Salem Telephone Company Case Salem Data Services is a subsidiary of the Salem Telephone Company that is managed by Cynthia Wu. The company’s main purpose is to perform data processing for its parent company. In 2000, Salem Telephone Company president, Peter Flores thought the existence of the Salem Data Services subsidiary would “reduce the pressure for telephone rate increases” within the company. After conducting some research and becoming aware of the fact that other businesses in the region could use similar telephone services, it became very apparent that it would be a good idea to sell computer time that was not needed by the telephone operations they were conducting. In Flores’s mind Salem Data Services could serve as competition with other computer service organizations while having non-regulatory prices.
2-) I think the conflict between Eisner and Jobs is best described as it is in the manifest stage. They went through the first latent stage, when the recognized that there were differences in goals and priorities. Based on the case, “Eisner and Steve Jobs, then CEO of animated film producer Pixar, bumped heads several time” (p.332). Then they went through the perceived stage, which was when Eisner made a negative comment about Apple Computer. Steve Jobs was the CEO of Apple, so after that action by Eisner, Jobs started to perceive that his goals were being thwarted by Eisner.
Polaris Industries core competency lies in their ability to create an innovative, high-quality product mix consisting from recreational vehicles to apparel and accessories for a customer base ranging from farmers to rider enthusiasts. During the recession, Polaris was wise enough to realize in order to maintain their competitive advantage they needed to grow globally. Lower labor costs were the driving force behind this decision, but based on Polaris’s overall corporate, market, and financial strategies, our short term goal is to open a new production plant in Monterrey, Mexico. Opening a plant in Monterrey coincides with all objectives behind global expansion of lowering labor costs and increasing revenue but also meeting essential qualitative pursuits. As mentioned, ease of communication and in-person interaction are key to long-term product innovation and China has at least a thirteen-hour time difference from the Midwest while Mexico has a one hour time difference, allowing for a clearer communication channel.
By 2005, it controlled a mere 3% of the Chinese cookie market and the team even considered pulling Oreo out of the Chinese market altogether for the long-term losses. While Chinese market plays an important part in Kraft’s international business, in 2005, Kraft decided to research the Chinese market to understand why the Oreo cookie that was so successful in most countries had failed to resonate with the Chinese people. Research showed the Chinese people were not big cookie eaters. Chinese consumers liked the contrast of sweet and bitter but they thought it was a little bit too sweet and a little bit too bitter. Without the emotional attachment of American consumers who grew up with the cookie, the taste and shape could be quite alien.
Gap Analysis: Riordan Riordan Manufacturing opened a production facility in China. Because it flourished, Riordan's CEO wanted to add another facility. By adding another facility, Michael Riordan hopes to provide the company with additional international opportunities. The competition in China results in a lack of skilled labor; however, labor from nearby countries is available to Riordan Manufacturing. Using workers from these other countries requires Riordan Manufacturing to consider cross-cultural issues.
What long-term strategy should Wal-Mart adopt in China? What Should Wal-Mart Do? Although the continued market expansion into China may seem desirable, Wal-Mart should slow expansion in China until infrastructure expands to support its unique distribution system. China’s under-developed highway network severely hampers Wal-Mart’s effort for efficient distribution. Instead of ending operations, it is important for Wal-Mart to remain a viable competitor in the Chinese market and not completely abandon its foothold gained thus far.
In October 1994, Dr. Nicely contacted Intel support to report the flaw found within their Pentium chip. Due to Intel’s lack of responsibility into addressing and correcting the flaw, Dr. Nicely decided to send an email to several people addressing his discovery of the Pentium “bug”. The email spreads quickly among the computer/ Internet community, one of those who received it was Richard Smith, president of Phar Lap software in Cambridge, MA (Emery, 1996). Phar Lap’s programmers test the error and verified the flaw. This causes Smith to forward Dr. Nicely’s email to Microsoft,
Guanxi in Jeopardy MAN 4600 International Management October 9, 2013 Margeaux Dunlap Case Summary Electrowide is a United States based company that is responsible for developing new and advance electronic equipment that is put in cars. They are recently going through an entire company change up where they have chosen to practice more lean production methods and improve the way they do business all around. Along with this they have decided that it would be beneficial to expand overseas. They have chosen the Beijing based company of Motoshuzhou to expand to. Electrowide wishes to sell their equipment to Motosuzhou hoping that it will be able to be more successfully distributed throughout the world and across automotive industries, especially to those in China.
How could Mattel have achieved greater success in Japan? Mattel faced the complex distribution system and intense competition from Japanese brands. At first, consumers did not know much about Barbie so Mattel enlisted the service of Takara, a Japanese toy specialist. Mattel learned that Barbie’s legs are too long and her chest is too large: They changed Barbie
Timbuk2 is handling the problem correctly by making sure that the bags are being made in China are up to the standard of the bags that are made in San Francisco. To ensure that customers should not have concerns or worries, Timbuk2 visits China every four to eight weeks to ensure superior quality standards and working conditions. For Timbuk2’s custom messenger bags, the key competitive dimensions that are driving sales are the durability and the affordability of these bags. With a combination of high quality and affordability, items tend to sell at a higher margin. The competitive priorities of the custom the laptop bags produced in China are no different than the messenger bags produced in San Francisco.