SUMMARY PROBLEM STATEMENT In the spring of 2003, Mark Taylor, recently promoted to operations manager at Thicketwood Ltd., a custom kitchen cabinet manufacturer in Kitchener, Ontario. The company has to ensure that the plant's capacity would meet the upcoming year's forecasted demand of 2000 kitchen cabinets. But for now, the plant's manufacturing all relies on the handcraft of workers. No matter is the quality or the quantity of productions, cannot satisfied the demand either. Taylor's first plan was to purchase a computer numeric controlled(CNC) router, however, he was not sure whether to purchase a new or used machine.
The unique in their product that Lego want to create art, rather than doing only building toy. Also Lego created products for girl segment what makes Lego general strategy as Differentiation. 3. Are the changes implemented by Knudstorp an indication of hypercompetition? Defend your
The distribution networks of the new companies are high and tends to affect the operations of JCP. Therefore, the company should build a strong distribution network so as to counter significantly the operations of the new companies that produce similar products. The “mom and pop” stores have been reported to resort in selling products online, otherwise they become obsolete. J. C. Penny’s SWOT analysis The strengths of the company are: * The existence of more than 1100 locations worldwide * Their quality products such as clothing, jewellery, beauty products and even footwear and furniture * The company also offers shipment of their goods for customers, which gives their customers the best experience in the end, hence attracts more customers. * The company also offers free haircuts for the children The weaknesses of JCP Since its competitors give similar products, the company is faced with limited market share 2. International business operations have also challenged the services of JCP due to the current emerging economies worldwide.
It also provides a wide assortment of merchandise to |There is saturation in big box format stores as well as an anticipated slowdown| |cater to different needs and tastes, hence wider markets. |in growth for home improvement products. THDC had to look for other market | |THDC invested in a major technology and operations renovation for its processes. |segments for revenue expansion. | |It made checkouts, item returns, value added services and inventory control faster|Relying less on sales people and more on
Both the home depot and Lowes carry merchandise for home, garden, lawn, landscaping, and many other merchandising projects detailed for remodeling and repair. In looking at the history of these two companies, I found they both started on similar visions and now are essentially dominating the home improvement industry. Whereas the Home Depot started very early to identity itself to the DIY consumer, market forces pushed Lowes to find new markets to survive. Both companies have similar strengths, but Lowes weaknesses and inability to outperform The Home Depot puts the latter farther ahead of
strong barriers to foreign products immense distance for shipping a frozen product most affluent country in the world, demanding high quality products with great varieties of styles and flavors market seemed to welcome imported ice cream low consumption historically of dairy products, but this consumption was increasing European Market: fragmented markets in UK, France, and Benelux higher established consumption of dairy products entry through opportunistic ventures, supermarkets, joint ventures, etc... distinctive market in UK, but lagging in France with no coordination from the parent company. Implications: Japanese market is demanding for the product that Ben & Jerry's is providing A lot of competition in the superpremium products category in Japan - need strategic planning and partnerships in Japan in order to gain market share in this category Should Ben & Jerry commit to entering the Japanese market the following summer? Yes or no and why? Japan should be a very important market consideration for Ben & Jerry Increasing market share capabilities with more consumption of dairy products High demand for foreign imported products and brands Leverage on brand image to attract local consumers to try the ice-cream and start gaining market share If Ben & Jerry were to enter the Japanese market, which entry mode would you recommend and why? Partnership with 7-11 Japan stores for initial entry, they have no connections in the country and as such must rely on a strong distributor for their product.
In addition, Japan is economically powerful and stable among the three largest and wealthiest markets worldwide. Japanese toy preference are in the high price range, and by bringing discounted toy stores like Toy R Us, I believe Japan is a good market for Toy R Us to generate a great revenue. Although Japanese culture embraced a quality and personalized service when comes to shopping for their kids toys, and they highly accepted the high price for toys; the younger generation of store owners think differently. The rise of the young generation had significantly greater international exposure than their parents, the younger generation also realized that they were paying highly inflated prices for many consumer goods. 2.
Company was looking for a way to reduce its supply chain costs by outsourcing its supply chain activities to Inflection which is supply chain consulting and service company About DB Toys Company founded in early 1950¶s With its attractive line of action figures and other lucrative add-ons company grew rapidly in early 1950 and 1960s In 1984, company cut production costs rapidly by relocating its production plants to overseas locations In 2000, US economic downturn hit the company hard. Especially the action figure toy market which was DB toys¶ forte Stages of DB Supply Chain Source: DB Toys HBR Case study Value chain Source: DB Toys HBR Case study Inflection Outsourcing Pyramid Source: DB Toys HBR Case study A New Standard In The Performance Inflection Value Proposition Lowered costs in total. Changing fixed costs to Variable costs based on Variable pricing Less Cost Out sourcing an activity which is not the firms core competency Toys Market Helping executive management to focus on the bottom line Supply Chain DB Toys -Supply Chain Out sourcing Risks Risk Type Definition of Goals Details Not clearly defining goals and objectives before starting the outsourcing process. Making the decision to outsource without complete information on internal costs and
Radiance is giving Paramount fierce competition in several personal care categories. • Facing market cannibalism Positioning the product as a mainstream product seems to bad idea since this will lead the company towards market cannibalism. Market research done by Paramount indicates that if the Clean Edge is introduced into a mainstream scenario, 60% of new sales would come from Paramount existing product lines “Pro/Avail “ which will end up in potential cannibalization scenario. • Facing competition from
Joseph brought Ken to the annual Toy fair, promising to introduce him a number of Manfold Toy’s relations and allowing Ken to land a number of new accounts for his auditing company. After Joseph opened new doors for Ken, Joseph told Ken that he would need the year-end audit for Manfold Toy