Week 3 -appendix (3)

Week 3 – Appendix – Capstone Forum: Assignment With Peer Review: Core Skills, Competencies, and Capabilities of Your Capstone Organization

Internal strategy analysis involves the process of evaluating and identifying specific characteristics of an organization. The four extensive areas that require to be regarded for internal analysis include the organization capabilities and resources, the manner in which an organization coordinate and configure its main value-adding activities, the organization structure and its cultural characteristics, as well as the organization performance as measured by the products strength. Kellogg competitive advantage is highly enhanced by the high company’s capabilities, competencies, organization’s structure and core skills.

Kellogg is founded on a centralized organization structure in which workers are answerable to the manager of their department. The decision of the employee and the manager need to match up with the organization vision, mission as well as the CEO defined strategies. The company organizational structure contains multidivisional form of cooperative structure, characterized by hierarchy. The company operations are highly guided by the mission and the vision which help in defining the organization purpose. Its main aim is to delight and enrich the world via brands and foods which matter. The company assesses performance with two metrics that include investment in brands and people and sustainable growth. The company centers more on its competitiveness, its value, and being more efficient (Kellogg Company’s website, 2017).

Kellogg has exceptional capabilities in its finance and marketing. It marketing objective is to uphold huge retail customers, and to offer its products at global level. It has general marketing strategy of building the demand with international customers that resulted to Kellogg products ordering in retail grocery. Its specific marketing strategy involves the employment of multi-segment strategy in which it markets and manufactures convenience foods and ready-to-eat cereals (Faiz, 2014). The company employs the concept of mix marketing by manufacturing quality products in its two main market lines; convenience food and ready-to-eat cereals, and by surveying the market to determine the cost of similar products, which help them to take advantage of the most effective pricing strategies. It has developed a great distribution system that enhances its products availability in global convenience stores and retail grocery. The company also tries to promote its products using TV promotional programs and ads, and also by use of social media among other modern marketing techniques.

The company has a strong financial foundation with constant period of making profit. Although the net income curve has demonstrated some irregularity in the past 5 years, the company is still trying to keep up and to enhance its sales. The company recorded net margin of 5.33%. The income growth has been of great advantage to the company since it adheres to its plan to minimize on the cost and increase in its net income. However, the company’s sales level is considerably low and may need to add more effort to improve the volume of sale, and enhance its constant growth. The company has recently been depending more on debts compared to equity, weakening its ability to overcome future economic challenges (Morningstar.com, 2017). Another major company’s capability is technology to increase the products value. The company has invested in research and development, making it possible to brighten the future of its customers. This has enabled it to identify better and healthier ingredients. The research and development investment has helped the company to be in a continuous journey to enhance the nutrition value of their food as well as improving their taste.

In addition to this, the company has invested a lot in its human resource. Kellogg ensures diversity while employing its workers. It values developing a great and healthy relationship with its workers, promotes a safe and healthy work environment and support wellness and health using benefits programs. The company also promotes positive career growth, motivating its workers to advance in skill and competence. It has severally tried to review its workers compensation plan to be able to work above the market value as a way of enhancing high workers retention rate and attracting the best talents in the market. The company’s core competencies lie on its brand name and image, as well as the customer loyalty. The two have highly enhanced the company’s ability to record profit year after year. Its distinctive competencies lie on its exceptional supply chain management system. The company has tried to use all possible means to increase the value of its product. Kellogg was the first cereal company to employ a nutritionist. This implies that the company products highly consider the nutrition value, and thus they have highly managed to develop more healthy products which would be highly preferred by all (Kellogg Company’s website, 2017).

References

Faiz, M. A. (2014). Organization’s core competencies; A key for successful & happy organization. International Journal of Accounting and Business Management, 2(1), 69-79.

Kellogg Company’s website. (2017). Retrieved from <www.kelloggcompany.com>Morningstar.com. (2017). Kellogg Co. Retrieved from < http://financials.morningstar.com/ratios/r.html?t=K&region=usa&culture=en-US>

Terron, L. (2012). Kellogg strategic audit version 1.Retrieved from < https://www.slideshare.net/lterron/kellogg-strategic-audit-version-1>