Be different or die

The analysis of the Polish furniture manufacturer Meble VOX Company.

Nikita Podretsnev
2016
Title page

Title: Be different or die The analysis of the Polish furniture

manufacturer Meble VOX Company

Name: Nikita Podretsnev

Student number: 2957892

Class: FIE1B

Learning arrangement: PLA 1 Project Organization of Businesses

Lecturer: Maria Custers

Institute: Fontys Internationale Hogeschool Economie

Course of Studies: International Business and Management Studies

Study Phase: Propaedeutic phase 1st semester

Academic Year: 2016/2017

Date of Completion: 11th of December 2016

Place: Venlo, Netherlands

Orthography: English language

I
Summary

The following is a background information on the Meble VOX company. Company deals with
selling furniture around the Poland. Meble VOX company is also working with exporting
agencies, which allows them to distribute their furniture around the globe. Meble VOX
company mainly employs people from their partner universities. For example, University of
Humanities and Journalism in Pozna and the University of Social Psychology in Warsaw
(which educate people in several fields including). The reason why Meble VOX company
choose people from this universities are that they have a well-developed creative thinking.
Such can let Meble VOX company to always be ahead in trends then their competitors.

The interview and desk researches were conducted as the part of the PLA01 subject to find out
more about the company. During these researches information about internal and external
influential factors were found. B1 Consultancy was able to answer questions based on 7S,
PEST and SWOT analyses.

External ( or the macro-environment ) analysis has shown the following.

To begin with, the internet sales of Meble VOX company are growing so fast that it is almost
impossible to come up with the strategy. It was found out that Meble VOX company influences
the market in almost every well-developed places of Europe. Meble VOX company has taken
part in a huge project based on creating innovative furniture to win high subsidies from the
government.

Internal (or the micro-environment) analysis has revealed the insight on what is going on inside
the company. To start with, Meble VOX company used to work with temporary employees but
now tend to work with fixed. Moreover, Meble VOX company encourages their employees to
come up with new ideas by granting them with payment benefits, management of Meble VOX
company are described as open book. Meble VOX company employees are all very cooperative
as well as loyal to the employer, which is the key to success of the company.

The idea of Meble VOX company is not to go after prices but to create a whole new experience
for the customer, that is why slogan is: Be different or die. Moreover, Meble VOX company
describe their company as autocratic, as company deals with production. Furthermore, Meble
VOX company has groups of people responsible for the safety, productivity, PROs and CONs
of the company.

Furthermore, one of the main company issues at the moment, with regards to the received
information, is the lack of strategical concept in the company and competitors threat from
other large furniture manufacturing companies. Also it is recommended that Meble VOX
company created a new management branch, which responsibilities would be based on
creating a new long-term strategy to maintain and takeover the market as well as attract new
potential customer base.

II
Preface

As a student of IBMS program in Fontys Internationale Hogeschool Economie in Venlo we

had to review the problem of the company as well as write an individual report. Part of the
PLA01 subject was to find the problem within the company using PEST, 7S and SWOT
analyses. Without really much experience in conducting such projects, I consider it relatively
hard in comparison with other study courses.

As a title I chose: Be different or die. Reason for that is, during the interview export
manager told us, that the key feature of VOX is not to go for prices on the market, but to
create a huge value between their customers by coming up with a new furniture designs.
I would like to thank my tutors, who guided our group through this tough process.
Most impact on my report I received from these teachers:
Custers Maria
Paul Scholey
Thuiljs Thea

Date of hand in

III
Table of contents

Title page................................................................................................................................... I
Summary .................................................................................................................................. II
Preface ..................................................................................................................................... III
Table of contents ................................................................................................................... IV
1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 1
2. Company Description ............................................................................................................ 2
2.1 General information about the company ...................................................................................... 2
2.2 Information about the company products ..................................................................................... 2
3.1 Project assignment ........................................................................................................................ 3
3.2 Project aim .................................................................................................................................... 3
3.3 Research approach ........................................................................................................................ 3
4. Theoretical framework ........................................................................................................... 4
4.1 PEST analysis ............................................................................................................................... 4
4.2 7s McKinsey Model...................................................................................................................... 4
4.3 SWOT analysis ............................................................................................................................. 5
5. External Analysis ................................................................................................................... 6
5.1 Political factors ............................................................................................................................. 6
5.2 Economic factors .......................................................................................................................... 6
5.3 Social factors ................................................................................................................................ 7
5.4 Technological factors ................................................................................................................... 7
6. Internal Analysis .................................................................................................................... 8
6.1 Hard S's of Mckinsey 7S model analysis ...................................................................................... 8
6.2 Soft Ss of McKinsey 7S model analysis ..................................................................................... 8
6.3 Interconnection of the 7Ss ........................................................................................................... 9
7. SWOT analysis .................................................................................................................... 10
7.1 Strengths ..................................................................................................................................... 10
7.2 Weaknesses................................................................................................................................. 10
7.3 Opportunities .............................................................................................................................. 11
7.4 Threats ........................................................................................................................................ 11
8. Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 12
9. Recommendations ................................................................................................................ 13
10. Critical appraisal ................................................................................................................ 14
References ............................................................................................................................... 15
Webpages: ............................................................................................................................... 15
Personal Communications .................................................................................................... 15
Appendix 1 .............................................................................................................................. 16
Appendix 2 .............................................................................................................................. 17
Appendix 3 .............................................................................................................................. 19

IV
1. Introduction

The following is the macro-prospective look of the Meble VOX company. To begin with, Meble
VOX company is considered to be one of the biggest furniture selling companies in Poland. The
market the company operates in is relatively big. Furthermore, amount of orders on furniture
have increased, with the ability to buy online. If only everything was that successful. What B1
Consultancy found out was that, Meble VOX company doesnt have a real strategical plan on
developing their company. However, it is believed by them, that in the next three years 40%
of shops will disappear and 20% of them will decrease their sizes by 40%-50%. Moreover,
internet sales are believed to grow more. This now present the real threat by the competitors of
Meble VOX company.

The following is the micro-prospective view of the Meble VOX company. The company has
around 530 fixed employees. Every worker is qualified and well-educated. Furthermore, Meble
VOX company works together with many schools. Such as, University of Humanities and
Journalism in Pozna and the University of Social Psychology in Warsaw. And, this lets Meble
VOX company to hire employees with the education they want people to have. Moreover, most
of the staff are working for the company for a long time, who have proved their loyalty to the
company. Meble VOX company encourages staff with increase in payment for coming up with
a working ideas.

The problem of the Meble VOX company is hidden under their approach to business. Meble
VOX company does not have a long-term strategical concept, as before. Meble VOX company
does not have a realization of future plans and ideas.

The following is the idea of the report. The idea of the report is to supervise Meble VOX
company with clear performance improvement methods to increase profit of the company.

The need of the information in the report is clear. The analyses made in this report are of great
use for Meble VOX company. Information achieved with the analyses let managers of the
company react to the problems properly.

This report will be shown in ten chapters. The second chapter will be the general description
of the Meble VOX company in more details. The third chapter will give a view on project idea
and aim. The fourth chapter will review theoretical framework of both Internal/External
analyses. The fifth chapter will describe Political, Economical, Socio-cultural and
Technological factors ( PEST analysis ) that influence Meble VOX company. The sixth chapter
will go through McKinsey 7S framework influence on the company and interconnection of the
seven S. Chapter seven consists of analysis of Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and
Threats ( SWOT analysis ) of the company. Chapter eight will draw a final conclusion. In the
chapter nine recommendations to the company will be given. In the end, chapter ten will have
a Critical Appraisal with the limitations within the report.

1
2. Company Description
This chapter contains general information about the company and products it provides in more
detail.

2.1 General information about the company

Meble VOX company is the part of the VOX Capital Group. Meble VOX company found its
existence in the year 1989. As their main goal, the company tries to avoid price wars and focus
on creating an innovative design for the furniture. Employees with years of experience, loyalty
and cooperation among everyone in the company, powerful connections with suppliers are
company main strengths to maintain the market.

Nowadays, Meble VOX company is an innovative company in terms of design. With around
530 employees and main office in the city of Kobylnica. Meble VOX company brand has about
150 showrooms domestically and abroad. Including Riga, Kiev, Vilnius, Prague and Berlin.
The quality of the product is what makes them to stand out from their competitors. Meble VOX
company makes it possible for students finishing design or business studies to get a job at their
offices. Meble VOX company are working together with several universities to increase student
awareness to the design development. For example, University of Humanities and Journalism
in Pozna and the University of Social Psychology in Warsaw. Meble VOX company has access
to the latest technologies in producing the furniture and are constantly upgrading them. Staff
that knows what management want from them is key to success of the Meble VOX company.
Company works only with fixed employees, however, used to work with temporary.
Employees that tend to come up with the beneficial ideas are most likely to be awarded. Meble
VOX company encourages their employees to be expressed and innovative in their job.

Meble VOX company operates around several European countries and United States.
Main advantage of the company is to sell products through internet website, which makes it
easier to confirm orders and deliveries.

2.2 Information about the company products

There are many types of furniture that Meble VOX company can provide to their customers.
Most of the time interior and furniture design depends on the customer desires and needs.
Meble VOX company tends to fulfil customer dreams and uses a major complex of design
thinking teams to achieve it.

2
3. Project research
This chapter includes information about the project assignment, project aim and research
approach

3.1 Project assignment

The project assignment is the following. To begin with, first year students of PLA01 (Project
of Organisation and Management) were obliged to conduct a project, which would have
resulted in an individual work, in the face of individual report. One of the first steps was to
team up with other class members in groups of five-six people. Then, decide on roles. Such as,
group file administrator, manager, minute-keeper and others.
Moreover, group had to contact with a company. Thus, the objective of the company is to
provide group with necessary data by interviews on Skype or in person. The role of the group
was to analyse the external and internal environmental influences on the company.
Furthermore, groups had to keep a folder of agendas and meetings, self-assessments, group
rules, interview questionnaire and other information collected by the group. Finally, every
member of the group had to write an individual report based on what was found out about the
company, which, also, should include recommendations to the company improvement of the
performance.

3.2 Project aim

There are many ideas concerning the project aim. First, students have to learn to cooperate with
each other. Means, taking in account cultural and personal differences helping each other, solve
problems and share ideas. Second, students learn to be able to apply received knowledge on
practice. Finally, students learn how to create an organized project file as well as writing the
individual report.

3.3 Research approach

The research approach is next. To start with, there were two parts of the research the group has
to take part in. Such as, the primary research and the secondary research. The secondary
research was done beforehand. This involved desk research on the company, using different
sources. However, the most common source used for the research was the company website:
en.voxfurniture.com. The primary research was made by arranging interview with the export
manager of the company: Tomasz Walczak. Question used in the interview were based on
PEST, 7S and SWOT analyses.

3
4. Theoretical framework
In this chapter the theoretical framework will be explained. That includes general description
of PEST analysis, McKinsey 7S model and SWOT analysis.

4.1 PEST analysis

PEST analysis is an analysis concerned the external micro-environment and its influence on
business. PEST is an acronym for Political, Economic, Social and Technological factors, which
could influence the development of business.
(http://www.netmba.com/strategy/pest/ ) [Accessed: 20th November 2016 ]

Firstly, the political factors. Political issues include government regulations as well as legal
issues. The define formal and informal rules under which company has to operate. Examples
of that can be: employment laws, tax policy, trade restrictions, political stability.
(http://www.quickmba.com/strategy/pest/ ) [Accessed: 20th November 2016 ]

Secondly, the economic factors. Economic factors affect the customers purchasing ability.
Examples are next: interest rates, inflation rates and economic growth.
(http://www.quickmba.com/strategy/pest/ ) [Accessed: 20th November 2016 ]

Thirdly, the social factors. Social factors contain demographic and cultural aspects, which
affect customer demands and the size of the potential market. As an example of social factor
can be: population growth rate, age distribution, health consciousness.
(http://www.quickmba.com/strategy/pest/ ) [Accessed: 20th November 2016 ]

Finally, the technological factors. Technological factors influence the production levels and
outsourcing decisions. Some technological factors include: automation, R&D activity, rate of
technological change.
(http://www.quickmba.com/strategy/pest/ ) [Accessed: 20th November 2016 ]

4.2 7s McKinsey Model

The McKinseys 7s Model is a model of organizational effective performance, which

assumes seven internal factors of an organization that need to be aligned and reinforced in
order. (http://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/mckinsey-7s-model.asp) [Accessed: 20th
November 2016 ] Model has three hard Ss, which are Structure, Strategy and Systems and
four soft Ss, such as Shared value, Skills, Staff and Style. All Ss are interrelated, so a
change of one can make a ripple effect on the other.
(https://www.strategicmanagementinsight.com/tools/mckinsey-7s-model-framework.html)
[Accessed: 20th November 2016 ]

The three hard Ss are explained in more detail. Hard elements are much easier to identify and
mange than soft elements. First, Strategy is a plan developed by a firm to achieve sustained
advantage and maintain the market. Second, Structure represents the way business divisions
and organizes how information is accounted. Third, Systems are the area of the firm that
determines how business is done.
(https://www.strategicmanagementinsight.com/tools/mckinsey-7s-model-framework.html)
[Accessed: 20th November 2016 ]

4
The four soft Ss are explained next. Soft Ss are the foundation of the business and are more
likely to create sustained competitive advantage. First, Shared Values are the norms and
standards that guide employee behaviour and company actions and thus, are the foundation of
the company. Second, Skills are the abilities that firms employees perform very well. Third,
Staff is an element which is concerned with what type and how many employees an
organization will need and how they will be recruited, trained, motivated and rewarded.
Finally, Style represents the way the company is managed by top-level managers, how they
interact and what actions are taken.
(https://www.strategicmanagementinsight.com/tools/mckinsey-7s-model-framework.html)
[Accessed: 20th November 2016 ]

4.3 SWOT analysis

SWOT analysis is explained with the following. SWOT analysis is a process that identifies
the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of a company. Strengths describe what
company excels at, allowing decisions on how to gain competitive advantage. Weaknesses
stop company from performing at its optimum level. Opportunities refer to favourable
external factors that a company can use in its advantage. Threats refer to factor that can
potentially influence a company in a bad manner.
(http://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/swot.asp) [Accessed: 20th November 2016 ] SWOT
can also have interconnections with PEST and McKinsey 7S Model analyses. Strengths and
Weaknesses stand for PEST, whereas Opportunities and Threats stand for McKinsey 7S
Model.

5
5. External Analysis
The following chapter describes PEST analysis of Meble VOX company. Political factors,
economic factors, social factors and technical factors will be described in the following
chapter.

5.1 Political factors

Political factors affecting Meble VOX company are described next. Employer and employee
relation in Meble VOX company are strongly influenced by national law, but also by EU and
international laws. For example, International Labour Organisation.
(http://www.iclg.co.uk/practice-areas/employment-and-labour-law/employment-and-labour-
law-2016/poland ) [Accessed: 23rd November 2016 ]

Political durability of a current government regime in Poland is considered stable, as its index
was 0.87 by the end of 2014. The previous showed, that the government of Poland will not
be destabilized or overthrown by unconstitutional or violent means, including politically-
motivated violence and terrorism. Thus, will not influence governmental investments in
Meble VOX company. (http://www.theglobaleconomy.com/Poland/wb_political_stability/)
[Accessed: 23rd November 2016 ]

Another political factor that affects Meble VOX company are taxes. Poland tax system
involves CIT ( Corporate Income Tax ), which is 19%. Meble VOX company as any other
Polish company are influenced by that system. Furthermore, there are fourteen economic
zones that offer tax holidays involving the CIT exemption for specified periods.
(https://en.portal.santandertrade.com/establish-overseas/poland/tax-
system?&actualiser_id_banque=oui&id_banque=40&memoriser_choix=memoriser )
[Accessed: 23rd November 2016 ]

Moreover, Poland is considered to be one of the safest countries to live and work in. The
country is ranked as 92nd of 132, where the most dangerous country is ranked as one.
(http://www.nationmaster.com/country-info/stats/Crime/Crime-levels) [Accessed: 23rd
November 2016 ]

5.2 Economic factors

Poland can be described as an industrially developing country with a good potential in

increasing prosperity. This is explained with, that economic growth in Poland is solid, which
was compiling from 2011 to 2015 average of 2,96% GDP rate. (http://www.focus-
economics.com/countries/poland) [Accessed: 23rd November 2016 ]

Moreover, Polish unemployment rate is decreasing every year. In 2014 unemployment rate of
Poland was around fourteen percent, whereas now it stands at about eight percent.
(http://www.tradingeconomics.com/poland/interest-rate) [Accessed: 23rd November 2016 ]

Furthermore, Polish government provides companies with good working environment with
investments. This, demonstrates that governmental economic position is flexible as well as
stable and open enough, to be able to work towards investments. Meble VOX company is one
of these companies, which receive subsidies from government regularly.

6
Meble VOX company does not suffer from inflation of Polish zloty ( Polish currency ), as
inflation rates in Poland have been negative since 2014 and now compile -1,02%.
(http://www.inflation.eu/inflation-rates/poland/historic-inflation/cpi-inflation-poland.aspx)
[Accessed: 23rd November 2016 ]

Polish interest rate is stable, which is 1,5%. Such lets Polish companies take loans or use
assets bought with lenders funds with a relatively small returning rate.
(http://www.tradingeconomics.com/poland/unemployment-rate) [Accessed: 23rd November
2016 ]

5.3 Social factors

People aged from 25-54 represent the majority of population in Poland, which is 43,5%
according to Central Intelligence Agency. ( https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-
world-factbook/fields/2010.html ) [Accessed: 23rd November 2016 ] The employees of
Meble VOX company are different ages, starting at 24. A lot of workers for Meble VOX
company are coming from the cooperative universities. Such as, University of Humanities
and Journalism in Pozna and the University of Social Psychology in Warsaw. Moreover,
Polish education system was ranked as the 10th best in the World and 5th in the Europe by
mbctimes. This has a positive influence on the company as it increases productivity at job
and has an impact on creativity in design development.
(http://www.mbctimes.com/english/20-best-education-systems-world) [Accessed: 23rd
November 2016 ]

5.4 Technological factors

Meble VOX company as a relatively successful company has the ability to constantly upgrade
their production facilities with new instalments. For example, now, in Meble VOX company
arsenal there are many up-to-date profiling machines, manual planers, automatic planning
machines, hydraulic plate bonding machines, rods machines, saw machines and other
machinery. (T.Walczak, communications,2016-11-7) Poland as one of the developing
countries in the world has a big grow potential in business and production.

7
6. Internal Analysis
The following chapter will describe results of McKinsey 7S model analysis. In the chapter 6.1
will be described hard Ss of McKinsey 7S model analysis, whereas chapter 6.2 will be more
focused on soft Ss of Mckinsey 7S model analysis. Chapter 6.3 will describe interconnections
of 7S.

6.1 Hard S's of Mckinsey 7S model analysis

To begin with, Meble VOX company main strategy is to create special customer relationships
between each other. However, Meble VOX company does not have a long-term strategy to stick
to as before. Therefore, Meble VOX company lacks adequate analysis of future plans and tactics
on taking or keeping the existing market. Although, it is essentially valuable for the
management as well as the employees to come up with the breaking new furniture design, that
could attract more customers. Main goal of that approach is to use employees creativity to
create modern designs. Moreover Meble VOX company creates unique customer relationships
by fulfilling needs for every customer separately in production of furniture. Meble VOX
company attracts a lot of customers as Meble VOX company co-creates Polands biggest
independent educational program dedicated to the creative process together with partner
universities such as University of Humanities and Journalism in Pozna and the University of
Social Psychology in Warsaw. The intentions of the current strategy of Meble VOX company
are clear. For example, the following approach can let them maintain the already existing
market as well as conquer the expanding market. New design creation could force new
customers to arrive. As well as, working together with universities that teach design
management, psychology and cognitive science can let Meble VOX company to attract more
customers. Such, creates unique customer relationships with the company. ( T. Walczak, Meble
VOX company export manager, 2016-11-7 )

Furthermore, Meble VOX company uses 2 systems as their main. Meble VOX company is using
SAP system. SAP is used to handle the financial, asset, and cost accounting, production
operations and materials, personnel plants, and archived documents. SAP is also known as ERP
( Enterprise Resource Planning ) and is widely used by business organizations. Moreover,
target systems are used in Meble VOX company. For example, management influences the staff
by setting goals to the employees as well as affecting employees with certain benefits from
work. Management tends to encourage employees to come up with new ideas. That approach
lets management to set tasks before their employees, as it implies tight cooperation between
them. Managers in Meble VOX company try to make sure that the tasks, which stand upon
every employee, are understood. (T. Walczak, Meble VOX company export manager,2016-11-
7)

In terms of structure, in the main factory office of Meble VOX company are 10 main
departments. It consists of factory manager, production manager, sales/ merchandising staff,
designers, engineering staff, quality control staff, assembling staff, HR management. All of the
departments are connected to each other and report respectively. Moreover, management of
Meble VOX company insists on safety and productivity control from their personnel. (T.
Walczak, internal data analysis received by communicating, 2016-11-7)

6.2 Soft Ss of McKinsey 7S model analysis

8
To start with, Meble VOX company has different set of shared values. First, all employees are
united together as a team for tight cooperation. Managers of Meble VOX company believe that
loyal, experienced, hardworking and creative employees is a key for their success. Another
important value in the company is meeting the desire of customers. Employees of Meble VOX
company are working to satisfy customers demands by tight cooperation with customers
themselves. Key point of that approach is to find out, what the customer wants to see and what
he/she expects to receive. Meble VOX company has a shared value of creating new modern
designs of furniture. Another key element of shared values of Meble VOX company is to assign
equal opportunities among all employees. Management believes, that working together to
achieve new heights is what will make Meble VOX company successful. (T. Walczak, Meble
VOX company export manager,2016-11-7)

The style of the Meble VOX company is described next. The style of Meble VOX company is
based on autocratic style of management. Although, management of Meble VOX company
tends to reduce involvement of management in the process of manufacturing, management
works on reaching tight and warm relationships between employees. Management of Meble
VOX company respects their subordinates and are working together to increase the team spirit
as well as on developing creative ideas, which in the future can be beneficial for the companys
employees. (T. Walczak, Meble VOX company export manager,2016-11-7)

The information about the staff of the Meble VOX company is described next. The total amount
of employees of Meble VOX company on November 3 was 530. Every single employee of
Meble VOX company is educated, loyal and experienced. Control of productivity, discipline,
safety compliance, comprehension of tasks, ability to work in teams, fulfilling the duties are
most essential characteristics management takes in consideration for hiring. All employees are
fixed and working for Meble VOX company on a long-term basis. Such shows loyalty to the
company and high experience in the field. The Meble VOX company has their own way of
motivating the employees. First, is the financial motivation, which is either supplement to the
salary or separate payment. Financial motivations are usually given, when employees are
demonstrating their will to develop new interiors or furniture. (T. Walczak, Meble VOX
company export manager,2016-11-7)

Employees of Meble VOX company are obliged to have specific for their job skills, such as
ability to work with computer, ability to work with workbenches and manufacture machinery,
planning skills, ability to work with a team, communication skills. The largest skill of
employees is knowledge of their job, employees are able to work independently and
productively. Company has a great cooperation and tight relationships between all employees,
which is appreciated by management. (T. Walczak, Meble VOX company export manager,
2016-11-7)

6.3 Interconnection of the 7Ss

The following is the interconnection of 7Ss of Meble VOX company. To begin with, the main
idea of Meble VOX company, to make special value between customers and company, is tightly
connected with companys most important value to meet the desires of customer. Moreover,
from managers perspective, the Meble VOX companys prosperity is highly dependent from
performance of their employees. That is why, Meble VOX company tends to create good
working atmosphere. In this case interconnection between Staff and Skills is very clear.

9
7. SWOT analysis
The following chapter defines strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of Meble VOX
company.

Strengths Weaknesses
1.Well educated and loyal staff 1.Lack of long-term strategy
2.Cooperation with universities
3.Export goods to other countries

Opportunities Threats
1.Development of modern designs for 1.Growing competition
interior
2.Growing sales on the internet
3.Export to more countries

Table 1: Own illustration of SWOT overview for Meble VOX company

7.1 Strengths

1. Well educated and loyal staff

Meble VOX company has a total number of 530 employees. All employees of Meble VOX
company are loyal to the company and have a high amount of experience in the field. Moreover,
Meble VOX company employees are well-educated, as the company cooperates with
universities to hire more people. A lot of other criteria are taken in consideration, when hiring
employees, for example ability to work with all sorts of machinery, ability to work in the team,
understanding of tasks, discipline, safety compliance and planning.

2. Cooperation with universities

Meble VOX company is cooperating with two universities in Poland, such as University of
Humanities and Journalism in Pozna and the University of Social Psychology in Warsaw,
which are educating people in the fields of design management, psychology in marketing and
cognitive science. These tight relationships with universities let Meble VOX company to hire
professionals and develop new interiors.

3. Export goods to other countries

Meble VOX company currently has about 150 showrooms domestically and abroad. Including
Riga, Kiev, Vilnius, Prague and Berlin. Meble VOX company frequently exports their products
to America, Europe and Australia.

7.2 Weaknesses

1. Lack of long-term strategy

Meble VOX company currently does not have a long-term strategical concept, which stops
them from increasing in sales and reaching their maximum. Meble VOX company has to come
up with strategical plan of maintaining the market and acquiring the new one. Strategy absence
constrains company from realizing what can expect it in the future.

10
7.3 Opportunities

1. Development of modern designs for interior

Meble VOX company is working hard to acquire new modern design layouts for their interiors.
Development of new designs can attract many new customers and take the new market.
Possibly, such approach can affect other segments of market to buy companys goods.

2. Growing sales on the internet

Meble VOX company is lately receiving many orders on furniture manufacturing through their
website. Developing their website can be of great use for the future customers to make orders,
which can let to a certain increase in sales.

3.Export to more countries

Meble VOX company has the possibility to export their products to some European countries,
America and Australia. However, company also has the possibility to expand their exporting
opportunities and start exporting to other European countries as well as Asian countries.

7.4 Threats

1. Growing competition
Meble VOX company adheres to the policy of not going after prices and sales, but to create
special customer value. Such policy can lead to a loss of sales, as Meble VOX companys
competitors can have a much better impact on customer relationships. Competition for Meble
VOX company grows, as there are much bigger furniture manufacturers in the world, such as
IKEA, MASCO, Kinwai and Thomasville.

11
8. Conclusion
The following chapter gives conclusion on the analysis of Meble VOX company

The Meble VOX company is a company with growing potential in further development of
furniture manufacturing. The company is known around Poland for their unique approach to
customers as well as excellent service provision. Company is also known for incredibly low
prices, as the companys approach to business is to never go after prices, but to focus on
customer satisfaction. Meble VOX company has over 150 showrooms domestically and abroad,
including Riga, Kiev, Vilnius, Prague, Berlin, Australia and America. However, the companys
main problem is the lack of long-term strategical concept, which existence could facilitate of
increase in sales and the takeover of market. Although, Meble VOX company has a rather big
potential customer base and lack of strategy does not bring risk to the company for loosing
clients. Since, demand for the modern designed furniture has grown as well as sales on the
internet increased, but customers might decide on turning to the Meble VOX company
competitors, such as IKEA, MASCO, Kinwai and Thomasville. That presents a threat for the
company as well as loss on the market.

12
9. Recommendations
The following chapter will provide recommendations to Meble VOX company

In favour of Meble VOX company to overcome the problems and maintain the market as well
as create a much bigger customer base, recommended following:

First of all, Meble VOX company has to hire a new management branch, which tasks
and duty would be based on creating a new long-term strategy. However, it could lead
to certain loss of wealth in the first time, it is highly believed, that long-term strategy
could be of great help to the company to avoid problems in the future as well as foresee,
what could lead to increase of wealth of the company. Secondly, such approach could
help Meble VOX company to take higher positions on the market and compete with
other bigger companies on the same level.

13
10. Critical appraisal
The following chapter provides limitations of the task

Despite the provided information by the company, the recommendations of the report are
limited due to low base of knowledge of writing. It is highly recommended to do the follow-
up research. Nevertheless, the time for writing the report and conducting research was strongly
limited. As a first year student it is hard to make adequate and detailed research and analysis
of the company with 72 hours of self-study. Luckily, I have already encountered the report
writing in the high school, however, I still had problems with comprehension of the task. In
this report were used several tools, such as: PEST analysis, McKinsey 7S analysis and SWOT
overview. The tools give only limited overview of internal and external influence on the
company and the country. As it was expected, the main source of the information was the
export manager of Meble VOX company, this means that report entirely depends on the
information received from the export manager during interviews and during personal
communications.

14
References

Webpages:
Meble VOX company official website, 2016, About us:
http://en.voxfurniture.com/about-us.html
The global economy website, 2016, Poland political stability:
http://www.theglobaleconomy.com/Poland/wb_political_stability/
International cooperative legal guides, 2016, Employment & labor law 2016
http://www.iclg.co.uk/practice-areas/employment-and-labour-law/employment-and-
labour-law-2016/poland
Santander trade portal, 2016, Poland: tax system:
https://en.portal.santandertrade.com/establish-overseas/poland/tax-
system?&actualiser_id_banque=oui&id_banque=40&memoriser_choix=memoriser
Nation master, 2016, Crime levels:
http://www.nationmaster.com/country-info/stats/Crime/Crime-levels
Focus economics website, 2016, Poland economics outlook:
http://www.focus-economics.com/countries/poland
Trading economics website, 2016, Poland interest rate:
http://www.tradingeconomics.com/poland/interest-rate
Inflation website, 2016, Historic inflation Poland CPI inflation:
http://www.inflation.eu/inflation-rates/poland/historic-inflation/cpi-inflation-
poland.aspx
Trading economics website, 2016,Poland unemployment rate:
http://www.tradingeconomics.com/poland/unemployment-rate
Central intelligence agency website, 2016, Poland population:
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2010.html
MBC times website, 2016, Polish education system:
http://www.mbctimes.com/english/20-best-education-systems-world
Netmba, 2016, PEST analysis:
http://www.netmba.com/strategy/pest/
Quickmba,2016,PEST analysis:
http://www.quickmba.com/strategy/pest/
Strategic management insight website, 2016,McKinsey 7S model:
https://www.strategicmanagementinsight.com/tools/mckinsey-7s-model-
framework.html
Investopedia, 2016, McKinsey 7S model:
http://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/mckinsey-7s-model.asp
Investopedia,2016, SWOT analysis:
http://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/swot.asp

Personal Communications

Tomasz Walczak, The export manager of Meble VOX company. Dates of interview: 7th
November 2016.

15
 Appendix 1
SWOT analysis overview table ( Personal illustration )

Strengths Weaknesses
1.Well educated and loyal staff 1.Lack of long-term strategy
2.Cooperation with universities
3.Export goods to other countries

Opportunities Threats
1.Development of modern designs for 1.Growing competition
interior
2.Growing sales on the internet
3.Export to more countries

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Appendix 2
The following appendix contains original transcripts of interviews with the export manager of
Meble VOX company Tomasz Walczak

We are supposed to conduct an interview. It will take around 20-30 minutes.

Ok lets start.
The interview is not very structured so if you want you can just freely elaborate on the
questions or whatever you want to add. It is being recorded. There are 7 of us here. It
will be written afterwards and it will be sent to you for authorization within two weeks.
Lets start with the questions then.
How many employees does your company have?
Its about 530 employees. But usually the question can be answered differently every day
because it is quite a changing matter.
Are many of the employees are temporary?
We used to work with temporary employees. At the moment we try to work with fixed
people.
What is average age of employees in the company approximately?
Its hard to say. It is between 24-65 years.
What would you describe as the strengths of your employees?
First of all, I would say they are quite expressing people. We work very close with the school
that teach people the way we need them to be taught. There are quite fixed employees which
is becoming very important in Poland because we are missing people willing to work. Our
fixed and loyal employees are our biggest strength. Because people working for Vox were
also working for many years.
How big is the management involvement in the company and how is it controlled?
We have several different ways of organizations. There are typical managers being
employees but also there is a big group of people on a self-employment. Which are small
companies working for VOX. They are based on different interests and commissions. These
are most and often franchising partners. So there are different ways but mainly we are trying
to work with contracted employees especially in case of managers. Most of them are on
manager contract or self-employment. So they can be motivated by a chance of profits,
commissions. This is the best motivation we can have. Not paying for hour, not indicators
you can have in big international company but chance to have money. This is the best thing
that motivate people.
Does your company use some special strategy in maintaining the market? If yes, what
kind of strategy it is?
Not really. We used to have 5-year strategy plan in the past. But now it is not valid anymore.
It doesnt work this way. You cannot foresee the next 5 years. What we know now is that in
the next 3 years 40% of the shops disappear, other 20% will decrease their size by 40-50%.
But the big space operators are going to grow and the internet sell is going to grow as well.
So the speed of the changes is so quick that at the moment we have got more like company
philosophy rather than strategy. So in general no long-term strategy except the main goal of
VOX is be different or die. So we are not sticking to the price wars. We are just trying to
create the design as an important part of our strengths.
What would you call the core values of the company?
On the one hand I would say it is a very innovative company. We are the market leaders.
Usually VOX is number one followed by other companies so first of all this is the difference
very strong internal design. And the company itself is in the large capital group in the
moment. So it allows people to take credits to base their next years life for their companies.

17
So I would say that the number one value is market leadership, internal design and new
product development.
How does the company support the ideas of the employees?
The ideas of the employees?
Yes, if someone for example has an idea that can greatly benefit the company.
At the moment we have a regulation. That if you have great idea and you share it you can
gain special profit which is paid like a kind of a prize. If it makes sense and we can check it.
And it need to improve the working speed and quality. It is summary of many changes. We
are not closed to any suggestions. It is like an open book to everybody.
Would you describe your management style as democratic or autocratic?
Id say autocratic. For the production and cannot be democratic. It can work in other
companies that live from trade only without production. We have production so there is a
group of people responsible for safety, productivity. It cannot be democratic. There must be a
group of management which is responsible for everything good but also bad. Definitely
autocratic.
Is there a System which controls start and beginning of the work day for your employees?
Of course there are a lot of procedures. You know. It depends they are working on a versatile regulations style.
They are working basically on the production plan. That is coming from the sell and orders. Everything is
collated the drawings. Everyone has their own organised day. They know exactly what they have to do up to
safety courses. So they know everyone up to safety courses to do it properly in safety. So you know there are a
lot of procedures it depends on what you mean w
Mainly the it system if its very complicated or if it is simple in shop what are franchised. Or if t it all
connected in one system
A: So everything so every single appraisal is an evidence same with orders same with production so everything
runs through the systems this is internal or something

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Appendix 3
The following appendix contains report checklist.

CHECK LIST PLA1 REPORT

1 GENERAL LAY OUT
* Following binding, is the text still clearly readable? YES/NO
* Are pages correctly numbered? YES/NO
* Are paragraphs filled-out? YES/NO
* Are paragraphs separated by a blank space? YES/NO
* Are the margins at top, bottom and sides correct? (2.54 cm) YES/NO
* Is the letter size for chapter & section headings the same? YES/NO
* Is the letter type consistent? YES/NO
* Are graph tables relevant and easy to read? YES/NO

2 LANGUAGE ASPECTS YES/NO

* Has the spelling been run through a spelling checker? YES/NO
* Has the report been proofread for errors? YES/NO
* Is the text written in an appropriately formal style? YES/NO
* Has the text been written for the reader? YES/NO
* Are sentences between 15 and 20 words? YES/NO
* Are signal words used appropriately to help steer the reader? YES/NO
* Is vocabulary easy to understand? YES/NO
* Is the text easy understood without ambiguity? YES/NO

3 COVER
* Is name of author given? YES/NO
* Is cover lay-out attractive? YES/NO
* Does an illustration support title? YES/NO
* Does the title accurately reflect contents of the report? YES/NO

4 TITLE PAGE
* Are title & sub-title stated? YES/NO
* Are the name, student number, cohort & class of the author given? YES/NO
* Are learning arrangement, lecturers name & institute given? YES/NO
* Are the course of studies, study phase & academic year stated? YES/NO
* Are the date and place of completion mentioned & spelling determined? YES/NO

5 TABLE OF CONTENTS
* Is the lay-out clear? YES/NO
* Does table accurately reflect report structure? YES/NO
* Does table numbering correspond to main text numbering? YES/NO
* When a chapter is divided into sections, are there at least two YES/NO
* Do all chapters / sections have relevant titles? YES/NO

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* Do chapter /section titles correspond to titles in main text? YES/NO

6 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
* Does summary create problem context? YES/NO
* Does summary state the report objective? YES/NO
* Does summary state method used to reach objective? YES/NO
* Does summary focus on conclusions and concrete recommendations? YES/NO
* Does summary avoid introducing new information not present within YES/NO

7 PREFACE
* Do you use I or we to personalize text? YES/NO
* Is the framework of the project given (context)? YES/NO
* Is the reader clearly specified (audience)? YES/NO
* Do you acknowledge those you wish to thank? YES/NO
* Is the report title explained? YES/NO
* Are author name, date and place included? YES/NO

8 GLOSSARY ?
* Are entries concise? YES/NO
* Are entries listed in alphabetical order? YES/NO
* Are entries taken from a reliable source? YES/NO
* Are entries considered uncommon language? YES/NO
* Are entries defined in your main text upon first usage? YES/NO

9 INTRODUCTION
* Does introduction contextualize problem? YES/NO
* Does introduction state the report objective? YES/NO
* Does introduction state the report relevancy? YES/NO
* Does introduction lay out the report structure? YES/NO
* Does the introduction avoid revealing the results? YES/NO

10 MAIN BODY CHAPTERS

* Does page layout invite reading? YES/NO
* Does each chapter start on a new page? YES/NO
* Is chapter introduced by italic text explaining structure? YES/NO
* Is structure evident from section division? YES/NO
* Are longer chapters broken down into sections? YES/NO
* Does text orient itself towards audience? YES/NO
* Does text define chapter objective? YES/NO
* Is data collected and displayed? YES/NO
* Is data analyzed / interpreted? YES/NO
* If possible, does each chapter finish with a conclusion or summary? YES/NO
* Do you use appendices to keep your main text clear? YES/NO
* Do you refer to appendices? YES/NO

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11 CONCLUSIONS
* Is report objective repeated? YES/NO
* Are conclusions based on results derived from main body chapters? YES/NO
* Do you briefly restate interim conclusions from main chapters? YES/NO
* Do you synthesize interim conclusions into one response that answers YES/NO

12 RECOMMENDATIONS YES/NO
* Are recommendations founded on conclusions? YES/NO
* Are recommendations usable from practical viewpoint? YES/NO
* Are recommendations formulated as concrete action points? YES/NO
* Are recommendations sequenced from strategic to YES/NO
operational/implementational?
13 REFERENCING
* Did you evaluate sources for reliability YES/NO
* Following a citation, is the source given? YES/NO
* Are these sources fully described in the reference list? YES/NO
* Is the reference list alphabetical (by surname of first author)? YES/NO

14 FIGURES
* Is chosen figure the best way to present information? YES/NO
* Have you referred to your figure within your main text? YES/NO
* Do you interpret figure by explicitly stating main trends? YES/NO
* Are figures entitled? Is source stated at bottom? YES/NO
* Do lists of illustrations & tables contain entries with a correct title & page YES/NO

15 APPENDICES
* Are your appendices functional? YES/NO
* Do appendices support the message of main text? YES/NO
* Does main text refer at least once to each appendix? YES/NO
* Do appendices have a clear title and correct page number? YES/NO
* Do you briefly explain relevance of appended figures? YES/NO
* If you have up to four appendices, are these listed in the table of YES/NO
contents?* If you have five or more appendices, are these listed in a separate list YES/NO
of

21