“Marketing” Case Study Sample

Paul has major problems to deal with. The reason why average days of bill collection or payment are rising is because of the lack of control of the company in collections department. There should be a financial controller in the company who should guide all the departments regarding the financial picture of the company. Financial controller should tell the departments within the company of what changes are taking place, and what needs to be done to improve the situation. Regarding the rising cost of manufacturing and declining contribution margins, it must be remembered that there has been no increase in the prices of raw material, and it is due to the inefficiency or wastage of raw material in the manufacturing department. Paul should tell the head of the manufacturing department about this and should also inform them that a strict action should be taken in order to remove any sort of inefficiency that is prevalent in the manufacturing department.
The culture that Paul is trying to develop is going to be developed by meeting the needs of the customers. These needs may not be stated. However, the recent call by the VP of Hillcrest Medical has identified the problems within the company’s lack of interdepartmental coordination. It has created a lot of problems for the customers, as they have been overbilled, and returning of products has also become a big problem. The company is unable to serve its customer as it should. There is an urgent need for the company to improve its operations, in particular the customer relationship department of the company, or departments who directly or indirectly deal with the customers of the company.
The company also has only few big accounts other than Hillcrest. It depends too much on these large customers. Hence, any mistakes in the future can be very dangerous for the company, if these big customers leave the company.
There should be a financial controller in the company’s organizational structure that should deal with such cases and should provide regular financial information to the various departments regarding their performance, and what can be done to improve the situation.
Financial Controller should be reporting to Paul directly. He should be providing the information to these departments. There should also be line managers in the company who should be responsible for improving coordination of departments within the company.
All of these changes are going to ensure that the company continues to achieve its standards and targets. It should also correct any faltering ratios or indicators of declining performance. It will make sure that the company does not lose its customers in the future. Since, the company is highly dependents on few large customers; therefore, it cannot afford to lose more customers like Hillcrest.
Paul should seriously introduce these changes in the organizational structure to improve the interdepartmental coordination and harmony. It will also make sure that the company continues to grow and all the challenges or problems are tackled well before they become major issues for the company. Paul and his colleagues will have to work really hard to incorporate these changes in the company, and to create a culture that will improve the company’s performance. It will make sure that in future the customers are well served, and they do not leave the company.

References

Daft, R. (2014). Management. Australia: South-Western Cengage Learning.
Drucker F. Peter.,. (1974). Management. New York: Harper Collins.