The first three quarters for the team was a financial loss based on the company’s inability to generate revenue through sale of its computers. In the second quarter the team developed two brands of computers that were not recommended for sale. The company’s poor internal operating directives gave way to the development of two brands of computers that the market was unwilling to accept, combined with a weak market image and weak distribution network. It was very clear to the team that in order to turn the company into a profitable entity the team needed to evaluate the company’s resources and by so doing conducted an extensive internal analysis. The team looked at the company’s tangible and intangible resources.
(Table 3) In addition to this factor, we thought that buying lots of machines from different stations would decrease our revenue in the following days. We set up the game with one million dollars as starting cash balance and that amount started to increase permanently because of the variable costs of kits. However we did not interfere with the game until 144 days, we were placed in the fifth position amongst our competitors due to not buying machines for long time. After 144 days we purchased two machines from Station 2 and our position switched to seventh place in that game due to some reasons. One reason was that we only purchased only one machine from Station 2 and could not buy any other machines from other stations.
Allowing employees with one year in the company to buy shares was not a good idea, as many of them would not have the knowledge and experience to take responsibilities with the company’s shares. After seeing a rapid growth in the company, Shih decided to hire many recruiters that were not familiar with the company’s culture and it affected the company’s performance. The last factor was innovating a new product, Shih had the vision to create a new product in the market, but the consumers were clearly not interested to change their PCs to minicomputer. 2. In your opinion, which played a greater role in Multitech’s growth strategy: Traditional Motivations or Emerging Motivations?
This is an important issue due to the fact that biotechnology is heavily affected by capital availability and recently, venture capitalists were reluctant to fund biotechnology firms. As Jeff Hirst said, “When it comes to raising capital today, it’s a buyers’ market.” Therefore, producing returns for our current investors and producing high returns for potential buyers was a key focus. A second key issue was the probability of successfully completing each phase of testing. For both Phase I/II and Phase III, if the phase was not completed, there would be zero sales and all capital expenditures would be rendered useless. Phase I/II seemed relatively routine; however, Phase III was much more complex and presented a much bigger risk of preventing FDA approval and eliminating all future sales.
(How much does a computer cost now compared to 15 years ago?) That mindset works as long the entrepreneur doesn't come up with a new idea, and if that happens, you would expect the good to cost more money -- because there are no substitutes for it. This creates a new MARKET, which arguably is even more important. This provides OTHER ENTREPRENEURS with job opportunities. 2nd part of your question: Entrepreneurs usually must start a business with other people's money.
The decline is significant because it is a measure of operational productivity. In the case of Leon’s Furniture, some of the decrease may be attributable to the economic decline and the accompanying reduction of construction and home improvement expenditures. The current economic client and comparable store sales figures will force Leon’s Furniture to increase its focus on finding a merchandise mix that attracts more customers. All of Leon’s stores are scattered distribution, if people want to buy any Leon’s products they need cross half town or even more to get there, and it is not convenient for people who want to go to Leon’s. It is too far and inconvenient for them to get to the store and buy.
Besides, the political system is also a big problem. Washington is trying to cut funds in education, scientific research, air-traffic control, NASA, and alternative energy, which will damage their economy in long term growth. “democracy works too well” that they cannot investing for the future but instead preserving the past (p. 3). The industry still remains the same and there is no investment for the next generation of industries. The government spend more money on elderly people and insurance than what they spend on younger generation.
The company’s major concern is that their sales are stagnant and their profits are down. Furthermore, Dealers are reinforced by Supersonics national advertising campaigns, which is created on 5% of revenue. Although this quantity is somewhat more than what other stereo companies spend Supersonic feels this is necessary to maintain their position in the industry. Supersonic uses a compensation plan for its sales staff in order to motivate them. They use a commission plan centered on 6% of total gross margin, which is used to prevent workers from cutting costs.
To stay ahead innovation is critical – a software company like Valve needs to be the first with the new game or software, once someone else has developed it then your product has lost significant relevance in the market. This makes the environment unstable, the strategic focus must be about innovation. As mentioned in the case study, Valve believes formal structures “limits staff innovation potential” therefore, I believe they have structured their business to give their employees flexibility to maintain motivation which in turn encourages innovation. 3. What problems do you foresee that Valve may encounter as it grows beyond staff numbers of 300?
However, after the introduction of these two new flavours, the company’s operating margins decreased. The company’s controller, Laura Tunney, could not understand the reason for this result as, according to her analysis, the two new products were more profitable than the others the company was already producing. At the same time, Ericson’s manufacturing manager, Jeffrey Donald, emphasized the fact that the production of the new products consist of a more complex process as it requires more time in setting up machines and monitoring the whole procedure. Consequently, he thought that increasing the company’s product portfolio would not benefit the company. After some consideration, Laura Tunney arrived to the conclusion that probably her analysis was incorrect due to an inaccurate allocation of the company’s indirect costs.