Global Professional Development Consultancy: Strategic Analysis Report

This report provides a comprehensive strategic analysis of International Management Consulting (IMC), a global professional development consultancy. It begins with an introduction to professional development and the role of IMC in the UK. The report then delves into a detailed analysis of IMC's strategic position, employing SWOT and PESTLE analyses to evaluate its internal and external environments. Key aspects such as leadership, communication, company culture, and client needs are examined. The analysis identifies issues like inventory and cash management inefficiencies, and limitations in the company's organizational structure. Based on this analysis, the report offers recommendations for improvement, including strategies for inventory management, financial planning, and strengthening leadership and communication. The report further outlines the implementation of these suggestions, focusing on leadership styles and communication strategies. Finally, it concludes with a critical reflection using the Gibbs Reflective Cycle.

Global Professional
Development Consultancy

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
SECTION A : ANALYSIS OF IMC'S STRATEGIC POSITION .................................................1
TECHNIQUES TO ANALYSE..................................................................................................1
Analysis of IMC's strategic position should include...................................................................2
Issues to be addressed by IMC....................................................................................................4
SECTION 2 : SUGGESTIONS FOR THE FIRM ........................................................................4
Based on the analysis, 3 recommendation are given with justification .....................................4
SECTION 3: IMPLEMENTATION OF THE SUGGESTIONS ................................................5
Leadership style .........................................................................................................................5
Communicating the vision of the firm........................................................................................6
Leadership strategy and its impact..............................................................................................6
SECTION 4 : CRITICAL REFLECTION ......................................................................................7
Gibbs Reflective Cycle...............................................................................................................7
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Professional Development refers to the specialized training, formal education or advanced
professional learning that is helpful for administrators and teachers in improving their
professional knowledge, effectiveness and competence skills. There are different approaches to
professional development like consultation, lesson study, coaching, mentoring, technical
assistance etc. International Management Consulting firm helps the leading companies and social
sector organization in UK. The firm has 30+ years of experience in London. The report includes
strategic analysis of company's position that includes internal and external environment,
leadership, culture in company. Suggestions were given to address issues that are identified,
further the implementation of those recommendations(Barac and et.al., 2016).
SECTION A : ANALYSIS OF IMC'S STRATEGIC POSITION
TECHNIQUES TO ANALYSE
a) Internal Environment – SWOT ANALYSIS
STRENGTHS : IMC has highly skilled employees who are provided with the chance to lead
different operations and activities of the business. The company's geographic reach is wide as it
is known across the world. IMC has good valuable culture and has maintained good relationships
with the top management executives of various companies that has given strong brand loyalty to
IMC. The firm provides management and environmental consulting and research paper
publication etc.
WEAKNESSES : IMC is facing high competition by large industry consultants. As the company
work globally, the business is influenced by government policies and fluctuations in currency
etc. The firm is not good at forecasting demand for the product and thus increases the days
inventory and raise the investment and thus effect the growth of IMC.
OPPORTUNITIES : IMC can diversify its strategies using macro trends such that it can organise
a campaign which is focusing on the health and well-being of its employees and can increase
focus on the local ethics and agenda such as accountability etc. Firm should develop new
environmental policies and up grade its technologies and capture big market share(Coe, 2018).
THREATS : The biggest threat is where no. of private sectors are working with public sectors
which is increasing challenges for the company meanwhile increasing its competitors in the
market. The firm can be accused for not complying with various laws and fluctuations in the
quality of products.
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b) External Environment – PESTLE ANALYSIS
POLITICAL : The changing policies with the changing government has influence the operations
of IMC as it develops a lot more pressure on the leaders which does not let them think about the
growth strategies for the company. The firm has to be prepared for this eventuality as it can
cause changes in the priority sector. The company was benefited from the lower taxation policies
and thus let the company earn higher profits and spend in research.
ECONOMICAL : The IMC performance is correlated to the economic stability of the country.
IMC can access financial market so that the firm can expand globally. The increasing inflation
rate has impacted the firm's consumers. The increasing liberalization of the trade policies will
help IMC to invest into the areas that are off the limits of the company(Boshyk, 2016).
SOCIAL : IMC, after liberalization the attitude towards health and safety is increasing, so the
company needs to work on them. Gender roles are emerging in the world. IMC should support
these changes as well as accept them. The firm should build a team that understands the social
norms and attitudes of customers to that can be served in a better way.
TECHNOLOGICAL : Research and Development investment in organization is raising. The
technology is updating at the higher pace. The firm should invest in the technological
advancements so to enable them to capture bigger market share. The technological innovation is
changing the supply chain model of IMC as it provides access to information to partners.
LEGAL : The firm should be complying with all the health and safety norms in the country and
the environmental laws that has to be followed by the IMC. The most important one is data
protection laws that the firm has to comply with as to be away from the privacy issues and also
intellectual property rights.
ENVIRONMENTAL : Recycling is emerging as a norm than a good thing to do. The
environmental norms are also emerging at high pace as now the products are developed on the
basis of environmental standards . IMC can invest in renewable technology to enhance
knowledge(Evans and et.al., 2017).
Analysis of IMC's strategic position should include
Leadership and communication:
Leadership is the process of influencing, guiding, directing and creating right climate to reach the
goals and objectives of the organisation so that it can maximise its profits with maintaining its
reputation and also govern the consultancy to compete with others in the market.
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Transformational Leadership is influencing or motivating people towards their goal with
implementing positive change in their behaviour. While Transactional Leadership is based on the
supervision and organisation of the self motivated people who can develop their own decision
making styles.
Communication in the consultancy is the act of exchanging information verbally or non-verbally
and it is the process of connecting link with the clients, understanding their demands to meet
their needs. It is very important to adapt the best communication approach that can be Email,
intra-net or face to face to maintain a good relationship in between leaders and employees.
The company culture including its ethical and value base:
Ethical values of the organisation are the psychological principles or the moral values such as
honesty, integrity, fairness, respect, trust, loyalty,concern for each other and commitment to the
company or to the clients etc. are there in the environment to maintain the better culture of the
organisation(Tregear, 2015).
All the members of the company has to follow the standards, attitudes, and beliefs of the
company for making their decisions or to reflect the way they accomplish their business practice.
Ethical values motivates everyone to achieve success are there in the company for the
strengthening, and maintaining of the culture of the company. It is very necessary to maintain the
culture where the employees of the company work because it also includes mission of the
company, its ethical values, goals and expectations of the company.
The company's position in the sector:
The position of the company is the main criterion of doing business as it influence the customers
to trust the company and to buy its products. Position of the company is their image they create
in the market or their products image. Higher the position of the company, higher is the
marketing position which results in the higher wanting of the products by the customer leading to
increment in the number of sales, meanwhile increasing the earnings of the company. Positioning
of the company is directly related with the no. of sales and advertisement by which they create a
different image and increase their products demands by their clients(Salvatore, 2015).
Evaluation of strength and limitation of the techniques used:
IMC has skilled employees who have the knowledge of different streams and can handle
different tasks of the organization. The company has a wide reach and is globally present. The
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company has good brand awareness and is developed in different countries. IMC has strong
legacy since its incorporation. The firm actively take part in events, conferences and seminars.
The limitations of IMC was no proper cash management, lack of investment in new
technologies and the changing government policies that effect their business adversely.
The client needs:
The client needs are the wishes or the desires of the consumers for the product services. Clients
are the main target and fulfilling their needs is the main goal of the business. To meet the
demands of the customers, company has to understand and identify their needs through
communication with them or by doing research to gather information regarding the highest
demanding products to fulfil the client needs. Knowing the needs of the client is an important
criterion of the business, as it helps company to avail the highest demanding products to their
customers so that they can satisfy their clients((Liébana-Cabanillas, Muñoz-Leiva and Sánchez-
Fernández, 2018).
Issues to be addressed by IMC
IMC is facing issues such as the company's is not good at forecasting the demand for of products
and so due to that days inventory is comparatively high and this in increasing the cost of the
company. Ans thus it is impacting the company's growth. Ans the company is missing the
opportunity as compared to its competitors. The company's organizational structure is only
reliable for today's time and thus it limits the expansion of products. IMC needs to raise
investment in the technology. As there is new technologies coming and geographic boundaries
expanding the firm needs to invest more in the technological advancement. The financial
planning of the company is not proper and efficient as the analysis of current asset ratio and
liquid asset ratio shows that IMC can manage cash more effectively. Even IMC is in the race of
top leading consultancy firms it is facing challenges in expand its business to other product
segment. The company should improve its strategies so that they can tackle the new entrants in
the market.
SECTION 2 : SUGGESTIONS FOR THE FIRM
Based on the analysis, 3 recommendation are given with justification
After the analysis and evaluation of IMC's strategic position it can be concluded that the
firm is facing issues such as increase in day's inventory as the company lack the skilled people,
they can not forecast the demand of the products and this increases the capital investment of the
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company. And this is influencing the growth of the firm. This is the reason IMC is missing the
opportunities and legging behind from its competitors.(Laudon and Traver, 2016)The inventory's
were kept both in in-house and in channel and keeping the stock require too much cost. Putting
the money in storing the stock can be used in other areas like in new technologies, so can up
grade the quality of product and compete with the other firms. Second issue can be cash
management, the firm must have knowledgable accountants so that the company puts their cash
in such place that will be beneficial for the company. Financial planning should be strong and
effective, this can be said after the analysis that the company's current asset and liquid asset
ratios suggest that firm should use cash more effectively as compared to it is doing now.
Managing cash and appropriate use will help the firm to invest in other areas and be used in
future when in need. Cash can be used in most effective ways and can be urgently required, so
proper management of cash should be important part for the company. As company can invest
new technologies and expand their business and be competitive in this world, where every firm is
competing for the survival, profit and having a big share in the market. And then it will
eventually make company to tackle the challenges as the new entrants try to come. Through new
technology the company can produce or expand the business in new segments(Lasserre, 2017).
Another issue was based on the leadership and communication in the firm. There is a gap
between the top and middle management that is affecting the working in the firm. The
communication gap between the people in the management has a its influence on the employees.
IMC should have proper and open communication, so that can not effect the employees and their
working. Improper communication makes employees at the firm dissatisfied and lack of good
leadership does not provide motivation to them. This effect their confidence level. The company
should accept every individuals decisions and opinions in the management so that they can be
motivated and feel confident. Proper communication and information should be provided to both
internal and external stakeholders.
SECTION 3: IMPLEMENTATION OF THE SUGGESTIONS
Leadership style
The company (IMC) must follow Transformational Leadership over transactional
leadership as it creates a sense of trust and right environment for the employees and motivate
them to serve the best to their clients. The transformational leader motivates and influence the
people to share their views and allow them to make their own decision to achieve the objectives
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of the firm. The unique style of this leadership is that there is an open communication. This is the
most preferred leadership style that is fair, honesty and enhance competence. This style of
leadership will help the firm to develop employee's thinking as they are involved in the decisions
of the management. This style of leadership can be practised by anyone as this makes the
employees believe and benefit the environment of the team as the employees will feel that their
opinions matter. This style will help IMC to solve complex problems as every employee as
different perspective to the problems so it become easy for the leaders to get to the best possible
solution. IMC should implement this style as this will build the team relationships ans this will
increase loyalty. Leaders some up with real world problems so the employees feel engaged and
connects themselves to get the answers of the problems. transformational style of leadership
enhances the knowledge of the team. This style creates higher level of job satisfaction among the
employees as they area asked for their opinions (Kolk, 2016).
Communicating the vision of the firm
Communication is the most important criteria for the effective performance in an organization.
IMC should have open communication in between the customers, supplier, investors,
shareholders. The vision of IMC should be communicated to all the above people properly for
the effective results. Openly communicating the vision and objectives of the company will help
in achieving greater profitability and productivity. As if the investors know what the company is
all about, they be willing to invest in the firm. And they will invest they want result that shows
the productivity of the company. The customers will buy your product only when they know on
what you are offering to them, is it of good quality, do you work on the standards that are set by
the company. The effective communication is key for an successful organization. IMC should
have open discussion about the goals and working of the firm. Communication develops the
relationship between every key person related to the organization. It will give stakeholders a
chance to make some improvement if they think it is needed in the vision of the company, they
can make their point without any issue. This will help the company in earning more productivity
and profitability. Company can get a better understanding of stakeholders interest and attitudes.
Leadership strategy and its impact
The Company should implement transformational style to have open communication in the
management of IMC. This allows employees to share their thoughts and ideas involved in the
decision-making in the firm this will help the management in getting so many solutions to a
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single problem, and they can choose the best possible method to solve the problem(Kasemsap,
2016). This will gives management free from some burden as every employees is equally
thinking about the problem and they will come up with some creative ideas to do the work. This
strategy will help in team building as all the employees are treated equally in this strategy, they
tend to work with one another and discuss about the issues they are facing so they develop an
understanding for one another. Now in this strategy the leaders come up with the real problems
prevailing in the environment, so the employees feel connected and accordingly gets answer to
the solution. This strategy will effect the decision-making of the organization and improves their
knowledge as they have top themselves come to the solution so they apply new theories , how
they will work in particular problem so they gain knowledge, that this theory will be applied in
this part or vice versa. This leadership strategy creates high level of job satisfaction in the
employees. As they know that their opinion is mattered in the organization, they feel motivated
and confident.
SECTION 4 : CRITICAL REFLECTION
Gibbs Reflective Cycle
I experienced that company's strength and weaknesses of IMC have an overall impact on
the working of the company. The SWOT and PESTLE analysis of IMC done by me, through
which I get to know about the company's strategic position that means the internal and external
factors that affect the company's growth. I analysed the company's strategic position include the
leadership and communication, I thought that company should implement transformational
leadership that is motivating employees towards goals and gives them opportunities to share their
suggestions. The I have given suggestions to solve the problems of the IMC such as open
communication, proper cash management, investment in new technology will help IMC to grow
further. I evaluated that the company can grow further if they properly work on their cash
management, grab the opportunities like expanding into new business and comply with
government policies. In the end the important thing for an firm is communicating its vision to all
the key stakeholders to improve productivity and profitability of the firm. As if they know what
all company is about they will invest and trust them(Hamilton and Webster, 2018).
CONCLUSION
From the above study it is concluded that as working for international professional
consultancy an analysis have been done for the company's strategic position by applying
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appropriate tools and techniques like SWOT and PESTLE in order to identify the internal
strengths and weakness and external factors like opportunities and threats. It also included the
company's culture and ethical values and recommendations for the organisations which included
the leadership and communication strategies. Further it also covered the different leadership
styles, models, communicating the vision and how the leadership strategies had impact on
organisational direction and critically evaluated the key experience and learning from the study.
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REFERENCES
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today's complex global business environment. ICAS.
Boshyk, Y. ed., 2016. Business driven action learning: Global best practices. Springer.
Coe, N.M., 2018. Global production networks. In The Routledge Companion to the Geography
of International Business (pp. 147-160). Routledge.
Evans, S. and et.al., 2017. Business model innovation for sustainability: Towards a unified
perspective for creation of sustainable business models. Business Strategy and the
Environment. 26(5). pp.597-608.
Hamilton, L. and Webster, P., 2018. The international business environment. Oxford University
Press.
Kasemsap, K., 2016. The roles of knowledge management and organizational innovation in
global business. In Civil and Environmental Engineering: Concepts, Methodologies,
Tools, and Applications (pp. 1156-1180). IGI Global.
Kolk, A., 2016. The social responsibility of international business: From ethics and the
environment to CSR and sustainable development. Journal of World Business.51(1).
pp.23-34.
Lasserre, P., 2017. Global strategic management. Macmillan International Higher Education.
Laudon, K.C. and Traver, C.G., 2016. E-commerce: business, technology, society.
Liébana-Cabanillas, F., Muñoz-Leiva, F. and Sánchez-Fernández, J., 2018. A global approach to
the analysis of user behavior in mobile payment systems in the new electronic
environment. Service Business.12(1). pp.25-64.
Salvatore, D., 2015. Managerial economics in a global economy. OUP Catalogue.
Tregear, R., 2015. Business process standardization. In Handbook on Business Process
Management 2 (pp. 421-441). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.
Online
PESTLE ANALYSIS. 2015. [ONLINE] Available through:
<https://www.business-to-you.com/scanning-the-environment-pestel-analysis/ >
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