Affinity Water business assignment: A Comprehensive Business Analysis
Question
Task: What are the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats faced by Affinity Water business assignment, and how can the company ensure sustainable growth in the clean water industry?
Answer
Introduction
Clear drinking water has grown to be a precious commodity in recent years making it a lucrative business. Today many water purification, packaging and distribution companies have been established and most have registered huge success due to the increasing demand for clean bottled drinking water. Affinity Water business assignment is one such company which was established in 2012 and has since grown to have over 1150 employee.
The company headquarters is located in Hatfield, Hertfordshire and mainly services customers in NW of Greater London and some Home counties. The business is owned as a partnership between Allianz Group, HICL and DIF Tamblin. As of March 2016, the company had registered 303 million pounds sterling in revenue which is considerably high considering the low number of employees and area served (Water, 2017). This clearly demonstrates the businesses potential to register a huge growth rate and expansion with proper management of its operations.
Comprehensive Distribution of the Business
Affinity Water business assignment specializes in the purification and distribution of clean water to customers in West London. Water is a basic requirement which each individual making it important for the proper management of the water resources. The resource requires being harvesting; treating and distributing in a proper manner so as to reduce the negative effect on the environment and ensure the resources sustainability in future (Blowfield, 2013).
Water pollutions is another major concern that water purifying plants and companies face making it an area of priority to address for Affinity Water business assignment. With privatization of water supply to city residents being encouraged it has become very important for the businesses to take all aspects into close consideration and at the same time maintain its focus on sustainable growth which is the objective of the company.
Products and Services
As the name suggests Affinity Water business assignment specializes in the supply and distribution of clean water. The company current focus area is West London but targets on expanding across London in the future. The key products supplied by the business include clean piped water for domestic use as well as fresh and clean drinking water (Water, Home, 2017). The company also manages water supply and maintenance services which help reduce water wastage.
Clean water for domestic use
Affinity Water business assignment is responsible for supplying West London with clean water for domestic usage. This includes water supplied to homes and apartments for daily use in the kitchen, laundry and washrooms. Affinity Water business assignment is responsible for sourcing and filtering the water and ensuring t is clean and safe to use before being supplied to the consumers via pipeline.
Clean bottled drinking water
Affinity Water business assignment also has a unit which specializes in the production of clean and safe bottled drinking water. This department of the business specializes in purification and bottling of hygienic clean drinking water for distribution and sale to customers. The bottled water comes in a wide array of sizes catering to different consumer needs.
Water supply system management
Affinity Water business assignment also has water engineers ready on standby to handle water engineering concerns. Plumbers and water piping engineers are available 24/7 to handle water related supply emergences and prevent water wastage. They are also responsible for conducting home and site inspections to identify leaks and stop any with the objective of conserving water. The demand for water is growing on a daily basis making it important to manage and also conserve the resource.
Business Model
To analysis Affinity Water business assignment in a better manner, it is critical for a SWOT analysis to be performed which will help determine the Strengths, Weaknesses, and Opportunities and threats the business faces (Osterwalder & Pigneur, 2013). Understanding these aspects will help the business develop a stronger and more effective business model which can be used to encourage business growth in a better manner.
Strengths
Water being a highly demanded commodity ensures water sustainability is a priority for the stakeholders. The high demand has made it important for the business to turn its focus towards managing the resource so as to ensure sustainable production of water which so as to ensure the business continues its operations of distributing water to consumers in future. With high customer demand, Affinity Water business assignment can turn its attention to focusing on other areas such as water catchment management which would ensure constant water supply in future.
Weaknesses
A major concern facing Affinity Water business assignment is related to water management among water consumers. Today more than even people are unable to realize the importance of conserving water which leads to many customers having leaking taps and pipes leading to wastage of water.
This is an area which requires urgent intention and Affinity Water business assignment has put in place a task force and maintenance team who conduct customer visits and perform the repairs to help stop the leaks. Preventing leaks helps reduce wastage of clean water which helps reduce the pressure on the water reservoirs, catchment areas and the system as a whole.
With many customers unwilling to pay for plumbing, Affinity Water business assignment also offers a maintenance team which allows the customer to call for the plumbing service to helps stop the leak o perform some plumbing repair work. Affinity Water business assignment has also begun installing water meters to help reduce water wastage. His move has been met with many mixed reactions since many customers are used to wasting water and with meters they are now expected to pay for their consumption.
Opportunities
Affinity Water business assignment has the opportunity to expand unlimitedly in the industry due to the high demand for water. Today people are also growing health conscious thus leading many to also invest on distilled and reverse osmosis purified bottled water which is areas which Affinity Water business assignment can continue ending in with minimal investment.
Supply of clean water for domestic use continued to also register high demand but the profit margins linked to piped water are considerably lower as compared to bottled water. This makes it more important for the business to focus its attention towards expanding its water purification department which can help generate higher profits and ensure the business rapid development and growth.
Threats
Water is a highly demanded commodity which also attracts attention from competitors to the resources which make it important for Affinity Water business assignment to secure exclusive rights on water catchment areas. Affinity Water business assignment currently only supplies West London leading other water supply companies from other regions eying the water resource which they want to utilize to for themselves.
This makes it important for Affinity Water business assignment to focus their attention towards securing long term water catchments are leased legally and also consider securing a larger catchment area. Pollution and catchment area destruction is another concern which is facing all water management companies today thus it’s important for the business to consider developing suitable approaches linked to preventing pollution of water bodies and catchments and also ensuring the sustainable production of water.
Conclusion
Affinity Water business assignment has registered a major growth rate in the past decade but the company will require implementing some important measures to ensure sustainability. The demand for clean and safe water is increasing and this is placing considerable pressure on the resources. This calls for water companies to develop effective management plans which address sustainability concerns while also keeping customer satisfaction needs in mind. The goals is to ensure Affinity Water business assignment continues registering high rate of success while still ensuring water bodies remain unharmed for the future generation to utilize.
Bibliography
Blowfield, M. (2013). Business and Sustainability. Oxford: OUP Oxford.
Osterwalder, A., & Pigneur, Y. (2013). Business Model Generation: A Handbook for Visionaries, Game Changers, and Challengers. John Wiley & Sons.
Water, A. (2017, August 5). About us. Retrieved August 5, 2017, from Affinity Water business assignment: https://stakeholder.affinitywater.co.uk/about-us.aspx
Water, A. (2017, August 5). Home. Retrieved August 7, 2017, from Affinity Water business assignment: https://www.affinitywater.co.uk/at-home.aspx
