RUNNING HEAD: Baskin Robins

Baskin Robins

Name

Institution

Date

Baskin Robbins 2

Operations Management at Baskin Robbins

Baskin Robbins Mission and SWOT analysis

Baskin Robbins is the leading manufacturer and supplier of ice creams in the world.

The company has been operation for more than sixty years. The mission of the company is

being “Your Favorite Neighborhood Ice Cream Store” and has lived up to this mission by

setting up stores even in countries that most multinationals have shunned It has a strong

presence and networks in more than one hundred countries. It has six thousand retail shops

and may franchises. The company slogan is 31 flavors it has enhanced its capabilities to

attract customers. However, the company has more than one thousand flavors including low

fat and low calorie ice creams. The key success factor of this company is provision of high

quality ice creams and providing a large variety of products to choose from. The company

was founded by Burt Buskin ad Irv Robbins. They immediately came up with a concept of

having a flavor for every day of the month and that is why the ended up with the much

acclaimed slogan, 31 flavors (Baskinrobbin.com). Innovation and creativity has seen the

company become the market leader in the ice cream industry. The company has a very strong

supply chain that has the ability to deliver frozen dessert tom all parts of the world. The

company has stores in several Middle Eastern countries including UAE. Baskin Robbins is

well known for its variety of ice cream flavors which include sugar free, light choices, fat free

and many others. The company also has a comprehensive menu that includes sorbets,

sherbets, frozen yoghurt, sundaes and beverages.

SWOT analysis

SWOT analysis is the assessment carried out with a view of helping the company

improve its operational and management strategies. Baskin Robbins has several strengths it

Baskin Robbins 3

can take advantage of, weaknesses it can work on, opportunities it can exploit, and threats it

should avoid.

Strengths

One of the strengths of the company is its growing network and branches. The

network is growing faster that that of its closest competitor Hagen Dazs. This has given the

company a competitive advantage in the market which has also impacted on its profitability.

The company also commands the market. The second strength is the popularity of its brands.

The company’s ice- creams are renowned the world over and always in great demand. The

other strength is its strong and formidable supply chain which enables it to supply its

products to all the corners of the world in a timely fashion. The fourth strength is its strategy

of differentiation. The products and services are differentiated according to different age

groups. This means that it has products for the young children, for the pre teens, for the

teenagers, the young adults and the mature adults (Baskinrobbins.com). The strategy of

differentiation has enabled it to segment its market and target even more people. This has

enabled the company to create a competitive advantage in the market. Other strengths include

brand awareness, excellent customer service strategies and ease of availability of products.

Weaknesses

The company has several weaknesses. One of the most outstanding weaknesses is

lack of uniformity. All the branches, franchises and networks of this company do not offer

similar products. Some do not have cakes, while others do not have all flavors. This has a

negative impact especially on their travelling clientele who may not find their preferred

products in a far away or foreign branch or franchise. The second weakness is its marketing

strategies. The company rarely invests in advertising. Advertising is a strategy that can

enhance brands awareness especially for a company handling such a huge number of brands.

The company uses in house marketing strategies which only focus on the existing customers.

Baskin Robbins 4

It does not use strategies that can appeal to new customers. Absence of advertising limits its

market share.

There are several opportunities that the company can exploit and help it cement its

position in thee market. To start with, the modern culture of eating out and less home cooking

is leading to an increased demand for Baskin Robbins’ products. The increasing fast food

demand is also an opportunity for the company. Due to the popularity of the its brands, the

company has the opportunity to set more branches and networks and also venture into areas

that its competitors would not find it feasible to venture (Baskinrobin.com).

There are some threats that have had or might have an impact on the performance of

the company. To start with, there are increasing number of outlets and food restaurants

especially in UAE and even in other countries. These outlets are giving high quality products

at a lower price than Baskin Robbins. This has made them shift to these cheaper products of

equal quality. Technological advancements have also threatened the operations of the

company. The company has to keep on investing in newer technologies to keep up with the

market trends and this has pushed its expenses up.

Application of Operation Management Decisions

Human Resource and Job Design

There are several human resource functions that are crucial to the operations of

Baskin and Robbins. The most important are recruitment and selection. Recruitment and

selection are in many cases viewed as one single process but there is a difference.

Recruitment is an overall procedure where hiring is done to fill the available or emergent

positions while selection is a more detailed procedure that involves identification of the most

qualified individual to fill a position that has fallen vacant (Smallbone, 1995). In the process

of achieving the aforementioned strategic plans, new positions emerge that force the HR

department to conduct recruitments and other positions fall vacant and this calls for a need to

Baskin Robbins 5

conduct selection. During the expansion of the retail chain, most of the middle level

managers are promoted to become senior managers in the new branches, which mean that the

new management positions are filled only through internal promotions. This is going to work

because the HR department has factored in the performance of these divisional managers and

their competencies and a decision has been made that there is no need to source external

managers because the management staff that is already there can handle the administration of

the new chains with the required competencies

The other HR function is induction. Induction is a very vital process in the modern

business world. It can enhance the well being and the productivity of the company. A bad

induction can create confusion that will affect the productivity negatively because the staff

will not be familiar with their functions or their place in the organization. After selection and

recruitment the HR department in Baskin Robin carries out an induction of the new staff.

This process aims at acquainting the employees with the processes and operations of the

company so that they can fit in. Induction of newly recruited employees includes explanation

of the culture of the company, company benefits, payment methods, hours of work, company

hierarchy, ,job description, the amenities in the company and even introduction to workmates.

The other very important HR process is staff training. This is usually conducted on the job

and mainly involves acquainting the new employees with the company’s way of doing things.

The employees were hired because they know how to do the job which means the training is

not to show them how to do the job, but the company specific ways of doing it. Training in

Baskin Robin is a continuous process because all these details cannot be crammed within a

day. Spreading the training over several days or weeks ensures that the employee grasps the

content better. Another crucial HR function is career development for the employees. This is

done through harnessing and developing their intellectual capacity and competencies is a

factor that is critical to success implementation and it is something that in the past has been

Baskin Robbins 6

compromised by the defensive posture adopted by leadership (Uwe, 1998). The defense of

the status quo by should not be a case in an environment that is competitive. That is why the

HR department formulates plans to ensure that training is continuous to ensure that the

employees do not remain stagnant in the face of a very dynamic world. This includes the

motivation towards employees so that they can take career improvement course and ensuring

that the company offers partial sponsorship for the individuals that are taking steps towards

the advancement of the career. This is because the HR department understands that continued

intellectual and competency enhancement is a vital asset to the company (Smallbone, 1995).

Apart from self sponsored career advancement courses, the company gets career experts in

various fields to conduct training on emerging trends in the industry to ensure that the

employees are up to date with the modern trends goes on with his or her role as she or he

trains.

Forecasting  

Job group vacancy forecasting is another function is crucial in the strategic planning

process. The company is able to forecast when there is a job vacancy by regular checking of

the employment records to monitor the various periods when the contracts of different

employees are ending. This helps the company to avoid the pitfalls that are occasioned by the

sudden departure of an employee after the end of the contract (Seldon, 1995). Succession

planning is a process that is used to identify and develop the personnel in the internal

organization (Seldon, 1995). It ensures that there is availability of experienced personnel with

the capability to fill critical organizational positions meaning that they can fill certain roles

when they become vacant. The HR department transforms the employees from individual

contributors to leaders and managers through its succession planning function. The first thing

is developing talent for long term growth where the employees are prepared to undertake key

Baskin Robbins 7

roles in order to enhance their performance. It also ensures that the commitment of the

employees is improved thus promoting employee retention.  

Supply Chain Management 

The specifics of Baskin Robin supply chain determine the major directions of

materials and information flows. The flow of materials is directed vertically: on the bottom of

the chain raw materials are produced, ice creams and other products are manufactured;

finished goods move to distribution centers and to retail stores and, finally, to the consumers.

Information flows are more complex. They are directed both up and down the chain

and also between different units on one level of the chain. In some cases such single-level

information flows are controlled by the company (e.g., when the communication occurs

between different distribution centers), and sometimes it is out of the company’s scope of

control (e.g., possible communications between independent suppliers and manufacturers).

Though the information flows between independent contractors are out of the

company’s direct control, they are important for the company’s performance, because it may

fall victim of collusive behavior. As for the information flows that the company can control,

two major things have to be assured: timeliness and accuracy of information. For that,

information systems need to be up-to-date, easy to use and reliable (Senge,2005).

Baskin Robbins 8

Inventory Management

Baskin Robbins manages its inventory using various strategies. One is the strategies

is using a centralized inventory that allows a company to pool its inventory. This enables it to

meet existing demand. It also allows orders from suppliers to be filled from few and

centralized location and sometimes, it can be done from one location (Smallbone, 1995). This

helps the company to save on operation costs. However in some countries like the UAE,

Baskin Robbins manages a decentralized which ensures that orders from suppliers are spread

almost evenly across all regions of delivery. This method is more expensive than the former

but it has to be used in certain markets where the centralized system cannot produce better

results. Another strategy is consolidation of warehouses. However, this method disadvantages

suppliers because it does not spread evenly across all regions. The company sometimes

outsources warehouses especially in some volatile markets.

Improving operations quality can lead to reduced costs at Baskin Robin

Quality management is currently one of the most important and most highlighted

issues in food and beverage industry. Due to the emphasis of quality total quality

management has become a very important facet and resource to strategic planning Total

quality management in cannot be used competitively unless it is defined accurately,

measured accordingly, evaluated logically and monitored often. Total quality management at

Baskin and Robin has enabled the company to adopt a business level strategy called the cost

leadership strategy which . Quality and standardized products, with features that are

acceptable to the consumers enable the company to make immense sales which reduce costs

of operation. Maintenance of quality also helps Baskin and Robbins to avoid coats that

emanate from legal issues and compensation of customers due to quality issues. To save cost

through quality management, the company has installed effective scale facilities, tightly

Baskin Robbins 9

controlled of the overhead cost, maintained minimal sales costs and ensured proper

monitoring of all operations.

Clustering in Operations Management

Clustering in operations management is an expansion strategy that involves

gathering of franchises, branches and networks based on the differentiated products they

offer. This means that a business can open different branches in the same are which offer

different products. This ensures that the business expands and its branches do not compete

among themselves. One of the best examples in UAE is that of Choithram supermarkets. To

remain competitive especially in the global city of Dubai, the supermarkets have embarked

on a clustering strategy. Choithram supermarkets want to be present at every corner of every

big town in the middle easy especially in the |UAE to ensure that its market is not highly

threatened by the new entrants. Establishing entirely new supermarkets has not been an easy

task and the major plans that this retail giant has is to make to acquire middle level

supermarkets that are strategically placed in the major towns. These supermarkets on targets

are the ones that have a good customer base and their plans and visions are in line with that of

Choithram The supermarket has studied the operations of the Wal-Mart supermarkets and has

tried to align its operations with that of the world leading retailer as it sets out to expand and

make acquisitions. Wal-Mart has made successful expansions allover the world through the

clustering strategy. It has as made very high profile acquisitions .Choithram plans to emulate

the expansion and the acquisition policies of the world leading retailer so as to ensure that it

remains competitive in the Middle East.

Innovations

Baskin Robbins installed docking systems that ensures that the shelves are

replenished electronically. This is an advantage because no other competitor in the UAE has

that kind of technology. It ensures that the shelves are replenished twice as fast as that of the

Baskin Robbins 10

competitors thus saving the customers from the inconveniences that are caused by shortages.

In place of the CCTV surveillance technology that has not been able to effectively monitor

and control pilferage, Baskin Robbins has invested in the Radio Frequency Identification

(RFID). This is a very effective method where everything is tagged and connected to the

electronically run RFID that helps to track the movement of anything in and out of the

supermarket. Apart from helping in reducing costs incurred through shoplifting and pilferage,

the technology also reduces inventory costs and eases the movement of goods from the

suppliers to the supermarket because of its high profile tracking system (Wiseman, 2009). It

also reduces the level of human involvement in the process of surveillance and inventory

meaning that it also helps in cutting labor costs.  

References

Baskin Robbins 11

Baskinrobbins.com (2011).Baskin-Robbins Your Neighborhood Ice Cream Store. (2011,

May). Retrieved July 8, 2011, from Baskin Robbins website:

www.baskinrobbins.com/

Seddon, J. (1995). Changing Management Thinking: The Key To Success With TQM. NY:

Rutledge

Senge, P.M. (1990). The Fifth Discipline. London. Sage Pub

Smallbone, 1995. The Characteristics and Strategies of High Growth. London. Chapman &

Hall .

Wiseman, A. (1995).Turning Strategy into Decisive Action. London: Chapman & Hall

Baskin Robbins 12