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Running head: EZ-PLEEZE STRATEGIC ANALYSIS 1
EZ-Pleeze Strategic Analysis
Western Governors University EZ-Pleeze Strategic Analysis Under the current corporate strategic plan, EZ-Pleeze Food Company has fought hard to become the fifth largest corn and potato producer in the United States. Although this is an admirable accomplishment after nearly filing for bankruptcy several years ago, EZ-Pleeze wishes to be counted among the top three producers and is seeking to formulate a new strategic plan in order to accomplish that goal. The highly competitive organizational culture at EZ-Pleeze is representative of a market culture according to the Competing Values Framework (Coggins, 2013). Market cultures place a high value on status and accomplishment (OCAI Online, n.d.), as indicated in EZ-Pleeze’s own vision statement: “To become recognized as one of the top three corn and potato producers in the United States and the world” (2019). “Competitive prices and market leadership are important” (OCAI Online, n.d.) to businesses with market cultures such as EZ-Pleeze with an aggressive business strategy “to produce value-based products with consistent profit margins” (2019). The ultimate goals of a market culture company are “profitability, strength in market niches, and secure customer bases” (Coggins, 2013). This is evidenced by EZ- Pleeze’s investment in the new technology they purchased several years ago “in order to become more competitive and meet consumer demand” (2019). The company’s willingness to “invest heavily in marketing and advertising” (2019) demonstrates the goal orientation and competitive drive (Changing Minds, n.d.) of typical market cultures. Market cultures place a lot of significance on being a top-rated company and outperforming the competition. “Together, the vision and mission provide the foundation that the firm needs to choose and implement one or more strategies” (Hitt, Ireland, & Hoskisson, 2015). The ideal vision
statement provides organizations with direction and a reason for that direction (Hitt, Ireland, & Hoskisson, 2015). A suitable vision statement is progressive, ambitious, and “specific enough to describe just one company” (Hitt, Ireland, & Hoskisson, 2015). EZ-Pleeze’s current company vision statement: “To become recognized as one of the top three corn and potato producers in the United States and the world” (2019), is certainly specific and challenging in providing a precise direction for the company. However, it fails to indicate why it wants to achieve that goal. In order to get employees to buy into the vision statement completely, EZ-Pleeze should incorporate a purpose for the goal of becoming one of the top three producers in the world. The ideal mission statement should explicitly describe a company and “who it intends to serve and how it desires to serve those individuals and groups. A mission statement should establish a firm's individuality and should be inspiring and relevant to all stakeholders” (Hitt, Ireland, & Hoskisson, 2015). EZ-Pleeze’s current mission statement does not fit the definition of a completely effective mission statement: “EZ-Pleeze is currently the fifth largest corn and potato products company in the United States. In the United States, we lead the industry in research and development (R&D) focused on nutrition, genetic modification, and technologies related to produce products processing. Our business philosophy is to provide the highest- quality products and customer service. In addition, we believe in investing in the quality performance, safety, and well-being of our employees. Most importantly, we take pride in using innovation and creativity to build consistent profitability for our shareholders” (2019). While it does establish the company’s individuality very well, EZ-Pleeze’s mission statement does not specify its intended customer base, their needs it seeks to satisfy, nor how it desires to serve those customers. Focusing mainly on their employees and shareholders, EZ-Pleeze’s current mission statement fails to acknowledge its customers at all, indicating that the customers are not one of EZ-Pleeze’s top priorities.
structures” (Investopedia, 2019). Decisions made by the CEO and COO regarding corporate strategy are based on the information she provides to them. The CFO will assist with the implementation of the financial aspects of the corporate strategy. She influences strategic decision by providing accurate financial data to the CEO and COO and ensuring that the company is financially capable of executing any decisions. EZ-Pleeze’s Director of Marketing is John Kerrington. His primary responsibility is managing the marketing department. The Director of Marketing oversees the marketing strategy for the company. He conducts research on competitors, current and potential customers, and the demand for the company’s products and services (Betterteam, 2018). The Director of Marketing helps implement the marketing aspects of the corporate strategy. The information he provides based on his market research regarding customer preferences and forecasted consumer trends influences strategic decisions. EZ-Pleeze’s Director of Manufacturing and Production is Michael Orenson. The Director of Manufacturing and Production “directs and oversees an organization's manufacturing processes. He monitors and evaluates workflow and assembly methods and makes recommendations for process improvements” (Salary.com, n.d.). The Manufacturing and Production Director manages the hiring, training and scheduling of manufacturing and production personnel. He “ensures manufacturing performance and quality goals are met. Typically reports to top management” (Salary.com, n.d.). He helps to implement strategy. The Director of Manufacturing and Production influences corporate strategy by reporting on production processes and staffing needs. EZ-Pleeze’s Director of Research and Development (R&D) is Mary Miller. The R&D director supervises the research and development of creating new products and new processes and also improving existing products (Payscale.com, n.d.). She manages and assists the research and
development teams and helps ensure that the company strategy is implemented. The Director of Research and Development influences corporate strategy by reporting the latest technological trends in the market and communicating any upcoming research and development projects with the other executives. EZ-Pleeze has numerous internal influences that effect the strategic choices that executives make. The internal influences at EZ-Pleeze that will impact their strategic decisions include the new technology in which the company made a substantial investment several years ago. This is a strategic strength for EZ-Pleeze that is costly and not easy for their competitors to imitate. The ability to develop products that the customers feel are of value is a core competence that will “allow the firm to exploit opportunities or neutralize threats in its external environment” (Hitt, Ireland, & Hoskisson, 2015). Another internal influence at EZ-Pleeze is their constant contact with their customers. Building relationships with customers is a valuable strength that takes a long time to develop and is relatively difficult for other companies to duplicate. A third internal influence on corporate strategy is that EZ-Pleeze is a “leader in industry-related technology for reducing genetically modified crops (GMCs)” (2019). This capability is valuable, nonsubstitutable, and rare. It is also very problematic and costly for competitors to imitate. “Understanding these issues is important because the firm earns above-average returns only when the value it creates is greater than the costs incurred to create that value” (Hitt, Ireland, & Hoskisson, 2015). There are several external influences at EZ-Pleeze that impact strategic decision-making. One external influence is the rising costs of products such as “fertilizer, pesticides, machine costs, labor, and gas” (2019). This is a substantial threat that could significantly cut into future profits. Another external influence effecting EZ-Pleeze’s decision making is the potential to expand the company internationally, particularly in China. “With a country population of 1.3 billion and
reduce costs incurred to produce products (as required by the cost leadership strategy) while increasing product differentiation (as required by the differentiation strategy)” (Hitt, Ireland, & Hoskisson, 2015). EZ-Pleeze is also at a disadvantage in using this strategy due to the fact that it laid off 10% of its workforce when they were experiencing financial hardship. Confidence and trust between managers and remaining employees are weakened when workers are laid off, and the strength of having knowledgeable and seasoned employees is diminished. Human capital is a highly valuable intangible asset that is difficult for competitors to understand and imitate (Hitt, Ireland, & Hoskisson, 2015). While the layoff did save the company in terms of costs, it reduced the knowledge and experience base of personnel that could have been tapped into in order to create better product differentiation and cost-saving ideas. “Trying to use the integrated strategy is costly in that firms must pursue both low costs and differentiation” (Hitt, Ireland, & Hoskisson, 2015 ). In conclusion, EZ-Pleeze is at a point where they need to evaluate their current strategic position in order to achieve the goals they have set for themselves. The current corporate strategy has helped EZ-Pleeze attain the admirable status of fifth largest producer in the world. Not satisfied with that position, EZ-Pleeze intends to become one of the top three producers in the world. This indicates that a new, more aggressive corporate strategy is needed in order for EZ- Pleeze to climb in ranking. Improving the vision and mission statements is a logical first step to undertake. My next recommendation is to perform a SWOT analysis with the executive team in order to provide critical insight necessary to formulate a new, more competitive corporate strategy. A thorough understanding of the company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats is an important evaluation tool that will help the executive team make these strategic decisions. References
Coggins, E. (2013, September 09). The Competing Values Framework: Enhancing the Effectiveness of Changes in Organizational Culture_._ Retrieved from https://toughnickel.com/business/The-Competing-Values-Framework Navarro, T. (2012, April 12). The 4 Roles of a Company Founder. Retrieved from https://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/outside-voices-careers/2012/04/12/the-4-roles-of- a-company-founder. Changing Minds (n.d.) The Competing Values Framework. Retrieved from http://changingminds.org/explanations/culture/competing_values.htm (2019 ). EZ-Pleeze Food Company - Company and Industry Profile. Retrieved from file:///Users/April Maddox / Downloads/EZ-Pleeze_Case_Study%20.pdf OCAI Online. (n.d.) Organizational Culture Types. Retrieved from https://www.ocai- online.com/about-the-Organizational-Culture-Assessment-Instrument-OCAI/ Organizational-Culture-Types Hitt, M & Ireland, R. & Hoskisson, R. (2015) Strategic Management, Competitiveness and Globalization, 11th^ Edition. Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning. Investopedia. (2019). Terms. Retrieved from https://www.investopedia.com/terms/ Salary.com (n.d.). Manufacturing Director. Retrieved from https://swz.salary.com/SalaryWizard/Manufacturing-Director-Job-Description.aspx Betterteam. (2018, April 25). Marketing Director Job Description. Retrieved from https://www.betterteam.com/marketing-director-job-description Payscale.com. (n.d.). Job Description for Research & Development Director. Retrieved from https://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Research_%26_Development_(R %26D)_Director/Salary
