Organizational Problem and Management Structure

Organizational Overview

Hakim Group is an organization that composed of various small businesses drawn from various products line. The organization was incorporated in 1997 with intention of forming a joint venture with many businesses providing optometry practice to customers. Since its inception, the organization has grown to link many different opticians within the country and some of these include Simon Falk Eyecare, Holland Opticians, Dr. Stella Griffiths Opticians, Kimberley Opticians, David Henderson Opticians, Sarah Dineen Opticians, DayBell & Choo and Alvastone Opticians. The second product line includes partnering companies that have also join the group to operate under this brand and some of these include Simply Group, Mobius Tech and iTeddy that offers a variety of products mostly from online services. Olive Estates focuses majorly on real estate and property services and is also part of partnering companies.

Organizational Problem 

The main organizational problem is lack of proper management structure that can unite various businesses operating under Hakim Group. Many companies under the management of Hakim Group are not managed by the Hakim Group due to limited strategic plan that can incorporate these companies. This implies that these companies operate on their own through their senior management staffs form the board of directors. The only challenge that remains is the ability of all subsidiaries to used brand name and brand feature. This is a management issue that needs to address since it may lead to the breaking of the organization. For instance, some companies such as Simply Group, Mobius Tech, and iTeddy do not directly operate under the official brand name of Hakim Group (Park & Lee 2009).

For example

Business structure 

The business structure used in Hakim Group can be described in three different ways. The first description majorly consists of portfolio management system with different portfolios under a single name.  Hakim Group business structure consists of many different optometry practices. That is headed by a board of directors representing various business brands with the organization. The bossiness model used within the Hakim Group consists of mainly portfolios management united under the chief executive management. The second structure that can also be seen within the organization is matrix structure that incorporates both online and in-house service. In addition, the business structure also consists of an online platform that allows customer placing an order for specific service. In the in-house business structure, the organization offers specific optometry service (Hakim Group 2017).

Financial Analysis

Financial analysis

The financial analysis of the organization requires an understanding of the financial information of each of the businesses under the organization. Financial analysis can, therefore, be analyzed following portfolio or online businesses. Firstly, Imran Hakim indicated that by 2009 the overall value of the optometry was £20m. This was expected to increase by more than £10 at the end of 2010 due to the incorporation of iTeddy. By the end of 2017, the net worth of the organization has grown to more than £65m owing to the continuous expansion of the business.

HR 

Human resource management within the organization can be grouped into two based on their area of operation. Human resources are divided into those employees from main organization and those human resources based on smaller businesses. Firstly, the human resource includes employees from different businesses under the Hakim Group. These businesses have joined to form a single brand under this title. In addition, the Hakim Group senior management offers the management services although employees are recruited under specific business. Secondly, the human resource management within this organization also includes managing employees within the main Hakim Group management and consist of employee recruited under this main office (Kaufman 2008, p. 312-28).   

Brand

Hakim Group is brand consist of various service lines offered by different facilities countrywide. The company as a brand has many product lines that are grouped into portfolios and this forms two major portfolios. The first portfolio is mainly composed of optometry practice companies and the second portfolio is named other portfolios. The second division of the brand is mainly offered through other business that are partners within the brand name Hakim Group. These companies offer a wide variety of services and products such as online retailing, real estate and internet entertainment. Under this brand division, businesses such as Simply Group, Olive Estates, and iTeddy form the core organization’s outlets (Karolina & Andresa 2012, pp. 9-19).

Procedure evaluation

The procedure with the organization can be evaluated based the communication between senior management and management of each business within the Hakim Group. The procedure within the organization is top bottom where senior management mostly board of directors that run the whole organization (Hakim Group 2017).   

Product analysis

Product analysis of various optometry products sold under Hakim Group can be cauterized based on various companies forming Hakim Group. These products and services are grouped into two mainly Optical Practice Portfolio and Other Businesses Portfolio. Firstly, the Optical Practice Portfolio includes all businesses that offer Optical Practice services and some examples include Simon Falk Eyecare, Holland Opticians, Dr. Stella Griffiths Opticians, Kimberley Opticians, David Henderson Opticians, Sarah Dineen Opticians, DayBell & Choo and Alvastone Opticians.  Secondly, product line can also be analyzed based on the glass products that are sold through some business within Hakim Group. For instance, Alvastone Opticians, Kimberley Opticians, and DayBell & Choo are some business under Hakim Group that is selling eyewear products under this brand. Thirdly, product line also includes businesses that form other portfolio businesses. Under this product line, businesses such as Simply Group, Olive Estates, and iTeddy are some other companies that offer online business platforms (Parikshat 2010).

Human Resource Management

Online and social media presence

Hakim Group as an organization dominates the online platform through its brand name or through various companies under such company names. The company has website incorporated with e-commerce software that enables the business to sell its products and services within the country and regionally. In addition, the organization has websites for its subsidiary companies under various company names. Some of these companies such as Simply Group that is an online business and this company uses its website as an online shop (Mulcaster 2009, pp 68–75.).

Secondly, the organization has a well developed social media platform that ensures the company has its presence felt year in and year out. The organization has both its own social media pages and various companies’ social media pages that ensures connection with much social media user. Moreover, some of the social media platforms that give the organization online dominance include Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn and within all these platforms the overall name used is Hakim Group (Cameron 2014, pp 22-27).

For example

External situation analysis includes competitors, industry, customers, and PEST analysis. One example of a competitor is amazon.com. Amazon.com is a key competitor that has an impact on the operation of the UK market. Amazon stores sell numerous products in its online store giving the organization an upper hand in the UK. The only portfolio that is not under threat from Amazon store is the optometry that only deals with eye care and eyewear.

Industry

The industry where the organization operates is very diverse with many companies operating in healthcare specifically optometry practice. The industry can be grouped into three areas mainly health care, online business industry and real estate. Firstly, the service industry mainly consists of service and product line that entails offering eye care and eyewear. Under health care service industry the organization offers optometry practice service where most of its subsidiaries companies offer a wide variety of services and also sell various eyewear to its customers that are spread through the country and regionally. Secondly, the organization also operates within an online business industry where it sells products and services through its website on the platform. For instance, Simply Group has a couple of online shops where the company sells a variety of hammock products and furniture (Besanko, Dranove, Schaefer & Shanley 2012).   

Customer analysis

The organization has customers that are mainly from different sectors that the organization operates. Customers for the organization can be grouped depending on the location, portfolio and online. Firstly, customers grouped according to the portfolio include those customers that purchases according to various organizational portfolios. These are customers are from the healthcare sector, entertainment sector and general customers that purchase furniture from the online shops. For instance, customers from healthcare sector are mainly purchasing services from major companies such as Alvastone and Holland Opticians among other centers. These are a customer that purchases services and property through Olive Estate Company (Merz, He & Vargo 2009, pp 328-44).

Product Analysis

Secondly, customers can also be grouped according to location and these are customers that purchases products and services from various locations within health centers spread throughout the United Kingdom. Most of the portfolios operate within different locations indicating that their customers are mainly from those locations of their operation. The third category of customers is majorly online customers that purchase products through online platforms and retails. Some also purchase products such as hammock and furniture through partner Simply Group. These customer segments are the core customer that has a high influence on the overall organizational performance (Heyne, Boettke, Peter, Prychitko & David 2014, pp. 102–06).

PEST analysis 

PEST analysis is the analysis of various business environmental factors such as political, economic, social and technological factors. To understand environmental factors affecting the Hakim Group there is need to look at some of these factors. Firstly, UK government play an important role in the growth and development of SMEs within the country. Secondly, economic factors in the United Kingdom has influence in the operation of the organization since economic policies established by the government of UK in 2011 offer a good opportunity for SME companies to grow (Porter 2008). For instance, the 5th highest GDP of UK make the country suitable for small and medium businesses since the economic condition characterized by a high population is a ready market. Thirdly, sociological factors such as high living standards, high population and free movement of citizens favor the development of small and medium business such as Hakim Group. Fourthly, technological factors have an upper hand since most of the companies operating under the organization have advanced technological capabilities. Moreover, the faster technological growth within the country makes it easy to start and run an online shop in the UK. This is due to the fact that those customers that can purchase products from online retailers such as Simply Group are many making the organization to gain profit (Hakim Group 2017).  

Competitor analysis

The organization has a wide array of competitor that are drawn from various industries that the organization operates.  The first group of competitors is those companies that are also offering healthcare services especially opticians. Closely related to these competitors are eyewear designers and vendor that also sell the same products as those of Hakim Group. Some example of a competitor within this sector includes Vision Express, Norman Salmoni Opticians, and Boots Opticians. Some of these competitors have been in the industry for a long time while some such as the NHS receives funding from the government. The only advantage that the organization has is diversified products under this product line (Conroy 2014, p. 237).

Online Dominance

The second group of competitors is from the furniture and property sector which is a very competitive sector within the country. For instance, these include those companies that are selling furniture and property within the real estate industry. Some examples of the competitor are amazon.com, The Mexican Hammock Company, Hammock Heaven, World Stores, Rightmove, and Faxtones. In addition, some competitors are perennial competitors that have been in business for a long period of time such as Amazon stores that retail in a number of products. These competitors are most likely to take advantage of products specific nature of Hakim Group products line. A good example of a competitor with this characteristic is Amazon store that has very many products under a single store (Laszlo & Zhexembayeva 2011).   

Company objective and strategy

The company objective is to make the professional journey smoother and the partner’s business ambitions come to life. The objective focuses on assisting young ambitious business to grow from the comfort of their operation. To ensure this objective the organization is partnering with young businesses to bring them under the brand name of Hakim Group. The organization work to make member partners comfortable and feel valued within the organization. 

The strategy of the organization, therefore, entails bringing together various businesses to achieve the common good. This strategy involves a partnership between many different companies to help in mentoring or to increase access to a pool of expertise. This assist young organization grows to become a medium business (Cowen & Tabarrok 2013, pp. 228–29).

Threats

There are many threats to Hakim Group and some of these threats include lack of proper strategic incorporation structure, highly competitive business venture, and limited financial support. Firstly, the organization lacks properly structure of management as the company is formed mainly by autonomous companies that are only linked to the board of directors. This is particularly risky due to financial related issues. Secondly, the sectors of operation where the organization operates is very competitive and this includes very old firms that are the main competitors. Thirdly, limited financial support received from member companies as most companies operate on their own making financial support difficult. This is particularly a problem owing to few directly operating businesses under the main organization (O’Connor 2010, p. 49).

Competitor Analysis

There are many competitors that share the market with Hakim Group in the UK and around the world. Competitors can be divided into online and portfolio depending on their area of operation within the market.

Competitors and Industry

Online Competitor Analysis

Online competitors are those competitors that purchase products and services through the organization’s online businesses and partner businesses. Some of the major online competitors are Amazon store that though being American store, it has another store in the UK.  Amazon store is a major competitor since it has larger market share with the country alone and its transactions can be felt at any point internationally. Amazon is selected since the store sells nearly all products that are sold by Hakim Group subsidiaries such as Simply Group and iTeddy. Simply Group, for instance, has various more than two online retail selling different products. In addition, some other competitors such as Debenhams UK also sells a wider variety of products hence competitor for various Hakim Group online stores (Hakim Group 2017a).

Portfolios competitors’ analysis

The organization has many portfolios that include many different health care centers spread across the country. This healthcare has the main competitor that is the National Health Service since the NHS also offers eye care within its many hospitals. Though not a profitable organization, NHS attracts a larger number of clients that would have been a customer to Hakim Group Optometry canters. Other competitors that also has considerable market share are Vision Express, Norman Salmoni Opticians, and Boots Opticians. In addition, NHS is also a policymaker within the Optometry industry of UK. Other competitors have their market shares but not that greater as the main competitor NHS (Cameron 2014, pp 22-27).

There are three main strategic options that can highly influence the growth of the organization. Firstly, senior management needs proper organization as the company’s senior management currently work independently from other organizations. The organization with numerous portfolios and should be directly managed through the main office as this will ensure that core values are maintained as planned. Development of a proper communication channel is another organizational management strategy that eased the coordination of organizational activities (Ireland, Hoskisson & Hitt, 2008).

Secondly, development of common organizational culture is an important strategic option. As the organization operates currently sharing core values is difficult since each business member operates on its own. In addition, a common business culture that is shared by all companies assists in giving the direction required for the success of the organization. Uniform culture determines the organizational behaviour and where there is no organizational uniform culture the development within the organization will not be uniform.

Customers

Thirdly, risk management strategy minimizes the risk that may affect the organization. The organization lacks proper strategic risk management plan that enables the organization to assess the risk within its member company. Developing risk management strategy is important as it helps the organization achieve its objectives without losses.

Strategy proposal 

Hakim Group customers view the services and products offered as similar to other products or services. This implies that customers have the capability of purchasing products given that their quality is worth their preference. This means that organizational management remains the determinant of the outcome of the business. Working together, the organization developments of a proper management strategy that will assist the company coordinates its activities. Moreover, risk management strategy has the full potential of minimizing risk while ensuring profitability of the business. Therefore the strategy that is proposed includes uniform management of all organized under the brand name, development of an organizational culture that is adopted by all partnering businesses, and development of risk management.

Strategy process  

The development of proposed strategy can follow a number of stages. The first stage of the development is the formulation stage and entails coming up with this strategic options through the senior management of the organization. At this stage, the strategy is explained in details to ensure that there is no error and the strategy is relevant to the organization. The second stage in the strategy process is strategy implementation that involves the application of the strategy within the business to achieve the business objectives. The last stage of the strategy process is monitoring stage that mainly requires the management to monitor the strategy to ensure that all are according to plan (Tang 2014). 

In light of all the company analysis, there are some recommended practices that can help the organization grow and develop. Firstly, the organization needs to restructure its management to ensure that the business is properly coordinated with a good communication strategy. Secondly, there is need to develop a uniform organizational culture that is shared throughout the organization. Thirdly, the organization needs to develop risk management strategy that minimizes risk while maximizing the profitability.   

Conclusion

In conclusion, the entrepreneurial strategy is an important aspect of organization management especially SME organization. A clear study of Hakim Group reveals the competitors and strength of the organization that make the organization fit within its market. There are some strategic options that can assist the organization to improve its management and strategies with the view of increasing profitability of the organization. Therefore, Hakim Group being SME has the potential of becoming premium organization within the UK market. 

References

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