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Organizational Overview Company name: Anita's Organic Mill URL: https://www.anitasorganic.com/process Vision Our company envisions to create a sustainable world through responsible business ownership and producing organic

Organizational Overview

Company name:Anita's Organic Mill

URL:https://www.anitasorganic.com/process

Vision

Our company envisions to create a sustainable world through responsible business ownership and producing organic and health- friendly products.

Mission

We aim to provide quality and healthy services by manufacturing fresh and organic products; inform the community about sustainable living through recyclable bags; preserve the custom practices through traditional methods of farming; and help the locals to provide their basic needs by prioritizing them as employees.

Current Activities and Services

Our mill is currently selling organic products like flour, oats, and pancake and waffle mix which can be purchased on our flagship store or through our online shop. We also have a caf, bakery, and kitchen located in the same building as the mill's operation center. People can come by and have a taste of our house blend coffee and freshly baked breads.

Organizational Structure

Goal: To establish an online shopping system.

Objectives:

  1. Reach more customers by expanding our current sales channels.
  2. Analyze current online services in the market in order to choose the one that fits in our company and will help us accomplish our goal.
  3. Implement an online shopping system for our products.
  4. Increase annual revenue.

Service Objectives:

  • The company's service objectives are to improve customer experience, expand brand image, and enhance customer satisfaction.
  • Our company has six departments: Operations, Marketing, Legal, Logistics, Human Resources, and Accounting Department.

Problem /Opportunity

Situation Statement

Anita's Organic Mill is a medium-sized company that has been able to open several locations in the Greater Toronto Area which allowed more customers to have access to its products. However, it lacks a shopping system to offer their products online which would help the customers by not having to commute to any store location, especially in the winter season. This system would also benefit businesses like bakeries that purchase products from Anita's which will find it more efficient for them to only access this kind of system, place an order, and wait for it to be delivered. In addition to these factors, the present situation with Covid-19 where the operation of any business is at risk because of the restrictions regarding the capacity of people that they can serve and restrictions set by the government to offer delivery only, may lead the company into a situation of economic losses to business owners, investors and the rest of stakeholders.

The main problem that Anita's Organic Mill faces is the lack of knowledge in digital service and the necessity of an online system shopping that makes it possible to receive online orders, process them, assign them to the operational department, and then the delivery unit. Also, there will be a need for a system that can connect the inventory with the online shopping system that allows having in real-time the movement of the merchandise.

Anita's Organic Mill has an opportunity to create and develop a new line of their business dedicated to digital services, which could attract both regular clients and new customers. Also, if the company conducts a situation analysis of each of their locations, there are some branches that may be struggling in making a profit, these locations can be closed and instead offer the service online.

Currently the business is missing out on a massive audience and therefore is excluded from a revenue stream. Customers now expect an online component for most retail businesses in order to have an alternative to driving to the store or placing an order over the phone.

By creating an online ordering system, the opportunity is gained to expand the business by offering to the customers that require convenience and they can appeal to the customers that are searching for quality organic ingredients but may live a distance away. The increased sales from the orders would increase business revenue which would produce returns for our investors. Moreover, there would be people hired to deliver the products. We would set ourselves apart from the competitors that do not have an online system.

Analysis of the Situation

SWOT ANALYSIS

Strengths

  • Experienced and Qualified Staff - Founded in 1997 Anita's Bakery has had many years to develop and perfect their recipes. The staff is experienced in working with the recipes and producing quality products with consistency.
  • Large Facility - Facility is 34,000 sq. ft. with attached retails and bulk packaging facility, a separate and dedicated gluten - free area, onsite bakery which serves as a test kitchen.
  • Local Suppliers - Grain supplied help to support the organic farming community. We can further ensure no synthetic chemicals were used by working closely with suppliers.
  • Certified Organic, Kosher and Gluten Free - Regular testing at the arrival, processing, and packaging, stages to ensure these products meet requirements.
  • Recyclable Packaging - Packaging includes 100% recyclable and resealable plastic bags that comply with most if not all recycling programs across Canada.
  • Ready to Ship - Small batch process enables products to move quickly through the warehouse and ready to be shipped.
  • Safety - Facility is SQF Certified therefore meeting the highest standards of safety.
  • Variety - Various products offered that cater to home bakers and commercial bakeries alike.

Weaknesses

  • High Prices - Rising costs associated with the pandemic. Costs include increase in fuel prices and the rise in cost of basic ingredients due to global supply shortages.
  • Locations - Limited accessibility because branches are located far from the mill.

Opportunities

  • Healthy Diet Trends - With the popularity of different diets like Keto and Paleo, treats made with organic recipes may appeal to these customers.
  • Increased Online Shopping - The pandemic has given rise to the necessity for businesses to be online to conduct business, 82% of Canadians in 2020 shopped online. This can be to continue running when lockdowns or in place and to reach people who are self-isolating.

Threats

  • Economic Recession - The pandemic has thrown the world into a global economic recession; the unemployment rate has skyrocketed and the purchasing power of people around the goal has been reduced. With limited money people are saving their money and refraining from spending.
  • Competitors - The bakery industry has become competitive with many chains and brands looking to expand their franchises and product ranges.

Recommendation and Evaluation:Present results of the feasibility analysis for potential options. Specify any constraints, assumptions, risks, and dependencies for each option. Rank-order the alternatives and list the recommended one; Include why it is recommended and why the others are not. Summarize the cost benefit analysis for the recommended option. Demonstrate alignment and strategic fit of your product to both the desired business outcomes expected and the anticipated contributions to broader organizational outcomes.

Healthy Diet Trends Learning

Constraints: diffusion of the advantages of the organic products as well as the preparations that can be made with them. Acceptance of the product as a functional for diet trends. Not an essential product.

Assumptions: growing market, favorable situation to promote healthy habits.

Risk: specific audience, uncertainty in the direct increase in sales, development of the communication platform or campaign.

Online Shopping

Constraints: design, selection of the ecommerce platform,functionalities, integration.

Assumptions: people willing to buy online instead of in person due to the pandemic, growing ecommerce market, direct impact on sales.

Risk: developing time, learning curve, costs, system failure, hidden costs, connection between current business systems.

Once both options are reviewed in terms of risk and constraints, at first sight the option of building an online shopping system can generate more financial benefits to the business. In that scenario the cost-benefit analysis will be based on the selected option.

Cost-Benefit Analysis

For this project the cost involved corresponds in a general view to the direct and indirect cost related to creation, developing and programming the ecommerce platform, and opportunity costs such as the investment required of servers, online security, etc. According to the HostingCanada website, a small company would expect incur at least in the following expenses: design, construction, hosting, SEO & Content, and maintenance. This means that only on the ecommerce website there is at least an average of $3,000 to pay for business with around 100 products, if there is a database this would add $5,000 to the cost.

The Benefits for this option is based on getting higher revenue and sales from increased transactions and placements of orders. competitive advantages such as increasing market share and brand positioning. In Canada Bakeries and tortilla manufacturing industries generate around $5 billion GDP annually, which means the demand of flour from mills companies is highly required. In octobre 2019 E-commerce retail trade sales reached $ 1.83 billion, in October 2021 the number scaleled to $3.3 billion meaning a continuous increase in this sector and an opportunity for the company to expand their business and improve revenue and profitability.

After having a positive result in the feasibility analysis of the project, we have concluded that it is achievable. Our final recommendation is to develop an online shopping system that, based on the time horizon established by the management, the system only will allow to purchase main Mill's products and nothing from the cafeteria. As the core business of the company is producing and selling bakery supplies such as fleur, the system will focus on them in order to increase positioning, sales and revenues for the business.

After having a positive result in the feasibility analysis of the project, we have concluded that it is feasible. Although there is a time constraint because management has asked us to implement the online system two months previous to the time that was planned at the beginning of the project. Based on this constraint, we have decided not to implement the two sections of the project. That is to say that the products made at the cafeteria will not be sold online at the moment. We will only sell the Mill's products.

Our final recommendation is to develop an online shopping system, leaving outside the cafeteria products, in This will take an additional month regarding what management wants. However, if this is not done as suggested, there is the risk of making mistakes because this information must be uploaded to the system manually every day. Besides, this will add an extra cost because of manual labor in the end because if we do not implement the financial module right now, we will have more expenses later when the company needs to do it because we will need more resources than planned at the beginning.

References

Anita's Organic Mill. Anita's Organic Mill. (2020). Retrieved January 28, 2022, from https://www.anitasorganic.com/

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