Introduction
Strategic management refers to the act of drafting, applying and assessing varieties of decisions which will help a company to accomplish its long-term goals. It is a continuous procedure which assesses and manages the industries and enterprises where the organization is a participant. In addition, it evaluates its opponents and creates strategies and objectives in order to meet all the present and probable opponents (Hill & Westbrook 47-49).
Moreover, it reevaluates every plan quarterly to measure the manner in which it has been employed, its effectiveness and whether it requires another strategy in order to meet new opponents, modern socio-economic environment, altered situations, or modern technology. Therefore, strategic management is the procedure of identifying the vision, goals, and mission of a company, designing strategies, and policies regarding programs that are created to fulfill the goals, and offering necessary requirements or resources to apply the strategies and policies within the programs (Dess, Lumpkin & Eisner 125). This paper will analyze the Jamba Juice Company.
History, development and growth of Jamba Juice Company
Jamba Juice Company is a food industry situated in the U.S (United States). The company provides baked commodities, soft drinks, salads, nutrients (minerals, proteins carbohydrates, fatty acids, and vitamins) and fast foods. The company was established in the year 1990 and its main offices are in Emeryville, California. From the year 2006, the company performs as an auxiliary of Jamba.
The company was founded by “Morro Bay High School and California Polytechnic State University graduate Kirk Perron in collaboration with co-founders such as Ozawa Olds, Joe Vegera, and Kevin Peters.” Jamba Juice Company was grouped as a Juice Club in the year 1990 in California. This Company is classified among the top leaders of the food industry in quick services on vegetable and fruit juice industry country-wide (Jamba Juice Company Para. 1-3).
Since the year 1990, Jamba Juice Company has grown and developed. For instance, in the year 1997, it got into a performance consensus with the market of Whole Foods in order for the company to trade natural commodities within the Whole Foods environment or locations such as Jamba’s smoothies’ ingredients. Secondly, in the year 1999, the company got all country-wide Zuka Juice. Similarly, growth and development for the company has been seen because from the time the company succeeded in trading its products in New York in the year 2004, the Company has opened 19 centers within the State and it persists to establish more of these centers (Jamba Juice Company, 2010, par. 4-5).
Internal strengths and weaknesses of the company
Jamba Juice Company has some internal strength which has helped it to thrive in the competitive market. First, the company offers many products to its customers, thus, it is in a position to reach out to many customers. As a result, it is able to make great profits that help it in achieving its objective of providing many people with healthy and delicious products. Secondly, the company is strong in trading its commodities in several States which has made its product to be known in different areas. In addition, the company has employed staff who have adequate skills in its entire departments.
Therefore, the management of the organization is effective and the managers do their performance evaluation appropriately in order to help the organization in improving its ways of operating. Adequate knowledge and skills of the employees has helped the organization in providing quality products; thus, attracting a great number of customers or clients. This is achieved through the utilization of actual fruits, and vegetable and fruit juices obtained from concentrate. Therefore, Jamba Juice Company is strong in research and development since it’s able to come up with new products by using different materials.
On the other hand, the organization has internal weaknesses that affect its performance. For example, the company tends to use more sugar in the smoothies than the standard amount. As a result, the company established enlightened smoothies, a product that contains fewer carbohydrates and less sugar. Moreover, the employees of Jamba Juice Company work for more hours than required in order for them to achieve the set targets of products to be produced or traded. This impacts on the performance of the employees due to accumulated fatigue; thus, some workers are not as productive as they ought to be.
External environment
In its operation, Jamba Juice Company faces some opportunities and threats. Using the Porter’s five forces and the life cycle models, it’s possible to identify these opportunities and threats. The opportunities that the company has are that their commodities offer the organization the chance to begin easily, with little varieties of flavor which are highly recommended among sample clients. Thus, this shows that the company can save some resources at the initial stages, increase its internal capital and finally enlarge flavor areas to please more customers to buy. In case the flavor is ineffective, it can be stopped easily without costly tools alterations which other companies might need. In addition, smoothies which are frozen provide an opportunity for the company to trade the commodity by appealing to sight, sound, taste, smell, and touch of their customers.
Nevertheless, the company experiences some threats as it markets its products. The greatest threat to the company is the popularity and good reputation of the on-going chains like Zuka Juice Company. This is a threat since the Company might not be in a position to provide an equivalent community and atmosphere which is comfortable as Zuka Juice Company did in the past. In addition, there is the threat that Zuka Juice Company is in the process of establishing some locations where it will be trading pre-made products. Another threat that Jamba Juice Company is experiencing is a condition where food industries which offer similar products tends to switch their prices and sell their products at lower prices.
Evaluation of SWOT analysis
Having evaluated the SWOT analysis of the Jamba Juice Company, there is clear indication that the company has constructive features that makes it thrive in a competitive market niche. Their products are healthy, delicious and of good quality. What differentiates Jamba Juice Company and offers their product a competitive benefit is that the company has established several locations in different States and they do not compromise on the quality of their products. Therefore, their customers can access the products within their reach without waiting or travelling for long distances.
Therefore, since the strengths are more than the weaknesses, and opportunities are more than the threats, Jamba Juice Company is at the lead position of the overall stiff competition. Secondly, it is able to persist in running its present corporate-level plans successfully and profitably. This is because the organization has a strong team within the consultation line who ensures that performance evaluations are reviewed regularly, thus, they are able to rectify the gaps and meet the requirements of the company on time.
In order for the company to continue thriving well in the market, there is a need to alter their weak areas into strong areas. For instance, they should ensure that their employees work for the standard time and be paid for any overtime worked for. As a result, the productivity of the workers will increase. Secondly, they ought to understand the taste of their customers regarding some products like smoothies. If the customers complain that the smoothies contain a lot of sugar than required, they should look into that and change the preference of the customer.
Thirdly, their threats can be changed into opportunities whereby they can increase the rate of marketing their products and offer quality products such that individuals will tend to buy and praise their products more than those of Zuka Juice Company. In addition, since Zuka Juice Company is in the process of establishing some pre-made products, Jamba Juice Company should also look forward into developing such products and above all deliver the products to their customers at home. Regarding the price switching threat; the company should continue with the aspect of producing quality goods and offer them at a favorable price.
Corporate-level strategy
The mission statement of Jamba Juice Company is to develop the company to be the leading center of healthy energy by offering healthy and delicious blended products with a willing team that is committed to bring a change through their values. The main goal of the company is to offer their customers quality and satisfactory goods. Secondly, is to ensure that they research all components which are supposed to make healthy and delicious products.
Despite the fact that Jamba Juice Company is competing with other food companies, it relates well with them in terms of meetings and sharing of information. In addition, the company shares and coordinates employees and their resources within the business units. Secondly, the company invests financial resources to train its employees in different business units and utilizes the business units to harmonize activities in other corporate business. Therefore, the company is involved is related diversification form of corporate-level strategy since it’s able to trade its commodities in several areas within different States. Thus, changing this form of strategy will bring weaknesses into the already existing strengths; hence, it should not diversify from the major business which it is currently operating.
Business-level Strategy
At the business-level strategy, issues dealt with concerns establishing and maintaining a competitive benefit for the services and commodities that the company produces. Secondly, it consists of the control of business operating sections within the company (Armstrong 200-202). Currently, Jamba Juice Company is thriving well in the competitive market niche by being in the leading position. Just as any other enterprise seeks ways on how to grow and develop in prospect cash flows through capitalizing revenue from selling its commodities and services, Jamba Juice Company is not left behind in this race.
By doing so, Jamba Juice is able to sustain its viability, advance its labor force, and invest in modern and innovative product development. Additionally, the idea of using a life cycle model has a great effect on the performance and strategy of a business. This is because it helps the business to recognize different stages that impact on the sales of the commodities since the time items were introduced into the market until the time they expire.
Therefore, Jamba Juice Company is in the growth stage where individuals have identified their products and purchased them more than they do for other companies. The company is performing well in the market since their marketing strategy is well developed and implemented; thus, they are in a position to reach out and convince most people to buy their product. In addition, their research and development strategy is well designed and this helps the company in understanding the form of nutrients to be included in their products. The company also offers its products at a low-cost where most of the customers can afford to purchase on a regular basis.
Structure and control systems
Every organization must have the organization control systems, style, structure, and human resource management. The company structure includes components such as assimilation, control system, differentiation, and inspiration (Menon 47). Jamba Juice Company has the right degree of vertical separation since it has several levels within the hierarchy of management. The hierarchy of Jamba Juice Company includes consultants, managers, deputy managers, supervisors, and then the employees.
This form of organizational structure assists the company in solving any conflicts arising from the employees at an early stage before the consultants come to realize it. In addition, this structured system helps the management in understanding what needs to be changed in different units within the company and what is supposed to be integrated into the system in order for the organization to perform effectively.
The structure system helps the management to run the organization effectively since responsibilities are divided to different personnel who have adequate knowledge and skills in their line of duties. Similarly, this form of structural system has helped Jamba Juice in offering the correct rewards to the right personnel and as a result this has motivated cooperation within the units. These rewards are encouraging; consultants and managers are rewarded well such that they are encouraged to manage the company with uncompromised commitment.
Recommendations
According to the analysis, Jamba Juice Company is a well performing food industry which is committed to providing its customers with healthy and delicious products. In order for the company to thrive effectively into the competitive market niche, there are specific areas where the company should improve on. First, the company should invest greatly in its employees through training and rewarding. Training will help the employees to improve their skills regarding their assigned duties; thus improve their productivity. Rewarding employees in relation to their work will motivate and encourage them in performing better.
Secondly, the company should increase the amount of money that it uses in development and research on the nutrients that are required in different products. As a result, this will improve the quality of their products. The company should remain in its corporate-level strategy of related diversification because it will be in a position to reach out to many individuals. In addition, Jamba Juice Company should continue in its major businesses because it is thriving well in the market niche.
Conclusion
Strategic management is a continuous procedure which assesses and manages the industries and enterprises of an organization. It evaluates its opponents and creates strategies and objectives on how the organization will meet all probable and present opponents.
For instance Jamba Juice Company assessed its competitors and identified the criteria it could use in order to be the leading food organization. Through strategic management, Jamba Juice Company is in a position to measure whether it effectively or ineffectively implemented its strategies. Thus, in case of any need for a new strategy an organization will realize and act promptly in order to achieve its objectives.
Works Cited
Armstrong, Mathew. A handbook of Human Resource Management Practice. (10th Ed), London: Kogan Page. 2006.
Dess, Gregory, Lumpkin, Tom, and Eisner, Alan. Strategic Management: Text and Cases (5th Ed.). New York: McGraw Hill-Irwin. 2010.
Hill, Tytlon, and Westbrook, Richard. “SWOT Analysis: It’s Time for a Product Recall.” Long Range Planning Journal 30, 1997 (1): 46–52.
Jamba Juice Company. “Company History“. 2010. Web.
Menon, Andrew. “Antecedents and Consequences of Marketing Strategy Making”. Journal of Marketing 63, 1999 (2): 18–40.