Nations School of Business: Banks DIH Ltd Business Operations Report

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Banks DIH Ltd, a public limited company operating in Guyana. The report examines the company's ownership structure, objectives, and operational strategies, including its adoption of a lean organizational structure and the implementation of a just-in-time (JIT) inventory system. It delves into the company's inbound and outbound logistics, highlighting the impact of these processes on operational efficiency and customer satisfaction. The report also contrasts Banks DIH Ltd's operations with those of Help and Shelter, a non-profit organization, providing a comparative analysis of their respective goals, structures, and impacts on society. The analysis considers the challenges and opportunities presented by the company's strategic choices, such as the reliance on JIT and the management of logistics, and offers insights into how Banks DIH Ltd can further optimize its operations to achieve its objectives of profitability, quality, and customer satisfaction. The report covers key areas such as stakeholder expectations, financial performance, and the impact of various trends on operational management.

Centre name Nations School of Business and Management
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Damini Lakram
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Damini Lakram
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Date:
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19 05 2021

Banks DIH Ltd
Banks DIH Ltd is a large company with the sole aim of providing quality products and services
along with financial results and management performance that would benefit everyone involved
at large. Its operation began in 1986 with a partnership (D’aguiar Bros) formed between four
brothers. However, in 1966 the private family company was converted into a public limited
company with a share capital of one million dollars (Banks DIH Ltd, 2021). With its
headquarters, also the production plant located Thirst Park Ruimveldt, Georgetown; there are
branches at Linden, Bartica, Berbice, and Essequibo which comprises a total of seventeen
hundred staff. There are also several fast food outlets and a duty-free shop at the Cheddi Jagan
International Airport.
Alcoholic beverages such as the xm 7 supreme rum, non-alcoholic beverages, assorted rolls,
biscuits, demico ice – cream and frostee pops are the products offered not only to the Guyanese
market but seventeen Caribbean countries and the USA.
Although DDL and Ansa Mc Al, renowned beverage companies have been successful in their
operations, Banks DIH Limited has managed to outshine them since they offer a wider range of
products catering to all age groups. Additionally, the company offers a forklift truck dealership
and owns 51% of Citizens Bank.
OPEN BOOK EXAM QUESTIONS START ON THE NEXT PAGE
Question 1 20 Marks
(600 words)
Established as a public limited company, Banks DIH Ltd comprises of fourteen thousand
shareholders both locally and internationally. These persons would have invested in the company
to expect a percentage on what they would have would have invested from the company’s capital

at the end of the financial year. Furthermore, they have limited liability; that is they are responsible
for the amount contributed in event of losses. Therefore, considering the company as its separate
entity from the shareholders who are the owners. However, the day-to- operations are managed
by the managing director Mr. Clifford Barrington Reis (elected by the shareholders) who adapts a
management style of seeking consultation from all stakeholders. An added feature of this
ownership is the free ability to raise funds.
Nevertheless, Banks DIH Ltd.’s objectives focus mainly on maximizing a profitable organization,
providing quality products and exceptional services at affordable prices along with financial and
management results that would benefit all persons involved in its operations. In their effort to
achieve profitability they source raw materials and create linkages locally as these come with
benefits such as cheaper goods, transportation cost, faster delivery and monitoring of the
materials to ensure that they are produced to the highest standard. These allow for cheaper
production thus outputs are available at a cheaper cost to customers thus allowing profits.
Secondly, Banks DIH Ltd utilizes an integrated management policy, not only to produce quality
products but to ensure the health and safety of the staff and the sustainability of the environment.
Thirdly, to provide exceptional services Banks DIH Ltd offers a wide range of training opportunities
by both internal and external tutors and provides incentives such as percentage on salary if sales
target are met to boost employee morale. Overall, these are basic platforms Banks DIH Ltd utilizes
to achieve their objectives which will eventually achieve the best financial and management results
(Banks DIH Ltd, 2021).
Lastly, Banks DIH Ltd is expected to meet the expectation of everyone involved in its operation.
Most importantly are the shareholders who expect a return on their investment and the growth of
the company such as utilizing profits to purchase additional equipment to enhance efficiency. Also,
they expect that the company accounts are publicly published timely. Conversely, employees
expect fair remuneration, recognition for services and career growth such as scholarships and
promotion while suppliers rely on prompt payment. Finally, the government wants the company to
uphold its social responsibility, pay taxes, sustain the environment and curb the economic problem
of unemployment through expansion.
On the other hand, Help and Shelter is a non – profit organization which provides help on domestic
violence victim, poverty, abuse and family instability. Located at Homestretch Avenue,
Georgetown Guyana, it is a charitable organization formed by a group of volunteers who are free
to join and leave anytime to address these causes. Currently, the daily operations are headed by
coordinator Ms. Magaret Kertzious and a board of directors. However, the daily operations
comprised eleven members including counselors and public relations officers. Although, it is a non
– governmental organization the land was donated by the government but funded by the Basic
Needs Trust Fund and most of the volunteers are given a stipend for survival.
Help and Shelter’s main objectives are to create awareness of violence, abuse, and its causes and
provide counseling, shelter and training to develop these individuals as well as sustaining the
shelter. They provide free educational programs via social media, posters and television to in all
different regions to educate the general public. Additionally, several trainings and seminars are
held frequently and facilitated by counsellors and public relations officers in all different regions
free of cost to help victims. Furthermore, victims can seek counseling at the convenience of their
home while those utilizing the shelter are exposed to intense working skills and training. Providing
clothing and food to the needy is another feature of this organization. However, it relies on
government subventions, donations from the public and fundraising activities to achieve its
objectives (Willabus, 2013). Added to that, the organization’s work will impact society and victims
directly. After all, with so many donations and awareness society expect that there are fewer cases
of violence and abuse while victims are expected to be a better-rounded individual with the intense

counselling and training. They are expected to take up employment, spread the word, be stable
and make the volunteers feel accomplished.

Question 2 20 Marks
(600 words)
Currently, Banks DIH Ltd has adopted the lean organizational structure. This entails using fewer
resources to maximize customer value and can be done with practices such as Time Quality
Management and the just in time approach. However, Banks DIH Ltd has opted for the (JIT) Just
in Time (Lewis, 2021).
Just in Time is where businesses produce goods when required to cut storage costs, sustain cash
flow and enhance the manufacturing process by reducing lead time (Banton, 2021).
From the definition, it can be gathered that a wide variety of machinery, tools and production
plants are needed to produce quality goods. Although Banks DIH Ltd has its machinery and plants
which have served to reduce inefficiencies and reduce downtime, it implies that there is scope for
continuous improvement and maintenance which is very costly. Thus, it further imposes significant
challenges if there is a system failure as it will cause delays to customer orders. It, therefore,
requires a technician to be on board at all times and frequent inspections to be done since there
are no other alternative resources as all other machines are utilized to enhance maximum
production. Hence, resulting in additional expenses and customer dissatisfaction.
Another threat the company faces to this style of working is the barrier to communication. Since
the company adapts a line organizational structure whereby instructions pass from top to bottom,
subordinates will hesitate to give their ideas and methods upon improving efficiency and
effectiveness. Additionally, it also implies that employees are dedicated and responsible towards
their work since job roles are specified. However, this may affect production if a co–worker is
absent as no one can fill in. As such it highly implies that the Human Resource team is responsible
to invest in crossing training and regular training from both external and internal tutors on how to
reduce errors and effectively operate the equipment as well as provide monthly incentives such as
performance bonuses to boost employee morale as specialization may result in boredom. This will
certainly encourage high-quality performance and reduce staff turnover.
Implementing the JIT has enabled the company to have adequate finance at hand as money is not
spent on excessive inventory but may pose severe problems if customer orders surpass
production. These will increase lead time ultimately resulting in customer dissatisfaction.
Furthermore, it can cause dissatisfaction if the raw materials are of poor standard. Therefore, it
implies that Banks DIH Ltd should seek to foster cordial relations with its suppliers and
communicate frequently to ensure fast and reliable supply as well as quality raw materials to
assure customer satisfaction. Additionally, it also implies that the company has to analyze peak
seasons of clients to ensure that inventory is planned beforehand so its suppliers can prepare.
Finally, having positive relations with suppliers implies that Banks DIH Ltd will have better credit
terms.

Question 3 30 Marks
(900 words)
Operational management's goals are to use resources wisely to produce quality goods and
services that best satisfy the customers. These are usually affected by various trends. Below
summarize two that affects Banks DIH LTD:
Logistics
These are divided into inbound and outbound logistics. “Inbound logistics refers to the transport,
storage and delivery of goods coming into a business” (Ingram, 2019). Banks DIH Ltd is the sole
manufacturer of their products and source raw materials locally as these are cost-effective since
no import duty is required. Furthermore, the operations management team places orders via
telephones as a means of saving transportation costs.
Although the company has an inventory recording system to indicate when stock is low or
additional is needed for higher demands, it chooses to adopt the just in time system. This is
whereby materials are scheduled to arrive at the time of production. Such an approach was taken
by the company’s operational management team as it is associated with lots of benefits. The
ability to count the number of raw materials being dismounted saves time and ensures that the
payment accounts for everything are the very first. Secondly, it allows raw materials to be checked
to ensure freshness
and quality. This gives assurance of the goal of producing quality products. Additionally, it seeks to
provide additional revenue for the company since they rent large unused storage areas to other
companies and also sustain the cash flow of the company as money is not utilized for stock not
needed with urgency. Moreover, the company prefers delivery in the afternoon as this allows
workers to perform their work schedules effectively and not be distracted by other duties. The
company’s employees are required to assist as to ensure that raw materials are dismounted
carefully to avoid wastages such as spillage.
Another major factor of the company’s inbound logistics is to monitor packaging materials to
ensure
finished goods are labeled and stored correctly. Subsequently, when these are sorted into the
various packages, labels and barcodes it is taken to the company’s warehouse located at the
company’s headquarters. It is monitored to ensure the right room temperature as well as for
storage facilities such as freezers to prevent foodstuff such as ice cream and others from getting
discolored, damaged or spoiled. Certainly, an important factor for Banks DIH Ltd since it ensures
profit and
quality assurance for customers (Banks DIH Ltd, 2021).
Outbound logistics
“Outbound logistics is the shipping out of finished products to customers from a warehouse or
distribution center” (Lopienski, 2020)

Delivery to remote locations such as Essequibo are done regularly by a private contractor as it is
very cost-effective as opposed to the company’s truck delivery (Banks DIH Ltd, 2021). This was as
a result of the government’s policy of high transportation fees for very loaded trucks. Moreover, it
serves to eliminate the high costs on wages for drivers since they were required to leave very
early.
Furthermore, it allows products to reach in time for any orders that would’ve been placed as
opposed to delays with the ferry.
Conversely, Banks DIH Ltd offers free delivery to all supermarkets and retails stores upon bulk
orders. These reduce transportation costs and gives competitive advantage. Moreover, these
deliveries inclusive to other branches are done early in the mornings to avoid traffic thus allows
orders to meet promptly. This ensures customer satisfaction.
Supply chain
“A supply chain is defined as the entire process of making and selling commercial goods, including
every stage from the supply of materials and the manufacture of the goods through to their
distribution and sale” (Grimshaw, 2020). As such Banks DIH first step is to decide what to
produce. These are assessed by analyzing demand for all their products and decides which needs
to be produced as this ensures that no product is overproduced resulting in waste of raw materials
and shortage of inventory. Additionally, it involves selecting the number of raw materials needed to
ensure that a lot of money is not tied up into inventory.
Secondly, the company sources its raw materials locally from companies such as Caribbean
Continental Inc. and Namilco and seeks to maintain positive relationships with the supplier. By
utilizing these companies the company was able to economies of scale which has resulted in lower
production costs thus making outputs cheaper to consumers. Other remarkable advantages of
these sources are reduction in transportation costs as well as efficiency and better credit terms.
Since operation management ensures top quality, the ability to monitor these raw materials is
another advantage. These persons ensure that the raw materials are produced in a clean
environment and to standard as to yield quality outputs.
Thirdly, Banks DIH Ltd has the most sophisticated plant and machinery to enhance its
manufacturing process. The operational management teams ensure that these are maintained
regularly to avoid mechanical defects and developed with the latest technology to further
enhanced productivity. Since yielding quality products is the main aim of the company, it is
certified with Lloyd's Register and South America’s limited to enable products to be manufactured
to international standards. These ensure quality and food safety management, environmental
protection, prerequisite program on food safety and packaging manufacturing. Additionally, the
company has sourced a packaging plant that now bottles approximately nine hundred bottles per
minute. This automation has resulted in fewer deficiencies and wastage of raw materials.
Subsequently, these allow for higher demands thus profit since goods were available at cheaper
prices as production costs reduce.
Finally, the products are delivered to all branches and retail stores and supermarkets. The
company has a fleet of two hundred and eighty vehicles and many drivers who delivers and
dismount these safely. Furthermore, these officials ensures goods are distributed efficiently and in
accordance with the company’s order to ensure customer satisfaction (Banks DIH Ltd, 2021).

Question 4 30 Marks
(900 words)
Organizational infrastructures are the systems and processes that aid an organization to achieve
its goals. However, these are affected by internal factors as shown below at Banks DIH Ltd:
Plant and machinery
Over the years Banks DIH Ltd has simplified the production process with many plants and
machinery which are maintained and advanced regularly to avoid any mechanical defects and
provide updated features to further enhanced the production process. This automation has
reduced many deficiencies and minimize wastage of raw materials tremendously. Such
consistency has allowed for quality outputs in a faster manner and adds cost-effectiveness.
Therefore, allowed for cheaper products to be available to consumers. This has increased demand
thus the company was able to achieve its main objective of maximizing profits and offering quality
products to the consumer.
Workforce/employability skills
Banks DIH Ltd continuously provides training in basic areas such as adaptability among other
areas such as health and safety, food safety and customer service and relations so that
employees use their full capacity to contribute to the organization. As such these allowed
employees to do their work accurately on the first attempt and has allowed for collaboration and
effective communication thereby increased productivity and good management results; another
objective of Banks DIH LTD. Furthermore, the customer-oriented training has enabled the
employees to attract new clients, therefore, allowing for competitiveness over DDL and Ansa McAl.
Leadership
“Leadership is the art of motivating a group of people to act toward achieving a common goal”
(ward, 2020).As such Banks, DIH Ltd has democratic leaders. Subordinates are a part of decision
making which allows for the development of the company as more ideas are fostered and they are
easily able to abide by the outcomes. Furthermore, they provide rigorous discussions on delegated
tasks and responsibilities and respect the strengths and weaknesses of each employee. Certainly,
resulted in positive internal working relations and increased productivity especially in the fact that
interest is shown in employees' work.

Organizational competency
These are the skills of the employees, capital and various fixed assets required for a company to
excel in its industry. As such Banks DIH Ltd competency lies in its production line, exceptional
customer service and advanced machinery and plant. Over the years the company has managed
to offer products in all sizes, flavors and options such as alcoholic and non – alcoholic to cater for
all age groups with exceptional customer service. Furthermore, the company’s advanced plant
produces quality products and serves to reduce costs of productions thereby allowing affordable
products to consumers. This has increased demand thus profits.
Organizational culture
Organizational cultures are the practice and customs of the company that influenced employees’
behavior and performance. At Banks DIH Ltd the culture is very healthy since employees are
appreciative towards each other regardless of age, color or position. Moreover, they lend a helping
hand to each other as they have the company’s goals at hand. Additionally, these are encouraged
by the company’s culture to reward employees for their services such as monthly incentives on
achieving ales targets. These have further boost employee morale thereby leading to low turnover
rates which has reduce recruitment process costs.
How the Balance scorecard approach can be effective in ensuring Banks DIH Ltd achieve
its objectives
Banks DIH Ltd has three important objectives and these include maximizing profits, provide quality
goods and services and financial and management results that best satisfy all stakeholders (Banks
DIH Ltd, 2021). “As such the balanced scorecard approach is an effective way to measure
organizational performance and ensure that it achieves its goal. “The balanced scorecard is a
management system aimed at translating an organization's strategic goals into a set of
performance objectives that, in turn, are measured, monitored and changed if necessary to ensure
that the organization's strategic goals are met” (Tucci, 2016). It comprises four perspectives
namely financial, learning and growth, customer perspective and internal processes.
The only way for Banks DIH Ltd to achieve its objectives is through customer retention and the
attraction of new customers. However, it is heavily reliant on each perspective to achieve this.
Utilizing the customer perspective will allow management to know their target market and whether
the products offered are best suited and how best customers are satisfied with the quality of
products or level of customer service. Thereby allowing management to make provisions such as
customer surveys to analyze the market and develop strategies that may include product
development to improve customer satisfaction.
Secondly, utilizing the internal process will allow Banks DIH Ltd to attest to its working style to see
how appropriate it is in ensuring customers are satisfied. This seeks to help management analyze
how long the distribution system takes to deliver the order and how best suited is the equipment
and technology in providing quality products and less wastage. Thus seek to continuously improve
technology and monitor their supply chain to acquire efficiency and assure customer satisfaction.
Thirdly, utilizing the learning and growth allows the company to attest its organizational
competency of delivering exceptional service. This aspect of the balanced scorecard will indicate
to Banks DIH Ltd how best the staff is working with management to achieve these goals. It will
also seek to analyze if management allows suggestions from employees to enhance productivity