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Improving the business processes at Laparkan Suriname

Schmidt, Lianne (2010) Improving the business processes at Laparkan Suriname.

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Abstract:This report is the result of a two-month research at the company Laparkan in Suriname. I did this research as a finishing report of my Bachelor industrial engineering and management at the University of Twente. The research is a practically-oriented study towards the company processes and procedures at Laparkan Suriname. Motive and Research objective Laparkan is a freight group with a network that spans over the Caribbean, Latin-America and North-America. In the last years Laparkan has grown to more than twenty employees and expanded their activities. Because of this growth in staff and activities and a new information system Laparkan didn’t keep a structured track of the administration. They had problems concerning the registration of cargo, payments of invoices and the outlining of tasks and responsibilities. The problems mainly concern two processes, the warehouse and sales process, so this is the focus of the research. The research objective is to eliminate the bottlenecks in the warehouse and sales process and set up an organized administration structure. Also the responsibilities and tasks of employees at Laparkan are examined and defined. The eventual deliverable of the research is a manual with standard operation procedures to be used by the employees and a short task description. The main research question therefore is: What is for Laparkan Suriname the best design of the administrative processes and the implementation of the associated procedures? Research Strategy Because Laparkan does not handle the physical transportation of the goods, except to and from the head office in Miami, the supporting processes are actually the core processes for Laparkan. These processes fall within the administrative organization, which is integrated within every organization. The administrative organization includes all activities which are related to the collecting, fixing and processing of data, supplying specific information to the management, functioning and controlling of the organization and accountability. By studying theories concerning the administrative organization, interviewing employees and observing the processes a description of the current processes and organizational structure is made. Then an analysis of the current situation was made with help of the KAD model. The KAD model has three components: product, process and structure. Several bottlenecks have been found in each component. Recommendations Laparkan needs to set up and measure the critical success factors of the company. Second they need to make responsibilities clear to every employee, this can be done through task descriptions and the new procedure description. Also it is recommended to have structured information transfers, the new procedures will help to in cooperate this. The main recommendation of this research is to implement the suggested procedures, which are set up with help from the KAD model and also include the preceding recommendations. Last measures for internal control have to be set up to have a sufficient control over the processes. Implementation To implement these recommendations in the organization a culture research about Laparkan has been done. Laparkan appeared to have a pyramid culture. In a pyramid culture it is expected that the management gives the right direction to the company. To prevent resistance in to the changes, the employees must receive enough education and communication about the changes. The manager should communicate not only verbally but also in formal ways, by means of written documents and instructions. So a procedure description is a right way to communicate the presented changes.
Item Type:Essay (Bachelor)
Clients:
Laparkan Suriname
Faculty:BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences
Subject:85 business administration, organizational science
Programme:Industrial Engineering and Management BSc (56994)
Link to this item:https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/60808
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