ACADEMIA BARILLA THE NEXT STEP Harvard Case Solution & Analysis

ACADEMIA BARILLA THE NEXT STEP Case Study Solution

Schedule

The first criteria for the measurement of the alternative will be the SCHEDULE; this means that at what time the alternative or the option will be implemented by the organization. If the time period long or short, and if the schedule is time taking then making sure that the opportunity is not lost due to that high time consumption of the implementation. This has to be the first and the most important of all the points to be measured, and experienced project managers know that the loss of the opportunity will be very costly if the implementation is not completed on time. If the opportunity is lost then the losses suffered by the organization would be greater than its capability resulting in further losses and even causing the liquidation of the business.

Quality

The next criteria that will be measured is the quality of the alternative that has been implied, does it support all the required needs of the organization? Or will it affect the organization negatively in the long run? Will it be on to the standards that are being sought? As huge companies like Barilla can be heavily damaged if the quality of the alternative is poor. Example can be taken as: if new products being launched by the organization does not meet the standards or are negatively affecting the US market due to their name or their origin; this can limit the activities of the whole image of the BARILLA organization.

Cost

The cost of the alternative will perform as a heavy part in the appraisal of the alternative, as cost is the main items which will influence the option. Heavy cost with low returns expected are losses for the organization, and a cost benefit analysis will provide for a better part in the recommendation for the organization.

Stakeholder Satisfaction

Stakeholder consists of all the groups of people or governmental associations which have a vested interest in the operations of the organization. The interest is positive on every aspect except for negative interests which can be relied to NGO’s and other agencies which have a problem on the organization impeaching the environment or any such factor. The next part to appraise the available option will be the stakeholder satisfaction level. Will the option being chosen by the organization satisfy the stakeholder needs or not, more positive or negative, which groups are offended more; the internal stakeholder groups or the external groups?

Performance to Business Care

This criteria will be based on the overall impact of the option or alternative on the Business Model. The issue for which the options are being sought are met properly or not, will it grow and expand the business or not, will it be successful in the light of the mission statement of the organization as a whole and does it satisfy  all the Revenue and Profitability completely which will assist the overall group in meeting its objectives.

Alternatives

The alternatives available for the ACADEMIA BARILLA are as follows:

STATUS QUO OPTION

The status quo option suggests the Academy to seek different marketing styles and policies for different consumer market. The business and the products of the organization should be catered according to the status of the market. An example for this is firstly the Academy needs to bring in new products which are completely new and does taste similar to the current US counterparts. For areas with heavy consumer knowledge or high social class areas, the Academy needs to have an influence in providing a complete business to consumer model with directly approaching consumers, informing them, and have specialized places in the big retail stores which will market the products of the organization separately.

For the other part of the markets; where the consumers have low social class or informatory nature; the organization needs to continue with their usual pasta and sauce products which will be easier to be seen on the shelves next to other products and will be directly taken by the end consumer because of its limited knowledge and limited budget.

This option will provide great benefits for the organization as the promotional costs will be low, as the organization needs to implement costs for certain high social class areas. For normal low social class areas of the city and the market; the organization will save costs on distribution, marketing, and channeling.

A negative factor to be considered under this alternative will be the still NICHE marketing technique of the organization, and more reporting costs, as the areas would be required to be segmented in the markets.

TRAINING CENTER IN THE US MARKET

The other option to be considered for the organization is the launching of a new TRAINING CENTER similar to the one in Parma and providing classes and informational seminars for food and health factors considered by the Italian food. This will provide great accessibility and market brand awareness for the organization as the Parma academy has been a success for the Barilla Company.  The new center will bridge the gap between the US language (English) and the ITALIAN  as both the languages will be focused in the training, this will be further a direct marketing approach to the best chefs in the market area to use the product in their restaurants and will also provide a motivation to the general population and the food enthusiasts to seek the training. The new academy will further become the face of the Barilla Company and will completely situate the organization in a different sense to the economy.

The negative points that will affect, will be the overall loss for the organization if the training center proves to be a flop in the market. The standards of the US people and the markets are different than the ones in ITALY due to different preferences and the taste buds of the countries. Further, this will continue to ponder the status of the Academy in the organization as a still cost unit for the organization.

THE LITTLE ITALY OPTION

This option will consist of creating a small block of street or parks in the US and some other countries in the form of small ITALY as it will contain ITALIAN THEMED RESTAURANTS, TRAINING CENTERS, AUDITORIUMS FOR CHEFS, BAKERY, and COOKING CLASSES AND FUN ACTIVITIES.

This will create a different atmosphere in the whole city and the US market, and will directly position the organization in the lime light as the whole city will know that this festival or carnival type thing  created by BARILLA COMPANY and ACADEMIA BARILLA. The profits will be high as all products the organization wants to market can be directly addressed with training and the cuisine styles being learned by the people. Further, the benefit attached to this will be the organization leaving the NICHE marketing and focusing on the entire market as a general basis as the name of the products would be addressed to most of the general population.

The negative points for this option is the heavy cost being attributed to the organization, creating a sizeable festival filled with different activities will cost the organization in the plus of $ 100 Million if considering only the US market. Further markets will create higher costs for which the organization will have no way of gauging returns and profits.

Recommendations

The recommendations of the available options will be based on the criteria for which they are measured against. The chart to gauge the rankings of the Available options according to the Rankings produced against their limitations or criteria are as follows:

According to the chart provided above, the Status Quo Option and the Little Italy Option have tied down due to Ranked top in 2 of the 5 criterias being mentioned.

However, we will be selecting only one option and the recommended option upon the analysis is the LITTLE ITALY OPTION which will serve all the goals of the organization despite the increase is costs and other measures.

The organization has considered to step out of its shell in the US market region and to stop being the Niche market following company. The organization with the Little Italy option will assume the position of very huge awareness and will be on the mouth of approximately every citizen due to the Little Italy demonstration. This will garner the organization to provide for the option of mass marketing as the awareness will been created by the organization, which will increase its market share and other items for the bakery products and other food related items will be directly marketed.

Action Plan

The suggested Action plan for the organization will be as follows:

1. Create Full Budgeted Costing of the Entire Venture or Option to the firm
2. Create a Cost vs. Profit Analysis which will induce the mass marketing option after the option being implemented.
3. As Zenti is a major player for the Barilla Family, the Option should be kept in front of all the 3 committees of the Company.
4. Recommend the Option with a time base and seek approval to move ahead.
5. Implement the LITTLE ITALY option.
6. Implement the Mass Marketing Plan.
7. Evaluate the Option and Improve if needs.

If implemented correctly and at the right time, this action plan and the option will be highly fruitful to the organization...........

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