Riordan Manufacturing
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LEGAL
Riordan Manufacturing has a legal system in place to protect the company while backing up the company and its shareholders. Riordan has assigned Lowell Bradford to oversee all their legal matters. Lowell usually makes decisions based on his personal knowledge, but sometimes consults with Litteral & Finkel, (law firm). Riordan pays the law firm monthly through a retainer fund for speedy legal services, but does not receive any cash refunds/returns for unused services and all outstanding balances not covered by the retainer must be paid by Riordan. Riordan Manufacturings legal services are set to monitor and control tax law, real estate transactions, employment law, immigration matters, civil litigation, workers compensation, labor law, and customs regulations. To further protect their company and shareholders Riordan Manufacturing also has corporate governance policies that are set and controlled by a board of directors. Sub systems to this business system are state corporation requirements, the Articles of Incorporation, and its By-Laws. Currently Riordan doesnt have any other legal measures in place to protect them. This is a very simple and straight forward approach to handling legal aspects. Riordan is basing this method on trust that was built between Dr. Riordan and the Litteral & Finkel law firm. This method has been working for them since the inception of the company with few flaws. As with any organization legal situations will arise. To prepare for this it is important to keep track of all files and data. All contracts must be looked over and business proposals analyzed to insure safety and make sure that all business transactions are legal. Everyday laws are changing and so we as a company have to be prepared for change and also keep track of law changes. Having legal systems in place help to make sure that every I is dotted and T crossed. All contracts must be correct and signed by the proper personnel. Shareholder agreements should also be double checked and set up to protect not only the shareholder, but also the company as a whole. It is good to have an international law firm because when doing business different countries have different laws and therefore the legal system should be able to transformed and used in any legal situation no matter where the situation arises or what laws are governed.
(Future Proposals)
In order to be better prepared for legal situations Riordan Manufacturing should not leave the legal decisions to one person. This allows for a one sided look to legal matters. I think that instead there should be an internal team to help with making the decisions and also insure that the lawfirm is doing what they are supposed to do. I do like that Riordan used an international law firm to handle legal matters, but the payment method should be adjusted so that they are not losing as much money but still getting the services they need. Riordan should include a system for monitoring and storing past legal data. This can help the legal department with solving future problems and also track legal trends. Riordan should also include a listing for their By-laws and policies for the company and also for their shareholders. This would help to make sure that all polices are met and kept. When it comes to the corporate governance policies they are pretty good but I do think new board members should have period of probation time before they are given private information about the company and access to senior management.
Sales and Marketing
Marketing Information System
The marketing information system was put together to consolidate customer information to make service easier for customers. This is the area where the company keeps records. All of this information should be compiled into a CRM system. A key part of this system is historical sales, which is a system that tracks sales and this is done with paper but planned to be done electronically. Files from previous research and plans are also included to keep track of past actions and situations. Production records are kept to track how many products are produced over a period of time on each shift. By keeping a profit and loss statement the company can see which products are making money and which ones are losing money. In order to see what money is being spent on marketing the company has created a marketing budget for all the marketing needs. The anticipated results of this marketing are also provided here.
Sales Plan 2006
This is a three system put together to plan the sales of products for the year given I would like to also have the sales plans for previous years provided. This section states the strategies used to increase the sales for the year. Strategic sales objectives and marketing tactics based on the sales objectives and also strategies to increase the customer relationship.
Customer List
The customer list is mainly just a spreadsheet