Research Articles Base: Case Study Analysis

A Case Study Analysis Of Boutique Hotel

Case Study Analysis: Boutique Hotel Introduction             With the stiff competition in the marketplace, different business and organizations are trying to reinvent themselves to provide the specific needs of the people.  In this regard, service industries or more commonly known as boutique hotel are able to establish different types of providing business to specific customers. One of the emerging businesses in the market environment is boutique hotel. Accordingly, boutique hotels provide different approach in providing services to their clients. Herein, the hotels tend to provide unique experiences to their clients than the traditional hotel services. However, even if boutique hotels seem to have greater potentials, there are still some factors and issues that affect the entire operation of this industry. Primarily, the goal of this paper is to analyze the operational challenges linked with developing new boutique hotels and to determine how boutique hotels can maintain consistent/standard level of service without compromising their unique/personalized service mission. Operational Challenges Boutique Hotel             Commonly known as the lifestyle hotels, boutique hotels vary in sizes and shape; but, all lifestyle hotels heavily rely on creative energy as well as highly customized service to compete in the entire hotel industry.  Furthermore, boutique hotels aim on providing unique and unforgettable experience for guests and it can also be both enjoyable and profitable. However, there are still some challenges which boutique hotel may encounter.             One of the challenges faced by the boutique hotel is in terms of the tremendous amount of investment needed. Since boutique hotels aims on providing unique services and experience for their clients, the new boutique hotels may have difficulties in identifying which specific target to be given services. Psychographics can be considered to help the management determine the specific target to be given their unique services.             Moreover, another operational challenges faced by boutique hotel is in terms of being creative to provide unique services for their target market. Accordingly, since competition in boutique hotel is very stiffly, the management need to constantly improve their business and as well as service management skills, keep up with new changing trends within the lifestyle hotels, and develop good business contacts as well as partnerships to ensure stronger market demands (Galliard, 1998).   Access to the company resources are needed to be able can assist hotel operators with market/industry research, service offering development and improving standards, professional training as well as education for their employees.   This development, the management can be able to increase revenues and profit for boutique hotel operators; foster sustainable, high quality and unique experience across the hotel, increase the capability of these resort operators to be globally competitive (Zeithamal, 1990).             Lastly, another operational challenge of the boutique hotel is in line with maximizing their profit. Since lifestyle hotels tend to be more expensive than ordinary hotels, customers are mostly hesitant to have this unique experience. In this regard, the management are being pressured to ensure that they only give satisfying services and unique experiences to their customers to ensure that they will be considering repeat purchase. Learning from Mass Customization Being able to ensure that different companies are able to provide specific needs of the clients, the management of the company is trying to make their products more personalized and customized (Griffin & Herres 2002). Mass customization is now the latest trend in this industry and major companies are trying to adhere to this trend because they wanted to gain loyal customers. Through mass customization of products, different industries, even in the service industries has been able to put extra effort to ensure that they provide more personalized service to offer.  The lessons that can be learned from mass customization are it allows the business to have more satisfied clients. Mass customization of products like for example what telecommunications and computer companies have done paved the way for hotel industries to do the same in customizing the services provided on their clients. In line with the service industries, like boutique hotel, the management is able to learn from mass customization in a way that they provide specific needs of clients in line with their lifestyles. In order to achieve customer satisfaction, the boutique hotel has been able to consider individual customer demands and needs. As every customer need varies from one to another, customization is very essential. In applying customization, two factors must be taken into account. First, one must consider whether customization is possible based on the services’ characteristics and delivery systems. Second, one must determine the amount of judgment that can be exercised by the customer contact personnel in defining the nature of service individual customers receive in the boutique hotel. This is necessary as some service concepts are standardized while others are able to provide various alternatives and options (Newsome, 2000). Some types of services do not only require a high level of customization but also needs customer contact personnel to deliver the services to the customers. This type of service provision is also known as prescriptive in the hotel industries, where the focus of control is transferred from the customers to the provider. Professional services of the boutique hotel are included in this category. These service industries need to have sufficient education and training so as to satisfy individual customer needs. This is one of the reasons why different studies on service industry pertains to the interaction between the service provider and the customer as this relation determines the degree of customer satisfaction. This in particular is applicable to the boutique hotel (Mariger and Miller, 1999). Maintaining Standards in Boutique Hotel In general, boutique hotel should be able to involved planning, organizing directing and regulating human and material resources to be able to maintain consistent and standard level of service. The boutique hotel calls for the requirements to provide a suitable environment in order to deliver standard and consistent services efficiently. Hence, this means that most boutique hotel must allocate considerable investments in terms of their architectural designs and also the way they provide quality service to their clients. Aside from this the management of boutique hotel should also consider customer satisfaction by providing the needs of the clients with regards to their demographic and psychographic aspects. According to (Min, Min, Chung, 2002), service industries, specifically in boutique hotel are dependent on the contact as well as the reception they receive from the customers. Hence, boutique hotel staffs must have a certain degree of availability towards the clients, a substantial margin of initiative and a strong sense personal responsibility to maintain consistent and standard level of providing service.  In a boutique hotel, employees in fact serve as a mediator between the clientele and the structure of the industry. This role is very much significant in obtaining the desired results of both the customers and the business, specifically in customization of their services. In satisfying the wishes of the customers, the ethical and psychological factors must also be involved among boutique hotel staffs. There is considerable evidence that clients appreciate actual interaction with people; thus, the treatment clients should receive from service providers must be different from what they receive on daily routines. Key Issues Identification Based on the analysis of the case with regards to boutique hotel, the five key issues that will be given emphasis include the following: Marketing challenges issues of boutique hotel based on the study conducted by Kandampully and Suhartanto (2000) with regards to the customer satisfaction.  In this article it helps hotel industries to extend knowledge on the relationship between loyalty, satisfaction and image of the company. The second issue that can be considered is the issue of brand loyalty and brand image which is noted in the article by Tepeci (1999). Herein, the article provides recommendation on how to improve the brand image of the hotel industries.  The next issue that must be considered is with regards to the service management to ensure customer retention providing in hotel industries like boutique hotel which is studied in the article by Barnett (2005).  In addition, another key issue that has been noted in the case includes the service quality of the boutique hotel. Herein, such aspect was considered in the study of Ladhari (2009). And lastly, another issue that should be considered is about the service experience and service designs which is considered as essential in boutique hotels which was highlighted in the article by Zehrer (2009). Conclusion             Indeed, boutique hotel faces different problems and issues which should be given attention. The emergence of this kind of hotel service are not being the trend in the market and they must identify better business approach to achieve competitive advantage. Reference Galliard, Flora (1998). The hospitality industry. (career opportunities) Industry Reports). The Black Collegian Mariger, H, & Miller, J, 1999, Distance education evaluation: the next step, Proceedings of the 4thannual graduate education and graduate students’ research conference in hospitality and tourism, USA, 4, 428-437 Min, H., Min, H. & Chung, K. (2002). Dynamic benchmarking of hotel service       quality. Journal of Service Marketing, 16(4), 302-321 Newsome, D. (2000). Think Small One Customer at a Time, One Associate at a Time. Business Perspectives, 12(4), 20. Tepeci, M (1999). Increasing brand loyalty in the hospitality industry. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management. Volume: 11 Issue: 5 Page: 223 – 230   Zeithaml, V 1990, In D. Bowen, Service Management Effectiveness: Balancing Strategy, Organization and Human Resources, Operations and Marketing (pp. 369-381), Jossey-Bass, Inc. Publishing. Bibliography Jay Kandampully, Dwi Suhartanto (2000).  Customer loyalty in the hotel industry: the role of customer satisfaction and image. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management Volume: 12 Issue: 6, 346 – 351   Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

A Case Study Analysis Of Boutique Hotel

Case Study Analysis: Boutique Hotel Introduction With the stiff competition in the marketplace, different business and orga...

Case Study On Fiat Auto and General Motors Alliance

Case Study: Fiat Auto and General Motors  Introduction             The economic crisis and other factors, affect different companies in the global market and automotive industries are not exempted. In order to cope with economic problems within the industry, different companies try to find the most efficient ways to save the company and one of these is through the consideration of merging or going into alliance. In alliance, both companies pursue strategic fit to compliment organisational approaches setting the stage for potential strategic synergy (De Kluyver, 2000). However, it is inopportune that there is no clear evidence that supports the value of strategic fit in mergers (Chatterje et al., 1992). In addition, research shows that there is a relatively high risk in having an alliance or joint venture as between 55%-70% mergers and acquisitions are unable to meet the anticipated purpose (Carleton, 1997).             Primarily, the goal of this paper is to analyse the alliance the happened between Fiat Auto, an Italian car manufacturer and General Motors (GM), a US-based automotive industry.  The analysis will consider the use of marketing analysis tools such as Porters Five Forces Analysis. In addition, this will also analyse the problems and issues facing the alliance of both companies and provide recommendation to solve the problems faced. Overview of the Case study: Problems and Issues             The case was about the merging or the strategic and industrial alliance set and established by Fiat Auto and General Motors in order to expand their business in the global market, particularly in North America for Fiat and Italy for General motors and the rest of the world. In this alliance, General Motors have obtained 20% share to expand their business in European market and Latin market, while Fiat obtained 5.1% stake in the General Motors. The strategic and industrial alliance seems to meet the objectives of the company but because of the economic crisis in various parts of the globe and external factors like the terrorist attacks in 9/11, both industries suffered big loss affecting not only their business operations but also the strategic alliance built by the two industries. Fiat auto try to regain their business by proposing to GM in which the latter rejected. One of the problems that can be attributed with this alliance is that, the alliance made was considered to be allies in costs only but will still remain competitors in the market, specifically in Europe and Latin America.  Hence, such aspects affects the entire partnerships since both companies are still trying to compete with each other in spite of their agreement.             In addition, another problem that can be considered in this alliance is the inability of both companies to provide support for the other. Since the objective of the alliance is to be just partnered in costs, and stay competitors, industries that are being left behind could not ask support for the other company, which happened when Fiat is having financial problems and General Motors did not even bother to take a step of helping them by providing financial supports.               Aside from this, it can be noted that the management of both industries, though agreed on a partnership are seen to be not acting as allied or partners. Both companies have different aims and objectives, without knowing that this might affect their partners in some aspects. Both companies are in the middle of economic crisis in each industry, since both are experiencing profit loss. Each company have been able to do what they can to solve the problems like Fiat Auto have tried to relaunch and restructure their business to solve the issue. On one hand, General motors are trying to layoff and cost cut to save the industry from total loss.  In this regard, it is essential that such issues and gap between the two companies should be given consideration and resolved immediately to avoid further problems.   Porter’s Five Force Model Globalisation and the advent of information technology are at the core of the auto and car industries operation in this generation. Automotive industries like Fiat and General Motors e should embrace efficiency as well as innovativeness to be able to ensure continuous existence as well as maintain competitive advantage. In addition, strategic alliance is also considered with the aim on expanding the business in the global market (Porter, 1996). This part will analyse the alliance with the consideration of the Porter’s Five Forces Model. New Market Entrants VERY LOW             In the Five forces model, the first factor to be given consideration is the threat of new entrance of new automotive industries.  With the strategic of globally competitive industries like Toyota, Honda, Ford, General Motors and even Fiat, , the threats of entry in the automotive industry is noted to be very low. Based on the case study provided, the threats of new entrants for a new automotive industry is very low since a new auto industries will need more financial resources as well as capital investment to be able to continue the business. In addition, these new industries also need high proprietary technology to manufacture and offer new and innovative automobile/cars  that will compete in the existing automobile models made by the mentioned industries. Aside from this, the economic crisis and the industrial competition also makes the threat of new entrants to be very low since most of the existing companies have strong brand identification such as the brands of GM and Fiat. Supplier Power (VERY HIGH)             The current economic conditions as well as system of the auto industries which General Motors and Fiat Auto belongs, largely determine the level in which strong and effective competition can be attained.  In the automobile market, it can be said that suppliers have very high. The high level of the supplier power is due to the existence of large number of suppliers in the global market with a few numbers of manufacturers. In this regard, suppliers have the power to control the price of the raw materials needed by the car companies. In the case study, it is said that Fiat supplier has very low power of over Fiat, in spite of the financial problems faced by the company.             Accordingly, the power of suppliers of auto industries is very high as it also has the power to the affect organisational performance of the company like in the case of Fiat or General Motors. The reason for this is that, when the price of the raw materials increases in the global market, it can give additional cost for auto industries. Power of Buyers HIGH The buying power of clients in terms of immediate effect is very high in auto industries. Like what happened in Fiat and General Motors, in which both companies are facing problems of declining and decreasing sales of their automobile brands. One of the rationales for this aspect is because of the high brand loyalty of different automotive clients to brands such as Toyota, Honda, Ford and the prestige of other brands like Porsche. Moreover, since there is a strong product differentiation on the car manufactured and produced by the auto and car industries, the buyers or the clients have the power to choose which car or automobiles suit their needs.       The factors influencing the clients to buy or purchase specific brand of car includes the appearance, quality, price and environmental aspects. In this time of economic crisis and because of the terrorist’s attacks, car companies like Fiat’s and GM’s sales have been affected because of the decline of sales of their cars and automobiles. Furthermore, since there are many existing auto and car industries, clients have more options to select the most affordable, efficient but with good quality cars.   Availability of Substitutes (VERY HIGH) In line with the substitute products, the auto and car industries are facing very high substitutes due to the existence of different transportation means including trains, buses and other land transportation vehicles. Hence, this force is very relative and this force highly depends on the price as well as performance of different automobile. If availability of substitute is being considered, it is essential that total cost of ownership should be given consideration as well. Hence, this indicates that considering purchase price is not enough and auto and car industries should also consider the operating costs for their manufactured cars. In case of GM and Fiata, the alliance of the company is said to not helping both the industries from the start, since they still remain competitive (Rindova & Fombrun, 1999) in spite of their alliance. This means that the product of Fiata can be considered as a substitute and threat for the cars of General Motors.   Competitive Rivalry (VERY HIGH) The market environment in the auto and car industries is considered to be very high. It can be said that there are various factors which keep auto industries to be the most competitive industries in the global operations. One of these is due to the price competition. It can be noted that there is an oligopoly in both national and global level. Companies like Fiat and General Motors, do not compete on price but they compete in brands and in customer loyalty.  All car industries have established high quality as well as strong brands which makes the competition more intense, specifically in terms of their loyal clients. IN the case of Fiat and General Motors, the company still competes in the European and Latin market where each has strong position. The two companies compete on features, as they realize that the price based competition would not benefit either.  With the development of foreign trade, the rivalry has also increased. Moreover, the competition is high because of the large number of customers.   SWOT Analysis             Based on the given case, the Fiat Auto and General Motors will be analysed through SWOT Analysis. For this, the analysis was based on the case study provided, hence, both general motors and Fiat auto are analysed as one. Table 1 General Motors and Fiat Auto SWOT Analysis 		Strengths 		Weaknesses 		Ø  		One of the strengths of General Motors and 		Fiat Auto are their size and the market share which have been possible 		because of their global strategies. 		Ø  		The company has also technological potentials 		to provide new models for automotive and meet changing needs of the 		consumers. 		Ø  		The company takes into consideration of 		quality improvement to stay competitive in the market place. 		  		Ø  		General Motors and Fiat lacks the ability to 		make their technology work at its best to benefit the auto industries. 		Ø  		The vertical integration and their 		bureaucratic culture and approach of the company can also be attributed 		as one of their weaknesses 		Ø  		Inability of the management to give efficient 		value to their global partners and alliances. 		  		Opportunities 		Threats 		Ø  		The use of knowledge which can be gained from 		the experiences of other competitive rivals. 		Ø  		Expansion on the global market presence with 		their European models and consideration of other global partners. 		 		Ø  		Continuous establishment of the newfound 		customer confidence 		Ø  		Changing customer needs and demands for new 		models of cars, 		  		Ø  		Global competition and the existence of 		competitors that can easily manage the global crisis. 		Ø  		Economic crisis that is felt in the global 		market. 		Ø  		Changing federal and government legislation 		and regulation. 		Ø  		Inability to consider strategic decision 		making when it comes to having global partnerships and alliance. 		 		    Recommendation             It can be said that the automobile sector is the considered as one of the major industrial employer in the world today (Williams 2003, p. 52). However, it should be noted also that the global environment, specifically the economic crisis and other factors like terrorist attacks appears to be the most visible challenge for these industries (Smith 2001, p.1). Companies like General Motors and Fiat Auto seems to face huge problems and have seen their stock market and investment valuations fell and dropped by nearly 65% in the past five years. In addition, the case also noted that both companies’ profits have been similarly shrinking when these industries were badly hit by the economic crisis. To make the problem worsen, continuing uncertainty about the global economy has seen customer and client confidence badly affected (Williams 2003, p. 52). In this regard, both Fiat and General Motors call for a more sustainable model in market success (Smith 2001, p.1).              In this regard, in order to solve the issue for both companies, General Motors and Fiat should consider strategic change and reconsider their alliance to make strong impact in the market.  Herein, the management of both companies should be able to continue the alliance and have common objective to stay competitive in the global market. Herein, the management should have an agreement of having combined business operation, to ensure global sales volume. Such will enable both companies to provide much wider and innovative product lines throughout Europe and North America and other parts of the globe. In addition, creating strong brands under the names of both GM and Fiat will also compensate for the lack of competitive automotives in the market.  To avoid being the object of unfriendly takeover strikes, General Motors and Fiat Auto can also make their bonds and their alliances tighter to make the company become more competitive worldwide.               Furthermore, both companies can also considered strategic changes by restructuring the management and their business approach by considering different aspects.  First, the business decisions in having strategic and industrial alliance must complement the business strategy in other functional areas of the industries. Second, the management of GM and Fiat should follow the same aims and be mutually supportive with each other as part of the agreement. In addition, the steps taken must also be comprehensive as well as thorough to generate a substantial impact which includes the improvement of the cost situation over the long term. Lastly, the actions and alliance of Fiat and General Motors must be stringently applied and constantly monitored to ensure success. Reference: Carleton, R.J. (1997), “Cultural due diligence’’, Training, Vol. 34, pp. 67-80. Chatterje, S., Lubatkin, M.H., Schweiger, D.M. and Weber, Y. (1992), “Cultural differences and shareholder value in related mergers: linking equity and human capital’’, Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 13, pp. 319-34. De Kluyver, C.A. (2000). Strategic Thinking. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Porter, M.E. (1996). What is Strategy? Harvard Business Review, 74(6), 61-78. Rindova, P. & Fombrun, J. (1999). Constructing competitive advantage: The role of firm-constitute interaction. Strategic Management Journal, 20, 691-710. Smith, B 2001, ‘On Sustainable Mobility – automotive industry on the brink of a change’, Automotive Manufacturing & Production, July, p. 1.  Retrieve October 9, 2009. Williams, S 2003, ‘A World Industry’, The Middle East, December, p. 52.   Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

Case Study On Fiat Auto and General Motors Alliance

Case Study: Fiat Auto and General Motors Introduction The economic crisis and other factors, affect different companies in...

Maintaining Leadership Position in the Quick-Casual Restaurant Sector: the case of Panera Bread

Maintaining Leadership Position in the Quick-Casual Restaurant Sector: the case of Panera Bread     Market leadership and survival is among the most sought-after goals of every Company particularly those that operate in a dynamic and competitive business environment. Considering the presence of various global trends affecting companies, it is but necessary to come up and maintain a business feature that serves as an ultimate advantage. Panera Bread, one of the quickly expanding bakery-café across America is unquestionably performing at its best and can be considered as successful. This is due to its competitive product-service features that are rooted on its commitment to advocate its corporate mission – “A loaf of bread in every arm”. The Company’s success is credited on its unique product offerings (i.e. the Bakery Menu – freshly baked breads, bagels, baked egg soufflés and pastries and sweets and the Café Menu – sandwiches, soups, hand-tossed salads, beverages and the Panera Kids™ menu), highly qualified and trained bakers and other workers that maintain a quality bakery-café operations, the café design, and strategic locations of its cafes. Practically, the Company has established its competitive advantages against its rivals in the casual restaurant sector. The management and its leaders just need to focus on maintaining and improving its existing core competencies by paying particular attention on emerging trends in the restaurant industry, customer trends and satisfaction, and overall service quality. Indeed, Panera Bread is an industry leader in quick-casual restaurant sector. In order to maintain this corporate standing, the management should create strategies that will address the emerging trends in the niche market such as customers’ demand on better quality food, better service, and better food safety; innovations in food preparation and service; the coming out of one-product concept; healthier menu options; economic factors like wages and labor costs; rapid business expansion; and others. Strategy formulation and execution is concentrated among upper management members and managers (Hitt et al., 2003). The unique features of the Company must be proliferated. While it is true that Panera Bread takes pride on handcrafted, fresh-baked, and artisan bread, the Company should also focus on unmatched and innovative product-service offerings. The identified emerging trends that can significantly affect the Company should be considered primarily because they serve as potent source of solutions or business opportunities.  In relation to the identified conditions, customers’ trends and demands must be recognized by Panera Bread. This can also be a promising opportunity in the development of product-service offerings. According to Wight (1999), the central attribute of service companies is the interaction between the customers and the Company itself. The marketer (Company) and the customer are the most important participants in a marketing process. The customers, aside from the product or service, are among the most significant stakeholders in profit and nonprofit organization. Customers’ needs and demands are the source of entrepreneurial function. Panera Bread should then identify the needs and demands of the targeted customers. Considerations include several factors like demographics, socio-cultural, and economic among others. For example, the sudden shift of majority of American population to healthy products and services is an important customer trend that Panera Bread and its management should take into further attention. Although the Company’s products are considerably healthy, the management must work on product innovation based on the current and varied customers’ needs and demands. Furthermore, Panera Bread belongs to the service industry. Knod and Schonberger (2001) aver service industry must successfully address the challenges of industry and global competition through understanding that survival and success is dependent upon the ability to reconstruct business operations to obtain quality standards, time- and cost-effective delivery, and secured services. The development of overall service quality is relative to the nature of Company’s management, its core product-service offerings, its standards, marketer and customer relationships, change management, and many more. More often than not, the way in which a Company provides or delivers its products or services, aside from the product or services itself is evaluated by the customers. Since Panera Bread is a member of the quick-casual restaurant sector, service quality is expected to be highly commendable and at its maximum delivery. All in all, Panera Bread is undoubtedly holds a significant position in the quick-casual restaurant sector. There are numerous core competencies that the Company and its management can be proud of especially its product-service offerings. What the management needs to do is to enhance the existing beneficial attributes and focus on the emerging trends in the restaurant industry, customer trends and satisfaction, and overall service quality.   References   Hitt, MA, Ireland, RD, and Hoskisson, RE (2003) Strategic Management: Competitiveness and Globalization (5th edn), South-Western, Singapore   Knod, E and Schonberger, R (2001) Operations Management: Meeting Customers’ Demands (7th Edition), McGraw-Hill Irwin, Boston, MA   Wight, JN (1999) The Management of Service Operations, Cassell   Publication, London   Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

Maintaining Leadership Position in the Quick-Casual Restaurant Sector: the case of Panera Bread

Maintaining Leadership Position in the Quick-Casual Restaurant Sector: the case of Panera Bread Market leadership and survival is...

Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory : A Case Study Analysis

Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory   Introduction             In this fast-paced growing of industries and with the intense level of competition in the global arena business firms are trying to climb the peak of global success. Millions of industries with multiple variances of products and services thrive to create and adapt competitive strategies in order to stay atop in the race. One important factor to consider when venturing into a global space is the global awareness of pervasive changes in different realms of reality that exists.             The Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, Inc, started from a medium, low-cost business, however, because of management skills founded on experience and leadership of courage and determination, the small business grows rapidly. The chocolate business attracts customers for two major reasons and the its eventual rapid growth identified in the case study: (1) health benefits from the antioxidants in chocolate and (2) placement of products in mass-market channels. These two major reasons showed a significant role in the rapid growth of the chocolate factory. Such benefits not only on providing a healthy lifestyle but of sharing the business to interested parties through franchising, made the chocolate business’ growth blossomed. Analysis on Case Study             Upon reading the case on chocolate factory, there were several points which are important to note as significant in the growth and rapid development of the company.             First, the systematic process of producing high quality products grounded on its philosophy of “The Peak of Perfection in Handmaid Chocolate” sustains consumers’ respect, product appreciation, and attraction. Moreover, the use of “finest chocolates and ingredients” produce high quality of products and “best taste experience.             Second, marketing mix and manufacturing operations are two important factors which for company’s productivity. Marketing mix includes feasibility study on products positioning, accessibility, strategic location, and store design. While manufacturing operations refer to quality control process or measure, the manual and automated process of products, goods-control and its implementation on forecasting, planning, scheduling, and reporting. These issues serve to be in harmony with the managerial plan and strategies.             Third, company’s innovative planning and management strategies include franchising of products but underlining specific guidelines in selection process for those interested franchisees. Its marketing strategies effectively promote its products using the public relations planning and strategizing effective ways such as publicity using regional and national newspapers, flyers, magazines, and other communication media. Meanwhile, in franchising, the company offers “comprehensive training programs for franchisees.             These three important points would lead us to examine possible strategies that would keep Chocolate factory compete in this fast-paced industry. Here, let me underline some possible strategies or if not suggestive planning in order to keep chocolate factory competitive in this global industry.               First, empowering the manpower force is vital in the industry. Although, high-end machines can generate mass production with quality trademark, the need of valuing the efforts and performance of employees working should be emphasized. The empowerment of labor force, although, are diverse in culture or lifestyle is a business imperative in the global setting. They are empowered in order to performed their task efficiently and produce quality products.             Second, to balance the equilibrium between human resource management and product management conjure high quality of performance and production. Chocolate factory should not only emphasize the program on promoting the products or creating best quality chocolates for consumers but to look at the importance of employees’ contribution in the workplace.             Third, continuous update, evaluation, and assessment of human resource and business strategies are tantamount to keep itself competitive and adaptive to the rapid changes of time. It should take into account the role of this process in which, although, developed great profit and income within just a small period of time, it does not guaranty constant status if and when the employed strategies are obsolete and already ineffective. Thereby, continuous assessment, update, and evaluation should be significantly noted. Conclusion             Hence, with all these fact in analyzing the case study, chocolate factory can be able to draw more profit and production if and when proper strategies and management planning are in place. Only then a business can grow and compete.     Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory : A Case Study Analysis

Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory Introduction In this fast-paced growing of industries and with the intense level of com...

Case Study Analysis of Wal-Mart: The Challenges of Dominance

Wal-Mart: The Challenges of Dominance   Introduction               Quite fascinating is the intense global competition thrives to sink in into human consciousness and to business organizations around the globe. Such pervasive phenomenon cannot be adequately explain in a single field of interest, that even scholars and theorists of management and business cannot fathom the inner effects and drive of globalization. Empirical process of measuring such globalization effects only provides promising ideas but only at the surface level.             In this case, with the proliferation of many business stepping out in its own territory and venture to foreign parameters, major issues are need to be addressed and studied well. Such issues like multicultural perspective in organization are imperative in business growth. Nevertheless, what makes any business effective in the global market is its presence and awareness on the global issues concerning the process of how to deal with organizational structure that is not restrictive to certain culture or value system.             Dominance is omnipresent in any organization, or even in the consciousness of individual being. Such a case, each organization wanting to occupy larger-scale in global market strives to maintain the force of dominance. Dominant business entities inhabit a wide range of power and influence not only on its field of interest, business in this sense, but to other fields like politics and culture. This may have a negative effect in competition with other global business entities, but presumably each has it own interest for dominancy.             One global business entity which shows the interest for dominance and power is the Wal-Mart. Here, let us present some important reasons why Wal-Mart is dominant and trying to regain such dominance in the global perspective. Wal-Mart Business             As a retailer business entity which founded on the philosophy of excellence, respect, customer service, and lowest price products, Wal-Mart rapidly developed and grew into a larger-scale business. With these philosophy and basic beliefs of the founder, Wal-Mart easily dominates the retail industry in the United States, having established hundred stores in different states and with high revenues and profits. The “lowest price” scheme which believed to be the secret of Wal-Mart’s success was recognized by international business sectors, however, difficulties arises in various ways.             Wal-Mart great concern is the sustainability of its dominance in the global field and the formula of success and resource allocation strategy may not effectively provide the same dominance compared before. However, trying to identifying core problems and solutions, Wal-Mart business as it goes global learned from the very experience in interaction with various locales.             There are certain influences which decreases the business development and productivity level. The formula of success, low price, zealous inventory control and large array of merchandise was insufficient to the prevalent problem of Wal-Mart. Even though, the emphasis on unique belief which each store should reflect the values of its customers and support the vision they hold for their community, this again became ineffective in the global scenario. Underlining Reasons             There are explicit reasons behind the weakness of Wal-Mart in the global village:             First, cultural diversity is fundamental in the global business. Organization must be aware of the fact that diversity and differences should not be considered as liabilities rather an asset in which individuals could benefit and shared. Different cultures have different ways of dealing problems and solutions, hence, important in organizational structure and management.             Second, Business culture is vital to the stakes of organization. In the global context business culture should vary according to the locality where it is located. Thereby, imposition of certain business culture in a locality which has its own culture can cause friction and eventually create fatal injury with the business objectives and goals.             Third, Global trends should be constantly examine since rapid changes occurred in an unpredictable state it may have cause also to global trends. Hence, Wal-Mart should have considered the global trends wherein it situated. Its problem with other countries like Germany, Korea, China, and Japan was caused of ignorance and unaware of such factor.             Fourth, financial regulations and imposition of certain cultural consciousness brought Wal-Mart problems with other countries like China, Germany, Korea, and Japan. It should consider that each has own regulations and must diplomatically adapt its regulation in order to form a harmonious business.   Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

Case Study Analysis of Wal-Mart: The Challenges of Dominance

Wal-Mart: The Challenges of Dominance Introduction Quite fascinating is the intense global competition thrives to sin...

CASE ANALYSIS OF MARKS AND SPENCER

CASE ANALYSIS OF MARKS AND SPENCER Table of Contents I.     Introduction.. 3 II.    External Analysis.. 4 a.    PEST Analysis. 4 i.      Political Factors. 5 ii.     Economic Factors. 5 iii.    Socio-Cultural Factors. 5 b.    Analysis of the External Environment of Marks and Spencer. 6 III.       Internal Analysis.. 7 a.    Value Chain. 7 i.      Primary Activities. 7 ii.     Support Activities. 8 IV.      Current Program Diagnosis.. 8 V.    Generation of Strategic Options.. 9 a.    SWOT Analysis. 9 i.      Strength. 9 ii.     Weaknesses. 10 iii.    Opportunities. 10 iv.       Threats. 11 b.    Analysis of the Macroenvironment and Microenvironment. 11 VI.      Evaluation of Strategic Options.. 12 a.    Consistency. 12 b.    Consonance. 13 c.    Feasibility. 13 VII.     Description of Selected Strategy.. 14 VIII.    Action Plan for Implementation.. 14 IX.      Conclusion.. 15   I.        Introduction Marks and Spencer is included in the long line of UK companies that has acquired a reputation of greatness and quality. Armed with experience, the company has been seasoned with its battles with both its internal and external environments. Since the 1880s, it adhered to a strict tradition involving its processes and trading practices which essentially spelled fairly well on the part of Marks and Spencer. To date, the company is considered as one of the most recognisable names in the area of retail. From apparel to even food services, the Marks and Spencer has ubiquitously hounding the top players in the UK market and the rest of the world. The case study provided by Collier (2004) provided several descriptions on the basic elements of the company. It has been described as a company that adheres to top-down management approach compounded by the close supervision provided by its former CEO. This has worked well with the company for several decades, however in the latter part of the 1990s a noticeable decline in the sales as well as in the overall performance of the company was observed. Various revolutionary and evolutionary changes have been implemented in the Marks and Spencer with the numerous changes in its leadership. To date, though there have been numerous changes in the strategies invoked by the company, its operations, to a certain extent, is still based on several principles: to offer a selective range of high-quality, well designed and attractive merchandise at reasonable prices; to encourage suppliers to use the most modern and efficient production techniques; to work with the highest quality control; to provide friendly and helpful service to their customers; to improve the efficacy of the business; and foster good human relations to its stakeholders. However, along the way they might have neglected to deal with the changes in the external environment as they focused on addressing the inner workings of their operations. This paper will look into the conditions surrounding that phenomenon. II.        External Analysis The external environment is basically comprised of all the elements that determine what the company needs to compete in its respective industry. In this part of the paper, a presentation of the external environment and consequent analysis will be carried out employing the PEST analysis.   a.    PEST Analysis The PEST Analysis is called by many names (STEP, PESTEL etc) yet it still uses the same principles of examination. Specifically, it looks at the political, economic, socio-cultural, and technological elements of the environment. This too essentially places importance on how these elements influence the organisation. (Blair and Hitchcock, 2001, 99) Usually, the use of this analytical tool is for planning and strategy creation of the company specifically to find a way to complement these plans with the findings of this analysis. More importantly, it allows the company the volition to exercise flexibility on the company and to serve as a safeguard in instances where major shifts in the trading environment take place. The primary source of this discussion is the case study provided by Collier (2004).                                   i.    Political Factors The UK political environment basically encourages trade in its territory. It is generally accepted that any trade is allowed in the said region provided that it does not oppose public policy, public order, or any existing law in the land. This is reinforced with the inclusion of UK in the European Union and the World Trade Organisation. However, in the case of Marks and Spencer, one of the more troublesome political elements that they have to contend to deals with the issue of labour laws and industrial relationship. In the past decades, the development efforts sought by the company have been constrained by several infringements in labour laws not only in their local operations but also in their international initiatives. This is especially true in their operations in France where the company is charged of grave abuse and breaking of expressed labour laws.                                    ii.    Economic Factors The United Kingdom is one of the hubs of commerce in Europe. Consumers are not limited to the locals as a considerable number of tourists flock the streets on a regular basis. This is similarly true in the context of the retail business, particularly in the area of fashion and apparel. The consumer base tends to require numerous types of clothing based on the existing climate of the region.                                iii.    Socio-Cultural Factors In the context of social and cultural aspects of the environment, the common UK consumer tends to be loyal to a particular brand. Quality of the product is a must in every transaction but could easily be defeated by a fairly competitive pricing strategy from a competing brand. Recent observations also indicate that preference on trendy styles over the classics tend to manifest among the UK consumer. This is seen in the case of Marks and Spencer over the years as it struggled to gain a greater market share. This shows that the UK consumer places high value on their money.                                  iv.    Technological Factors In the area of technology, a good number of the population is able to access in the internet. This means that some of the trading organisations are able to make the most of their operations and widen their scope with the use of e-commerce. This is seen in leading retail companies like Tesco and Sainsbury. Thus, online marketing and purchases made through the net is becoming one of the competitive advantages held by the leading retail companies in UK. b.    Analysis of the External Environment of Marks and Spencer The environment in UK, specifically its retail environment, appears to be highly attractive. Companies have the support of the government with minimal barriers of entry. The problem in this regard is the fact that there is some level of difficulty in penetrating the retail market, especially for new entrants, as there are existing monoliths that are willing to drive them out of business as quickly as they entered. This is similarly true in the case of companies with lush histories like Marks and Spencer. Seeing that their environment is essentially welcoming, neglecting the cutthroat nature of the competition would point to the imminent demise of any company. III.        Internal Analysis In support of the external analysis of the environment of the organisation, the internal environment should also be taken into consideration. For this part of the study, the value chain of Marks and Spencer will be examined. a.    Value Chain The value chain of the organisation is coined primarily by Porter as a tool to recognise the inherent capabilities of the organisation to realise its competitive advantage. The following will describe the primary activities and support activities of the company.                                   i.    Primary Activities As indicated in the value chain theories of the primary activities take in hand several specific functions of the company: inbound logistics, operations, outbound logistics, sales and marketing, and service. In the area of inbound logistics, Marks and Spencer receives inventories coming from its suppliers. Initially, the management of the company held strictly on the exclusive use of English suppliers. Eventually, they have already taken the prerogative to receive materials from suppliers from other countries. In terms of operations, Marks and Spencer is involved in the direct selling of apparel, foodstuff, and even home furnishings. In the same manner, they are also involved in the distribution of these items to all the Marks and Spencer stores in UK. This essentially covers the outbound logistics of the organisation. Moreover, sales and marketing of the company seems to be one of the more prioritised elements in the organisation. With the intense competition present in the industry, vying for consumer favour and adding value to the brand takes a step above the rest of these primary activities. In the area of service, the company also have to deal with the maintenance of their respective stores. The case study provided by Collier (2004) provided that the company has acquired stores that also require maintenance. This is where the primary activity of service takes place.                                 ii.    Support Activities In the area of support activities, the company holds     of the areas of human resource and technology. In the context of human resource, minimal training is required as the skills needed to fulfil the duties of the common employee of the company involves knowledge of the product and the awareness of the processes of selling. On the other hand, the use of technology is significantly infused in the operations of Marks and Spencer. Basically, every store uses a computerised cash register not only to deal with payments but also to take into consideration the use of loyalty cards recognised by the company. Other areas involving technology covers e-commerce and other online transactions. IV.        Current Program Diagnosis Based on the case study of Collier (2004), despite the long history of Marks and Spencer, it has yet currently takes on a larger market share and continues to suffer in its profits and other financial aspects of their operations. This implies weakness in a rather cutthroat world of retail. This then spells possible acquisition from much larger companies. On the other hand, the brand of the company appears to stay in a particular era. The management failed to display any form of awareness on the part of the market as they focused initially on the production process. As seen in the case study, the company is lagging behind the leading retail organisations in UK like Tesco and Sainsbury. V.        Generation of Strategic Options In order to generate sound strategic options for the company, one must first establish the faculties and flaws of Marks and Spencer. In this manner, one will know what areas to work on and what lot to maximise. In this part of the study, the SWOT analysis will be used as an analytical tool. a.    SWOT Analysis The SWOT analysis is one of the traditional and dependable tools in looking at the existing conditions of the company and how it fits with the current conditions in the external environment. The following will focus on the situation of Marks and Spencer as covered by the case study of Collier (2004)                                   i.    Strength Looking at the case study, Marks and Spencer possess a very potent weapon in business: very high brand name recognition. In this manner, their brand is connected with the elements of class and quality. Another strength that the company possess is seen in its rich history of trade. Throughout the years of its operations, it has acquired a lot of facilities at double as moneymaking centres. Along with this history is the existence of longstanding partners and alliances that has been acquired through over a century of operations.                                 ii.    Weaknesses Among the major weaknesses of the company are primarily seen its management. Specifically, a fit between the structure of the company, the nature of its trade, and the actual management styles has yet to be found. In the same regard, being a player in the cutthroat industry of retail, a company must possess dynamic marketing skills. Based on the case study, Marks and Spencer has been left behind in terms of marketing innovations like loyalty cards and implementation of customer-focused operations.                                iii.    Opportunities One of the seen opportunities in the retail market is the encouraging legislation present in the political environment. This shows that the company is able to maximise its operations provided that it is within the bounds of the law. In the same manner, the dynamic nature of the market also shows that the major consumers are placing value on their money. This means that they lay preference on issues of price over quality. Furthermore, the current marketing campaigns of the company appear to be highly promising as they are now employed icons of UK to help them convey the message of the Marks and Spencer brands.                                  iv.    Threats As mentioned earlier, the competitors in this industry works 24/7 and they move like sharks. Every chance they have in acquiring a portion of the overall market share, they will take. This is a threat as the Marks and Spencer continues to hold that reputation of having boring and non-trendy designs that appeal to the much younger age brackets. Moreover, as Collier (2004) pointed out in her work, the company is for some reason always susceptible to imprudence, lack of skill, and lack of foresight of the management.   b.    Analysis of the Macroenvironment and Microenvironment Looking at the discussions above, there appears several strategic options that Marks and Spencer could focus on to refurbish their operations. For instance, the company should look into a partnership with the more current and competitive players in the retail industry. This is to broaden the overall outlook of Marks and Spencer regarding their standing in the market. This also reduces the possibility of the company being acquired by the larger competitors. Another possible course of action for the company is to further improve its brand by using repositioning initiatives. It is undisputed that Marks and Spencer has a strong name recall and significantly strong brand name. However, the company have to consider the constant repositioning of their brand so as to keep the public’s respect on their products. This has been the one of the innumerable mistakes held by the previous management of the organisation.   The company should look also in the possibility of improving the management of their resources. As stated in the SWOT analysis above, the company has a lot of resources yet they have yet to find a proper fit on how to manage these resources to their advantage. The maximisation may take on changes in restructuring the processes and the infusion of technology as well as other knowledge based processes. And lastly, the change may well start with the internal structure of the organisation, specifically the human resource element of the company. Finding potential leaders and managers could spell a shift from stagnation to a culture of innovation and constant development. VI.        Evaluation of Strategic Options The following discussion will evaluate the proposed strategic options mentioned above. For the purposes of this study, Rumelt’s criteria will be used to examine these options. a.    Consistency In the first option, the idea of selling an organisation full of history or at the very least tie up with other retail players is not consistent with the culture of the organisation as well as in the general strategies of the company. As seen in the case study, Marks and Spencer appears to be a company full of pride, too proud perhaps.    With reference to the option of brand repositioning, the case study shows that the company is taking on brand repositioning initiatives constantly and yet they still find their performance wanting. Possibly this option may not be consistent with the management strategies of the organisation. As the case study presented, the problem of the company is in its core. Thus, it would be very beneficial for the company to look at this option. The case study also mentioned that the changes made by the management of Marks and Spencer appear to be superficial and merely serves as a remedy. b.    Consonance Looking at the strategic options above, it appears that each and every one is implemented in the industry. Thus, these constitutes to a trend in operations. The issue in this regard is whether or not Marks and Spencer is able to handle the consequences of employing all the strategies. The more logical thing to do for the company is to choose one specific strategy that they could immediately implement and reap the results as timely.   c.    Feasibility The more logical thing to do for the company is to choose one specific strategy that they could immediately implement and reap the results as timely. The company has a capable management but does not have the luxury of money or capital and time is even not on their side. Thus, alliance and repositioning are out of the question as they take too much time to take care of and cost mounds of money to implement. VII.        Description of Selected Strategy The strategy involves an analysis on what modern models of quality would be effective for the company. The overall goal of the strategy is to maximise the existing assets of the company and look at ways to improve the performance in the market. VIII.        Action Plan for Implementation The strategy is done in two stages. The first one takes on pinpointing the what, where, when and how of change management. Plainly, it points to the area of improvement needed by the company. In this stage, streamlining the operations would be among the end results. For instance, the structure of the company as said in the case study is rather complicated; simplifying it by turning it into a flat structure would be advisable. In the same manner, the superfluous processes in the company should be done away with as it adds up to the overall costs of the organisation. The second stage is the creation or development of a culture closely appended with knowledge management initiatives. Basically, this points to the flow of important data in the organisation. Information like receipts or sales documents is covered in this area.  Moreover, this strategy could help in the planning process and meeting of the company’s economy of scale.   IX.        Conclusion The case of Marks and Spencer provides for a clear and present manifestation of the need for awareness of the demands of the external environment. In addition, it also serves a lesson on having the need of a decisive strategy and opportune reaction to the changes in the business environment. Based on the case study, Marks and Spencer is slowly levelling up with its competitors. The proposed strategic options above present an opportunity for the company to gain more market share and compete more actively in the retail sector of UK. Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

CASE ANALYSIS OF MARKS AND SPENCER

CASE ANALYSIS OF MARKS AND SPENCER Table of Contents I. Introduction .. 3 II. External Analysis .. 4 a. PEST ...