Cherie Canada LTD Current Organizational Structure Inadequacies.
The primary problem with Cherie Canada LTD is that the current organizational structure is very inadequate and creates confusion as to individual responsibilities for each identified role. This poor structure also leads to poor communication and lack of accountability between these individuals and the separate divisions. This division resulted in a failed attempt to launch a new product successfully. Another apparent issue that emerges is the non existent mission statement of the company. This missing mission statement is a lack of a common goal, which, is missing link between the divisions of the company. Without this common goal the company remains divided when they should be aspiring collectively for the benefit for the company as a whole.
The lack of proper structure has led to miscommunications with the entire launch of the Elegante product line. Although Heather did, in fact, take it upon her to initially take the lead on incorporating all of the staff that would be involved in preparing this new product. The presentation that she had demonstrated three months prior to the launch date did not point out the actual roles and responsibilities of each division with regards to the Elegante product line. This product being the first product launched by the Cherie Company in twelve years should have been embraced and presented by upper management to instill pride for the company as a whole. The importance of the company image and importance of a successful launch should have been instilled to all divisions of the company especially those that actually were involved in this task. A clear set of roles and responsibilities, an action plan, and timelines should all have been set out clearly too all divisions and individuals involved.
There are several instances where set roles and responsibilities could have easily avoided the set backs and errors that occurred throughout the launch phase of the new product line. The marketing group for the new product felt that the operations personnel did not fully comprehend the complexities with a new product and would not be able to deal with the resulting difficulties. This was noted three months prior to the launch date. There was also concern from Heather that Dennis Green, the purchasing agent for Cherie, would not be able to have the flexibility and sense of urgency to address the marketing of a fledging new product in this millennium. This same purchasing agent had been with the company for 12 years which is the same amount of time since a new product was launched from this same company. These issues should have been spear headed by a decision maker and the lead on this product with the ability to make the necessary changes and ensure that all parties involved were fully aware of the tasks and consequences of their actions.
It was pointed out that production for all of Cherie’s products were driven by sales forecasting, in a volatile cosmetic industry. Forecasting was at best a shot in the dark. With this basic fact it made forecasting for the Elegante line even more difficult. This information alone should have had analysts designated to attempt forecast initial launch sales volumes and attempt to forecast a break even situation for the new product. This was the only point where this information was presented and included.
For a new product which although may have only represented a small amount of overall potential sales for the Canada division there should have been a greater emphasis on the importance of the company image with this new launch that the company had not experienced in over a decade. The production runs for Elegante were but a fraction of other Cherie products; producing only 200 units to the 5000 units on their other brands.
Elegante was very vulnerable to errors in shipping, warehousing, purchasing, production and planning. If errors were to occur they would be highly visible
