PRDV227 Introduction to Business Planning and Strategy

1. How should the lessons learned be communicated within the larger Machinist organization and across the labour movement?

Labour Movement are set up to represent the workers’ rights and freedoms. The workers have the right to dictate the price of their commodities and should be free from exploitations by cartels and middlemen. Labour movement should stand in the gap to dictate the kind of regulations that should be imposed on them and as much should strive to voice out against discrimination from government. Over the years the Maine Lobstering Movement had faced discrimination from the Maine Department of Marine resources such that the number of the licensees in the coast was dictated by the licensing body. This same body regulated the amount of fishing that could take place. The fishermen survived at the mercy of the buyers to dictate the prices for their commodities. This meant exploitation and the fishermen saw no value in their produce. Trade unions should be educated on their right to curb the naivety of not knowing how the market operates. To achieve this, the fishermen should get equipped with skills of doing business. as much, the fishermen should be well represented to drive their agenda.  To be able to reap a greater benefit from their harvest, they should take the risk of in value addition to reap a greater benefit. The organisation of the trade union should also be politically organized to be able to push for their agenda with minimum interference from the other players in the industry. This can be done through joining hands with other trade unions to form larger powerful unions that can drive the agenda more proactively.

2. What unique political, financial, and social capabilities did the Machinists bring in this unusual context?

The Mechanist union was to persistently grow in strength over the years even the in the midst of opposition. The trade union was able to bring together its members with a common interest of economic growth. The fluctuations of the prices of the lobsters frustrated most of the lobster fishermen. As much, before they enjoyed the benefit of directly selling their catch to direct buyers. The recess period of 2008 pushed most of them out of business while some were forced to sell their business to outsiders. Their frustrations forced them to self-organize to voice out their frustrations with the industry they knew best that was now in the hands of strangers. There vast knowledge of the working of the lobster industry and their organization in working together as a community was a stepping stone to their progress. The political strength was drawn from the lobstermen unity and adherence to a common goal of progress. This was strengthened through trust that was shared among the members that had been exploited for long. They conducted meetings that involved everyone in the discussions and the fact that they could drive their agenda without being answerable to anyone. Their social capability was driven by their sense of belonging and their collective frustrations in they had together faced in the past. They understood that if they stood together, they would push against the pressure by the regulators. There no one in the union that benefitted more than any other since the profits were shared depending on the individual efforts; everyone benefitted from what they deserved

3. What tensions arose and how were challenges overcome?

Due to the frustrations the lobstermen had face in regard to exploitation by the middlemen and the regulator; the lobstermen were driven by zeal to dictate the prices of their commodities. Before, they served at the mercy of their buyers who dictated their prices. The zeal was blinded by their ambition and couldn’t realize that the price was not decided by the buyers on-shore but buy the prices in the global market. The supply and the demand of the lobsters dictated the prices on-shore. If the prices went too high, this would mean that the buyers will seek after cheaper options to maximize on their prices. The realization that the lobstermen were the key stake holders with over 80 percent in the supply of the lobsters pushed them to demand for better prices. The lobstermen would overcome this with the fact that they were not answerable to anyone and being big players in the industry will give them the bargaining power to dictate the prices. They were also faced by the challenge of regulation that violated the anti-trust restrictions that limited them from demanding for a minimum price for their goods. They tacked this by spearheading a political move that allowed them to influence the regulations that inhibited them from dictating the prices that were favourable to them. This led to the introduction of new regulations that worked in their favour.

The strategy to influence regulations that rule in the favour of trade unionists is tenable in the sense that the rights of the members to fair pricing would be protected. When trade unionists come together with a common goal of reaping much benefit from their efforts the likelihood of success are high. Government have been found to be discriminative in its regulations and this has paved way for exploitation by govern entities some of which have an interest in the industry. They put up measures that would make the self-employed trade run out of business in the favour of a few individuals. Trade union members should also push the agenda of value addition in the goods and services they offer. This will push out the exploitative middlemen that reap from their sweats. This means this member of the union should collectively pull together their resources to benefit from the economies of scale.

5. In what ways did self-employed and independent workers, as well as organized labour as a whole, benefit from the outcome of Lobster 207’s experience?

The lobstermen were limited in dictating the prices of their harvest to the buyers. They served under the mercy of the exploitative buyers that operated on-shore that benefitted at the expense of the struggling workers. The wake of the Lobster 207 saw now the workers pull their resources together to push for better prices of the lobsters they harvested.  The regulation that stood against anti-trust on the other hand limited them from acting in demanding for better prices. The well representation by the trade union allowed the workers to politically organize themselves to push for regulations that worked in their favour. It was during the tenure of Lobster 207 that the union was able to expand in its business. They invested more in value addition processing that increased the value of their harvest. The middlemen were gotten rid of and the lobstermen through their trade union could sell their produce directly to the consumers at a high price. The expansion of the Lobster 207 also allowed the businesses to diversify through complimentary services such as restaurants and other exploits of marine harvest. This vastness exposed the workers to greater benefits that could allow them access self-growth loans with ease that they could use to boost business.

6. What would be the strategic positioning applied in the case study?

The aim of any given business is to reap the most benefit from its operations and this highly favoured by the strategic positioning of the business. This means that the business is centrally placed to serve its customers as well easily access the goods for trade. The lobster business was of mutual benefit to the lobstermen. They had pulled their resources together to benefit to share in the profits. This reduced the level of competition considering that they all worked that served Lobster 207. These allowed them to benefit from the monopoly of power allowed them to share in the profits together. The businesses were also run by themselves and this allowed them to dictate on the prices of their commodities. The lobstermen were strategically place to access the sea with ease. Their buyers on the other hand were within their reach and this minimized on the costs of having to transport the perishable goods for long distances.

7. How would you evaluate the strategy applied in the case study from the perspective of its trade-offs, context, profit function, value creation and value capture?

The case study depicts the exponential growth of the lobstermen from the naïve businessmen to those that were aware of the working of the business in greater perspective. The lobstermen used to trade off their commodities to gain little profits to meet their families’ daily provisions. It was an eyes opener in the wake of the trade unions that saw them reap much benefit. The profit margin grew and it is at this juncture they saw the greater benefits of value addition. The total function of the business was calculated from the difference in the cost of harvesting the lobsters and the trade union returns against the selling price. The value of the lobster was increased through elimination of middlemen and processing of the commodities before the same. The economies of scale also played part in the sense that the lobstermen pulled their resources together to serve a larger market and benefit from monopolistic power to dictate the prices of the commodities.

8. If you were Dave Sullivan, would you do differently in terms of the strategy that you would apply in such situation as highlighted in the case study?

The move by Dave Sullivan to strengthen the workers ability to bargain for their rights in price negotiation was the best fit approach in this case scenario. If the workers were operating as lone rangers, they would suffer from the diseconomies of scale accrued by the big players in the industry. This would mean that they would suffer from exploitation. Pulling together of resources allowed the lobstermen to have a high bargaining power in terms of regulation enactment, access to finances to boost business and a greater pool of customers.

References

Basas, C. (2011). A Collective Good: Disability Diversity as a Value in Public Sector Collective Bargaining Agreements. SSRN Electronic Journal. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1907304

Chibnik, M. (2002). Trade and Trade-Offs: Using Resources, Making Choices, and Taking Risks:Trade and Trade-Offs: Using Resources, Making Choices, and Taking Risks. American Anthropologist, 104(1), 379-380. https://doi.org/10.1525/aa.2002.104.1.379

Gao, Z., & Featherstone, A. (2008). Estimating economies of scope using the profit function: A dual approach for the normalized quadratic profit function. Economics Letters, 100(3), 418-421. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econlet.2008.03.013

Sharma, S., & Sharma, B. (2014). Human Resource Management and Trade Unions (HRMTU). International Journal Of Trade, Economics And Finance, 88-92. https://doi.org/10.7763/ijtef.2014.v5.346

TRAXLER, F., & BRANDL, B. (2010). Collective Bargaining, Macroeconomic Performance, and the Sectoral Composition of Trade Unions. Industrial Relations: A Journal Of Economy And Society, 49(1), 91-115. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-232x.2009.00589.x

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