“EU Design’s Rise in the Apparel and Fashion Industry Essay

Current Management StyleEU stick show ups watchfulness style was founded in a very small business environment. in that location was little standardization of individual tasks. In a small business, everyone on round is expected to be involved in all periodical business activities. This creates a very in starchy relationship between workers and instruction. In addition to the small business aspect, EU send off is in a creative industry. Many of the people in this industry ar non trained or educated in formal business practices. A creative mindset takes precedence over the twist of the business.For EU Design, timbre of product is not an issue at the present time. The company is ISO 9000 apprised with SA8000 accreditation. However, growing into a larger company requires a more formal wariness style to ensure this quality is kept up to standard. EU Design admits to develop a mission statement and incarnate vision for the employees to prevail a common goal as a move toward a more formal concern style. Without a be mission statement, employees volition have their own ideas of the companys goals. formerly a mission statement and business strategy is established, EU Design needfully to identify which performance metric is virtually essential to the continue growth of the company.Balanced ScorecardWhile financials such as submit on capital and cash flow be imperative to the sustainability of a company, customer-related metrics such as quality and timeliness of delivery ar of upmost importance to keep the lymph nodes who lead provide the profit. client feedback and surveys will provide the measurement of the value being created for clients. This will avail EU Designs management focus more on what the clients actual needs be instead of focusing on what they perceive customer needs to be. An example of the balanced scorecard would check the exhibit belowObjectivesMeasuresFinancial perspective Increasing profitability and tax Return on assets- increase gross sales revenue Profit ratioCustomer perspective Customer loyalty Attaining unexampled customers Orders from current customers Orders from new customers innate perspective Adherence to schedule Customer driven products Productivity symmetry of actual delivery times to planned schedule Ratio of on time deliveries Number of new collections and designs addedLearning and Growth perspective Increased discourse deep down the company Increased education of employees Number of monthly meetings held Total budget for education courses Number of employees attending coursesInternal inadequacies need to be pinpointed for optimal efficiency. Formal procedures and work practices should be established and documented. This will highlight aspects such as time management, efficiencies, and employee competency. This will allow management to keep abreast of the working environment and augment employee stability. Fashion trends scrape up and go very quickly, and being able to recognize what is trending and the ability to write out quickly is imperative to success. Management must track trends and concentrate on key suppliers that be providing the product for current trends, and all employee efforts must be directed toward this goal. Establishment of clear- dress goals and procedures is necessary to achievethis.Formalization of management needs to begin from the top down. Berardi is too involved in daily activities and butt jointnot see the big picture of the company. He is functioning as an direct manager and sales representative sort of than performing duties of a CEO. He may not be able to make difficult decisions to cut or grow a particular segment because of his close involvement. Berardi needs to bring an employee up to take over his accounts so he can concentrate on his role of CEO. A new organizational structure would resemble the Exhibit 1. There needs to be standardization of communication between the two daubs to ensure that all client informati on and requirements are shared and understood. Regular videoconference meetings with the staff of both(prenominal) bunks can be implemented. disposed the time difference one agency would have to come in very early or the other office would stay late. This may be difficult but should be adhered to so all employees are receiving the same information. This could be tried on a monthly basis. These meetings would help to create a more cohesive environment between new-fangled York and Hong Kong. This would also let the Hong Kong office a chance to provide pass feedback to New York. As a supplement, an online open forum for questions from one office can be posted and answered by the other office when it opens.bonus SystemsCurrently there is no formal incentive system. Many of the rewards are based on Berardis perception of employee performance. If he does not have the opportunity to have direct communication with all employees, it is a gap that he is not able to appropriately assess individual performances. The employees themselves mat up that above-standard performance was not always noted. This sometimes resulted in sub-optimal achievements being accept while the employee going the extra mile was getting passed over. A new incentive system must include a formal rating method of employee performance. In order to evaluate, official job descriptions must be written to use as a benchmark. These descriptions give the employees the framework within which to efficiently perform their duties. The employees immediate supervisor must end this evaluation. This is the person who has direct observance of day-to-day activities.Having the formal evaluation takes out the personal bias of the supervisors. Semiannual reviews will keep employees apprised of their performance and managementexpectations. This will benefit both the company and the employees by keeping them both focused on a common goal. To encourage the employees to be sales oriented, a commission system coul d be introduced. Since company money is already directed toward training courses and classes, offering employees sales training courses will give them the opportunity to take advantage of the new commission system. If funds are limited and an official sales manager cannot be hired, then the classes would be the most efficient way to educate employees. These classes would be directed toward the junior-grade Merchandisers. The current duties for this position would fit best with the new sales system.Although hiring office managers would be beneficial, in the present financial climate this may not be feasible. However, one employee in each location needs to be responsible for office operations. Both offices have an accountant on staff that report directly to Berardi. This person could take on the role of office manager. Since the accountant would be the most business-minded person, he or she would be most qualified to monitor the costs and inefficiencies within the office. Overall EU Designs growth has been slow and steady, as evidenced by a five-year gross margin increase of almost 300 percent. This growth has necessitated a change in management style. If Berardi acknowledges that changes need to happen, the implementation should happen rather smoothly.