Alashrafy Contracting and Interiors — SME Case Study (UAE)

Al Ashrafy Contracting and Interiors is a company that was established in 2008. Furthermore, it is considered as one of the major pillars of the six companies under the Al Ashrafy group. Alahrafy was founded by Abdulaziz Al Ashrafy, who holds the position of chief executive officer in leading the business with great leadership and deep vision throughout a lifetime of the business.

Al Ashrafy Contracting and Interiors is located in Dubai, Alashrafy Contracting and Interiors Alashrafy Contracting and Interiors mainly Al Barsha. However, this company is one of the leading companies in its industry, despite the fact that it is considered a small business, because the range of the employees working in this company does not exceed 49. Moreover, Al Ashrafy Contracting provides its services for fitting out, which is a term that describes the transformation of interior spaces to be convenient for occupational purposes. Along with this, Al Ashrafy Contracting provides many services within its area of business, including space planning, furniture and accessory selection, custom window and furniture designs, and re-design services. In addition, Alashrafy has very skilled and diverse employees from different nationalities, and it is committed to providing high quality projects within the specified time by the customer, and also with regards to the budget and the expectations of its clients. Furthermore, Alashrafy aims to express its unique identity by delivering its projects that afford a great experience for the customers through the smooth mixture of design and operation. Al Ashrafy Contracting has provided its services for many big companies and

organizations, including Figures 34-35 below

• The Polo Residence
• The Paris Group
• The Hyatt
• The Sheraton

Figures 34-35: The Polo Residence, The Paris Group, The Sheraton & The Hyatt Vision Statement The vision of Al Ashrafy Contracting is to lead the construction and interior design industry by providing integrated solutions for the construction and decoration of green buildings, which is going to be the new structure of the buildings and the future of the construction industry.

The mission of Al Ashrafy Contracting is to offer professional interior design and project management from the beginning of the process until the last stage of delivery. In addition, Al Ashrafy Contracting offers its customers an integrated design, including putting the concept of the design from the beginning to the end, and a design package that consists of executive panels and animations of the building or property prior to starting the work.

Organizational Structure

Al Ashrafy operates by a hierarchical structure and consists of 11 departments and 30 employees. The chart

below represents the organizational structure

Adminatartion Department Sr. Document Controller Document Controller Admin Officer Commercial Manager

Asst.

Estimation Manger Estimator QS Store Keeper Admin Exective Receptionist Drivers Office Assistant Commercial Department Product Development LaCucina/Retail Development Manager Contract Manager Sales Manager Asst. Sales Manager Safety Manager Planning Engineer Qc Incharger Qc Inspector Contracts Department Sales & Marketing HSe Commercial CEO Planning Depaertment Quality Control Procurement Department Project Department Production Department Maintenance Incharger Production Manager Assistant Manager Prodduction Supervisor Dispatch Team Production Workforce Technician Head of Projects Asst. Design Manger Project Manger Sr. Project Engineer Site Engineer Project Supervisor Project Workforce Technical Coordinator Draftman Procurement Manager Procurement Officer Figure 36: This chart was provided by Al Ashrafy Contracting after a special request

Abdulaziz Alashrafy Mr. Abdulaziz Alashrafy graduated in 2015 from the United States with a bachelor’s degree in financial management. He is currently the chief executive officer and leads the business. In addition, he has a diverse team from different nationalities that cooperates with him to run the business. It is obviously surprising that he is working in such a position close to graduation, but the reason behind this is that it is a family business.

At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the business witnessed a drop in its operations due to the shutdown. However, the company used the advantage of the technology as many organizations do. Some employees continued to work from a distance during the shutdown in order to finish the paperwork, like finalizing the accounts, bills and working on designs projects they have had earlier. At the same time, the CEO continued to communicate with the head of the departments using technology platforms, such as meeting applications like Zoom and Google Meet. However, the company did not downsize the number of the employees as many companies and organizations did with regards to reducing the costs. Instead, Al Ashrafy Contracting decided to provide leaves to workers within the balance of their annual paid leave and the application of distance working in order to reduce the costs. At the same time, one of the main reasons the company did not choose to reduce the number of the employees is the cost; the company invested at the beginning in training its employees, and these employees now know exactly what is required of them. After putting these factors into consideration, the company found out that in case of layoffs, it would be very costly to get new employees and start the process from the beginning.

Al Ashrafy Contracting provides its services with perfection and accuracy in its high quality interior design services. These services include planning spaces for residential buildings and commercial projects as well.

Al Ashrafy services include

• Space planning.
• Planning for the concept driven by the customer’s

convenience.

• Providing paintings that are important for the

designs.

• Providing different designs to match all different

tastes of clients.

• Providing animations for their designs and 3-D

pictures for a comprehensive view in case the customer seeks to make any changes.

• Providing a luxurious touch to their style of work.
• Providing consultations for the customers.
• Supervising the work during the implementation

phase of the designs.

In order to gain the best outcomes while implementing the design, Alahrafy takes care of all details, addresses all aspects of the project and pays attention to different lightning forms. Altogether, Alashrafy Contracting starts the design project with its clients from scratch until the final phase with the aim of providing the best results and bringing the dreams of customers into reality.

One of the main strategies followed by Al Ashrafy Contracting is the teamwork strategy. Al Ashrafy implements this strategy as the team is considered one of the main elements of the success of any work in any department within the company. In addition to this, cooperative teamwork of Al Ashrafy has been translated into the contribution of the competitive strategy of the company among other companies in the industry.

Without a doubt, the team followed a special process in order to support its business strategy by using the best means to manage resources and excel in the implementation of the business assigned, focusing on the quality of the work and leaving distractions behind.

Furthermore, Al Ashrafy Contracting implemented the growth strategy. This strategy is one of the most important for any business, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic, as this strategy involves the processes and alternative strategies that can be implemented in case of any external environmental changes. For instance, Al Ashrafy Contracting implements a growth strategy with the aim of employing surplus financial returns in order to increase the size of the company and increase its annual profits.

One of the most effective operational strategies adopted by Al Ashrafy Contracting is the continuous process improvement. These improvements include management, financial and human resources activities and processes. In order to do this, Al Ashrafy follows

several steps including

• Identifying customer requirements, needs, and

expectations.

• Making sure that those requirements are met and

satisfy customer’s needs.

3.

Identifying the aspects that influence the performance of the operation.

• Understanding the relationship between inputs and

outputs for the process.

• Applying methods of performance management.

Al Ashrafy also adopts several operational strategies

which include

• Continuous improvement and development of new

services.

• Managing the inventory.
• Developing employee competencies.
• Developing competitive priorities.
• Establishing new policies.

• The first marketing strategy adopted by Al Ashrafy

Contracting is determining the niche. In this case, the company targets clients who look for quality and mainly luxury in regards to interior design.

• Al Ashrafy Contracting optimizes its business

pages on social media. The company is close to its customers by having pages on many platforms on social media, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn etc.

• Al

Ashrafy Contracting implements email marketing. At a time where email marketing is a powerful tool to reach customers, Al Ashrafy Contracting sends emails to potential customers with special offers and samples of latest projects done by the company.

In addition, I will discuss the four P’s of marketing within the context of Al Ashrafy Contracting and how the company applies them.

The four P’s are

• Price
• Product
• Place
• Promotion

¡ Price Pricing is a challenge for many companies in the service sector. It is very tough to just set a price, as if the design company went with low prices for its design, it will attract the customers but their efforts will not be rewarded precisely. On the contrary, if the design company went with high prices for its design, the company might end up losing the customer. In this context, Al Ashrafy Contracting prepares prices with regards to the ability of customer payment. In addition, as the company offers superior service with modern design for high class clients, the clients of Al Ashrafy Contracting are mostly prepared to pay for the superior quality of the service provided by the company.

¡ Product Al Ashrafy Company provides several services. I will

briefly list the services

• Interior consultancy.
• Project management.
• Project contracting.
• Space planning.
• Concept design.
• Civil works.
• Finishing work.

¡ Place As location is an important pillar for marketing, Al Ashrafy Contracting is located in the heart of Dubai, particularly in Jumeirah, where specific customers the company aims to attract can easily find and reach the office of the company to receive service. It also maintains virtual spaces in its office in order to show the customers a close image of work.

¡ Promotion Promotion is to communicate the product and provide the information needed to customers.

Al Ashrafy Contracting communicates its services to the

customers or potential customers through

• Internet (website).
• Social media.
• Sending focused emails only to the targeted

groups of customers.

One of the most serious challenges is the customer.

Sometimes the client’s lack of engineering information, the frequent interference in the design and making modifications do not fit with the required architectural and aesthetic blanks. This leads to a design that does not follow a certain pattern or design which is not suitable for the location or harmonious with the rest of the design. In addition, the company faces a challenge in collecting money from its clients. Some customers have financial problems and others just procrastinate in paying for different reasons, which leads to serious challenges for the company.

Other challenges faced by the company include

• Scheduling and time management.
• Recruiting the right people.
• Managing client expectations.

Overcoming Such Challenges One of the most effective ways to deal with the fickle client is to be a good listener before starting the design process and try as much as possible to understand the client’s preferences and requirements, which will save effort and time in agreeing the design with the place and the client’s desires. Consequently, the chances of conflict between the approved and proposed design will decrease.

In addition to this, have no less than three suggestions for the designs and to study them well with the customer before obtaining their initial approval for the design. Then review it again to make sure that there are no changes or make the suggested modifications if any. After that, customers can take the final approval on the designs before the beginning of implementation.

In my opinion, there is more than one way to get the deferred payments from the customers which will be

discussed as follows

• Calling the customer periodically or visiting with

them to remind them of debts to the company while stopping any new processes so that the debts do not accumulate and increase.

• Informing the customer that if they pay the price

of the service in cash directly, they may obtain an additional service with a discount or for free to encourage them to pay cash immediately.

In any case, I personally do not prefer to sell on credit, but sometimes it is necessary, and therefore the sales representative must be careful and diplomatic enough to ensure the collection of the debt, while following up with the customer by phone through the customer service department.

Other Ways to Overcome Challenges

• Encouraging clients to take risks.
• Matching design/style to the client’s needs.
• Using My Design Finder website to get style and

decor ideas.

• One of the best practices by Al Ashrafy Contracting

is merging the old with the new. Al Ashrafy Contracting is unique in its industry, as it provides designs that contain the taste of old fashioned designs (classic) with the presence of new digital touches. This gives the company a competitive advantage to serve wider segments of customers.

• Another successful practice is branding and

building reputation.

Al Ashrafy Contracting succeeded in creating a name that represents the culture and the quality of the service provided by the company.

• Another successful practice is maintaining a

culture of innovation. For instance, the majority of the interior design business requires any company in this field to be innovative in order to be up- to-date with regards to modern trends in new designs. Furthermore, when the workers work in an innovative place, they are more likely to be comfortable and ready to produce innovative work.

Among the problems and failed practices is that the design is not in line with the human need. Some interior designers make these mistakes, but not all. Sometimes the design is totally dependent on artistic creativity and not interacting with the needs of the human being in that environment that surrounds them, as it ignores the nature of human behavior and needs.

By the early stages of the company, it was providing its services to a wider segment of customers, while over time, the company decided to target a specific niche and specific segments of customers who look for the luxurious and modern designs. This has led to maximizing the efforts of the company by putting more focus on this group of customers. In addition, the company used to receive projects only in the UAE, but over time and after building a good reputation in its industry, the company started to receive projects from outside of the country from customers who look for the quality of the work and the luxurious touch of the designs. I believe that this success was achieved after gaining experience in the work and attracting talented employees to help in the growth process of the company, which is not expected of every organization from the beginning. I believe that it takes some time to gain that experience. At the beginning, just like any other company, the company did not have that experience to deal with clients who do not know what they want exactly. Afterward, the company gained enough knowledge to deal with such customers by providing several designs to the customers that might serve their tastes.

• I recommend the company to depend on its work

with engineers who have sufficient experience and efficiency to produce work at a high level of quality, which affects the provision of good work to the client that matches their requirements and taste.

• I recommend the company offers customers good

offers and prices that are appropriate with the volume of work and the materials used in it.

• I recommend the company outsource some

activities, as it is cost effective and takes less time in some cases, which solves big problems.

• I also recommend the company gets close with

customers in order to know what they want exactly before even they ask for it. This could be achieved through surveys or interacting with the customers on social media, for example.

I have learned while doing this case study about Al Ashrafy Contracting a great knowledge about this company and how it operates to achieve its goals and customer satisfaction as well. In addition, I have learned that any company has failed practices no matter how successful the company is, because failure is the first step of success. Moreover, I have also learned that even if you were a perfect leader and you have a precise vision, there might be external, environmental factors that may surprise you and ruin your plans. So, as a leader you have to be adaptive and flexible in order to deal with the challenges that might arise, like COVID-19, which is one of the biggest challenges that faces most organizations in the world.

In conclusion, Al Ashrafy Contracting and Interior Design is a successful company and produces great service for its customers. In this case study, I have mentioned and discussed many points with regards to this company, while I faced some limitations of limited information and resources. In addition, I have discussed the challenges faced by the company and provided ways and recommendations on how to overcome these challenges. In addition, it is necessary to study such companies in order to gain knowledge of how interior design companies perform in the service sector and also to understand what practices companies in the service sector apply in emergency crises such as COVID-19.

During this case study, I worked on collecting information about Al Ashrafy Contracting and how it performs in the service sector. A credit also goes to the sales manager at Al Ashrafy Contracting, Hamza Alnabhan, who communicated with me and provided necessary information about the company.