Business

Making it Big (MIB) is a company that operates under a sole proprietorship and has the purpose of manufacturing large-sized clothes for women. It has started from the personal and political aspirations of Cynthia Riggs, the CEO of the company for 22 years, as she saw that women who are beyond the average sizes manufactured are having a difficult time looking for clothes, which leaves them at a disadvantaged position. Most of the time, clothing shops leave women of very large sizes with few options and box them in a particular style that leaves them with a decreased sense of uniqueness. From this problem, Riggs saw the opportunity to combine her personal, political, and business aspirations in order to satisfy customers and fulfil her personal beliefs.

Making it Big started as a buy-and-sell store when Riggs and her lover started to buy everything they do not need in order to gain additional funds. Soon, she found herself thriving as a businesswoman buying and selling goods in the flea market. One thing that caught her attention is a pair of stylish pants that she felt could fit large-sized women. She started to trade large-sized clothings primarily through buy-and-sell but later on ventured into manufacturing considering the insufficiency of products and her desire to provide more designs and style in large sizes.

The central problem of the company, as expressed by the CEO, lies on the decline in sales, which consequently affected the companys plans for growth. Despite the success of the company in 2001, which resulted to a 12-percent increase compared to the last 10 years, the company is showing failures in terms of the latest mail-order catalogue. In relation to this, the CEO expressed her concern over an expected decrease in annual sales since 1995. The significance of this decrease in annual sales is brought about by the plans of taking the business to the next level. The company is analysed based on the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) that gives way to practical recommendations.

Task 1 SWOT Analysis
The company has its own strengths and weaknesses and are subject to a variety of opportunities and threats. In general, the strengths of MIB lie within the values of the CEO, the anchors of goals, financial stability, and ownership of equipment. As for the weaknesses, MIB lacks in the area of vision for change, strong leadership and management base, inability to adopt a unique set of processes, burnout among employees, insufficient marketing skills, and lack of division between responsibilities. On the other hand, opportunities include having less competition and a loyal group of customers who are following the activities of the company.  As for the threats, there is a constant call for a health-conscious society, increasedbetter financing capability of large companies, and marketing activities of competitors.

Strengths
The strengths of the company are the internal factors that allow it to anchor itself to continuously hold on to their place in the industry. As for the case of MIB, most of it is on the ability of the CEO to control the company and steer it towards financial stability. First, the values of the CEO demands that everyone carry out their responsibilities to the best of their abilities. Through her expectations, she is able to foster a climate where everyone is expected to do as she is told and exceed, if needed. For a small company that is in its starting phase, the ability of people to contribute towards the organizational goals is highly valued. In this stage, the company can not afford to pay for the salary of one person without fully maximizing hisher potential. Second, it is also to the companys advantage that the CEO rests on her personal and political reasons for maintaining the company, side by side with financial reasons. The presence of a factor other than finance would mean that there is a lesser chance for the company to close at the slightest hint of decrease in profits. Likewise, there is the tendency for creativity and perseverance to stem out of passion and strong belief in a particular endeavour. Lastly, the company is able to live through their credit line and owns most of the equipment they have, which means that operating costs are reduced by having their own tools to make their needs.

Weaknesses
Along with the strengths mentioned, there are inevitable weaknesses that abound, especially in the area of leadership and management. First, the company lacks leaders who can initiate and predict change. Effective leadership is an important part of organizations, especially for organizations that are restrained by equipment and resources. For the case of MIB, it is apparent that Riggs do not entirely suffice for the characteristics demanded of a leader because of her focus on the financial side of the company and her inability to deal with people well. A guide to defining characteristics of good leaders include the concept of dealing with people well, innovative decision-making, commitment, determination, adjustment especially in rapidly changing environments, and continuous self-learning. Second, the company is not directed by a vision that rests on the ability to adopt to change. In practically all types of industry, change is a part of the daily life of an organization and it demands proper responses. One of the factors that allow organizations to adopt fully to change is the ability to have a vision of the future.  Third, the company can not rely on the standard rules of mail order and catalogue business, as offered to them in the conferences and meetings attended by Riggs. The company has to realize that there is a need for them to engage in activities that would allow them to gain information regarding their customers, more specifically their choices, buying patterns, personal fashion preferences, and the like.

By doing so, the company is assisted with choosing the patterns that appeal to them. Fourth, burnout remains a problem among employees and is related to the fact that there is no clear line that determines the boundaries of employee responsibilities. Burnout is a factor that can arise from the interaction between employees who share work-related problems especially when they are working under the same situation and in the same team. Considering the high level of expectations set forth by the CEO, most of the employees result to working over time and beyond their responsibilities, which leads to burnout among them. The responsibilities of each employee is extensive that results to them experience burnout that consequently affects their ability to carry out their tasks. Lastly, there is an insufficient number of people who have marketing skills, which is needed especially by the company at times when it is trying to build their reputation and is establishing a name. The failure of the mail order activities of the company is due to the fact that they are not aware of marketing strategies that should supposedly have an impact on their ability to target the right customers and lead to sales.

Opportunities
Two of the best opportunities that the company should tap include less competition and a group of loyal customers. In the history of the company, it can be remembered that one of the reasons that pushed Riggs in establishing MIB is the absence of manufacturers who engage in the production of this kind of goods. While there are large competitors that supply the same products as MIB, it is significantly smaller compared to the number of competitors who provide regular-sized clothing. The lesser number of competitors places less strain in the pressure of competition and allows MIB to enter the industry with lesser risk of being engulfed by large competitors. In addition to this, the company is able to establish a group of loyal customers who are earned through the road trips and other activities engaged in by the company to bring the products closer to the people.

Threats
There are external forces that tend to threaten the company because of its impact on the preferences and buying behaviour of the customers. First, there is a call for a health-conscious society that encourages people to lose weight and avoid obesity through a variety of methods. Likewise, people are encouraged to engage in preventive measures, which includes the constant research efforts employed in order to reduce the statistics of obesity within the society. The force that encourages people to maintain ideal weight and sizes is an opposing factor that goes against the purpose of the company, which is to cater to the oversized women. Second, the company is also threatened by the capability of larger competitors to fund their marketing activities that makes it more difficult for MIB to obtain a share of the market because of popularity gained by others. For companies that have sufficient resources, financing marketing-related activities has a place in the budget that allows them to determine their plans of action. On the other hand, MIB is restricted by scarce resources and the limit of their finances serve as the determining factor for their marketing activities.

Task 2 What Needs to Be Done
The company has to take a strategy where they spend more time in exploiting strengths and opportunities while solving the weaknesses and threats. As of the moment, the latter surpass the former that leads to failures in the achievement of goals. First, the company should clearly define the roles of each person by providing a coherent and systematic organizational structure with clear divisions of responsibilities among the people. As Riggs is given the list of strengths and weaknesses of each employee, the information should be used for the purpose of putting the right people at the right task. She could form a committee with two other persons who are good in dealing with other people to clearly delineate the roles of each person. She should not base the position solely on the willingness of the people to work. In line with this, there should be motivational tools in place, which can be a monetary one or simple events that enhance the camaraderie among the people. By doing this, there is a reduced risk of burnout and overlaps in tasks. More so, people can concentrate more on what they are expected to do instead of meeting the expectations of upper management.

Second, the company should hire a good in-house marketing staff to assist in aspects of design formulation, marketing activities, customer profiling, and budgeting. By doing this, the company is steered towards creating a name of its own among the people who really need the goods sold. If Riggs can not afford an in-house marketing team, a good alternative is to outsource the task. However, she should make sure that the firm can handle the specific needs of the company. Likewise, the marketing strategies employed should also move towards promoting the beauty of being big.

Third, the company should take time to train managers to become leaders. The presence of leaders within the organization gives way to a harmonious working relationship and is catalytic towards changes that they may face. Likewise, it teaches the employees to become motivated from within and lead whenever needed to avoid concentration of power in the hands of only one person. Leadership programs can enhance the leadership capabilities of the people, which can be held onsite or offsite. Through this, Riggs can be assured that there is someone who can take her place during critical moments.