Be the Manager You supervise a team of marketing analysts who work on different

Question

Be the Manager You supervise a team of marketing analysts who work on different snack products in a large food products company. The marketing analysts have recently received undergraduate degrees in business or liberal arts and have been on the job between one and three years. Their responsibilities include analyzing the market for their respective products, including competitors; tracking current marketing initiatives; and planning future marketing campaigns. They also need to prepare quarterly sales and expense reports for their products and estimated budgets for the next three quarters; to prepare these reports, they need to obtain data from financial and accounting analysts assigned to their products. When they first started on the job, you took each marketing analyst through the reporting cycle, explaining what needs to be done and how to accomplish it and emphasizing the need for timely reports. Although preparing the reports can be tedious, you think the task is pretty straightforward and easily accomplished if the analysts plan ahead and allocate sufficient time for it When reporting time approaches, you remind the analysts through e-mail messages and emphasize the need for accurate and timely reports in team meetings. You believe this element of the analysts' jobs couldn't be more stra·1ghtforward. However, at the end of each quarter, the majority of the analysts turn their reports in a day or two late, and, worse yet, your own supervisor (to whom the reports are eventually turned in) has indicated that information is often missing and sometimes the reports contain errors. Once you started getting flak from your supervisor about this problem, you decided you had better fix things quickly. You met with the marketing analysts, explained the problem, told them to turn the reports in to you a day or two early so you could look them over, and more generally emphasized that they really needed to get their act together. Unfortunately things have not improved much, and you are spending more and more of your own time doing the reports. What are you going to do?

Evaluate the case and propose a solution. Prioritise the steps to be taken in your approach, be systematic and motivate your assertions ?

The case study above is valid for 50 marks. Please help me to obtain the most marks out of 50.

Thank You

Kind Regards

Explanation / Answer

Solution for the case :

1) Firstly, i would have a one-on-one meeting with each and every marketing analyst. Try and understand their concerns and give them possible solutions. Like they might have concerns for doing reports because, probably they might not find time to do as they must be busy in the market the entire day, or they could find it difficult working with the data analysis or they are not able to submit timely reports due to some personal issues etc. And trying to help them with possible solutions like helping them in managing the time, asking them to stretch a big for making reports, or helping them to work with the data analysis or try and give suggestions on the personal problems etc. By acting as a mentor and helping them with their concerns can help.

2) Fixing them the targets and ensuring that they send reports on time. Those who don't send the reports on time shall be noted and this affects the employees during the performance appraisal. Stating a clause that, those who don't send on time will not be excused during the annual appraisal time. They shall be given low rating during the appraisal.

3) Thirdly, awarding the first report sender every month. If there are two employees who send the report at the same time, then both of them will be awarded. The report should not only come on time but the data should be accurate, valid and correct

4) Arranging for the team meetings and emphasizing on the difficulties that are deterring the employees in doing the reports and sending them across on time.

5) By sending the reminders on the work that needed to be sent in a stipulated time, and asking them to reply back on the status of their reports. Manager should help the employee in any kind of the difficulties mid-way. By asking them to mail the status of their data every day, manager would be in a position to perceive where the team is heading. Also by sending the daily report, it would be easier for the manager to compile the data on the day of the meeting, and the employee's absence will not affect the meeting much.

All the above ways will increase the motivation levels in the employees and they shall strive hard to send the reports on time.

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