External Environment\'s Internal Impact on a Company

Internal company and the External Environment
Based on your research, what are the key drivers for success in the large office supply store industry? This section should be at least 2 pages in length.
There are key success factors for the large office supply store industry. One of the key success factors is location and significance. It is imperative to note that one of the most pivotal success factors for any business is its location. This is the same case for large office supply stores. It is imperative for such corporations to locate their retail stores in a high-traffic area, for instance a mall or a highly frequented intersection. Furthermore, it is essential to make certain that the business is situated near consumers that the corporation seeks to target. The utmost potential customers for office stationeries comprises of the corporate or business consumers, therefore positioning a store in the area where the maximum numbers of offices are situated can aid any business to attain better performances. This in point of fact aids in easing high volume order dispatches (Suttle, 2018). A second success factor for large office supply stores is the suppliers. Notably, suppliers play a fundamental role to the success of office supply business operations. It is imperative to have the ability to procure items at the lowest wholesale cost that is available. Major retailers pay exceedingly low prices for products when they procure them in bulk.
A key success factor for the companies in the industry is features. In the present day epoch of e-commerce, office supply stores have a completely new dimension of online business. This prospect is being seized progressively more by numerous new and old office stationery suppliers around the world. In addition as per professionals within the electronic commerce business, maintaining the marketplace well promoted and visually appealing is largely significant. In tandem with the positioning of the physical or online retail store, an additional success factor takes into account is the look and appeal of the retail store. An exceedingly old and prevalent trend in any business is sustaining the appearance and setting of the store front (Suttle, 2018). This takes into account the significant of keeping business platforms well-ordered and organized. In particular, with regard to retail stores, it is essential to lay emphasis on bright lighting in addition to having product displays that are clutter-free. In regard to the online platforms for the business, suppliers lay emphasis on providing high quality product images with extensive information and detailing about them. In addition, it is imperative to have websites and online platforms that are not only appealing but also user-friendly (Medium, 2016).
In accordance to Suttle (2018), an additional success factor for office supply stores is promotion. It is imperative for companies to target consumers with different means including internet marketing, fliers, brochures, coupons and newspapers. There is also the need for creating a business for the business and having personnel giving out business cards entreating consumers to visit the corporate website for coupons. An additional success factor is the considerations that the corporation or business will give out. Akin to other businesses and retailers, large office-supply stores might need for form special programs or incentives for the main purpose of increasing consumer loyalty. Individuals will have a tendency to shop more often than not at a retail store that gives them incentives. For instance, a company can take into consideration a loyalty program for its office-supply stores. This can begin with a points system. This is in the sense that a consumer can earn 200 points for every $100 spent. The company can thereafter track the purchases of the consumers by allotting them with a card and an identification number. At the end of the day, these coupons impel the consumers to spend more and this generates greater revenues for the company and an increased consumer base (Suttle, 2018).
1. What were the reasons for the failure of the Fortune 500 office supply company as discussed in the Butt and Ivanov (2017) journal article? Are these reasons consistent with the reasons for organizational failure as identified by Sheth & Sisodia (2005)? What other reasons, if any, have you identified? Are there any practical difficulties that served as barriers to needed organizational change? (This section should be at least 2 pages in length).
Butt and Ivanov (2017) points out three key reasons for the failure of the Fortune 500 office supply companies. The first reason is short-term planning and a reactionary environment. The corporations lay emphasis on short-term goals, for instance, concentrating on sales for a particular week, month, or quarter. The emphasis on boosting these sales to generate additional marginal dollars is not beneficial for the companies in the long-term. It has an adverse impact on the reputation of the corporations as consumers establish that they are being force fed products that are inferior. A second issue pointed out in the article is incessant responses to external business environment changes. There is an incessant new emphasis based on a change in apparent business consumer wants. Such changes result in wastage of money that is used in facilitating remodeling to lay emphasis on new products or services only to do the same thing all over again after a few months. It is impossible for a company to survive this. Another reason pointed out by Butt and Ivanov (2017) is performance based pay and incentives. According to the authors, the company lay excessive determination on ranking regions, stores, personnel so as to rank them from the best to the worst and determine those who get punished or rewarded. . The downside to this is that when the corporation is ranked this way, then the whole entity competes against itself and ends up losing. An additional reason is customer retention through service innovation. The corporations experience a decline in consumer count as a result of short term planning and concentration on temporary fixes instead of innovative solutions that are long-term. There is also the issue of giving up proper service solely for the reason of attaining additional margin dollars (Butt and Ivanov, 2017).
Sheth and Sisodia (2005) give different reasons why good companies fail. One of the key reasons is that these companies enjoy massive success to the extent that complacency and arrogance creeps in to their operations. Numerous of these corporations practice status quo management, and end up becoming largely bureaucratic. This is in the sense that their prevailing policies, processes and culture generate disinterest in change. A second reason for failure is the absence of stakeholder orientation. Imperatively, some of the corporations experience failure owing to the reason that they concentrate too much on the interests of certain stakeholders whilst overlooking and disregarding the interests of others, which results in deterioration. Sheth and Sisodia (2005) also point out that changes in the environment can lead to failure for corporations. Regulatory changes result in the restructuring of an industry and if a corporation is unable to adapt, then it is bound to fail. Secondly, falling out of favor with investors is another reason why corporations fail. For instance, Wal-Mart has failed to progress because investors are in favor of Target. Another change in the environment encompasses competition. Market rivalry from non-traditional rivals has the potential to speedily transform the rules of the game, which companies can be unable to adjust to. Furthermore, shifts in technology and consumer preference can result in the failure of corporations. For instance, a company’s rivals can attain competitive advantage owing to advanced technology. On the other hand, corporations that are unable to keep up with consumer trends and inclinations are bound to experience failure (Sheth and Sisodia, 2005).
Other reasons that I have established as to why these companies experience failure include lack of product or service differentiation and also premature scaling. This is in the sense that the companies can be spending excessive capital or hiring too many employees at a go and this can result in business failure. In addition, failure for a company to have a unique value proposition compared to the market rivals implies that in the long run the company will not be able to survive. There are practical difficulties that served as barriers to necessitated organizational change. Business transformation generates high levels of disruption and therefore high levels of resistance to change. Internal resistance to change from staff can hamper organizational change and result in the failure to survive in the market. There is also the aspect of the lack of extensive governance for transformational change in the organization.
2. What recommendations would you have given the leadership of the foregoing Fortune 500 company relative to how the company may have avoided organizational failure? (This section should also be at least 1 pages in length).
There are different recommendations that I would have given the leadership of the above-mentioned Fortune 500 Company, in relation to the manner in which the entity might have evaded organizational failure. To begin with, it is imperative for the corporation to stop having a short-term perception of matters and to cease responding to outside changes. The transitory fixes fail to be effective, especially taking into consideration the incessant and rapid changes that are taking place in the market. The company should endeavor to be the entity that generates the upcoming new product or service. One of the suggested approaches in doing so is the development and advancement of a research and development department and engagement of employees. The company should institute an organization setting that inspires and impels new ideas for different products and services. The corporation needs to make an investment in innovation. Imperatively, the innovation of new products and services is sole way in which new consumers could be obtained and the prevailing consumer base retained. The main approach in which the company can accomplish this is by changing from making short-term and transitory fixes to making long-term plans that can last.
Secondly, the corporation should eradicate the ranking system. The inference of this is that there would be no internal competitive workplace setting. Therefore, the employees would perceive each other as having equal capability and ready to collaborate. This will increase the level of employee morale and facilitate the capacity of the staff to work in tandem towards the goals and objectives of the organization. In addition, by instituting a new organizational culture and facilitating innovation of products and services, the company will be able to generate higher sales and revenues and also increase consumer traffic. This will enable the company to survive in the long run (Butt and Ivanov, 2017).
3. Conclude your paper by identifying the key lessons you have learned from Module 1 (as taken from both the Background materials and the Module 1 Case assignment) concerning the need for ongoing adaptation on the part of the organization and the need to avoid organizational inertia and resistance to change. This section should be at least 1 page in length.
One of the key lessons I have learnt is the importance of adaptability. Corporations that lack a high level of adaptability will eventually fade away, either by being dissolved or through merger and acquisition. Change is an inevitable aspect in the life span of an organization and therefore failure to adapt to such change can result in failure of the entity. In the contemporary, technological advancement has brought about major prospects for innovative organizations, but at the same time is facilitating the extinction of corporations that fail to adapt. Disruption in a particular market or industry is not a new phenomenon. However, in the present day, the pace, intricacy and worldwide nature of disruption is at a scale and magnitude that we have never perceived before. Furthermore, there is the expansion of technology to the extent that even small businesses are able to rival major corporations. Taking this into consideration, it is imperative for entities to evade organizational inertia and resistance to change.
Organizations, philosophies and power structures seem to become deep-rooted in the course of time, and may turn out to be unproductive or outdated, even if they once played an authentic or useful role. At the end of the day, being entrenched in archaic concepts and operations can lead to an organization becoming stuck in the present moment. Furthermore, market rivals that adapt to changes attain a competitive advantage and succeed causing organizational failure. In order to avoid organizational inertia and resistance to change, it is important for the facilitators to make the current reality visible. It is important to paint a picture of the cost of failure and the need for undertaking change for the organization. This takes into account a clear vision and plan of implementing the change and properly communicating such aspects to all stakeholders of the organization.



References
Butt, J., & Ivanov, S. (2017). Study Of A Large Office Supply Retail Organization: How Good Companies Slowly Go Out Of Business. International Journal of Organizational Innovation, 9(4).
Medium. (2016). The factors behind the success of Office Stationery Suppliers and their business. Retrieved from: https://medium.com/@infoebuynsell/the-factors-behind-the-success-of-office-stationery-suppliers-and-their-business-903dfd09a474
Sheth, J., & Sisodia, R. (2005). Why good companies fail. In European Business Forum (Vol. 22, No. Autumn, pp. 24-30).
Suttle, R. (2018). Stationery & Office-Supply Business Success Factors. Chron. Retrieved from: https://smallbusiness.chron.com/stationery-office-supply-business-success-factors-2699.html