CMR Enterprise Essay

This particular skid depicts the history and issues faced by a relatively small phoner active in the custom architectural millwork industry for the past 25 years. The new owners wanted the newly-acquired company to grow blush further. The first some months seems to retain been a success Marcus spent a lot of his date with employees and customers, learning the field since he was, as mentioned in the text, an outsider. However, safekeeping the companys integrity and image intact was a priority.However, the problems describe in the case seems to start or at least sop up been worsened with what entrust become CMRs largest account, Blackstone Homes.Problem Identification aft(prenominal) reviewing the text in question, three major problems stand out1) Customers veer requests When Blackstone Homes sell a house, it does of course come with a pre-finished and installed kitchen, acknowledged in the value. However, if the customer wishes, he or she would visit CMRs showroom and they would shew these woodwork according to their new specifications. The added cost will then be charged to the contractor, which will later add it to their bills.This takes time and lead to expense enlarges. This is, in part, what contributed to the clash with Blackstone Homes.2) IT solution non adapted InfoCentral, the software use by Marcus, does non work out as intended and do not fit the origin needs. It is not always updated as needful by the employees. According to the text, it may be helpful for the commercial and monetary/accounting side, but is lacking several features for its residential counterpart to be really as useful as it can be.3) Deteriorating business kin The business relations between the two companies started well and was fulfilling for both part. When the business expended, so did the problems.The root cause seems to be the change requests made by the homeowners. This lead to late delivery, poorly reviewed performance and then the 7% price increas e. Future homeowners started considering the prices charged by CMR to be too high. We could therefore yield lower level of sales and revenues in the future.Alternatives generationWhile we will mostly concentrate our alternatives on the three points mentioned above, we will also include other alternatives, even if they may not be realistic or feasible in the short/medium term.1) Review customers change requests We plainly cannot stop change requests and modifications made by the customers. The company and its employees pride themselves by offering flexibility and higher customers satisfaction. It would be therefore self-destructive for CMR to empower a term to these showrooms. Any person also deserve to go reasonable alternative options when they are buying an object, a home more than than than anything.However, there is a clear misunderstanding between CMR and Blackstone Homes regarding the fixed allowances for kitchen ($6,000) and the lowest cost of the installment. In fe llowship to solve this issue, it may be a swell thing to review the billing part Instead of having the installation costs forwarded to the contractor, all expenses over $6,000 (parts + labor) should be charged to the homeowners themselves customers can have access to all options made available by CMR, whilst eliminating cost promotion and the said related dis arrestments.2) Software adaptation It seems clear from the text that the all told issue also come in part from InfoCentral. In swan to remediate this issue, we would advert that all account managers from CMR and employees involved with this software should recreate and discuss its performance. What should be changed, what must be kept, or what should be include in coiffure to fit everyones needs. However, for any IT solution to put to work tangible superfluous value, it must be easy to use and should not impose additional work. It is supposed to simplify the work, not making it more complicated.3) The right people on th e right place Again, according to the text, there was a clear misunderstanding between both parties it was even referred as a shouting contest, which is far from being a habitual and healthy business relationship. The Key Account Managers (from both sides) could not agree on contract terms and conditions. It could therefore be a swell thing to change points of contact and see if the dapple can be resolved a stronger relation, transparency, honesty and business awareness between the two companies might also help straighten things out.4) Additional ideas The solution to increase profit may not be by simply change magnitude selling price. We would suggest CMR to run an audit on their Supply Chain, Logistics and Selling, oecumenical & Administrative Expenses to see if cost reductions are possible. Could modern machinery help geld their production costs? Could they outsource some of their non-core business or make out raw material costs by creating a joint-venture with a rivalry? Chasing down inefficiencies in the production line can be even more effective than a price increase.RecommendationsUsing the previous points, we would suggest the three following recommendations1) Change the billing process If possible, all additional costs over $6,000 should be charged to the homeowner directly. In order to make this easier for the customers, offering various financing options may be a good idea.2) Adapt InfoCentral Review, correct and revamp the software in order to meet real business needs. May be a good thing to check what competitors are using.3) Organize recurrent meetings The situation with Blackstone did not get bad in one day. It may be a good idea to set up weekly or monthly operational reviews meetings lasting no longer than 30 minutes, where all latent issues can be discussed among stakeholders and managers. The idea is not to let such situation worsen and take the correct actions as soon as possible.