We can use this opportunity to establish loyalty among our existing customers, develop referrals among our customers to their colleagues, and establish our brand and credibility as local suppliers of organic fertilizer of high quality and at a good price to our market. With this in place, it will be difficult for any new market entrants to displace us in our local area as the main suppliers of organic fertilizer.
Company Management of Data and Knowledge
Inventory Management
Inventory is managed in the shipping department. Orders are sent to the shipping department from the customer service representatives via a secure, intra-office internet connection. Once the orders are received, shipping personnel use recycled sticky labels to hand-write the customer and order information with sustainable ink pens, and then affix those labels to the bags of fertilizer. If a customer is ordering more than one bag of fertilizer, as many of them do, the number of bags are stacked in groups of four and tied with twine, and a label affixed to the top back in each bundle, even if there are several bundles for the same customer. Orders are stored near the trucks, in the order in which they were received. In this way, each customer is sure to get his or her order in a timely manner. The date of order is also placed on each label, with the goal being twice-weekly shipments of product, so each order that comes in is delivered within two to three business days. If a customer wants to come pick up their order at the warehouse, those orders are labeled thusly and set aside in a safe, secure customer pick-up area, with names arranged alphabetically, for easy retrieval when the customer comes to get his or her order.
Knowledge Management
Knowledge management is handled in the office. The main people responsible for this are the office assistant, bookkeeper, and customer service representatives. The CEO also plays a role in knowledge management. In Organic Fertilizer Specialists, knowledge management means proper record keeping regarding financials and orders, as well as media relations, market research, regulatory agency research to make sure local and national regulations regarding the practices of the business are being complied with at all times, community relations activities, company development, and grant writing to obtain grants for small businesses and "green" businesses that could help the company expand and improve its practices (Campbell 2008).
Marketing Management
Marketing is largely handled by the CEO and office manager (who serves double-duty in this small company as the assistant to the CEO). In this company, marketing involves customer relations, cultivating new customers, advertising the company to local agricultural businesses and hobby gardeners, and branding the company as the best source of quality organic fertilizer in the area. The CEO and the office assistant work together to market the company in as green and environmentally friendly a way as possible, while also keeping costs down to improve profit margins on the main product. This will allow the company to expand into new markets and maybe even offer additional products at some point, such as organic fertilizers produces from other varieties of animals than just horses and goats. These could be branded as specialty fertilizers and sold to a more niche-based consumer audience. The company could also use increased profits to develop its mail order and wholesale departments, which the CEO would like to do at some point in the company's growth (Gerber 1995).
Company's Use of the Internet
The Internet for Intra-Office Communications
The most important use of the Internet at Organic Fertilizer Specialists is between the customer service representatives and the shipping department. The customer service representatives take orders from existing and new customers and record that information in pre-made order templates on their computers, then transmit this information to the shipping department via secure intra-company internet. The shipping department gets the orders and is able to use the information sent to them by the customer service representatives to label each order and stack it for shipping to customers. The Internet is also used for communication between other office personnel when face-to-face communication is not possible.
The Internet for Outside Communications
The Internet is also used to communicate with outside companies and people, such as customers, the media, stores that carry the company's product, potential new customers, government agencies, and other people and organizations that are outside of the company itself. The CEO believes in using the Internet instead of paper or the...
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