it is offering Halal meat which is processed. There are various types of meat which is offered by the company. The background behind this strategic plan is to provide the company with the strategic direction and with an aim to lead in the future in the poultry farming market. Through this strategic plan, Farm Fed will be able to identify its position in the market and with some of the strategies with which company can compete in the market. The strategic plan is developed to increase market share and customer base of the company so that the sales of the products can be increased.

2.2.GOALS

The goals are specific targets as having some desired end (Ivanov, 2010). The goals are developed to achieve the organizational vision (Leonard-Barton, 1992). In other words, it is a destination where the company wants to reach (Bryson, 2011). The goals of Farm Fed strategic plan are

• Goal 1 = To develop three more farms in Canada.
• Goal 2 = To increase sales by 20 %.
• Goal 3 = To apply quality management systems by the end of 2017.

2.3.OBJECTIVES

There are a number of objectives which are developed in order to reach at a certain goal. One of the confusion between goal and objective is that goal is a description of an end result, but objectives tell how to reach that goal (Grant, 1996). The objectives of Farm Fed strategic plan are

• Objectives for Goal 1
  • To buy three farms at Okanagan Valley, Ottawa Valley and Great Appalachian Valley
• Objectives for Goal 2
  • To increase marketing campaign of the company
  • To reduce the prices of products
• Objectives for Goal 3
  • The total quality management system should be applied along with HACCP.

3.CURRENT THINKING WITH THE APPLICATION OF STRATEGIC MODELS

This section of report environmental analysis has been conducted and internal environment of the company has been conducted. In addition to this, the core competencies, capabilities and resources have also been analyzed. 

3.1.SWOT ANALYSIS FOR INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT

3.1.1.Strengths

There are many strengths of the company which are mentioned in the following points.

• First of all company has applied HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point) under which company has been enabled to anticipate, control, evaluate and prevent hazards as soon they are identified.
• The Company procures meat from small farmers as well as custom growers when small birds meat is used which is an opportunity for small farmers and custom growers.
• Strict processing procedures are used. The use of HACCP and Halal processing procedures helps Farm Fed to produce processed meat which can be used by Muslims as well as non –Muslims. This is one of the strong points as this signify that Fam Fed has focused both the communities.
• Also provide halal meat which makes meat availability to Muslim consumers too.
• Presence in inter-provincial and internationally.
• A complete database of the small farmers and custom growers is developed and managed.
• Governmental policy regarding this industry is very smooth as this is one of the oldest industry in Canada and it is generating revenues for the country.

3.1.2.Weaknesses

The weaknesses of Farm Fed are

• The management structure is weak. The company operations are diversified but still no focus is given on the development of organization structure.
• The company products are found in Europe and America.
• Marketing of the company is weak.

3.1.3.Opportunities

Opportunities for Farm Fed are many in the market. These are mentioned below

• The machinery of the company should be upgraded on a regular basis.
• Focusing on Asian markets.
• Canada is among top 10 countries which is producing good quality farm food (Alltech, 2012).
• Can deliver products to fast food companies and restaurants.
• Entering into ready – to – cook market.
• The company can also register to ISO 9000 – 9001 standards to further strengthen its position among competitors.
• The quality management system should also be improvised.

3.1.4.Threats

The threats for the company are

• National and international competitors which are not only providing processed meat, but also offering ready – to – cook food products. The competition is present both in national as well as international markets.

3.2.PORTERS FIVE FORCES ANALYSIS

Porter’s five forces model is used to consider the competition in the market and on the bases of competition, the strategy is developed as according to Porter (1996; p/ 86). According to Grant (1991) competitiveness and attractiveness of the industry are considered through this model. The Porter’s five forces model for Farm Fed is discussed in the following headings.

3.2.1.Threat of New Entrants

The farm processing industry is not a new industry. It is one of the oldest industries and it has become saturated but processing meat which is halal as well, is a new market. Farm Fed is in this business from 1995 and there are many competitors of Farm Fed in the industry. The threat of new entrants is high for Farm Fed. Another main point which makes it difficult for new entrants to enter is that it is a capital intensive industry.

3.2.2.Bargaining Power of  Buyers

The bargaining power of buyers in this industry is high because of less differentiation between the products. The buyers are many in number and they have many options in the market. The switching cost is high. The bargaining power of the buyers is increasing with every day passing because companies are coming up with new and improved procedures which is a source of attraction to the buyers.

3.2.3.Bargaining Power of Suppliers

The bargaining power of suppliers in this industry is low because the company is producing its own meat and it is not dependent on any other suppliers. But for distribution and wholesalling it is dependent on middleman. The company has utilized forward integration where it is its own supplier of the raw material.

3.2.4. Threat of Substitute

The threat from the substitute is high in this industry because there are many companies in the market and there are meat shops present locally. The cost of the processed meat is high which is threat to the companies as ultimately consumers switch to other companies.

3.2.5.Rivalry

The threat from rivalry is high for Farm Fed. The competitors such as Cargill Canada are the strong rivals to Farm Fed because it is one of the oldest company in the Canadian market. The market is saturated, but rivalry is high because there are many companies in the market.

4.STRATEGIC PLAN

In the strategic plan, there are four main steps, namely analysis and assessment, strategy development, strategy execution and evaluation and refinement. These are discussed one by one in the following headings as according to the goals and objectives developed.

4.1.ANALYSIS AND ASSESSMENT

In the analysis and assessment stage, company analysis is conducted. Farm Fed is having a strong culture in terms of development of product, but the business practices are not aligned with the strategy. The loopholes are in the management of the company which is not developed and it is working on traditional management principles. Another loophole of the company is that it has focused on product development, but has neglected the development of the internal procedures and processes.

4.2.STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT

The key components of the strategy development are devising goals and objectives and environmental analysis. There are three goals which have been developed that are; to develop three more farms in Canada, to increase sales by 20 % and to apply quality management systems by the end of 2017. According to the environmental analysis of Farm Fed, it has been observed that the bargaining power of buyers is low and the meat processing and farm processing companies in Canada are also many. Keeping in view the competition, there is a need to develop structure of the company so that the new management can develop market competitive strategies.

Strategy for the first goal is to develop three more farms in different locations which were Okanagan Valley, Ottawa Valley and Great Appalachian Valley. These three farms will be bought on lease by the company. For the second goal of increasing sales by 20 %, the company needs to develop promotional and marketing strategy. For this purpose a very basic marketing and promotional strategy will be used. Farm Fed needs to offer its products at low prices. Another promotional strategy is to make its production procedure visible to the consumers. For the next goal, Farm Fed will try to improve quality management system tools and techniques so that it can get the certification of ISO.

4.3.STRATEGY EXECUTION

In the strategy execution stage, the meetings will be held with the company workforce and shareholders to deliver the plan to them and get consensus. After their approval and suggestion, it will be executed. The strategy execution is the stage which is very critical because after this stage the goals concreteness and criticality are reviewed and it can lead to immense loss if not devised with care (Eisenhardt & Martin, 2000). For Farm Fed, execution holds the paramount position because it can cause loss to the company.

4.4.STRATEGY EVALUATION AND REFINEMENT

After the execution of strategy, the results of the strategy will be evaluated. For instance, Farm Fed management can review the progress of leased farms, it can take assistance from the promotional plan as how it has affected sales. This can be done in the first week of promotion. Farm Fed can get assistance from customer feedback as well. Any strategy which lags behind or fails to deliver positive outcomes can be reviewed for refinement.

4.5.COST AND BENEFIT ANALYSIS

The strategies which have been devised for Farm Fed are capital intensive, but these will help in business development because in the future this industry can be very profit generating. The goal 1 is high in cost because after getting leased with three farms, Farm Fed will further be needing capital to implant machinery and then to start its operations. It will need more staff. Therefore, goal 1 is quite risky. Goal 2 is very reasonable and it is SMART because the results will be quick. Goal 3 will also help in developing a positive image of the Farm Fed. In short, the cost of this new strategy is high, but it will help in securing the position of the company in the market.

5.RECOMMENDATIONS

It has been mentioned in the report that farm meat processing companies are many and the Canadian market is saturated. Therefore, it is suggested that the business model of company should be developed and it should focus on further strengthening company position in the market. This can be done by further marketing the products of the company and using price differentiation because product differentiation is not possible in the Canadian market.

Another recommendation for the company is to develop its human resources because the company structure is very basic and there are no organizational levels in the company. The company in terms of product development is strong. Its operations are effectively running, but to remain in markets, to internationalized, to diversify, there is a need to develop company structure, management level and operational strategy should be enhanced.

6.CONCLUSION

Strategic management process and development of strategy is a process in which the whole strategy is developed. It is used to develop mission, vision and goals of organization to the implementation of the strategy. With the help of strategic management, strategic direction is given to the organization, helping it to develop its structure, developing strategy and then aligning the strategy with the overall organization’s vision. In this report, Farm Fed was selected which was a meat processing company. The strategic analysis of this company has been conducted and this has identified that there were certain loopholes in the management and strategy of this company.

According to the analysis of the selected company which is Farm Fed, there are certain goals and objectives which were developed. The analysis of the internal environment an external environment using different models has been conducted. These models have concluded that for Farm Fed the international as well as national market still have opportunities. The competencies and capabilities of companies can further be enhanced by adopting updated technology, quality management systems, diversification in other geographical locations and further developing organizational structure. In a nutshell, it is concluded that strategic management process should be utilized by the companies regardless of their size.

REFERENCES

Alltech (2012). 2012 Global Feed Summary. Alltech, Nicholasville.

Barksdale, S., & Lund, T.  (2006).  10 steps to successful strategic planning. Alexandra, VA: American Society for Training & Development.

Bryson, J. M.  (2011). Strategic planning for public and nonprofit organizations (4th Ed.).  San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers. ISBN 13:978-0470392515

Cheung, A., Kutcher, E. & Wagle, D.  (2009).  Strategic planning in a crisis. McKinsey Quarterly, (3), 122-123.

Eisenhardt, K. M. & Martin, J. A. (2000). Dynamic capabilities: what are they?, Strategic Management Journal, 21, 1105–1121.

Grant, M.R. (1991). The Resource-based Theory of Competitive Advantage – Implications for Strategy Formulation, Californian Management Review, 114-135.

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Leonard-Barton, D. (1992). Core capabilities and core rigidities: A paradox in managing new product development’, Strategic Management Journal, 13,. 111-125

Porter, M. E. (1996). What is Strategy?, Harvard Business Review. 86-104