erThere in motion (i.e. in a car)

erThere in motion (i.e. in a car)

erThere have been a continuously developing process of recording, prepare &process, and playback equipment during the last century. This has placed themusic in a totally new position in our society.

Prior to the 20’th century music was only related to special occasions likeconcerts and the high festivals. This has changed. Nowadays we listen to musicwherever we are, in supermarkets, cinemas, radios, official places and even fromsmall pocketsized players. Earlier all music was live, today almost all musicwe listen to are recordings.

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This also states that, the trends in the musicindustry is ever changing. The development of sound-recording technique hasmatured a serious audio industry. It contains of a wide spectre of differentmanufacturers, which often link to each other and to other participants in themusic/audio industry.

Sale of records became the modern audio industry’s launch. Because all recordplayers around the world were standardised, the sale of records had an enormoustake off. This made it possibilities to earn a good profit in the music/audioindustry, and many different equipment manufacturers arised.The market was, and still is, alive because of the continuing audio developments.

Radios, cassette players, CD players, DAT players, minidisk players, etc. giverise to even more sales.In the 1960’s the firs stereo recordings were made. Soon afterwards, theindustry introduced the notionHi-Fi (high fidelity) just to make clear howfar the development had come.When the cassette tape was introduced in the 1960’s, many problems were solved.Now it was possible to produce a recorder which could be used when thesurroundings were in motion (i.e.

in a car) . Now it was workable to bring thesource of music were ever people wanted. The cassette could also record, and wasextremely easy to use compered to the LP. Also the cassette became standardised.Later we got DAT, CD, minidisks, etc. which all have brought the audio market astep further.

The stereo industry of today is noticed by several manufactures that compete inthe same market. Hence that competition is severe and the importance of being infront with design innovation, product consistency, value for money, soundquality and the firm’s goodwill, is of greatest importance.This also means that planning is crucial.Planning is something that is arranged beforehand. Worked out in advance toreach a goal.”The ability to determine appropriate objectives:’doing the right thing ‘.The stereo industry consists of two main segments, the home stereo market andthe professional market.

Even though many manufacturers operate in both thesemarkets, I will assume that Sonic Wave Ltd. only operate in the home stereosegment.Sonic Wave Ltd. has over the last years achieved a sustained period of dramaticgrowth and prosperity without use of any strategic plan. However, over the lastsix months it has seen a decline in sales because of a launch of an innovativerange of stereo equipment from an Asian producer.

Their main problem is thatthey do not have a quick response to counter this challenge from Asia. This isbecause of their lack of planning.As with all industries a mission statement makes the main framework of a firm.In the stereo industry the mission statement is to produce equipment to pass onmusic to its listeners.

Furthermore each firm must decide whom they want totarget, and with what sort of equipment they want to target the group.With this as a basis we are able to set a strategic goal. This goal shouldinclude our business philosophy; I.e.

sound quality, price level, etc. as wellas an explanation for the chosen philosophy. It should also include what productrange to develop and produce. A clear aim is set.

This provides a sense ofdirection. By setting a goal, one opens the possibility to diversify theresources availible. Both machinery and people have limited resources, whichshould be used in the most effective way.

This also means that controllingbecomes more important, but also easier because each employer and employee haveclear tasks to perform. If we are about to reach the goals we have set withinthe deadline, we must know our progression. This information is obtained throughcontrol. In order to guide our plans and decisions it is crucial to have aclear goal.To obtain this strategic goal we need a strategic plan (plan designed to meet anorganisation’s broad goal ). Without a strategic plan it is hardly possible tohave a view of the situation.

People must know what to be aiming at, whom theyshall cooperate with and when a task must be finished. This is quite obvious,but it requires a plan to obtain.A strategic plan is long term. Therefore we must be cautious when developingsuch a plan. Often it requires a great deal of changes, both financial andpersonal, to be able to follow this plan.

If the organisation must change itsstrategic goals, which they often have to, their plans also must change. So,this must also be taken into consideration when making a strategic plan. To besuccessful, we must always be prepared to make changes at all stages in theorganisation.Clearly the consequences can be fatal for a firm’s existence, if not thedevelopment of a strategic plan is done properly.

Strategic planning does not involve the actions taken in an organisation fromday to day. It is more a scope, or a direction for which the organisation isheading. That is, the top managers in an audio manufactory might say that thefirm shall be market leaders in design innovation and sound quality. How toobtain this is set in the operational plan.Operational plans are a short term plans, showing how strategic plans will beimplemented in day-to-day activities. These plans form a hierarchy of plans thatare linked by interrelated goals’ .Operational plans fall into two general classes, Single-use plans and Standingplans.

Single-use plans are designed to be dissolved once they have achieved specific,nonrecurring goals. Standing plans, in contrast, are standardised approaches tohandling recurrent and predictable situations’ . As mentioned earlier, anorganisation must be able to change its plans and it is (normally) this plansthat must be changed.In Sonics case there are no plans to be changed, thereby no chance to respondfast to the new range of audio equipment from the Asian producer.Much of the components an audio manufacturer use in their production areimported. That the engineering change and updates are meticulously defined isthen important.

This requires a material requirement planning system’, whichis another short term plan. The MRP provides easy access to, and visibility ofinformation on the stocks and flows of material within the supply chain and thephysical capacities of selected operations. The MRP also includes a short termreview of materials required in each operations, and a survey of materialsavailible.

Without the MRP (or a similar system) it is hard to obtain theproduction control, and to keep on track with the operational and strategic plan.In the electronic manufacturing also the application of just in timemanufacturing has resulted in significant benefits. This mainly because thesecompanies used to operate with high work-in-process inventory levels and longlead times.There are also several other important features which is essential to ensue astrategic plan. Achieve greater responsiveness from suppliers on price,frequency of delivery and so on, set-up-time reduction, right firs timeproduction, a streamlined organisation, etc. are such features.It is the combination of all this short term activities that makes up thestrategic plan.

In the audio manufacturing industry new products are launched quite rapidly. Itis not necessarily innovative products, but even product improvements from othermanufactures must be considered as a treat. Asian producers have the last 10-15years been leaders in the home stereo market , both in product innovation and indesign. Hence they have obtained quite a goodwill in the market, get higherreturns, and thereby they can afford improvements and new product developments.It is of severe importance to keep up with the Asian audio technology. Quickresponse to changes, and preferably new technology development must thereby beconsidered as the main goal in the European audio manufacturing industry.

Thiscan only be obtained by strategic planning. Category: Business

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