About SendMyBag

SendMyBag is a baggage shipping company devoted to the lovers of sports, learning, traveling, business and leisure activities. In 2011 the company only began to ship students as a niche baggage carrier. The company has expanded since and now covers over 100 countries worldwide. The business pays a basic fee for its packing of any size by charging customers of this service. If the baggage reaches a certain weight limit, the company charges an extra expense. The study analyzes SendMyBag's organizational framework, uses a modern company management approach and addresses two creative strategic management priorities. Organizational Structure of SendMyBag
Organizational structure refers to a system which consists of implicit and explicit institutional policies and rules that are designed to outline the various responsibilities and work roles which are coordinated, delegated, and controlled. Organizational structure determines the flow of information from one level to the other within a company (Alasadi & Askary, 2014). There are different types of organizational structure which includes tall, flat, virtual, team, matrix, divisional, pre-bureaucratic, and post-bureaucratic. In SendMyBag, the organizational structure that it uses is the functional organizational structure. The structure consists of activities such as supervision, coordination, and task allocation. In some instances, functional organizational structure is also referred to as bureaucratic organizational structure.
The structure breaks up the company based on the specialization of its workforce. The functional organizational structure is mostly used by small-to-medium businesses. In this instance, SendMyBag is a medium company in the international stage. Locally, it is a big company. The structure divides a company into small departments that consists of operations, sales, and marketing. This is what is referred to as a bureaucratic organizational structure. The reason for stating that SendMyBag uses a functional organizational structure is because it is divided into marketing departments, IT, logistics, customer services department, managing director of operations, and with officials working in countries over 100.
SendMyBag Functional Structure Organizational structure in companies helps to establish a means of retaining knowledge, experience and expertise (Scott & Davis, 2015). It also provides the basis for an equitable and fair reward system. Organizations are structured to ensure that there is work activities are coordinated. Lacking a structure makes a company be in confusion especially when the employees are many. Most will blame one another for tasks that have not been carried out. As much as organizational structures have its advantages, it also has its disadvantages such as limiting the creativity of the employees. It also creates a robotic system and employees can be tired easily in such a system. Additionally, a shortcoming from one department can hinder all the activities in the company.
Modern Management Approach that could be applied within SendMyBag
Management refers to the administration of an organization. The organization can be a not-for-profit, business, or a government body. It can also refer to the process of getting things done efficiently and effectively, with and through people. Management can include the activities of coordinating the efforts of workers to accomplish certain goals and objectives of a company through the use of the available resources. Many scholars think that management could be detected as far as to the Sumerian traders as well as during the construction of the pyramids of ancient Egypt. However, it was not until the 19th century that management started to develop fully. Classical economists such as Stuart Mill and Adam Smith provided a theoretical background to the practice of management. During the 20th century, the scientific basis of management grew (Mullins & Christy, 2013). The 21st century ushered in the new management approaches such as chaos theory, contingency or situational approach, and systems approach.
The modern management approaches that are widely used in different organizations include contingency approach, systems approach, and chaos approach. Contingency management approach affirms that managers must take into account all aspects of the current situation as well as act on such elements that are key to the situation when making decisions (Vandeveer & Menefee, 2010). The advantage of this approach is that it helps a manager to customize management activities to fit a particular situation. Chaos approach goes against the traditional thought in management that events in an organization should always be controlled. Chaos approach assumes that events cannot be controlled and as such, the approach rarely interrupts with the activities of an organization or rather controls it. Systems management approach looks at the organization system as a set of interdependent and interrelated parts which are arranged in a way that produces a unity in the company (Mullins & Christy, 2013). In systems approach, a manager is required to efficiently and effectively manage the different parts of a system or rather organization to achieve the established objectives.
Systems management approach fits SendMyBag Company. One of the reasons for this choice is that the company is always on the lookout especially regarding the trends in the market. Additionally, SendMyBag requires the effort of different departments to fully operate. The company has interdependent and interrelated parts which needs to work together to achieve its objectives. For instance, customer services, logistics and IT department work together to ensure that the bags are sent within the stated time and to the correct destination. One department cannot work without the other. The CEO of the company should also ensure that all these systems work together as one entity rather than a disintegrated system. Therefore, the management approach that suits SendMyBag is the systems approach will ensure that the company works as whole rather than single units/departments.
The advantage of the Systems management approach is that it helps a manager look at a company more broadly. The manager can look at all the arms that make up a company and ensure all of these departments are functioning properly (Eden & Ackermann, 2013). The approach also ensures that managers can interpret patterns and events in the company. For instance, a manager can identify the weakness of a company and therefore look at how it can correct. Additionally it gives the manager a chance to recognize the various parts that make up a company and how they are interrelated.
Innovative Strategic management objectives of SendMyBag
A strategy is a policy or plan of action that is designed to achieve a major or overall aim. A strategy is a long term plan that shows the direction of an organization or is intended to guide a company for a certain period. Strategic management on the other hand refers to understanding the strategic position of a company, making strategic choices for its future, and making the strategy in action (Johnson, Whittington, Scholes, Angwin & Regnèr, 2014). It also refers to the formulation and the implementation initiatives or major goals taken by the top management of a company on the behalf of the owners. The initiative is based on the available resources and the assessment of the external and internal environment in which a company competes.
Managers are important in making decision to implement the strategic objectives of an organization. One of the roles of managers in making decision when implementing strategic objectives of an organization is providing a clearer sense of the strategic vision. The managers also have the role of ensuring the rest of the employees have a sharper focus on what is important strategically. The most important strategies should first be implemented instead of the vague ones that cannot help the organization as such. The managers also have the role of ensuring that the employees and other stakeholders involved in the organization have a proper understanding of the rapid changes that are needed first (Johnson, Whittington, Scholes, Angwin & Regnèr, 2014). Such knowledge will help when implementing the strategic objectives in that they will understand what to concentrate on and what needs to be left.
One of the strategic objectives for SendMyBag is achieving and maintaining outstanding customer service. In their niche market, SendMyBag has little competition or a proper threat. The company should now develop a strong customer loyalty following. This will ensure that even if another strong company may appear, the company will have a loyal base already. The loyal customer base can only be achieved by exemplary or rather outstanding services. The company should deliver a customer survey whereby the overall satisfaction score should be more than 90%.
The second strategic objective is introducing existing products into new markets and increasing customer retention. The goodness of international travelling is that it is predictable. People usually move during the start and at the end of the holiday period. The company should strategies how to enter new markets with its existing service. After entering this market, the company should have the strategic objective of increasing the customer retention both in the new markets and the existing ones. By having this strategic objective, the company will increase its revenue as well as its profits.
Ansoff Matrix Analysis of Strategic objectivesConclusion
Organizational structure is important for any company that wants to achieve success and stay in the market for a long period. Management approaches continue to change especially with the dynamism in the market now. Companies should adopt the modern approaches if it wants to succeed. Chaos management approach is one of the modern approaches that have been used extensively in the Silicon Valley, California. Systems management approach is common among many companies and it is one of the most dependable approaches. The industries need to adapt especially with this new technological field that change instantly. SendMyBag should look at other services and products that it can introduce in the market. References
Alasadi, R., & Askary, S. (2014). Employee involvement and the barriers to organizational change. International Journal of Information, Business and Management, 6(1), 29.
Eden, C., & Ackermann, F. (2013). Making strategy: The journey of strategic management. Sage.
Johnson, G., Whittington, R., Scholes, K., Angwin, D., & Regnèr, P. (2014). Exploring strategy text & cases: Pearson Higher Ed.
Mullins, L., & Christy, G. (2013). Management & Organisational Behaviour. Pearson Education.
Scott, W. R., & Davis, G. F. (2015). Organizations and organizing: Rational, natural and open systems perspectives. Routledge.
Vandeveer, R. C., & Menefee, M. L. (2010). Human behavior in organizations. Pearson College Division.