Contents

Introduction......................................................................................................................................3

An overview of Delta Yogurt Company......................................................................................3

Structure.......................................................................................................................................3

Products........................................................................................................................................3

Major Business Processes............................................................................................................3

Risk Management around the CSF’s...............................................................................................5

Objectives & Scopes....................................................................................................................5

Deliverables.................................................................................................................................6

CSF...............................................................................................................................................7

Plan and Detail of arrangements......................................................................................................8

Timescales....................................................................................................................................8

Costs.............................................................................................................................................9

Quality assurance.........................................................................................................................9

Governance and Reporting Arrangements.....................................................................................10

Engagement of End Users And Other Key Stakeholders..............................................................11

Change Management And Benefits...............................................................................................12

Linking culture and business needs...........................................................................................12

Approach....................................................................................................................................12

Model.........................................................................................................................................12

Step 1: know what exists now................................................................................................12

 Step 2: describe the culture you aspire to...............................................................................13

Step 3: talk the culture............................................................................................................13

Step 4: sustain the culture.......................................................................................................13

Step 5: Lead the culture..........................................................................................................13

Step 6: implant the culture......................................................................................................14

Step 7: assessing success........................................................................................................14

Conclusions....................................................................................................................................15

References......................................................................................................................................16
Introduction

An overview of Delta Yogurt Company

Delta Yogurt Company is a marketplace head in the growing Greek. market for yogurt and
related fitness goods. Delta is experiencing some significant emergent trouble. With the
increasing attention in low-fat, low-cholesterol health foods, Delta's sales have multiplied over
an earlier period of five years. At the same time, nevertheless, innovative neighboring
competitors, offering swift delivery from limited manufacture centers and inferior prices, are
testing Delta for trade shelf space with a range of new goods. Without shelf space, goods cannot
be retailed in Greece, and new goods are wanted to expand shelf space. Delta wants to justify its
split of shelf space to grocers and is seeking additional shelf space for its new yogurt-based
goods such as cold desserts and low-fat salad dressings.

Structure
Delta Yogurt Company is a market leader in yogurt and health related goods, while its company
headquarters are situated in Athens. Delta has 20 sales regions, each with just about 30 sales
representatives. Delta has a 12 person marketing group at business headquarters.

Products
Yogurt and associated health goods and new yogurt based products which would surround frozen
desserts and low-fat salad dressings are the main offerings of the company.

Major Business Processes

Concerning its MIS, company headquarters has a fundamental workstation computer that
maintains most of the key trade databases. Each processing plant has its own processor, which is
linked to the group mainframe.

Customer credit authentication is maintained at group headquarters, where customer original

files are maintained and order confirmation or dismissal is determined. Once processed centrally,
order data are then fed to the suitable home processing plant processor
This procedure is quite slow since it requires sales persons to write down hard-copy tickets to put
orders through the mail or by fax. Furthermore, from essential sales and invoice data, an
association can produce a variety of information with valuable data to guide sales and marketing
work.

Concerning its future steps, Delta is bearing in mind new information system solutions. First of
all, the company would like to resolve the existing order entry problem and grow instantly a new
order handing out system. Management would also be fond of making enhanced exploitation of
information systems to sustain sales and marketing actions and to take benefit of new Web-based
information technologies. In particular, management wants sales oriented Web site to assist
market the goods but is uncertain how this will fit into the sales endeavor. In combination,
management wants to be familiar with how these new technologies can aid the local groceries
and large firms that sell the produce to the actual consumer.
Risk Management around the CSF’s

Objectives & Scopes

The firm has fundamentally three major strategic problems:

 out-of-date business processes and culture

 old-fashioned IT communications
 inefficient Strategic Management of expansion
 The conservative management nature and the rapid growth of the company has
contributed to information systems inefficiencies. Additionally there is a lack of important
decision related reports for managers.

Those strategic issues can be further detailed in the below mentioned problems that currently the
management team faces, which translate into goals:

 Accelerate ordering: current order process is inefficient and slow.

 Effective communication between involved parties. Inefficient reporting process between
sales and corporate personnel. To be more exact there is inefficient communication between the
Sales managers and the Sales representatives, as well as between HQ and Plants.
 Accurate accounting system. There are accounting discrepancies between sales and
headquarters. The amount of it is about $1.5 million each year

Given the fresh nature of yogurt, a fresh food product, inefficiencies are translated into high
working costs and reduced customer satisfaction (Ahsan and Herath, 2006). Furthermore, the
lack of well-timed and exact information without incorporated systems and selling processes
result in inaccuracies. In order to resolve all these issues, the management team wants to reduce
complexity by implementing a more competent management and marketing system.
Deliverables
A structure for resolving the MIS and manufacturing integration is planned based on the model
for managerial diversity described by Gottschalk and Solli (2005). They describe a model firm
that and propose that managers supervise the change processes that lead towards the creation of
such a model firm.

The subsequent are four distinctiveness features of a company that has productively addressed
the issues between MIS, sales and manufacturing according to Gottschalk and Solli (2005):

 complete structural incorporation: the policies and practices of the firm allow full
collaboration between MIS sales and manufacturing (Tafti, 2005)
 unhindered interpersonal communication: a state that encourages both official and
informal contact between people
 no misinterpretations between users and vendors
 pluralism: MIS, sales and manufacturing actively work to be aware of each other’s point
of view (Bhatt, 2002),

In this way the proposed strategy must follow the following principle. The production, regional
office, sales representatives and logistics must all communicate among themselves and with the
company headquarters.

Furthermore, an intranet platform should be developed that consolidates all the above mentioned
features. In this platform, the headquarters should have consolidated data, the corporate
marketing and execution information in order to better analyze information and get better
decisions (Bhatt, 2002). On the other hand, regional offices must have data on customers,
regional marketing strategy, and market price decisions in order to better implement the
headquarters strategy. Sales reps should have an advisory role on data concerning promotional
campaigns and furthermore collect information and maintain customer relationships (Ahsan and
Herath, 2006).
This intranet platform must be flexible in order to meet clients’ needs. The new system and its
full implementation, will be able to benefit the company by (Ahsan and Herath, 2006):

 Solve the current order entry problems

 Cut down on staff required for this process
 Offer a Web based information technology that is more efficient and provides real-time
communication between departments
 A sales oriented web application to help market the products will be delivered to allow to
promote strong brand image and focus branding that dedicated locally
 Contemporary systems will be deployed, not experimenting with new technologies

In this way the operational efficiency will be increased by shortening the cycle time and improve
the internal operation flow (Burn and Ash 2005). In the same time the new strategy will speed up
decision making and there will be a delivery improvement since there will be less production
interruption and shorter lead time (Handy, 2005). This will promote an increasing customers
satisfaction and will be managed through strategic win- win collaboration with suppliers and
customers. Finally a better inventory planning and turnover will be managed in order to improve
cash flow, reduce inventory risk and waste and increase competitive advantage of the company
(Bhatt, 2002).

CSF
The key success factors of the new IT solution are top management commitment and
participation in the project, defining a clear project scope and objectives, while having consensus
and persistence as a whole company on the target. In the same time the company must adapt and
identify with the change process, while the project must be credible and have an integrity to be
planed and controlled. Finally adequate human resource planning is needed and good
implementation and execution (Bhatt, 2002).
Plan and Detail of arrangements

Timescales
The new MIS strategy should be implemented in a very short period of time due to its
importance in the company needs. Therefore the implementation period will follow the
according steps (Ahsan and Herath, 2006).

April May June July August September October

Project Preparation

Business blueprint

Realization

Final preparation

Go Live

Each action is compiled from a series of others. Therefore

 the preparation process includes a kick off meeting that will allocate resources and
management, and will set the project progress
 the blueprint process includes gap analysis, the finalization of the training of the team and
the revision of the new company structure (Bhatt, 2002)
 the realization period includes quality assurance, problem solving and program testing
 the final preparation stage will finish the development process setup the new online
environment before the go live check
 the “go live” period will make any final adjustments, and solve any problems in the
interface.
Costs
The costs involved should be viewed not in the monetary sense, but in the benefit that the
company will enjoy in the long run. Effective ordering procedures along with precise accounting
system measurement will give internal and external positive effects to Delta. Employees will
avoid confusion and reduce work strain by increasing productivity due to the new systems.
Customers will benefit from this improvement (Ahsan and Herath, 2006).

Thus, costwise the benefits of such a move can only be appraised by realizing the lost sales
volumes induced by organisational inefficiency.

Quality assurance
The methodology that will be used for the new Systems development should include (Bhatt,
2002):

 Benchmarking the process with other similar companies in the same industry
 Designing questionnaires to solicit feedback from customers and employees and
managers in the design process
 Use customer expectations and requirements as a guide to improve products and services
 Streamline ordering process by reducing cycle time and getting rid of task redundancy
Governance and Reporting Arrangements

The Key Performance Indicators should include (Ahsan and Herath, 2006):

 Measuring the number of bugs per hundred lines of code

 Measuring response time
 Measuring the number of people online at the same time
 Establish a measure of Software Testing since the software must be tested with different
sceneries to make sure that it can withstand expected performance before implementation. In
this occasion the company must have a well managed contingency plan to carry on business
manually if something goes wrong (as for example placing orders via fax, telephone or e-mail)
 Measure the time needed to restore the system efficiently and systematically.

As Ju et al (2005) suggests, the under-utilization of MIS systems is attributable to the

technological and managerial issues connected with information system execution. Additionally,
“turf wars” between MIS, sales and manufacturing persist to pressure the success of a new MIS.
In order to help the MIS integration procedure welcome manufacturing′s point of view, the
company must identify the alterations in company culture between MIS, sales and manufacturing
(Lloyd and Varey, 2003). By measuring these “points of divergence”, the company can foresee
areas of potential conflict and manage the best implementation of the new information strategy.
The objective is to determine disagreement by consideration and leveraging diversity, not by
withdrawing it (Brown and Starkey, 2004).

Solving the composite technological and managerial problems associated with the new
informatics strategy will need cross-stimulation between the new MIS, sales and manufacturing.
Gottschalk and Solli (2006) state that “areas (MIS, sales and manufacturing) appear to have
established their own research agendas, neither of which gives priority to the exploration of the
interactions between operations management and information systems”. In this way the Delta
Yogurt company may anticipate to develop a new informatics strategy that will allow the
company to offer innovative solutions to its issues, but it has to anticipate that the change
management procedure will need some time to be effectively implemented within the
organization (Brown and Starkey, 2004).

Engagement of End Users And Other Key Stakeholders

Certainly firms claim to have learnt useful lessons from the adoption to stakeholder needs
(Collins and Porras, 2004), suggesting that a focal point in identifying and meeting the
requirements of stakeholders, in such a system, is indeed pertinent and realistic. However, this
form of strategy formation in relation to stakeholder analysis can be met as theoretically limited.
This is because the way in which people can be seen as stakeholders can vary drastically among
firms.

In this context people and staff will not unavoidably be “customers”; customers would be the
firms who buy the company services. Employees may be seen as part of the strategy, people who
execute the strategy, without having to unswervingly pay for it (Collins, 2004). Yet other end-
users also are present; including higher managers, through to center managers and supervisors.
Each type of end-user will have diverse expectations about their “consumption”, and certainly
about the fact that they are consumers of the strategy (Brown and Starkey, 2004). Therefore, the
approach to people must emphasize on the cultural aspects of the strategy. For example, a
company that sells education programs will have dissimilar expectations about their utilization
than will those subject to corrective procedures (O'Reilly and Chatman, 2006). For such a
company culture, expenditure might less be a concern (as it is for other companies), and quality
is more vital; therefore the adopting to these cultural characteristics is essential if the strategic
approach is to be implemented (Ahsan and Herath, 2006).
Change Management And Benefits

Linking culture and business needs

Over the past decade a number of studies have reported a positive relationship between high
commitment or high performance cultures and practices, and organizational performance
(Handy, 2005; O'Reilly and Chatman, 2006). More recently, concentration has listening carefully
on the skill of internally dependable and synergistic cultural “packages” or systems to generate a
starting place of continuous competitive advantage, in particular when united with business
strategies (Brown and Starkey, 2004). Nevertheless, the expansion of theory has coordinated
with the encouraging experiential results. Prominently, these attempts to make obvious
statistically the possessions of culture leave the precise nature of the affiliation between exacting
bundles and business performance well understood. The linkages amid culture, the superseding
variables and business performance have been therefore evident (Brown and Starkey, 2004).

Approach
Delta's vision declaration is “Leading the Way in Delivering Success”. Delta believes that if it
expects its staff to live up to this announcement it has to bring outstanding service to its people,
predominantly in training and development. Delta views its staff as interior customers (Ngai and
Gunasekaran, 2004).

Model
The Delta cultural model comprises seven key steps that are related to its business strategy in this
scenario (Ahsan and Herath, 2006)..

Step 1: know what exists now

Previous to the strategy shift it checked out staff perspectives of the current company culture. It
used questionnaires and focus groups to understand what people felt the company was good at,
and what it was not so good at. It also asked personnel to recognize a wish list of the type of
company they would like to effort in.
Step 2: describe the culture you aspire to
The Executive Management Team and 25 other senior managers defined the vision, values, aims
and objectives – this was acknowledged as the company’s Strategy. Within the company
objectives, Delta incorporated the ethics of good executive practice enclosed within the Investors
in People set (Cheng et al., 2005).

Step 3: talk the culture

Delta used an employee conference to begin the new Strategy, avoiding replicating old-style
methods. The brand of the new Strategy captured imaginations and it urbanized “catchphrases”
and left employees with a dare (Brown and Starkey, 2004).

Step 4: sustain the culture

Delta urbanized an infrastructure and a new building to have its offices to help deliver the new
Strategy – and wherever possible occupied employees and trade unions through focus groups:

 Education strategy.
 Company induction.
 Performance management system.
 Industrial relationships corporation agreement.
 Management and control development.
 Modern Apprentice plan.
 Pay plan.
 IT.
 New/ refurbished offices.
 Communication – staff conferences, newsletters, team briefing, staff magazine.

Step 5: Lead the culture

Senior managers had been part of the growth of the new Strategy and consequently there was a
high extent of ownership. Demonstrating how to put the business values into practice was
important to getting employees on board. Delta encouraged staff to confront the company if it
was not living up to its values, and listened to ideas of how it could make the new Strategy
genuine.

Step 6: implant the culture

The company ensures that the new strategy is at the heart of everything it does – and its values
are its orientation point for all trade initiatives. It runs yearly staff conferences to review and
check the new Strategy. It also hands out Strategy Awards to employees perceived as “going the
extra mile” and turning the usual experience into an unexpected experience (Brown and Starkey,
2004).

Step 7: assessing success

An initial appraisal was carried out after 15 months that showed employees felt the company was
going in the right direction. Unavoidably there was still a level of cynicism that the company
really meant what it talked about. There was proof of “middle management blockage”. A wide-
ranging program of guidance and supervision development training was embarked upon.
Conclusions
The firm aims to be a leader in innovation concerning the yogurt products. The mission meets
the company’s goals to build up original and creative technologies and production systems to
address the concerns of dairy producers, processors, and consumers. Since the company goal is
to maximize profits, innovative solutions and goods will be created by implementing a market
approach concerning the food production and manufacturing of yogurt.

Furthermore, using the wide know-how available through is past operations, the impact of
innovations on yogurt production, groceries safety, dietary value, consumer reception, and
marketability will be evaluated. Additionally, financial issues relevant to the producer,
manufacturer and consumer are examined in order for the company to meet is goals (Brown and
Starkey, 2004).

In relation to technological aspects of its mission the main task is to evolve technology transfer
and innovative solutions. The company will engage in actions to make easy technology relocate
of those features identified as having constructive aspects and financial impacts. Technology
innovation can be accomplished through a variety of behaviors including pilot plant activities,
seminars, web-based solutions and technical assistance (Cheng et al., 2005).

Innovation is a fundamental aspect of business strategy, but the innovation progression must start
further back, finding unmet shopper needs and realizing how to satisfy them (Burn and Ash,
2005). If the company comes up with a new creation to meet a consumer need, and it turns out
that what will best meet that need is some kind of customer service process innovation instead,
then clearly the company is barking up the wrong innovation tree. In this way, the company
innovation strategy will meet the goals to understand the consumer and always offer better
products at less cost.
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