Operationalizing & Communicating Value: Assignment 2 Report

This report presents a comprehensive analysis of operationalizing and communicating value, focusing on a student's critical reflection of a previous assignment and a combined marketing/operations question. Part A provides a critical reflection on a group presentation, evaluating the application of various theories and operational models, including market trend analysis, Porter's Five Forces, and the Shareholder Matrix, to assess the market position of frozen dates and yogurts. It also discusses the importance of marketing and operational strategies. Part B examines Pfizer Inc.'s strategies, highlighting the interrelation between marketing and operational procedures in maintaining a competitive advantage. It covers Pfizer's technological advancements, marketing strategies (including the 4P strategy), and the importance of cross-functional teams in enhancing organizational goals, communication, and decision-making. The report emphasizes how cross-functional teams contribute to innovation, leadership development, and effective problem-solving within the pharmaceutical industry.

Operationalizing & Communicating Value
Assignment 2
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author’s Note

Part A – Individual Critical Reflection of Assignment 1
The increase in the consciousness of the consumers regarding their health perceived knowledge
and beliefs related to the products controlling the purchase of the products by the consumers
plays an important role in the placing the product in the market. The study portrayed in the group
presentation helps in the analysis of the position of the frozen dates and frozen yoghurts in the
market. It also helps in understanding how well the product will get accepted amongst the
targeted group of consumers. Further, the presentation also portrays the various operational
strategies and the marketing strategies which will be adopted by the company so that the sale of
the product increases amongst the target group of consumers.
In the presentation the first theory which has been the adoption in order to have an idea of the
type of consumers who will prefer the product is being mapped. This will require analysis of the
market demographics and understanding the current availability of the health-based food
products and their market share. This will provide an understanding of the demand of the health-
based yoghurts and food products in the market. The adoption of the market trends help in the
analysis of the strength and weakness of the company and also understanding the opportunities
which the company possess in order to establish itself in the market of Saudi Arabia. This
analysis in addition to the product positioning will allow the management of the Frozen Dates
and Frozen Yogurts Company taking into consideration the existing competitors in the market.
The use of Porter's Five Forces further assists in determining the competitive environment of the
company (Mathooko and Ogutu, 2015). In addition, it has been also observed that the ability to
increase the price and the management cost of any company helps in the determination of the
bargaining power of the buyers and the suppliers. Additionally, Porter's Five forces help in the
understanding of the barriers created by the new competition how to act against the competition
created by the newer entry of the products in the market. The Shareholder Matrix helps in the
analysis of the role played by the different shareholders in the marketing of the products.
In my opinion, the theories which have been used in the presentation were justifiable as it
provides the information related to the market trend for the health food according to which the
company can adapt and modify the operational and marketing strategies (Al-Mutairi, Connerton
and Dingwall 2015). The target operational model utilized in the presentation highlights the

objectives of the organisation so that the operation and marketing of the products that are
launched in the market can be performed in a streamlined way. In case of emergencies or failure
in the success of the product the model will also help in the analysis of the support functions and
the core function for the product development and the supply of the product in the market and to
the consumers can be evaluated. Additionally, the presentation also takes into consideration the
aspects related to the maintenance of the quality of the product which has been assessed through
the utilization of Lean 6 sigma and Kaizen method. The process design clearly helps in the
evaluation of the production cycle adopted by the company for the maintenance in the quality of
the products. In addition, the utilization of social media as a part of the marketing strategy has
enabled the company to grab the attention of more number of health-conscious consumers
investing in health drinks and health products.
In my opinion, the inclusion of PEST Analysis would have provided an understanding of the
plan adopted by the company in order to expand its business on healthy food products. It will
help in the monitor as well as analysis the various external or macro-environmental conditions
which can affect the business of the organisation (Singh et al. 2018). The various political,
economic, social and technological factors which can affect the business operation will be able to
add to the weakness and threats identified in the SWOT analysis and allowing the company to
take necessary precautions against them. The main challenge can come up with an increase in the
costs products that can reduce the number of purchases. However, analysis is required of the
price quoted by the competitor's company catering similar products in order to address the issue.

Part B: Combined Marketing/Operations Question
Introduction
The company selected for the study of the various operational and marketing strategies adopted
by the organisation in order to maintain a competitive strategy of the organisation is Pfizer Inc.
Pfizer Inc is a well known pharmaceutical company in the global market. The multinational
operations of the organisation enable the company in benefiting during the economic upswing in
case of the regional markets in spites of the various crises faced by the other organisation. The
company is known to develop medicines which are related to oncology, immunology,
cardiology, endocrinology and cardiology (Ardito et al. 2019). Several companies including
Allergan, Glaxo Smith and Kline have merged which have increased their quality and popularity
of the brand in the market of the pharmaceutical industry.
The extent at which the operation and marketing procedures help in
maintaining the competitive advantage
The decisions related to the Strategic and tactical operations of the organisation assist in the
determination of how well the organisation operates in order to attain the goals. This also helps
in providing opportunities to the organisation so that the company can achieve unique
advantages against the competitors which will help in attracting the newer customers and also
help in maintaining the order customers. The strategies adopted by the companies for the
marketing and operational activities are found to be interrelated and help in linking of the
business and corporate strategies related to the organisation (Enyinda, Ogbuehi and Mbah 2018).
Flexibility in between the operational and marketing strategies of the organisation has been
found to provide a competitive advantage as well as the ability of the organisation to cope under
uncertain conditions. According to the researches of different organisation it has been observed
that the factors which can help in maintaining they competitive strategies of the organisation
includes Cost of the products and the dependability on the cost of the products, the productivity
and the product quality of the organisation, the availability of the range of products,
innovativeness and the speed of delivery of the products to the suppliers as well as to the
consumers.

Pfizer had been utilizing and implementing different technologies for the development in the
operational procedures (Enyinda, Ogbuehi and Mbah 2018). This has enabled the company to
increase in the manufacturing speed of the product and decrease the cost of the product in
addition to the reduction in the inventory of the process of the products. Additionally, strict
quality controls of the products are maintained in order to comply with the regulations stated by
the Food and Drug Administration department. The company has been making the successful
implementation of process–development efficiency which helped in the streamlined workflow.
In addition in order to have a sustainable development, the company has been aligning the
corporate objectives with the research and development in order to improve the health of the
public (Ahammad et al. 2017). The good health of the public was found to be one of the
fundamentals related to the advancement related to the sustainable development of the
organisation as well as implement the various innovative solutions in order to further improve in
the health of the global public. Further, the company also had goals related to the sustainable
development which included gender equality, clean water, goals related to partnership and
sanitation helped the company to develop and providing a competitive advantage(Enyinda,
Ogbuehi and Mbah 2018). The brand name and several merger and acquisitions with Pfizer and
other bigger brands of pharmaceutical companies have helped the company to maintain its image
in the market.
The marketing strategy involved in the inclusion of the 4P strategy. The product mix included a
variety of anti-allergic, antihistamine, antiparasitic, anti-diabetic products and medicines for
various diseases like cardiovascular, urology, respiratory and neurological. The packaging of the
products is not only high quality but also the packaging of the product is adopted with respect to
the type of medicines. The price of the products manufactures by the company is competitive due
to the increase in the utilization of technology (Ahammad et al. 2017). The company invests on
the benefit analysis, risk and market analysis of the products in order to understand the demands
of the products in the market. The prices are calibrated close to their competitors so that they can
have competitive sustainability in the market.
The company has been increasing its marketing and operation in various countries which
includes Sweden, Russia, New Zealand, Norway and Poland. The websites of the organisation
provide information related to the different types of products which can be ordered online. In

order to have proper control over the global supply chain of the products, the company has an
EHS program which is also known as Environment, health and safety (Ahammad et al. 2017).
This helps in the review and assessing supplier performance. Being a pharmaceutical company it
is not possible for Pfizer to promote the products through advertisements. Thus the company
appoints a medical representative who arranges meetings with the doctors and the physicians and
helps in the promotion of the products.
The extent the cross-functional nature helps in the development and
maintaining the competitive advantage of the marketing and operational
strategies.
In most of the company, hierarchical structures of organisations are being followed. In order to
eliminate the various traditional barriers in between the decision maker and the staffs of the
organisations, cross-functional nature of work gained its importance. Like any industry, in the
pharmaceutical industry also when the cross-functional nature of the work environment is
adopted it provides a competitive advantage to the organisation. The various advantages in the
pharmaceutical industry, for example, Pfizer a cross-functional mode of operation helps the
company in different ways (Shams, Vrontis and Weber 2018). Firstly, it helps in increasing the
focus of the organisation in order to meet the organisational goals. Further, it also helps in the
overcoming challenges with all the teams working together closely. In addition, collaborative
working nature of the departments in the organisation helps in the faster communication between
the team of the different department and thereby helping in taking a faster decision.
Cross-functional teams do not have the administrative and managerial barriers which help in
impacting the decision-making process. The flow of the information is faster which assist in
faster decision making the process. A collaborative team operation will help in the creation of
diversity as well as creativity in the team so that the expertise and skills of the entire individual
can be utilized at multiple functions in the organisation. Additionally, it also helps in the
development of leadership. It allows the organisation to meet the challenges effectively and the
decisions are taken much faster (Nadarajah and Syed Kadir, 2016). The cross-functional team
helps in providing a solution to specifically targeted issues in a shorter span of time. The ability
of the different levels of the team to handle issues faster will help them to acquire the ability to

address different types of issue and thereby providing them versatility. Hence the company does
not require hiring new specialist for the resolution of issues.
The pharmaceutical industry is a knowledge-intensive business where the R&D department
needs to closely work with the operational and marketing department of the organisation. It
allows the organisation in capturing, communicating and exploiting knowledge which acts as
important tools for decision making. Cross-functional working also helps in managing operations
having global diversity. The Pfizer Company understand the importance of the cross-functional
working of the teams as they help in creating a competitive advantage to the company. It allows
them to accelerate the operation and breakdown the boundaries in between the key stakeholders.
The potential problem can identify efficiently and the launching and marketing of the products
are done on the basis of the needs and requirement of the market. Working in a cross-functional
team helps in the tracking of the various relevant metrics like ROI which allows the organisation
to share the feedback of the members of the team (Baguley 2016). This allows the company to
gather information in order to understand the best practices related to organizing a newer team in
future. It allows pointing out the various inefficiencies and un-productivity related the way of
working and also provides flexibility and adaptability to the team for the successful operation of
the organisation.
Changes of conflicts between the operational and marketing strategies in
order to develop the competitive advantage and the method by which the
conflicts or the challenges can be overcome
In a cross-functional team, the team members work independently having a shared goal or
purpose set by the organisation. Although it is observed that the cross-functional operation of an
organisation is found to be productive and help in improvement of the process development and
communication in between the different level of the organisation, providing better decision
making, decreases the time of completion of project, increase in efficiency and improving in the
quality of the products and work however there are certain challenges in cross-functional
operation. The conflicts which arise in a collaborative work environment can be categorized into
intrapersonal, interpersonal and intergroup.

The intrapersonal conflicts are the issues that are identified with the person. This leads to mood
swing and inability to choose in between the two goals. In the interpersonal conflict involves two
people working in the team. At times the misalignment in the goals and the priorities of the
individual working together in the team can also create conflicts (Zhang 2016). This also
includes the impact of the conflicts on the way the efficiency and the skills of the individual are
being measured in the organisation. It is crucial for the leaders to identify the strategic goals so
that the employees are able to work in collaboration in between the different functionalities for
the smooth operation of the business.
This can be easily resolved through communication in between the two individuals and
sometimes with the help of the managers. This usually occurs due to the difference in the
agreements in the goals or attitude of the person working together (Longoni, and Cagliano,
2015). In most of the cases, the conflicts can be resolved with the intervention of the manager. In
the intergroup conflict, the relation between the two or three department or groups takes place.
Sometimes it is essential for all the teams to work together in order to complete certain tasks. In
such a case, conflict can occur in between the two functional groups. This helps in the
identification of the dysfunctional practices that slow down the operation of the business and can
be resolved through compromise and collaboration.
Conclusion
The size of the Pfizer organisation itself portrays its success despite the economic challenges in
the markets of the United States. The company with the increase in the number of years has been
observing a consistent growth an increase in profitability. Thus through the proper collaboration
of the operational and marketing teams’ plans can be developed in order to achieve the goals set
by the organisation. This is the process by which the organisation has achieved competitive
advantage in the pharmaceutical industry.

Reference List
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