Swinburne: Cobb Lane Industry Consulting Project Report Analysis

This report presents a consulting project analyzing the challenges faced by Cobb Lane, an artisan bakery in Melbourne, Australia. The report begins with an executive summary highlighting issues such as space limitations, market volatility, and competition. The introduction provides background on Cobb Lane's operations, including its wholesale and retail arms, and its mission statement. The core of the report assesses the current situation, including the challenges of insufficient warehouse and kitchen space, and external threats like price fluctuations. The report recommends solutions like warehouse relocation and technological improvements to enhance productivity. The report also discusses the importance of customer-centric approaches, market analysis, and funding strategies. It concludes by summarizing the key challenges and proposed solutions, emphasizing the importance of positive workplace culture, competitive pricing, and internal competency development. The report incorporates academic references to support its findings and recommendations.

Running head: INDUSTRY CONSULTING PROJECT
INDUSTRY CONSULTING PROJECT
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author note

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Executive summary of challenges that might be faced by the clients
The client Cobb Lane is specifically encountering issues due to poor space for storage. It has
been noted from the organizational statement of the organization that the current warehouse of
the venture is 155m² and the kitchen space is 100m² which is actually hindering the venture in
improving its productivity. The external assessment of the organizational position reflected that
the organization face a series of threats due to price fluctuations in the context of the price
sensitive wholesale customers. On the other hand, the selective suppliers of the organization
might again reduce the bargaining power of the same. The increased threat of the suppliers and
the new entrants might be taken as one of the major considerations. The changes in the market
trend might affect the capability of the organization in retaining the sustenance of the same.
Therefore, the concerned business must take the initiative of improving market knowledge and
the changes in the buying preferences of the customers. The modifications in the organizational
operations are reliant on the appropriate assessment of the alterations in the customer behaviour.
However, it might be noted that the continuous changes in the demographic population and the
preferences of the customers are the major factors that might be considered by the venture.
Again, the market volatility and rate of inflation posed a serious impact on the pricing and
development strategies of the venture while expanding in the Australian markets. The minimized
rate of productivity of the organization also affected the capability of the same in increasing the
revenue streams. Therefore, the research aimed at recognizing the major changes in the
organization might be based on a relocation which would allow the venture in improving the
productivity of the same while correlating with the demand of the customers.

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Introduction
The poor space of the organization affected the capability of Cobb Lane in improving the
productivity while adhering to the increasing demand for its propositions. It has been noted that
the current warehouse of the venture is 155m² and the kitchen space is 100m² which is
insufficient for meeting the organizational goals of improving the productivity. In this
connection, a relocation would be initiated by the organization with the purpose of improving the
scope of productivity and maximizing the revenue streams in accordance to the demand of the
customers. The increased indulgence of ACCC in the organizational operations might affect the
expansion related capabilities of the business.
The macro analysis projected that the political stability, technological advancements and
the changing GDP rates influenced the overall operations of the organization. The increased
productivity of an organization permits the same in adhering to the growing demand of the
customers. Again, the improvements in the quality of the propositions supports ‘an organization
in retaining the brand image through increased customer satisfaction. The application of TQM
principles and monitoring- supervision related activities of the organization plays a major role in
improving the capability of the venture (Gigliotti et al., 2019, pp. 88). The concerned
organization must take the initiative of improving the quality of the propositions through
continuous monitoring and controlling activities.
The research will evaluate the situation of Cobb Lane while developing means of
improving the productivity of the same through the inclusion of modernized technologies and
relocation to a spacious warehouse (Oreg & Berson, 2019, pp. 287). The enumeration of
employee- centric policies would allow the concerned venture in retaining the trust and

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commitment of the customers. The improvements in the workplace environment of the venture
would allow the organization in reducing the rate of staff turnover while maintaining the
continuity of the business processes (Homberg, Vogel & Weiherl, 2019, pp. 37). The induction
of positive workplace culture would have allowed the concerned organization in not only
keeping the workforce motivated but also empower the productivity of the same (Waeger &
Weber, 2019, pp. 342). The concerned venture must take the initiative of improving the links of
communication between the different stakeholder groups and including policies that would
adhere to the interests of the employees. The introduction of modernized machineries would
allow the concerned venture in increasing the productivity of the organization while increasing
the capability of the same (Attaran, Attaran & Kirkland, 2020, pp. 389).
The continuous monitoring and controlling activities of the venture would allow the
business in not only improving the quality of the propositions but also retaining the loyalty of the
target customers. It has been observed that most of the organizations take the initiative of
implementing the customer- centric approach (Jeong & Shin, 2019, pp. 920). The major issues
that might be faced by the organization while relocating the production units are specifically
reliant on the source of funding. According to the approach, the organizations take the initiative
of improving the productivity of the same to suit the demand of the customers while increasing
the revenue streams. In the case of Cobb Lane, the primary customers of the venture are the price
sensitive wholesalers like the supermarkets and the restaurant chains (Orji, 2019, pp. 105).
Assessment of market trends would allow the business in improving the positioning
activities while drawing the attention of the target customers. Therefore, the research would
empower assess the needs of conducting market surveys for identifying their target customers
and preferences of the same for forging continuous improvements in the product development

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process. Lastly, the research would take the initiative of locating different strategies that are
feasible for the client organization which is looking forward to relocate the area of their
operations for optimizing its productivity.
Conclusion
Therefore, from the above assessment it might be noted that Cobb Lane is facing
significant issues in developing the productivity of the venture due to shortage of space in the
current warehouse facility. The organization is planning to relocate the venture’s warehouse to a
more spacious area, allowing the same to increase the productivity. However, the increased cost
of operations might act as a restricting factor for the business while expanding the operational
aspects. Moreover, the pricing considerations that are being made by the concerned organization
for retaining the loyalty of the target customers might result to minimized margins.
The concerned venture must take the initiative of inducing positive workplace culture for
improving the rate of operations of the venture. Therefore, the price modifications and
technological inductions in e organization might require huge investment capital. Funding plays
a major role in the organizational change processes. Again, the relocation to the spacious
warehouses would allow the venture in improving the scope of production. The pricing
considerations are made by the organizations with the purpose of retaining the loyalty of the
price sensitive customers. The concerned venture must take the initiative of implementing the
competitive pricing measures for drawing the attention of the price sensitive wholesalers as per
the market trends and the price offerings of the venture.
The development of the internal competencies through implementation of technological
reforms would allow the venture in improving the capability of the venture in empowering the

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productivity of the processes. The funding and capital raising related activities of an
organization specifically empowers the alterations in the business processes. In this relation, the
concerned venture, Cobb Lane, might encounter significant issues in sourcing the funding
operations which might create a challenge while implementing the change in the business
processes. The organization might encounter subtle challenges in sourcing funds which might
incapacitate the business in improving the operations. On the contrary, the organization might
encounter significant issues while choosing the right warehouse while improving their
operational criteria to meet the common organizational objectives. The various challenges related
to decision making and sourcing funds might restrict the business in improving the
organizational efficiency. Therefore, the research enumerated different recommended activities
and the issues that might be encountered by the business while implementing the activities.

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References
Oreg, S., & Berson, Y. 2019. Leaders’ impact on organizational change: Bridging theoretical and
methodological chasms. Academy of Management Annals, 13(1), 272-307.
Jeong, I., & Shin, S. J. 2019. High-performance work practices and organizational creativity
during organizational change: A collective learning perspective. Journal of Management, 45(3),
909-925.
Waeger, D., & Weber, K. 2019. Institutional complexity and organizational change: An open
polity perspective. Academy of Management Review, 44(2), 336-359.
Homberg, F., Vogel, R., & Weiherl, J. 2019. Public service motivation and continuous
organizational change: Taking charge behaviour at police services. Public administration, 97(1),
28-47.
Gigliotti, R., Vardaman, J., Marshall, D. R., & Gonzalez, K. 2019. The role of perceived
organizational support in individual change readiness. Journal of Change Management, 19(2),
86-100.
Orji, I. J. 2019. Examining barriers to organizational change for sustainability and drivers of
sustainable performance in the metal manufacturing industry. Resources, Conservation and
Recycling, 140, 102-114.
Attaran, M., Attaran, S., & Kirkland, D. 2020. Technology and Organizational Change:
Harnessing the Power of Digital Workplace. In Handbook of Research on Social and
Organizational Dynamics in the Digital Era (pp. 383-408). IGI Global.

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van Dam, K., Oreg, S., & Sverdlik, N. 2019, October. Affective and cognitive responses to
organizational change: The role of appraisal processes. In Emotions 2019: 7th International
conference on emotions, well-being, and health.