John majors government came into office after the downfall of Margret Thatcher, which ultimately created divisions within the party. Not only did the party suffer from the internal conflict but also faced the problems of the recession after the ‘Lawson boom’. In order to stabilise the economy he joined the ERM getting a good deal but ultimately resulting in ‘black Wednesday’ causing Major to raise interest rates to 15%. This was political suicide and he soon lost the support of the press we had once relied so much on to get re-elected in 1992. The housing market also plummeted leading to negative equity, which the majority of the working class could not afford resulting in the repossession of their houses combined with the drastic increase in unemployment Britain was in a mess.
Causes Analysis: As to external issues, there are mainly three reasons causing overall industry downturn. Firstly, the nightmare of 9/11 deeply stroke customers’ confidence in traveling, leading to a drastic price cut. Secondly, many uncertainties, such as geographical climate, terrorism, terrifying virus, and increasing fuel prices, also gives great pressure to this industry. Thirdly, a fierce competition among three biggest players also gave great buyers’ power. The industry wide capacity is growing much faster than the demand growth.
According to Keynes, why might deflation create problems for an economy? ▪ In expectation of increased spending, too many entrepreneurs would begin businesses and most would fail. ▪ The cost of repricing goods would increase costs, and therefore reduce profits, for businesses and they would cut production. ▪ People would drop out of unions because unions would become ineffective at keeping wages of members high. ▪ Consumers might expect prices to fall further and cut back consumption now.
When he first started making them , he called them “Automatic Binding Bricks” and they were actually a modified design off of a British inventor who created a similar product called the “Kiddicraft brick”. The lego as you know it today was patented on January 28th 1958 at 1:58 pm the original lego plastic brick was born. Yet following their founder's famous motto “ det bedste er ikke for godt” which means, only the best is good enough meant that until a suitable plastic material was found , they wouldn't focus on them. Well five years after the patent was filed, they finally found the perfect plastic for the LEGO brick, it was called cellulose acetate. All LEGO bricks made after 1958 are compatible with todays mass produced bricks as well.
Corporate Social Responsibility Report on The Lego Group Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 4 CSR AUDIT FRAMEWORK 6 Background to The Lego Group 8 Suppliers 10 SUPPLIER CSR ASSESSMENT 13 Strengths 13 Weaknesses 13 Key Findings: 13 Customers (children) 14 CUSTOMERS CSR – ASSESSMENT 21 Strengths: 21 Weaknesses: 21 Key Findings: 22 Non-Market Stakeholders 23 Community Initiatives 23 Strengths 25 Weaknesses 25 Key Findings 25 Non-Market Stakeholders 27 The Environment 27 Weaknesses 30 Key Findings 30 Conclusion 31 Appendances 33 Employees 33 Strengths: 37 Weaknesses: 37 Key Findings 38 ASSIGNMENT DECLARATION FORM 18 Task Sheet 19 Bibliography 20 Table of figures Figure 1: Lego lunch NYC style. 8 Figure 2: Lego employees collaborating 33 Figure 3: Lego Truck 10 Figure 4 Jørgen Vig Knudstorp, President and CEO of the LEGO Group, Build the Change in Copenhagen, Denmark. 14 Figure 5 Lego's safety assessment process. (Lego, 2014) 17 Figure 6 Lego education initiatives. (Lego, 2014) 19 Figure 7 Customer satisfaction targets.
SciTronics had net fixed assets of $ 18,000 and sales of $ 244,000 in 2008. Its fixed asset turnover ratio in 2008 was 13.6 times, a deterioration from 16.3 times in 2005. Leverage Ratios: How soundly is the company financed? 1. SciTronics’
Prior to polices established by Law of Commerce Henkel Iberica participated in aggressive pricing to increase market share. The consequences of this were a negative effect on margins, contribution margins, and profits on sales. To contend with its competitors, Henkel invested in promotions and additional product mix to increase sales, but due to lack of accuracy in long range forecast it was often left with either over stock that is difficult to reallocate or loss of sales due to out of stock products which eventually led to a decrease of net earnings in sales year before. Accurately forecasting demand is the key to every strategic, tactical, and operational decision designed to keep our business competitive. Obviously it is evident that Henkel Iberica current process isn’t working due to challenges of forecast exactness and demand variability for all the products it offers.
(Overall decline of market / demand) and the increasing price sensitive of customers. • Strong international player filling the needs of the booming industrial economy abroad leading to fact that Fortis is not yet ranked under the world TOP 10. Question 2) • Overall declining industrial economy in U.S lead to a decrease in demand and to high cost pressure within the industry. Given that, Fortis’s customers are becoming more and more price sensitive and less willing to pay premium prices. Additionally, the continuously increasing steel prices leading to higher production costs and impacting product’s margin.
The LEGO Case Study 2014 Dimensions of Strategy from John Ashcroft and Company experience worth sharing The LEGO Case Study - New for 2014 About the Author In 2003 and 2004 LEGO announced losses of over $400 million dollars on annual sales of just over $1 billion. The reorganisation plan announced in 2001 had begun to falter. The company was forced to take a hard look at every facet of the operation including costs, overheads, margins, sales, marketing and the product offer. John Ashcroft is an economist and expert in Corporate Strategy. The LEGO case study was developed in 2014 following the success of the Apple Case study.
Mattel has revenues of $5.4 billion as of 2009 putting them at the top of this market. However, Mattel is followed by a close second know as Hasbro. Hasbro is the second worldwide producer of toys, and they have revenues of $4.7 billion in 2009. History of Mattel The history of Mattel dates back to the early 1900’s. In 1945 Ruth and Elliot Handler and Harold Matson founded Mattel.