NUTRISYSTEMS, INC

NutriSystems, Inc

NutriSystems, Inc

Introduction

Nutrisystem is a company that is involved in the production of those products that are used for weight reduction. Initially this company was doing business with the alliance of retail stores that were involved in weight loss products and food based weight reduction counseling. After that in 1999 Nutrisystem started penetrating the consumers directly through Internet, with the help of QVC television home shopping network and through retail outlets. In 2008, the company began marketing its programs in Canada through Nutrisystem Canada. In September 2009, Nutrisystem extended its marketplace into Japan through a licensing agreement with House Foods International managed through the House Foods Web site and by phone. In October 2009, the company prolonged its domestic reach by aligning with Wal-Mart Stores Inc. for a retail store presence. Clients shopping there may now purchase a starter program in the pharmacy area of the local stores. This research paper will discuss a general approach for thinking about NutriSystem's organizational functioning and a process for using a model to analyze organizational problems. This research identifies the four input categories of NutriSystems and explains why these are critical. The inputs at NutriSystems, consisting of organizational environment factors, internal resource factors, historical tradition factors, and the organization's mission (Nadler , 1980).

Discussion and Analysis

Within fields that focus on NutriSystem's organizational phenomena, organizational behavior is closest to human resources (HR) and organizational development (OD). These areas examine individual and group behavior within the organization. HR and OD are concerned with organizational concepts, models, and interventions, and are more applied and focused in their scope. Organizational behavior, in contrast, typically relies on a more multidisciplinary approach that leads to more theoretical, rather than practical, contributions to the organizations literature. Nutrisystem's Organizational behavior examines the behavior of individuals, groups, organizations, and groups of organizations using psychological, sociological, and economic theoretical perspectives. Just as, social psychology research can be parsed into intra-individual processes (attitudes; cognition) and interpersonal processes, organizational behavior typically is parsed into macro and micro factions. Macro organizational behavior draws more heavily from sociological theories and examines organizational issues with less emphasis on the individual actors and more on structure, rules, and institutions. Micro organizational behavior, draws more heavily from psychological theories with greater attention to individual, dyadic, and group processes (Nadler , 1980).

In order to identify the key input factors from each of the four input categories, an important distinctive, feature of the NutriSystem's perspective compared to resource dependence and contingency theories has been to extend the analysis beyond organizations to a higher level by introducing the notion of organizational field. The resource dependence perspective, preliminary built on the external environmental focus in contingency theory, but also drew upon earlier coalitional views and work on intraorganizational power. Whilst structural-contingency theory emphasized the consequences of information-processing demands faced by organizations, the resource dependence perspective focused on problems of resource acquisition and the interdependencies that they generated. NutriSystem confronted not only the problem of adapting to environmental changes but also that of dealing with external ...