Category: Business 11471

Enterprise Level Strategy

Costco is a leading American wholesale corporation. It operates as a warehouse club that offers a variety of goods and services to its members. The organizations mission is to offer high quality goods and services to its members on a continuous basis.

To achieve this objective, the corporation seeks to offer its members a variety of goods and services. The merchandise is nationally branded. The company also stocks a collection of goods supplied by private labels (Stacey, 2011).

Costco has four major classes of stakeholders. They include the shareholders, the management, the employees, and members. The stakeholders work in collaboration to promote the success of the enterprise (Herman, Frost & Kurz, 2009).

Costcos shareholders are mainly interested in increasing the profitability. They achieve this by encouraging and supporting the formulation of strategies that seek to increase revenue generation. They are also interested in earning high dividends from increased profitability. They seek to see their business rise to be the leading membership warehouse in the world (Stacey, 2011).

At Costco, the vision of the management team is to continually improve the experience of their clientele. The objective is achieved through the provision of quality products at low prices. To achieve this objective, the management has put in place a number of measures aimed at increasing inventory turnover.

The measures are aimed at enhancing the efficiency of the firm. Some of the strategies include volume purchasing from established suppliers. Others include establishing self-service systems within their warehouses. In addition, the management has reduced merchandise handling in the companys storage facilities to drive down cost of operation.

As such, Costco operates more profitably than most traditional wholesalers, supercenters, and supermarkets (Stacey, 2011). As a result of rapid inventory turnover, Costco receives payment before compensating vendors. As a result, it benefits from the early payment discounts as it settles its obligations to the vendors.

By 2006, Costco had close to 71,000 permanent and 56,000 part-time employees. It is one of the most competent workforces in the industry. The employees are committed to the success of the enterprise. Their commitment can be attributed to the generous compensation and benefits offered by the employer.

The employees care for the corporations members. As a result, the company maintains customer loyalty. Consequently, inventory turnover is increased. The workforce also moves large amounts of stock on behalf of its employer. In addition, the employees advise the management on the situation on the ground (Stacey, 2011). As such, future policies address these issues to enhance efficiency.

Costco has a large number of affluent members, who are its customers (Herman et al., 2009). They have an average annual income of close to $75,000. 30 percent of them have an income of over $100,000.

They are highly concerned with the quality and prices of products. They are interested in high quality products and efficient systems. As such, the organization has invested heavily in improving the quality of services. However, it still offers lower prices compared to competitors.

Organizational Culture Type

There are a number of factors that influence an organizations culture (Pearce & Robinson, 2003). They include the history of the organization, nature of the market, values, visions, and technology.

Costcos organizational culture is based on five key concepts. One of them is adherence to the law. Others entail safeguarding the wellbeing of members and improving relationships with suppliers. Finally, the organization appreciates its workforce and rewards its owners.

The organization operates in full compliance of the laws and values of surrounding communities. As such, it attracts more members to increase profits. The corporation has membership for business owners and individuals. It offers a variety of merchandise to its members while paying keen attention to quality. At the same time, prices for commodities are kept lower compared to other enterprises in the market.

The corporation also offers competitive compensation for its workforce (Senge, Smith, Kruschwitz, Laur & Schely, 2008). They are also offered an enabling working environment. The organization treats suppliers as partners. It honors its commitments to them. Stockholders are appreciated through dividends. Workers who exhibit exemplary performance are rewarded through promotion and bonuses.

Integrated Concepts from Readings, Evidence, and Implications

Costcos main goal is to increase its inventory turnover. Stakeholders have come up with strategies geared towards this. There is a significant link between organizational culture and level strategies put in place. A number of concepts can be used to analyze this relationship. They include systems thinking, learning organizations, and double loop learning (Pearce & Robinson, 2003).

Systems thinking helps in understand how things within an organization influence one another. It highlights internal structures. It analyzes the processes that work together for an organization to be healthy or unhealthy. In the case of Costco, enterprise level strategies are connected to its organizational culture.

Together, they work as a system, contributing to the success of the organization. For example, the strategy to provide high quality products is in line with the culture of caring for members. The strategy by employees to increase volume of stock is in tandem with the culture of rewarding shareholders.

There is also the concept of learning in entities. Businesses in competitive markets should continually evolve to edge out rivals (Meadows, 2008). Costco has evolved rapidly to increase sales volume. Initially, it only sold goods to affluent customers with a given social status.

However, this has changed. The entity has come up with different classes of members. The classes include executive members, who are mainly individuals. There are also business and gold star classes. The strategy has enabled the organization to increase its inventory turnover without changing its status as a club warehouse (Meadows, 2008).

The concept of double-loop learning entails identifying and solving problems at the organizational level. It can result in the emergence of other problems (Meadows, 2008). In Costco, the need to increase inventory turnover may adversely affect its structure.

The corporation is seen to change from a club warehouse to a retail outlet. Increasing profitability can also result in rise in prices. Offering membership to less affluent members may upset the status-quo, leading to the loss of the initial customer base.

General Force Analysis: External  Remote Environment

In Costco, there are forces in the external environment that affect players in the membership club retail and wholesale enterprises.

General Force Matrix Analysis

Economics

The most common trend in the industry is cutbacks in consumer spending on home based products. It is a threat. Its timeframe is immediate. It is paramount to put in place the necessary measures sooner than later (Epstein, 2008).

Technology

Many organizations have invested heavily in technology. Most of these technologies are aimed at reducing the cost of lighting. Two of the major energy technologies associated with lighting that have in recent times been used extensively include light meters and skylights.

The meters measure intensity of light and determine whether additional lighting is required or not. The energy technologies help organizations to cut down on their cost of operations (Demars, 2007).

Demographics, social, and culture

Another major trend in the industry is a rapid rise in the worlds middle-class population. Currently, the size of the middle class population across the world is at 2 billion persons. It is expected to grow to over 3.2 billion by 2020. By 2030 it will be approximately 4.9 billion (Stacey, 2011). The trend means that the purchasing power of people will significantly increase. Enterprises operating in the industry will be able to grow their inventory turnover.

Government, legal, and military

Increased government regulations are important to the industry (Demars, 2007). In some cases, governments come up with strict regulations on the sale of some commodities, such as alcohol. The increased regulations pose a threat to enterprises operating in the industry as it hinders business.

Physical environment

Increasing urbanization means that enterprises in the industry mainly serve the urban population. The reason why they are situated in urban centers is that these regions provide the customer base required for growth (Fisher, 2009). Urbanization will continue to grow in the coming years. It is estimated that 64 percent and 86 percent of the world population in developing and developed countries, respectively, will be residing in urban centers by 2050.

Implications, Threats, and Opportunities of GFA

Porters Five Forces Industry Analysis: External Industry Environment

The forces have a profound effect on the performance of the organizations working within the industry (Alange & Steiber, 2009). In the case of the industry where Costco operates, there are a variety of opportunities and threats.

One opportunity includes the presence of energy technologies associated with lighting. The technology reduces operating costs. It reduces the manpower required to control lighting. The opportunity ranked second is the rise of the worlds middle-class population. It increases the purchasing power of the population, helping firms to be more profitable (Fiksel, 2009).

The major threat is cutbacks in consumer spending on home based products. The trend is economics related. It reduces profitability (Glenn & Gordon, 2009). Inventory turnover also tends to reduce, negatively impacting on their success. The second threat is increased government regulations. It is a government related force. It hinders entry into the industry.

Five Forces Matrix Analysis

The framework is based on the economics of industrial organizations (IO) through the analysis of its micro environment (Fisher, 2009). It comprises of three forces arising as a result of horizontal competition (Epstein, 2008).

The remaining two are as a result of vertical competition. The former include threat of substitutes, threat of entry of new players, and threat of established competitors. Forces arising from vertical competition include the bargaining power of customers and suppliers.

Barriers to entry

The main barrier is economies of scale. It is a threat to new entrants. Firms must sell in large volumes to remain profitable (Epstein, 2008). The barrier is an opportunity for Costco since it is already well established with many stores around the world.

Substitutes

Most substitutes are offered by the organizations main competitors, Sams Club and BJs Wholesale Club. They are both membership clubs.

They offer their products at flexible prices. For example, membership for BJs Wholesale Club costs $50 compared to $55 at Costco. Sams Club stocks goods that are similar to those at Costco. Substitutes are a threat (Epstein, 2008).

Bargaining power of suppliers

It is another important element. It is low. It is an opportunity to Costco. They are required to sell at low prices. It allows the enterprises operating in the industry to also sell at low prices and remain profitable (Stacey, 2011). Enterprises also buy in bulk from the suppliers, enabling them to get huge discounts.

Bargaining power of buyers

It is medium. It is both a threat and an opportunity. Businesses sell at considerably lower prices compared to other wholesalers and retailers (Fiksel, 2009). However, there is stiff competition between players, which leads to further reduction of prices and profits.

Competitive rivalry

Sams Club and BJs Wholesale Club are Costcos major rivals. They are both top Club stalls in the country. Both have experienced rapid growth in the recent past. Their business concepts are similar to Costcos (Epstein, 2008).

Implications, Threats, and Opportunities of Porters Five Forces

There are two major opportunities for Costco. Economies of scale are one (Demars, 2007). Since the organization operates on a large-scale, it is able to remain profitable even after lowering prices. Other smaller enterprises are also locked out of the industry. The bargaining capabilities of supplying agents are reduced. It is a key opportunity. Threats include substitutes and competition.

Detailed Value Chain Analysis: Internal Environment

Customized Value Chain of Activities in Table Form

Table 1

Value Chain Analysis

Implications of Competitive Analysis

Strengths

With regards to management, the organization is highly effective and efficient. It is also strong in terms of procurement. It procures a wide variety of merchandise that are nationally branded or from selected private labels. In terms of sales, it is the leading Club wholesaler in the US, its main market. Human resource matters are also handled seriously (Meadows, 2008).

Weaknesses

The main weakness is in terms of its operations. Costco is large, making coordination of operations difficult.

Skills

In terms of service, one of Costcos major cultures is care for members. There is also research and development in relation to skills. The organization is constantly adding value to its brand through research and development (Epstein, 2008).

Capabilities

Costco is good at both inbound and outbound logistics. It is associated with minimal handling of supplies to lower operational costs (Epstein, 2008). Costco is also associated with high inventory turn-over.

Detailed SWOT Analysis

SWOT Factor Matrix

The Pair-wise framework is used to match the various elements of the analysis.

SO strategies

Highly effective and efficient management will help formulate strategies to take advantage of the rise of the worlds middle-class population (Epstein, 2008). Costco procures a wide variety of merchandise that is nationally branded or from selected private labels. As such, it can easily acquire the energy technology associated with lighting to drive down cost of operation.

ST strategies

Costco procures a wide variety of merchandise that is nationally branded or from selected private labels. As such, it is able to deal with the threat of cutbacks in consumer spending through diversification. The organization also takes good care of workers. As such, it is able to deal with the increased government regulations in the industry, especially those associated with labor laws (Fiksel, 2009).

WO strategies

Costco is large, which makes coordination of operations difficult. However, technologies, such as light indicators and skylights, will help the organization ease its operations.

WT strategies

The size of the organization makes it hard to coordinate operations. Coupled with the threat of increased government regulations and cutbacks in consumer spending, the organization effective and efficient management has to develop strategies to steer the enterprise to success (Meadows, 2008).

Key Success Factor Analysis

Costcos success lies in its skills and capabilities. One of its major cultures is care for its members, which increases customer loyalty and inventory turn-over (Herman et al. 2009). The organization constantly adds value to its brand through research and development. It has devised strategies that have helped it to be good at inbound and outbound logistics. It also engages in minimal handling of supplies to lower operational costs.

Analyzing the Company Strategy Type

Costco is currently pursuing a low-cost strategy. The strategy is in line with its mission to constantly provide members with high quality goods and services at considerably lower prices. Low prices have helped the company edge out competitors from the industry (Stacey, 2011).

Action Plan Analysis

Costco should increase its capacity to procure a wide variety of merchandise that is nationally branded or from selected private labels to create diversity for the growing middle-class population (Herman et al., 2009). The organization is also good at both inbound and outbound logistics. As such, it can acquire and operate energy technology associated with lighting.

Boid Analysis

Costco must seek for separation strategies to avoid overcrowding in the industry. It can achieve this through diversification. Its alignment strategy should place it at the top of the industry, probably through increased inventory turn-over. Its cohesion strategy should keep it in line with competitors.

Industry Evolution Modeling

The organization should streamline operations (Stacey, 2011). Costco is a large organization, a situation that has made it difficult to coordinate activities.

Life Cycle Assessment

Costcos activities help in environmental conservation. Customers are expected to come up with their own packaging materials, which encourages recycling.

Sustainable Value Framework Analysis

The framework uses the four quadrant analysis to analyze sustainability.

Detailed Analysis of All Four Quadrants

Table 2

Sustainable value framework

Conclusion

Costco is an American wholesale corporation that sells its products to members. It is operated as a members only club. Its success today lies in its strengths and opportunities.

As a result of its large size, it is able to buy supplies in bulk and sell at lower prices compared to competitors. The organization also has an effective and efficient management framework that helps in the making of sound policies. Its workforce is also committed to providing care for customers.

References

Alange, S., & Steiber, A. (2009). The boards role in sustaining major organizational change: An empirical analysis of three change programs. International Journal of Quality and Service Sciences, 1, 280-293.

Demars, C. (2007). Organizational change theories: A synthesis. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Epstein, M. (2008). Making sustainability work: Best practices in managing and measuring corporate social, environmental, and economic impacts. San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler.

Fiksel, J. (2009). Design for environment: A guide to sustainable product development (2nd ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Fisher, L. (2009). The perfect swarm: The science of complexity in everyday life. New York, NY: Perseus.

Glenn, J., & Gordon, T. (2009). 2009 State of the future. Washington, DC: The Millennium Project.

Herman, M., Frost, M., & Kurz, R. (2009). Wargaming for leaders: Strategic decision making from the battlefield to the boardroom. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Meadows, D. (2008). Thinking in systems: A primer. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green Publishing Company.

Pearce, J., & Robinson, R. (2003). Strategic management: Formulation, implementation, and control. Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill.

Senge, P., Smith, B., Kruschwitz, N., Laur, J., & Schely, S. (2008). The necessary revolution: How individuals and organizations are working together to create a sustainable world. New York, NY: Doubleday.

Stacey, R. (2011). Strategic management and organizational dynamics: The challenge of complexity. London: FT Prentice-Hall.

The article by Garavan considers the concepts of training, development, education, and learning, and their relationship to the process of human resource management and development, and argues that the first three phenomena should be viewed as a whole that is tied by learning. This paper summarises this argument and provides its critical evaluation.

To understand the argument, it is paramount to provide the definitions of these notions. It is stated that the concept of education is traditionally utilised to denote systematic activities (aimed at creating knowledge and skills) provided for students by schools, colleges, and universities. Next, the concept of training usually covers the methods which organisations use to help their employees gain the practical skills and knowledge pivotal for the successful execution of their work-related duties.

The notion of development usually denotes the domain of personal interest related to the attainment of further knowledge, skills, cultural competency, etc., which are supposed to help one become more successful in their life. Finally, it is noted that the term learning is difficult to define due to its breadth, but it might be employed to refer to the general process of attaining new knowledge and skills.

Garavan argues that today, it might be useful to perceive the processes of education, training, and development not as separate processes, but as parts of an integrated whole tied together by the notion of learning. This should be handy for human resource management/development in particular. The main reason for this is that, whereas in the past educational institutions (such as universities) were able to provide their students with the training that was needed for the successful execution of work-related duties of the future employee, contemporary companies cannot rely on colleges and universities to teach their future employees all the needed skills and knowledge.

This is due to the rapid pace of development of technologies and the emergence of new knowledge. Consequently, in most if not all cases, a thorough training process should be provided for a new employee before they can start working.

Additionally, it is constantly needed to train the existing personnel further. As a result of the complexity of the changes that take place in organisations and of the constantly introduced innovative technologies, workers may need to get a thorough, full-fledged instruction on the use of these. Garavan also notes that when individuals are promoted to higher positions (e.g., higher managerial positions), they often lack the specific knowledge and skills required, which results in the need to provide them with learning opportunities to gain these skills. Therefore, given the volume of instruction needed for the staff, the distinctions between training, development, and education are blurred, and these processes may be bound together by the notion of learning.

The strengths of this argument include the fact that the pace of change and development is indeed very rapid nowadays, and organisations need to devote considerable resources to teach their employees if the latter is to be effectual; this instruction often needs to be systematic and resembling university courses, and it certainly contributes to the general development of an individual. Consequently, the perception of training, development, and education as a whole might be helpful for organisations in their human resource management/development endeavours.

However, the weaknesses of this argument include the fact that it is probably difficult or impossible for organisations to supply individuals with such comprehensive education as colleges/universities provide. Companies might very well be able to train their employees to do job-related tasks and use innovative technologies and systems, including very complex ones. Still, non-educational companies might never be able to possess the resources needed for providing a comprehensive education for employees, in particular in the spheres of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics).

Thus, Garavan argues that today, it might be useful to view the processes of training, development and education as a single process tied by the concept of learning. This may help organisations in their human resource management/development activities, but companies may never be able to provide education of the quality equal to that supplied by colleges/universities.

Introduction

Yahoo is an internet services provider in the global community; it has grown for a period of time now as a portal company. The company has had its share of challenges and success just like any other company in the market. The company has a huge market share and user base and operates in more than twenty-five countries across the globe. (Yahoo! Media Relations 2007)

A firm is said to possess a competitive advantage when it sustains profits that exceed the average for its company. The goal and objective of many firms are to achieve a sustainable advantage in the market and over rivals. Generally, to carry out a competitive analysis of Yahoo, certain important things should be done, the first thing is the analysis of both internal as well as external marketing environments for Yahoo. (Curtis et al 49).

The Yahoo competitive advantages can be well analyzed and identified through the use of these tools because they cover both the external as well as the internal environment and these are the main determinants of competitive advantages for a business organization (Curtis et al 49).

How to identify competitive advantages

Porters five forces

Porter identified the two types of advantages that firms strive to achieve i.e. cost advantage and differentiation advantage. Yahoo just like any other firm strives to get these two advantages; because of this, the firm has employed many different strategies to gain these advantages. (Kim et al 2005).

Barriers to entry

Brand power

There are certain barriers to entry that exist for the Yahoo firm in the industry. The barriers that are available include a very high brand power for the firm. Though many other firms can enter the brand name is what sells in the industry so building the brand name for a new entrant is a challenge on its own. (Kim et al 2005)

Technology that is complicated and changing fast

The complicated and changing technology presents a challenge to the new entrants; this is because it would be a challenge to keep up with the changing technology when entering the market and this can result in the collapse of the firm. Yahoo firm is in a better position since it is already established in the market and it has already adopted complicated and changing technology trends. (Kim et al 2005)

Initial financial resources

The initial financial resources of setting up a firm is very high, this is because of the cost of setting up the data system as well as marketing the firm in the market. This act as a barrier to entry for many of the firms that wish to enter the market, this is because it has to invest high financial resources that may not give output fast. (Kim et al 2005)

Buyer power

The buyer power is very high for customers in the market, this is because they have a variety to choose from and because of this they usually go for the site that seems to have favorable services. Because of this Yahoo should develop a strategy such that in the midst of the high buyer power and competition they can attract the highest number of customers. (Kim et al 2005)

Buyer power is based on the quality of information that is provided by the firm, this is because the customers will be attracted to the firm that provides the latest as well as reliable information. Yahoo is one of the firms that provide reliable and accurate information and thats the reason why the firm has managed to gain a competitive advantage in the highly competitive business environment. Also, brand recognition plays important role in buyer power; the more the brand is recognized the more the buyers will be attracted to it. Yahoo has established a strong brand name in the market and for that reason, it enjoys very high buyer power for its services and products. (Kim et al 2005).

Supplier power

The supplier power of the firm is very high and it is based on certain factors that are major to the company success. Some of the factors that contribute much to the high supplier power for Yahoo are the unique information content. This unique information content differentiates the company from many other firms in the market. The other contributing factor is the huge user base that builds the firms brand recognition, this gives the company high supplier power and in turn provides competitive advantage for the firm in the competitive business environment. (Kim et al 2005).

The other factor is the intense rivalry for top talent labor in the firm, the firm strives to get the best top talent labor in the market and through this it has managed to have a higher supplier power. This is because talented labor provides skills and services that place the firm in a better position in the business environment and also give a competitive advantage. (Kim et al 2005).

Potential substitutes

Already the market has other players who offer similar services that can serve as substitutes, for instance, Google is a strong competitor and its services are substitutes to the services of Yahoo. This shows that there is a great threat of substitutes in the market for Yahoo services. This is one way or another affects the market position of Yahoo and to succeed in such a situation there is a great need for the implementation of strong strategies that will enable the company to achieve a competitive advantage over the rivals substitute products. There is also the threat of vertical sites and new technologies through which the customers can access the same services and products provided by the firm. (Nicholas 2007).

The degree of rivalry in the industry

Since there are many other sites available like Google and MSN the degree of rivalry is very high. Also there are other potential companies that can enter the market because of low barriers to entry. The company is facing competition rivalry from the Google Company and other upcoming sites. This presents a challenge to the company and reduces the competitive power of the company in the market. Also the industry rivalry is moving very fast such that what one company was using to compete with in a very short duration is not viable. (James 2005).

From this analysis, it is clear that there are great competitive challenges that are faced by the Yahoo company in marketing the products but in the midst of these challenges the company has managed to keep its head high and so far it stands in a better position in the market. Certain factors create a competitive advantage for the company. (James 2005).

Analysis of firms resources and capabilities

Their community and user base is a strategic advantage

The company has a very large and strong community and user base across the globe. The large community base has been achieved through the variety of adverts that are displayed. Many people go to the internet to search for certain information and since Yahoo has variety many are attracted to the site. Also, they offer favorable prices such that most of the users are attracted to the site.

Yahoo holds its community close to the heart this is because it acts as a strategic advantage in the business environment, in that when they use the site they are in a position of raising high amounts of revenue that maintain the company. Also having large user base it helps in building brand recognition and name in the market since the user base refers their friends to the site. The company has the largest community share in the market 51 percent that signifies half of the market leaving the rest to competitors. The reason for this is that it covers 21 countries and has over 500 million users globally. (David E01)

The user base has increased over the years; this is because of the advancement in society needs such that there are many companies that put their products adverts in the internet. Because of this the number of users continues to increase as they search products and services. As the user base continues to increase the revenues and profits made by the company also increase as evidenced in 2003/04 analysis. User base increased by 10 percent from 2003-2004, this translated the revenues to $1.08 billion from $663.9 million. This was a significant change in revenues of 62 percent due to increased user base. (David E01)

The large user base and community gives the company a better chance over its rivals, this is because the more number of users you have the better the position in the market since it means that the services provided are of high quality (Whitney 2007).

Adoption of the ever changing technology

The Yahoo Company ensures that it keeps in touch with all the changes in technology that may affect the operations either positively or negatively, for instance byte technology. The company to utilize the technology for its success it worked together with Microsoft and increased the server speed. It is because of this that it has ensured that the services it provides are up to date and through this the company has managed to sustain its large community. For instance currently the company adopted a new beta release of the new mail program such that it is possible for the users to view their email messages even without opening it; this reduces the time users take to access their mails. Some of these actions signify the adoption of technologies and high rate of innovation in the company that gives it a competitive advantage over its rivals in the market (Shahid & Tang 6457).

Variety of services

to meet the increasing demand of the users and to maintain its large user base the company keeps on innovating new ways to place the company in a better position in the market and to effectively meet the needs of its users. For instance, it has recently modified its site such that it provides very many adverts to the users such that it does not need many efforts to get to know whats new in the market and where to find it. This is done through changing the contents of the site especially the first page such that there are adverts relating to different needs in the society, they are changed often to attract more attention from users. This has been possible through the development of a new beta version of its site that provides variety to the customers.

Apart from the variety of adverts on products and services provided by the company, other services are provided and are unique to the company. For instance, it provides three major sources to the users, the first one is My Web which comprises the pages or sites the user has opened and found essential for him or her and saves them for future reference. Such kinds of saved pages are usually saved by Yahoo on its servers and the best thing is that they do not harm the machine. This makes it easier for the user to get the preferred information very fast from my web (Whitney 2007).

The other source is every one web; this is the general internet every one opens to find certain information. This provides all the general information wanted and one has to identify what he or she wants to get. The final source is my communitys web this kind of source provides certain information that has been marked as of importance by members of a particular social network. These are the privileges provided by Yahoo to its customers that competitors like Google do not provide. Through this it becomes easier for the users to network and share important information. (Shahid & Tang 6457).

The provision of a wide variety of resources has placed the company in a better position over its rivals and has given it a competitive advantage. This is because customers usually like variety to choose from since one chooses what best suits him or her. Hence through such innovative actions, the company continues to build the intelligence of its community (Shahid & Tang 6457).

Large user base

The company benefits and enjoys a large user base across the globe; it has more than 200 million active users who are located in more than twenty countries across the globe. This is an important competitive advantage tool for the company, this is because if the user base is sustained and more potential users are attracted it will mean that it has the largest market share (Nicholas 2007).

The major focus of Yahoo is to systematically build community intelligence in all aspects of operations and to attract users to spend more time on Yahoo sites to view the many Yahoo adverts. This differentiates the company form the competitors and creates a better position for the company to sustain its market share and even attract more potential ones (Nullbit 2005).

The large user base gives the company a better opportunity to create community intelligence through segmenting the market into different units hence providing services that best suit that segment. This provides an advantage to the company since there are always users of the new innovations made hence a competitive advantage in the entire market over the rivals (Nullbit 2005).

However, though the company has strong factors that signify its resources and capabilities there are few challenges the company has faced. The company has invested more than 50 percent of its revenues in expanding user acquisition by having a web presence that forced users to stay on their site, this is one way or another has led the company astray. On the other hand Google the major competitor has mastered the art of monetization through contextual advertising that gives it 99 percent of its profits. There is more in gaining competitive power over the rivals than trying to expand the user acquisition though it has yielded benefits there are other many things that the company should have invested in (Nicholas 2007).

The firm is faced with high competition because of the high number of firms that have entered the industry. Some of the competing firms include Google which provides stiff competition and MSN. The high competition helps to come up with new competitive strategies to maintain competitive advantages. The other threat for the firm includes limited resources, this hinders the firm from achieving some of its objectives and goals. Also adaptability to the dynamic changes in the market is a threat this is because the business environment keeps on changing such that after implementing one strategy it is no longer viable in the industry (Holahan 2006b).

Yahoo and Google are both companies in the same market offering similar services to their users, the two companies are the largest competitive rivals in the market and each one is trying to capture attention of users in the market. Yahoo was there before Google and it grew very fast in the market back in 1999 and 2000. For now, the company is mature and has established itself with a very large user base across the globe (Holahan 2006b).

Recent changes and Actions of the firm

Recently there was the Microsoft and Yahoo bid, this seems to be a competitive game in the market. Microsoft wants to acquire Yahoo, this proposal would allow Yahoo shareholders to elect, to receive cash or a fixed number of shares of Microsoft common stock, with total consideration being paid to Yahoo. The offer seems good for Yahoo but it does not want to take it (Steven 2008).

Since online marketing has continued to grow fast it is predicted that the number will grow from $0 billion in 2007 to around $80billion by 2010. This will result in benefits of scale together with capital costs for advertising. The intention of Microsoft is for the two companies to work together since Microsoft believes that they will provide competitive opportunities to meet the needs of the customers and their partners (Steven 2008).

There are several synergies that are expected to come up after merging that includes, Scale of economies the combination will ensure that the economies that are associated with advertising platform. The economies are expected from search and non search related advertising. Expanded R&D capacity that will combine the engineering resources that both companies have, Microsoft believes that they can together increase the levels of innovation that will help in delivering high user experiences and new advertising platform capabilities for both companies (Steven 2008).

The company in regards to this offer has not yet made a clear decision; this is because it believes in taking time to analyze the offer and access whether it will be of importance to the company. As Yahoo and Google wrestle to sell changes there are differences in adaptation of the different changes that take place. Google updated its Google customized home page service while Yahoo instead added a new centralized profile page that mimics some facebook features and revamped the flicker page (Stephen 2007).

to keep up with the changes that take place the company adapts strategies that help the company to transform the changes into benefits. Yahoo took a contrite tone to deal with the changes; it has made changes in its profile. The changes have had some negative impacts that include loss of data for users but it can also be retrieved. (Chris 2006).

Sustainability of the firms competitive advantages

Shift from Yahoo to Google dominance

From the analysis of the market and the different companies in the industry, it is clear that there is has been a shift from Yahoo to Google and Google seems to dominate the market currently. Google has 47.3 percent market share while Yahoo has a 28.5 percent these are the major players in the market, while Microsoft has 10.5 percent and ASK 5.4 percent. From this data Google has a higher dominance which is almost two times that of Yahoo (Tom 2007).

The secret or the contributing factor to Google dominance is innovation; Google has become expert in planning its innovation strategies. For instance it monitored the increased marketing needs and developed innovative online marketing of products that it offers to its users. The major focus of the company is on advertising products for their customers and through this, the companys share and dominance increase since many people find it easier to search for information on products through the site. It believes in the production of a lot of products quickly then collectively change the world through mass production. For Yahoo to be in a better position in the market there is a great need of adopting innovative ways and strategies that can help it regain back its dominance (Tom 2007).

Yahoo lost its market share to Google around eight years back, this started when the company decided to lent financial support and other help to Google through its site. Google used Yahoo to establish itself in the market and because of this, it gained popularity. Yahoo never knew that its support for Google would place it in challenging positions since it would rise to be a strong competitor in the market as it is currently. Not only Google is a competitor for Yahoo but also it has gained a higher market share and dominated the market (Tom 2007).

Google through its innovative advertising strategies to its clients it has managed to take away Yahoos market in United States. Currently Google is dominating the market share in United States since it holds 80 percent of the market share while the other percent is shared by the other sites including Yahoo that initially dominated the market. It is a challenge for Yahoo to regain the market share since Google has already dominated the market unless high innovative strategies are invented but it will still be a challenge.

The other reason why Google has dominated the market is because of its focus on online advertising for its clients. Through the adverts, Google attracted many users who were interested in adverts which over time has increased the dominance of Google in the market. On the other hand, Yahoo mainly focused on user acquisition which was the opposite of Google and lost many of its users to Yahoo since they found Google to have new adverts that met their needs (Tom 2007).

Carrying out a comparison between the companies and what they offer may not be easy, this is because there are things that Google offers that may be better as well as Yahoo. But from the analysis, Yahoo is said to be better based on certain services that it provides that either Google does not offer or which are better. Seven things have been highlighted that make Yahoo better than Google. The Yahoo finance, Yahoo answers i.e. questions and answers, back link Reporting via Yahoo site explorer, Flickr: Photo uploading and sharing, local search, Entertainment and privacy (Loren 2007).

Gaining a competitive advantage in the market is not very important as the ways and strategies of maintaining that competitive advantage. The company uses the following factors to sustain its competitive advantage.

Adoption to changing Technology

The company has been technology conscious such that it monitors all the changes in technology and uses it to develop new services that satisfy the customers needs more efficiently. For instance it adapted the added a new centralized profile page that mimics some face book features and revamped the flicker page. Also as the technology keeps on changing other technological needs come up for the users, the the company comes up with new technologies that satisfy the emerging needs of the users. For instance, it has adopted a new way of retrieving your messages such that it is easier to get the messages without opening the mail inbox; this reduces the time taken to get the information. Through this, the company has been in a position of maintaining and sustaining its large community and user base that are sources of competitive advantages for the firm in the market (Holahan 2006a).

Also through the use of the ever-changing technology the company develops a new and variety of services that users can use and that improves the community intelligence of its users.

Monitors whats taking place in the competitive environment

The company keeps an eye on whats taking place in the competitive business environment. Through this, it monitors what the other companies are doing to gain a competitive advantage and utilizes that to develop better strategies to out do the competitors. This is what happened with the Google, it uses the textual advertising which is a small piece of programming code which is inserted into web pages which interprets the text and serves advertising based on keywords. (Franz Developer Symposium 2003).

This is a strategy that has been used by Google and produces 99 percent of the companys profits. Yahoo has adopted this strategy of contextual advertising that has proved to be profitable, through this it will be in a position of sustaining its competitive advantage over the rivals. This is because it has known what it uses to capture its competitive advantage hence it will be possible to beat the company (Erin 2008).

Carrying out consumer surveys

Since the company is focused on providing an intelligent community and presenting the best to its customers it carries out consumer surveys on important issues. This gives the company a chance of getting to know better the needs of the market and uses this information to come up with products that best suit the needs of their customers. They use customers to inspire them on what to do to maintain their competitive advantage in the competitive business environment (Erin 2008).

A good example is a survey done by the company on whether the consumers considered purchasing an alternative fuel vehicle in the next year. The survey reflected that sixty percent was for the idea; this created a better opportunity to serve a consumer need that had been identified. Also through the surveys, the company has managed to know what exactly wants in the market and they have used this information to provide what the customer needs. This has been a better way of maintaining a competitive advantage in the market since they are customer focused (Erin 2008).

There are important things that the Yahoo company has learned about customers in the market through the surveys. First the customers a do not want doom and gloom; they always want to get to know about positive things and innovations that can work for them. The company because of this provides inspiring stories to their users that have innovative ideas and possibilities. Through this there are many users who attracted to using the services of the company (Erin 2008).

Conclusion

The Yahoo company despite great competitive challenges in the market it has managed to maintain its competitive advantage. The journey has not been that smooth there are several challenges it has faced but for each challenge, it has managed to get a long-term solution. Because of this, the company enjoys several competitive advantages in the market like a huge user base and a variety of products.

Works cited

Chris Gaither & Dawn C. Chmielewski, Yahoos CEO makes big changes at the top, Times Staff Writers, 2006.

Curtis M. Grimm, Hun Lee, Ken G. Smith, Strategy as Action: competitive dynamics and competitive advantage, Oxford University Press U.S, 2005, pp. 48-50

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Introduction

The Coors Brewing Company is a US brewery and beer corporation that began in 1873 in Golden, Colorado, as a holding business. The organization is managed by the heirs of the founder, Adolph Coors. Since its formation, the Coors Brewing Company has sustained high production levels and expansion, making it one of the leading American breweries (Dess et al. 6). The success was primarily due to the companys effective management, good leadership, and acquisition of talents and resources across Colorado. Unfortunately, the operations of the firm started deteriorating from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s, as shown in figure 1 below. As a result, the corporation began losing its competitive value in the USA. This essay discusses what made Coors competitive advantage in America drop and how to improve its prospects.

The organization had got through Prohibition by making porcelain, cement, malted milk, and near beer. Subsequently, this made the company a crucial player in the American brewing industry that sold over 90,000 beer barrels within four years after the Prohibition (Dess et al. 6). However, its competitive position in the sector dropped between the mid-1970s and mid-1980s due to various factors. One contributing aspect was the restriction of Coors market to eleven states only through 1975. At this time, other competitors had begun expanding countrywide to capture new markets. Contrarily, Coors had confined its operations to these eleven states and, at the same time, increased the cost of expansion in the future.

A second issue that led to this deterioration is the high cost of raw materials. According to this case study, the company had made considerable investments in achieving higher vertical integration of its corporate practices and processes (Dess et al. 6). Coors wanted to achieve self-reliance and quality in procurement by buying facilities, ingredients, and machinery. Specifically, the organization heavily invested in energy sources, glass manufacturing, malt production, recycling, secondary packaging, and label manufacturing. As a result, the cost of sustaining the aforementioned initiatives was higher than that incurred by other significant competitors who depended on external suppliers.

In terms of production, Coors failed to maintain its competitive advantage due to extra finances needed for refrigeration of unpasteurized beer, lack of product differentiation, and longer brewing cycles. Additionally, the demand for beer had stagnated despite heavy machinery investments and ineffective capacity extension strategies (Dess et al. 8). Consequently, this resulted in minimal growth and, subsequently, beer shortages during peak seasons. Finally, the corporation had several unethical operations that caused product boycotts, federal agencies filing occasional legal suits, and employee strikes. Coors distribution strategy also deteriorated, as the company incurred extra costs in shipping unpasteurized beer in refrigerated rail trucks and cars (Dess et al. 9). Although Coors had extensive distribution monitoring programs, the firm was disadvantaged by its strict policies. Some of these rules include preventing wholesalers from cutting costs, restricting geographic beer distribution, and avoiding selling draft beer in bars except when they have carried it exclusively.

Another contributing factor to the dropping Coors competitive advantage is the expansion strategy entering at least two states every year. The plan increases the median beer shipment distance, thus elevating the transportation cost of moving the products from the firms distribution centers to wholesalers. The company also invested considerable amounts in market development and partnered with weaker resellers compared to leading competitor organizations like Miller and Anheuser-Busch (Dess et al. 10). The intended competitive advantages of Coors Transportation Company were not met after its establishment because of its inability to obtain sources of traffic, including autonomous carriers, leading to substantial cost overruns.

How Coors can Improve its Prospects

Coors management needs to develop reliable marketing techniques and emphasize quality production. These tactics will allow them to evolve and accommodate local and international competitors quickly. In addition, the company should change its structure to meet international standards while maintaining its family culture. Coors should also increase its product line to get a competing edge over the other brands (Dess et al. 8). The organization needs to create effective ways of delivering products from the processing station to retailers and wholesalers. Coors Breweries can also improve their production by setting new management rules that prompt every department to strive for higher targets regardless of the prevailing circumstances.

Secondly, Coors needs to create an efficient procurement process that will minimize production costs. The company should develop well-structured franchises and hire independent suppliers. Besides, it should strive to be self-reliant by establishing grain processing firms that supply its starch needs and avoid price fluctuations. Additionally, the firm should design its malting packaging and labels (Dess et al. 8). All these factors will reduce the companys costs of production to a minimum value.

Improving the production process will also play a critical role in Coors prospects. Coors executive team should devise techniques to improve their products for the international markets, according to Dess et al. (12). They can open several shops in U.S popular towns to allow clients to access their beer easily. Moreover, the organization can use product branding as the primary marketing technique and develop market segments to increase product sales. Coors can also utilize cost-effective production techniques to increase their profit margins and compete with other breweries.

Another vital recommendation is sourcing quality ingredients and utilizing a unique brewing process that will produce quality beer. Coors should focus on increasing its economies of scale by producing more beer. The brewery needs to develop expansion strategies that will enable it to produce beer for regions with shortages. Marketing is another element that Coors should consider when planning competitive strategies. Managers need to implement effective marketing strategies like outsourcing marketers from other firms (Dess et al. 10). Further, they need to launch new brands and increase their advertising expenditure to create awareness of their beers.

Coors should also develop efficient distribution processes to be at the top of the competition. They should eliminate distribution channel barriers and recruit reputable wholesalers with proven market records to distribute their products (Dess et al. 10). Coors leaders can also develop comprehensive distributor monitoring programs to ensure wholesalers sell fresh beer to consumers. Further, the company should plan to expand its business to different states in the US. They can minimize their shipping expenditures by setting up distribution centers in the new states. Furthermore, Coors brewing company needs to build a good reputation and make consumers trust its brand. The brewery should set up many stores offering its branded drinks at pocket-friendly costs.

Conclusion

To conclude, this case study has analyzed the growth of Adolph Coors in the brewing sector in terms of its competitive advantages. The research aimed to understand why the competitive position of the organization deteriorated during the 1970s and 1980s. Subsequently, it proposes strategies that should be implemented for the organization to enhance its prospects. Leaders need to develop effective strategies and best business practices to meet the companys specific goals, thus propelling it to greater heights. By implementing the aforementioned strategies, Coors Brewing Company will rise again to be a leading beer producer in the US.

Diagram

Work Cited

Dess, Gregory, et al. Strategic Management: Creating Competitive Advantages. 9th ed., McGrow-Hill, 2019.

Introduction

Hilton Worldwide is a United States-based multinational hospitality business. Conrad Hilton founded the company in Cisco, Texas, in 1919 (Hilton, 2022a). Through innovation, expansion, and acquisition of other related companies, Hilton now has the best-performing portfolio in the industry. Currently, the companys head office is located in Tysons Corner, Virginia, and is led by Christopher Nassetta (Hilton, 2022a). Hilton operates as a holding company and, therefore, competes on a broader basis. It functions under different forms, namely, ownership, franchise, and timeshare. In this regard, it develops, owns, manages, leases, and franchises businesses, as well as timeshare properties. Hilton has 18 brands and operates in 123 countries and territories and 7061 properties through which it provides hospitality services (Hilton, 2022a). Similarly, there are over 360,000 employees working across Hiltons corporate offices and establishments (Hilton, 2022b). Based on Hiltons mission statement, its relationship with customers and other key stakeholders drives its reputation and growth.

Scope of the Study

With the increased investment opportunities in the hotel and tourism industry, companies may face corresponding risks and challenges that negatively impact their profitability. In view of this situation, the present study analyzes the market conditions and Hiltons competitiveness. To this end, the study utilizes PESTEL, Porters Five, and Ansoff Matrix analytical tools. The models provide insights into competitive standing or the factors affecting hotel and travel industry profitability to inform decisions about increasing capacity and developing competitive strategies. The scope of the study is restricted to selected scholarly journals, new articles, books, and websites that give the background of opportunities and challenges in the hospitality sector.

Market Conditions and the Competitive Analysis of Hilton

Although Hilton is a popular brand in the hospitality industry, it is influenced by a dynamic business environment. Various elements that affect its day-to-day functions are linked to collective social actions, environmental activism, a shift in technological innovations, changes in consumer spending, and the ever-evolving legal system. In this case, PESTLE analysis assesses the following;

Political Factors

Politics strongly influence Hiltons operations domestically and abroad. For example, the increasing tension between the United States and Russia over Ukraine can make tourists from these two countries unwilling to travel (Russu, 2022). Similarly, visa suspensions, economic sanctions, and the banning of Russian aircraft by the United States from operating in its airspace may likely discourage a significant number of travels to North America. (Schaper, 2022, para. 3). Thus, diplomatic conflicts may simultaneously decrease or shift some business operations, reducing Hiltons revenues.

Economic Factors

The economic situation within the country has direct and indirect impacts on the hotel industry. They may include the availability of key infrastructure, GDP, inflation level, and interest rate. The economic shock caused by the outbreak of Covid-19 has resulted in an unconventional recession, consequently affecting the bottomline of most businesses. Restrictions on regional and international travel led to a sharp decline in hotel occupancies and revenues (Gursoy and Chi, 2020, p. 527). Since the beginning of 2020, the United States lodging occupancy rate has decreased by 30% compared to the previous year, leading to hotels losing over $46 billion and suspending some critical operations (Shapoval et al., 2021, p. 2). Therefore, the economic downtime due to Covid-19 negatively impacts leisure and travel activities and directly affects profitability.

Social Factors

Various elements, including culture, demographic patterns, a shift in consumer behavior towards traveling, and health and safety attitudes, can impact Hiltons operations. Social factors can be a major concern because they influence hotel selection decisions (Uca et al., 2017, p. 2). In the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic, people minimized social interactions. For instance, guests preferred smaller hotels and short-term rentals due to imminent concerns about the disease. In 2021, traveler preference for short-term accommodations was 12% higher than in the pre-pandemic period (Change in travel accommodation preferences continues, 2022, para. 4). These trends show that the market is likely to become increasingly fragmented, which signals great opportunities for Hilton to provide unique and exceptional services.

Technological Factors

Adopting technologies can help Hilton reduce operational inefficiencies and, at the same time, enhance customers experience. For instance, automation is becoming more prevalent in most industries. About 40% of jobs in America will be automated by 2030 (Jenkins, 2017). In the food and hospitality service sectors, 25% of jobs would be computerized (Nova and Schoen, 2019). Thus, artificial intelligence and big data will make it possible for hotels to anticipate and meet evolving guest expectations through personalized services based on previous visits. Customer satisfaction will be enhanced through smart reserved parking, remote check-in or check-out, and digital keys mobile applications (Garrido-Moreno et al., 2021, p. 9). Therefore, integrating the latest technologies in business operations can assist Hilton in gaining a competitive advantage.

Legal Factors

The legal framework plays a significant role in the development of Hilton domestically and abroad. Therefore, the company must be cognizant of various laws dictating its operations to avoid license cancelation and criminal lawsuits. These standards might relate to intellectual property, employment, discrimination, and health and safety laws. For example, during the Covid-19 outbreak, governments enacted various rules to manage the pandemic. These regulations include social distancing and sanitization of the hotel rooms to curb the spread of the disease (Cronin et al., 2021, p. 2). Therefore, a careful evaluation of legal aspects is needed to avoid undesired circumstances, which can damage Hiltons public image due to breaches of hygiene standards.

Environmental Factors

Customers are increasingly becoming more health and environmentally conscious due to climate change and the emergence of infectious diseases. Therefore, waste pollution is a serious environmental threat to Hilton. The industry produces over 289,700 tonnes of waste annually, including 79,000 tonnes of food remains (Tayao, 2017, para. 5). All these excesses contribute to sea and land pollution and global warming. In this regard, the hotel sector can suffer an accompanying economic risk as tourists may avoid areas affected by disasters (Rosselló et al., 2020, p. 1). Thus, Hilton needs to invest in sustainability efforts because customers and employees now want to be associated with companies that take initiatives to protect the environment.

Porters Five Analysis

Porters Five Forces can also provide insights to help Hilton navigate the environment in which it operates. The components of the model have been discussed as follows;

The threat of New Entrants

The lucrative industry attracts new players, which increases competition and erodes profitability. Despite Hilton being one of the major players, some brands continue to reshape the industry. The main competition may include Hong-Kong based Langham Hospitality Group, a subsidiary of Eaton hotel in Washington. The company also owns properties in North America, including New York and Los Angeles, and plans to open new branches in San Francisco and Seattle (Langham Hospitality Group, n.d.). Thus, foreign businesses may be encouraged to enter the American market unless Hilton invests in research and development to continue defining quality standards by providing exceptional services.

Threats of New Substitutes

The availability of alternative goods or services may create stiff competition for Hilton. There is a high growth of domestic or small-chain boutique hotels providing a compelling alternative to Hilton. These may include the Unbound Collection by Hyatt Centric, which delivers a unique and memorable experience. Unlike other popular brands, Unbound is for customers with a budget (Hyatt, 2022). Thus, increased substitute shows that guests can use substitute services from other small companies to meet their needs.

Suppliers Power

Hotel amenities are valuable requirements provided to guests by staff when securing accommodations at Hilton. The top hotel suppliers may include KMK Supply Company, Transmacro Amenities, Zecron Textiles., and Ganesh International (Top Hotel Amenities Suppliers and Manufacturers, 2022, para. 2). These are some distributors of items, such as spa items, trash can liners, toiletries, linens, bathrobes, and other luxury items that Hilton needs to provide quality services. Hence, if suppliers have strong bargaining power, they will demand higher prices from Hilton, impacting its potential to maintain above-average profits.

Buyers Power

The bargaining power increases, especially when there are few customers and numerous companies selling goods and services. Similarly, if the cost of switching from one hotel to another is low, this implies that the bargaining power of guests is high. Many multinational companies, such as Marriott, InterContinental Hotel Group, and other small-chain hotels, can provide a compelling alternative to Hilton (Williams, 2019, p. 129). Therefore, through product and service differentiation, Hilton can build loyalty, reduce the defection of new and existing customers to its competitors and increase its market share.

Rivalry Among Existing Competitors

This force explores the degree of competition in the industry. It considers the number of existing competitors and their portfolios. In this context, Hilton can face intense competition from Marriott, InterContinental, and other small hotels. Since many businesses provide the same products and services, consumers can easily switch to the competitors offering them at low costs. This may compel Hilton to adjust its prices and decrease overall business profitability (Sowerby, 2021). Thus, business rivalry can make price wars to ensue and increase advertising and promotion, which can hurt Hiltons bottomline.

Ansoff Matrix

This model can evaluate Hiltons growth strategies relative attractiveness by leveraging existing services and markets versus new ones and assessing the associated risk levels. The four growth strategic options that can be analyzed using the matrix include;

Market Penetration

This approach can be used by a company when it has the potential to expand its market share in the current industry. In this case, Hilton can boost its market penetration by increasing customer experience through constant innovation. Therefore, when dealing with large volumes of guests simultaneously, the company needs better options for providing high-end, efficient services without compromising safety. Facial recognition and chatbots can provide quick guest identification and automate check-ins and check-outs wherever they are.

Product Development

This strategy involves Hilton either adding new features to the current product portfolio or developing new ones for the existing market. For example, AI robots can help provide efficient services, from cleaning rooms to providing customers with information at the front desk. Therefore, integrating innovative solutions can introduce modifications and improvements in existing services and offer consumers new and improved offerings. These advanced technologies are the best option to make Hiltons product portfolios more exclusive and personalized.

Market Development

This growth strategy involves efforts to introduce existing products in new markets. For example, a business can conduct research and development to identify potential consumer segments for its services (Solomon et al., 2019). This can help explore and understand peoples behaviors and cultures and how they differ from those in the existing markets. One prominent example of market development may include introducing a concierge system to automate solutions by providing personalized services. In addition, this software can help the hotel interact with customers since they are designed to aid in language translation (Morishita, 2020, p. 108). Therefore, this approach can allow Hilton to leverage existing services and introduce them to different markets.

Diversification

This strategy is a high-risk endeavor and incorporates both market and product development. However, it can attract huge benefits through new revenue opportunities or by reducing a companys reliance on a limited product portfolio or market (Baines et al., 2022, p. 226). Corporate travelers, business groups, and affluent families on vacation make up a considerable share of the consumer base. Nevertheless, alternative accommodations and other services can be customized to appeal to younger and older leisure travelers on a budget. This approach might include shared accommodations, where multiple guests who are not traveling together can stay in the same apartments. Therefore, service diversification can help Hilton enter new markets and become competitive by remaining relevant in different markets.

Conclusion

Hilton is one of the best-performing brands in the hotel industry. Market conditions and competitive analysis through analytical tools, such as Porters Five and PESTEL, indicate that the company has more opportunities to leverage to remain competitive. These include using advanced technologies to enhance remote booking or check-out and increase customer experience. However, social, economic, legal, and environmental factors and other forces in the market present significant challenges that Hilton must navigate to sustain its profitability. Ansoff Matrix analysis shows that Hilton can leverage existing and new services to remain competitive in various markets. This implies that through strategies, such as product development and diversification, the company can cater to customers on budget and increase its market base.

Reference List

Baines, P., Fill, C., Rosengren, S. and Antonetti, P. (2022) Marketing. London: Oxford University Press.

Change in travel accommodation preferences continues, Str. Web.

Cronin, C. J., and Evans, W. N. (2021) Total shutdowns, targeted restrictions, or individual responsibility: how to promote social distancing in the COVID-19 Era?, Journal of Health Economics, 79, pp. 1-33.

Garrido-Moreno, A., Garcia-Morales, V. J., and Martín-Rojas, R. (2021) Going beyond the curve: strategic measures to recover hotel activity in times of COVID-19, International Journal of Hospitality Management, 96, pp. 1-12.

Hilton (2022a) Welcome to Hilton. Web.

Hilton (2022b) FAQs. Web.

Hyatt (2022) The unbound collection. Web.

Jenkins, A. (2017) Robots could steal 40% of U.S. jobs by 2030, Fortune, Web.

Langham Hospitality Group (n.d.) Our destinations. Web.

Morishita, S. (2020) Service management in the accommodation industry for foreign tourists visiting Japan, Journal of Advanced Management Science, 8(4), pp. 108-115.

Nova, A. and Schoen, J.W. (2019) Automation threatening 25% of jobs in the US, especially the boring and repetitive ones: Brookings study, CNBC, Web.

Rosselló, J., Becken, S., and Santana-Gallego, M. (2020) The effects of natural disasters on international tourism: a global analysis, Tourism Management, 79, pp. 1-10.

Russu, C. (2022) The impact of the war in Ukraine on the tourism industry | Experts opinions, Development Aid. Web.

Schaper, D. (2022) A ban of Russian aircraft from U.S. airspace has gone into effect, NPR, Web.

Solomon, M.R., Marshall, G.W., Stuart, E.W., Barnes, B.R., Mitchell, V.W. and Tabrizi, W. (2019) Marketing: Real people, real decisions. London: Pearson UK.

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Monitor and control process is an essential step in regulating the overall performance of a firms sales force. One should be aware the developing step involves nine critical stages. These include identifying the process, defining measures, setting a measurement system and standards, obtaining results, comparing the outcome, communicating, generating alternatives, and taking action. The example company will be the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), which is one of the largest management consulting service providers.

To develop a monitor and control system for improving a firms performance, it is essential to follow the nine steps. First, one needs to identify the process to control to specify the approach (Capon, 2016). For example, BCG operates on a project-based pattern, where each one of them is tied with a client in the form of an organization or department (Keenan et al., 2015). Second, it is vital to decide and define measures, which allows the system to track the appropriate metrics (Capon, 2016). In the case of BCG, these elements can be customer satisfaction, project completion time, and change in customer performance after the implementation of recommendations.

Third, a precise measurement system needs to be developed, which will dictate whether the overall performance is improving. For instance, the monitor and control process can record the clients feedback, adherence to deadlines, and outcome differences before and after the consultation. The fourth stage involves setting standards to identify desirable results (Capon, 2016). For example, BCG can set such components by requiring 9 out of 10 customer satisfaction, complete adherence to the schedule, and at least a 10% performance increase regarding the client.

The following fifth critical step revolves around measuring the results. In the case of Boston Consulting Group, the results might be 8 out of 10 customer feedback, 2 missed deadlines out of 10 projects, and 23% percent performance improvement among the clients. The sixth stage is the comparison of outcomes with standards to observe key gaps and variances (Capon, 2016). The provided example shows that customer satisfaction and deadline adherence do not match the required norms, whereas the last metric exceeds them. The seventh step includes understanding and communicating performance gaps to inform the company or firm (Capon, 2016). For example, a BCG analyst can assess the obtained data and present information to upper management for further discussions.

The eighth element of developing a monitor and control system is generating and evaluating alternatives. For instance, the top management alongside the analyst can decide that customer satisfaction and deadline adherence metrics require major structural improvements due to the possibility of the two being interlinked. The last step is selecting alternatives and taking action, which is designed to eliminate the outlined issues (Capon, 2016). In the case of the BCG example, the plausible option or solution might be manifested in cutting bonuses or imposing penalties for non-adherence to deadlines, which can also improve customer satisfaction. Therefore, these nine critical measures can ensure that any firms sales force will enhance its performance.

In conclusion, the monitoring and control process is a vital part of enhancing the overall performance of a company or firm by increasing its sales force. To develop the system, it is important to undergo nine essential elements. They are determining the process, defining and setting measurements and standards, gathering the results and comparing them to the requirements, and communicating information for further action.

References

Capon, N. (2016). Managing marketing in the 21st century (4^th ed.). Wessex Press.

Keenan, P., Bickford, J., Mingardon, S., Wong, T., & Tankersley, J. (2015). Connecting business strategy and project management [PDF document]. Web.

Executive Summary

The marketing plan has been formed on Angels and the chosen product is Angels Carpet, Flooring, Lighting, Beds, Rugs, curtains and blinds which has taken the leading position in the local market. The macro-environments that influence an organisations activities are demographic, economic, political-legal, ecological, socio-cultural, and technological. These factors influence the Angels production and marketing. Angels uses producer to wholesaler to consumer channel for distributing within a short distance whereas they use producer to wholesaler to retailer to consumer where the distance is long.

This organisation has some strength, which leads them towards success, some weaknesses, which downgrade the companys brands, some opportunities, which benefit the firm and threats, which prevent the firm from reaching the goals. All these things are the situations of SWOT analysis. To make a marketing plan, Angels considers some issues like organisation, product-market, and competitive and environmental situations.

They consider financial and marketing objectives while developing marketing plan. Marketing strategy contains assumptions of deciding target market, positioning, product/service, pricing, distribution, market communication and market research. These factors further lead to a successful market plan. At the end of the planning, a good controlling can accomplish the ultimate goal of an organisation. Angels has done this step and found some contingency. If they would be solved, then they will lead them towards a fruitful end of a marketing plan.

Section I: Background

Angels is a South Wales based household goods retail store. Angela Burgess is the owner of the Angels started the business thee years back. She is well experienced in this trade as previously worked in her husbands furniture store. As a local inherent, she has well social connection and contacts. As a community spirited person part of proceeds from his show room goes to charity.

This Basic strategic marketing plan for Angels using the methods and techniques taught in academic disciplinary for 3 years and the campaign goes from current month up to the next year to April 2009 to ensure that the £1 million target is made. Preparing a marketing plan is a significant element to the overall business success of an Angels or a new product preface. Exactly is a marketing plan and what elements should a comprehensive plan include

Environment

Angels is located at Talgarth in a small town of South Wales with 28000 residents. Most of the populations are living near to the poverty line. One third of households have dual income source better livelihood. In summer it is a good tourist spot.

Mission

Angels is dedicated to give good values for its customers.

Vision

Angels is passionate about giving people good value for money and offer discounted price having a narrow profit margin. The owner is very hard working to achieving the goals.

Section II: Revenue History and Forecast

Product line

Angels product main line includes Carpet, Flooring, Lighting, Beds, Rugs, curtains and blinds. Bedroom furniture and Occasional Tables have added in its product line. It also runs an art gallery featuring local artists. The store posses to quality exclusive products but most of the middle ranges aimed to mass market.

Human Resource

Angels has three paid employees; one is carper estimator and the rest two for marketing & sales. Angela the owner works full time and at the same time her son work at the weekend and her daughter look after the accounts after school.

The present history of the Angels presents its products and services, staffing and gives a historic look at where and what initiatives have to be taken for the next three years. Some illustration of prime events would be included in hiring of its sales staff, establishment of a new distribution structure, most important to increase in marketing budget, new product introduction, newly established ventures and creation of Angels own web site including e-commerce facilities.

Angels Present tern over is £650,000 and is almost break event point. The Current profit margin is 15% after tax and all costs. Target Turn over £1m after 12 months and Marketing Budget is £20000 for advertising.

Chart projected in the financial section showing revenues for 3 years starting from the present up to April 2009 projections into the future in segment by market position. It has added marketing expenditures, expenditures as a percentage of gross sales and pre-tax Angels profit. This section Provide a good considerate of Angels past performance as it communicate to the present marketing investments.

This section should be a detailed assumption that facilities needed to add at least 3 times above the existing because Angels aimed to increase its turnover from £650,000 to over £1m after 12 months working with the numbers of various strategies would be suggested for the future. Angels realization is that sales to an exacting market are growing at a faster rate than other markets and yet spend very little marketing investment.

Section III: Strategic Issues

Angels current business environment, internal and external issues could affect next years business. This section incorporates the important factors that put limits to the marketing plan or explore detail opportunities for the coming years.

Market Situation

Current Angels principal products are Carpet, Flooring, Lighting, Beds, Rugs, curtains and blinds and other new products now are adding.

Sales of seasonal Carpet, Flooring, Lighting, Beds, Rugs, curtains and blinds through all channels are estimated to reach some £ 1.00 million in 2009 looking at 2008 sales, which include verified sales for all holiday products, the market stood at £650,000. Between 2009 and 2012, sales of Carpet, Flooring, Lighting, Beds, Rugs, curtains and blinds should increased 153.84% at current prices. The inflation rate taken in to account 1.52% and price level should gain 5.5%, which reflects a gain of 3.48% at constant 2008 prices. Thus, Angels would drive to increase its present sales at5 150.36 %.

A number of factors have contributed to the increase in Carpet, Flooring, Lighting, Beds, and Rugs, curtains and blinds sales. This report focuses solely on household products that can be assigned to some marketers by making products that can be used for more. For example, Angels rugs leverages a number of fourth-quarter holidays by selling bags of rags.

But Angels believes that in accordance with changing tastes and innovation, they are making different flavor household and giving gift items with that, which are achieving the national and international market.

Macro-environment

Macro-environment is the larger societal forces that affect the microenvironment demographic, economic, natural, technological, political, and cultural forces. Angels and all of the other actors operate in a larger macro-environment of forces that shape opportunities and pose threats to the company. In this planning it will be examined that how these forces affect marketing plans of Angels.

Demographic Environment

Demography is the study of human populations in terms of size, density, age, gender, race, occupation, and other statistics. The demographic environment is of major interest to marketers because it involves people, and people make up markets. So when Angels Household furnitures develops marketing plan, they consider the population and other corresponding factors such as the population size, age of the customers who buy Angels Carpets, and occupation- as these factors affect the selling quantity, price, quality and market demand etc.

Economic Environment

Markets require buying power as well as people. The Economic Environment consists of factors that affect consumer purchasing power and spending patterns.

Since the 1990s, South Wales consumers fell into consumption frenzy, fueled by income growth, a boom in the stock market, rapid increases in housing values and other economic good fortune. Talgarth is a small town of South Wales with 28000 residents. Most of the populations are living near to the poverty line. One third of households have dual income source better livelihood. In summer, it is a good tourist spot.

Now it is the age of squeezed consumer, which implies that people have been more careful about spending money as it is being costly to maintain a good standard of living. Therefore, while Angels develops their marketing plan, they consider the economic condition of their existing consumers and their spending patterns; the people, who cannot effort their product because of high price and the people who might switch the commodity if the price changes or gets higher.

Political-Legal Environment

Marketing decisions are strongly affected by developments in the political environment. The political environment consists of laws, government agencies, and pressure groups that influence or limit various organisations and individuals in a given society. Thats why Angels is always concerned about the enforced and changing law and order, because their business policies and marketing plans are affected by those factors.

Ecological Environment

The ecological environment involves the natural resources that are needed as inputs by marketers or that are affected by marketing activities. Renewable resources like forests, Household furniture have to be used wisely whereas nonrenewable resources like oil, coal, and various minerals create a severe problem. As a result, the firms, which are manufacturing products using scarce resources, are facing high production cost. This type of situation often impedes firms for producing further as the rate of return and profit become uncertain and relatively low.

On the other hand, the existing industries also pollute environment. Disposal of chemical and nuclear wastes; dangerous mercury levels in the ocean; the quantity of chemical pollutants in the soil and Household furniture supply; and the littering of the environment with plastics, and other packaging materials cause a great damage to the environment. Sometimes it creates air and sometimes water pollution, which degrade the environment.

Angels is always aware of their reputation and public sentiments. For that reason, they try to make Carpets and other Household furniture without causing any pollution, and provide some social awareness program, which directly or indirectly impress the carpet consumers.

Socio-Cultural Environment

Socio-cultural forces are the influences in a society and its cultures that bring about changes in attitudes, beliefs, norms, customs, and lifestyles. Profoundly affecting how people live, these forces help to determine what, how, and when people buy products. Socio-cultural forces present marketers with both challenges and opportunities. As a result, to accomplish goal, Angels has a special consideration and for what they examine the issues of demographic and diversity characteristics, cultural values, and the consumer movement.

Technological Environment

Technological environment is the force that creates new technologies, new product and market opportunities. The technological environment is perhaps the most dramatic force now shaping our destiny. It has released such wonders as antibiotics, organ transplants, laptop computers, and Internet; horrors as nuclear missiles, chemical weapons, and assault rifles; mixed blessings as automobile, television, and credit cards.

Angels is a Household furniture manufacturer and distributor that also dependents on technological advancements. For an example, consumers may have ideas about the Household furniture including their quality, price, and availability by traveling into their web site. On the other hand, customers can use credit cards to buy their Household furniture items or Carpets. In addition to that, they use another special security system to stop stealing of Carpets.

Section IV: Competition

Detailed analysis of competitors including strengths and weaknesses. This section should include an overall competitive analysis: How do Angels Planning team stack up as well as complete profiles of Angels Planning team top 5 competitors. Angels Planning team should try to assess market share of Angels Planning team own Angels as well as the competition.

Section V: Pricing

Angels past pricing trends and next years pricing strategies should reformed this section should tie in with Angels Planning team analysis of the competition and the industry as a whole. Angels planning team should also include Angels strategy for how Angels want to be viewed in the marketplace  Low-Price Provider vs. High-Price/High-Quality provider.

Well-defined prices are obviously necessary to project sales and financial performance. As discussed earlier, prices also indicate quality and product image, and depending on the channels of distribution, price will reflect the nature of the business. Pricing policies relate to bulk, wholesale, retail, and discount method used to set prices. Such methods are cost-plus pricing or setting prices to match those of competitors indicate how entrepreneurs will make strategic pricing decisions.

Pricing

Price is what a buyer must give up to obtain a product. Marketers can raise or lower prices more frequently and easily than they can change other marketing mix variables. Price is an important competitive weapon and very important to the organisations as it implies the total revenue of the firm.

Through pricing, people may have idea about the purchasing power, which also implies a countrys economic condition. Realistic pricing goals require periodic monitoring to determine the effectiveness of the companys strategy. Pricing objectives can be divided into three categories:

• Profit oriented: Profit oriented objectives include profit maximization, satisfactory profits, and target return on investment.
• Sales oriented: Sales-oriented pricing objectives are based either on market share or on dollar or unit sales.
• Status quo: Status quo pricing objective maintains existing prices or meets the competitions price.

Value cost must be an issue when establishing price, because many financial terms and conditions are dependent on it. It is very natural that price creates competition in most cases and it is also the main reason behind success and failure. But sometimes organisations choose break-even pricing when they found that it is not possible to ensure profit. It should be mentioned that break-even pricing is that point, where revenue and cost get equal26.

Section VI: Positioning Statement

Market positioning is arranging for a product to occupy a clear, distinctive, and desirable place relative to competing products in the minds of target consumers. Thus, marketers of Angels carpets plan positions that distinguish their products from competing brands and give them the greatest strategic advantage in their target markets. As it is the matter of customer satisfaction and companys reputation, so company first identifies possible competitive advantages upon which to build the position. To gain competitive advantage, the company must offer greater value to target consumer. It may be by offering lower price compared to competitors or any other way, which attracts the consumer.

The product/Market opportunity matrix explains market penetration, market development, product development, and diversification options. While Angels market carpets, they consider the type of the product, its thickness, and its shape, used materials suitable temperature to select its packaging pattern. The packaging plays a vital role here as most of the consumers are kids and nice packaging attracts them very much

At the beginning, Angels carpet was in a big size, but evaluating the customers preferences, they found that customers prefer these carpets in a smaller so that it can be carried easily. Angels did that showing respect to the customers opinion, which increased its demand more.

Porters five-factor model

• The bargaining power with supplier is key important issue in determining the role of business. If the switching cost is comparatively low, the business will get advantage. As the household furniture and carpet manufacturer is low in numbers, Angels will face problem if they face the cost arising due to inflation.
• In terms of bargaining power with customer is low. As the Talgarth is a small town of South Wales with 28000 residents. Most of the populations are living near to the poverty line. In summer it is a good tourist spot. Angels will maintain enough liquidity to stop the licensing to another competitor.
• Entrants of new threats will be lower as a local ownership.
• Bargaining power with customer will be low as they are obligated to the certain amount of money. One third of households have dual income source better livelihood.

SWOT analysis

Before starting the operational procedure, the SWOT analysis is mandatory:

• Strengths: No threats of new entrants as Talgarth are a small town of South Wales and the owner is a local woman. If any competitor wants to establish another similar trade, then it will be impossible to provide low cost services.
• Weakness: The weakness is only one, if the hired machine does not last long.
• Opportunities: Angels have opportunities to expand our market rest of the airports in London after 3 years and the global perspective is in its mind.
• Threats: Only the Talgarth authorities will be a threat if they introduce new legislations.

Section VII: Marketing Objectives

Key objectives for Angels Marketing plan

Marketing plans are used for many different purposes. Essentially, it may be considered that they are:

• A formal expression of the planning process;
• A request for funding;
• A framework for approval,
• A tool for operational business management.

Where Angel doess planning teamr plan fit? Ideally, it will meet all four of these objectives. It is useful to look at each one in a little more detail.

Section VIII: Marketing Strategies

The strategies of Angels Planning team will use to achieve the above objectives. The difference between an objective and a strategy is that the objective states what Angels planning team will do and a strategy states how Angel will do it. Using the example above, there are several strategies, which could accomplish the objective of growing revenues by 150.36%: Increase the number of customers, increase the average order, increase pricing, enter a new market, hire more sales people, increase the number of catalogs and mailings, etc. Angels mission here is to choose the strategies that fit its products.

Ten steps to a marketing plan

Angels marketing plan start developing by answering an obvious question-what and why planning are made? To defining this concisely, it is well on its way to developing a valid plan. It than needed to work following the planning process to achieve the goals.

Do not be daunted by following list, the tasks are each relatively straightforward when Angels Planning team tackle them individually and in order.

• Define Angels Planning business activities,
• define the current status of the business,
• define the external market, Angels completion and Angels Planning teamr market positioning,
• define Angels objectives for the period of the plan,
• develop a strategy for achieving the objectives,
• identify the risks and opportunities,
• develop a strategy for limiting risks and exploiting opportunities,
• refine the strategies into working plans,
• project costs and revenues and develop a financial plans,
• Document it concisely.

This is an iterative process. The identification of risks and opportunities might cause Angels Planning team to go back and change Angels strategy for achieving its objectives. The plans themselves or the bottom line- the cash flow, profit or loss- might highlight new risks.

Two more steps to making it work

There are two more steps that can be added to the previous ten points:

• Get it approved,
• Use it.

Section IX: Marketing Budget

Chart showing past 3 years of marketing and sales expenditures plus Angels forecast for the coming year. This section should be broken out by specific marketing channel: catalogs, direct mail, publicity, exhibits, advertising, sales force, collateral materials, web site, etc. Angels planning team should analyze results as well. How much business resulted from its investment in direct. Some channels will be easier to measure than others will but Angels Planning team should try to attribute as much as possible to get a clear picture of how the allocation of Angels Planning team marketing resources affects the ultimate outcome.

Our primary objectives in this chapter are to explain what manager can do to make their company more valuable. Managers must understand how investors determine the value of stocks and bonds. If they can identify, evaluate and implement projects then they would be able to meet or exceed investor expectations. However, values creation is impossible unless the company has a well mentioned financial plan. As famous quote of Yogi Berra is Youve got to be careful if you dont know where youre going, because you might not get there. To wear out weakness and strengthening the advantages financial analysis is done by the firms.

Financial statement analysis involves, comparing the performance with that of other firms in the same industry. It is used to evaluating trends in the firms financial position over time. This study should assist management to identify deficiencies and then take appropriate actions to improve performance. Our projected financial plan has been broken down several steps. Project financial statements are used in these projections to analyse the effects of the operating plan on projected profits and various financial ratios. The projections may also be used to monitor operations after the plan has been finalised and put into effect. Rapid understanding of deviation from the plan is essential in a good control system, which in turn is essential to corporate success in a changing world.

This report has determined the funds needed to support the 3-year plan. This included funds for plant and equipment as well as for inventories and receivable. Forecast funds availability over the next five years. Our financial planning includes estimating the funds to be engendered internally as well as external sources those to be obtained from. Any restriction on operating plans obligatory by the financial boundaries must be incorporated within the plan.

Constraints including restrictions on the current ratio, debt ratio and the coverage are included. It aimed to develop procedures for adjusting the basic plan where the economic forecasts upon which the plan has based may not materialised. It also involved to establishing a performance based management compensation system. It is significantly important that such an arrangement rewards manager for serving stakeholders want them to maximum share price.

Financial Impact

Section X: Marketing Channels

The Market Plan

The Market Plan describes an entrepreneurs intended strategy. It builds on market research and distinct characteristics of the business to explain how the venture will succeed. Some issues addressed in the research section may be reserved for the market plan, such as describing a market niche. This section usually focuses on specific marketing activities. It describes pricing policies, quality image, warranty policies, promotional programs, distribution channels, and other issues such as service- after-sale and marketing responsibility. These will be described in the following paragraphs-

Promotion

Advertisings and promotional strategies must be consistent with the product or service image. For example, quality office furniture is not apt to be sold through discount newspaper ads. Choosing proper media for advertising is one aspect of the plan, but introductory strategies should relate to the start-up stage. For example, a new software program may be introduced at computer trade shows and be demonstrated at seminars offered to select clientele.

Software developers may also sponsor business contests, set up displays in bookstores or computer retail outlets, or provide educational versions of programs to universities. The promotional mix is determined by a conscious decision, selecting various promotional tools from advertising, personal selling, public relations, point-of-purchases displays, sampling, and direct-mail solicitation, among others.

Distribution Channels

If distribution channels have not been identified earlier, they must be described here. For example, unusual gift items ranging from greeting cards to imported beef fillets are sold through catalogs, but Hallmark opened chain stores in shopping malls nationwide to market gifts and greeting cards. Liz Claiborne, Inc., reached $3 billion in sales by positioning fashionable womens clothing in department stores through regional distribution centres, but recently the Angels opened a chain of exclusive stores supplemented with catalog sales.

Service and Warranty

Consideration: Most retail stores offer warranties and service-after-sale guarantees in the event a product requires repair or adjustment. Often the distinguishing characteristic of a car dealership is its service and warranty policies. Appliance dealer may also base their strategies on follow-up service and warranties. Telemarketing companies invariably offer money-back guarantees because customer cannot evaluate products before they buy. On the other hand, there are many cash-and carry discount outlets that sell seconds or flawed merchandise, and customers rarely expect warranty service.

Conclusion

Marketing Strategy has been developed, but the responsibilities have not yet been distributed; at this moment, the marketing plan will not be successful, in some cases impossible. In respect of Angels, to develop the marketing strategy of the product of chocolates that is under confectionary division, Angels has recruited different departments and persons.

The market specialists who are recruited for market analysis identify their target market. It should be done first before doing any research but it is not much costly. Positioning refers to the customer opinion. Angels Customer Care unit has to be done this job. It is necessary to do this job before developing the plan of producing further. This strategy cause some costs to the company, as it requires survey.

Bibliography

Kotler, P & Armstrong, G (2006), Principles of Marketing, 11^th edition, Pearson Education, Inc. London.

Pride, W. M & Ferrell, P. C. (2006), Marketing Concepts and Strategies, 10^th edition, Pride and Ferrell.

S. Richard (1999), The Definitive Business Plan, 8^th Edition, Financial Times Prentice Hall, ISBN: 9780273659211, Page-12-13, 42, 64.

David. H. Holt, (2002), Entrepreneurship, 6^th edition, Prentice Hall, ISBN: 81-203-1281-3, Page-121-126.

Evans, J. R. & Berman, B. (1990), Marketing, 4^th edition, Macmillan Publishing Company.

Appendix

There are five stages in the process of buying a product or service (Rani 53). At the first stage, Problem Recognition, the client recognizes the need to purchase a product or service, either due to an internal (hunger, thirst, etc.) or external (advertisement, word-of-mouth, etc.) need. The second stage, Information Search, involves looking for the best product or service to satisfy the unmet need. The third stage, Evaluation of Alternatives, involves assessing various brands and alternatives that can be chosen from; the thoroughness of the evaluation depends on client involvement. At the fourth stage, Purchase Decision, the customer conducts the purchase itself; however, it can still be disrupted by adverse feedback from others or due to unpredicted circumstances. Finally, the fifth stage is the Post-Purchase Behavior, when clients compare their purchase with their expectations and decide whether they are satisfied or not; satisfaction is pivotal for client retention.

A retailer can take several steps to increase customer satisfaction after the purchase. For example:

• It is possible to provide clients with high-quality customer support service, for instance, by supplying them with a warranty on products they purchase. This is important to ensure that e.g. if clients purchase something that is faulty, they can still be satisfied with the product in the end;
• It is crucial not to set the customers expectations too high when they purchase a product or service. If the shop consultants advertise products as ridiculously high-quality, clients may be disappointed when they find out that not all the promises of the consultants were true. Because of this, it is important not to over-advertise products so that clients would be satisfied.
• Clients should be treated politely and genuinely, so that their purchasing experience remains pleasant. This is important because individuals tend to remember the quality of service at shops.

Some of the social factors that may affect consumer purchasing behavior are: a) reference groups, i.e. groups of people that one compares themselves with and wants to look like; b) ones social status (including their economic status), that is, the stratum of the society that one belongs to (upper, middle, or lower class); and c) family, i.e. people who live together with the consumer (due to a marriage or a blood relationship) and interact with them on a daily basis.

When I purchase a laptop in the future, my decision will be impacted by all the three named social factors. I will look up to the people from my reference group to see what kind of laptops they use and why; I will consult with my family about the best brand and model of the laptop which I can purchase, given my options; and I will have to take into account my social status and economic capacities when deciding which laptop to buy.

There are numerous factors which stimulate globalization. One of the most important of these is the need for companies to seek external markets. Due to the desire to enhance profits, companies wish to increase the volume of production. Eventually this results in market saturation, which drives companies to seek external markets to expand to.

Another factor is the growth of transport and information technologies. Modern transport permits for simple and quick transportation of goods and services, which was impossible in the past, whereas IT allows for instant communication. This virtually reduces the distance between different points in the world, significantly facilitating globalization.

The ownership and partnership options that firms have for entering a new global market are:

• Exporting: the company sells the products which it produces in one country to other countries. This is the least risky type of an international expansion.
• Franchising: a type of expansion in which partially independent business owners (franchisees) pay fees to the mother company (the franchiser) in order to obtain the right to use that companys trademark, sell its services and products, and utilize its general format of organization.
• Strategic Alliance: a cooperative agreement between a number of companies with the purpose of gaining mutual benefits, such as shared knowledge and expertise, entry to a new market, and so on.
• Joint Venture: a mode of entry in which several companies create a new business organization that is a separate legal entity, but has a shared ownership (belongs to its parents), shared risks and returns, and is governed by its parent businesses.
• Direct Investment: the most risky foreign market entry mode, in which an organization either acquires facilities in the target country (acquisition), or builds completely new facilities to start production of goods or services (greenfield investment).

Ethical issues may have an impact on global marketing practices due to the fact that some ethical norms differ from culture to culture, and while something is considered ethical in one country, it may be viewed as unacceptable in another. For instance, while the relationships between employees and their managers might not always be very formal in the U.S., the organizations in some Asian countries have a much more strict hierarchy.

A non-U.S. company that wishes to do business in the USA might encounter a problem if it is considered acceptable in its home country to give presents or favors to officials so as to gain business advantages. In the U.S., this would pose an ethical problem, and would even be viewed as bribery, which is illegal.

The five steps in the STP (Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning) analysis are:

1. Determining Strategy/Objectives: the organization needs to formulate its strategy and determine particular objectives to be pursued;
2. Segmentation: the basis for segmentation should be considered, and the critical characteristics of each segment should be identified;
3. Evaluating Segment Attractiveness: on the basis of the identified characteristics, the attractiveness of various segments should be evaluated;
4. Selecting Target Market: having performed segment evaluation, the company needs to choose the most commercially attractive segments;
5. Identifying and Positioning Strategy: the firm needs to develop the positioning of its products for the identified segments of the market, creating a marketing mix for every segment which was chosen.

The positioning of a brand denotes the place which this brand occupies in the perceptions of the clients, as well as the features of this brand which distinguish it from those of its rival brands (Singh et al. 145-148). It should be pointed out that positioning allows for creating an identity of a brand, and placing it in a particular niche of the market. For instance, McDonalds is positioned as a fast food restaurant which sells food that always tastes the same and is relatively cheap, this restaurant is known as always clean, hospitable, and friendly to its clients.

Firms position by stressing the distinguishing features that their brand has, or creating a particular image of the brand. It is also possible to utilize marketing tools such as the Marketing Mix for positioning ones brand.

Primary data is the research data which is collected specifically by the researcher (or by someone hired for the purpose of primary data collection) from respondents via interviews, surveys, and so on. This raw data is collected and analyzed to produce answers particularly for ones current needs. It might be recommended to collect and use primary data when it is needed to obtain answers to very specific questions of a local scale, which cannot be answered using general information (for instance, How many cashiers should work in a given shop during particular periods of time?).

On the other hand, secondary data is the data which was collected by someone else for different purposes. For example, data obtained from articles, existing research reports, and so on, is secondary data. This data should be used when it is needed to answer more general questions (for example, What kind of products should be placed near the cash desk?)

In their report of a poll (which was an opinion poll, and was dated July 20, 2017), Newport and Bird state that 48% of Americans consider abortions to be morally wrong, but only 20% of Americans believe that abortions should be illegal. The authors note that there exists a contradiction in opinions of many Americans, because a large percentage of Americans believe abortions to be morally wrong but do not think they should be illegal (Newport and Bird).

However, another interpretation of this result is that there is no contradiction in such opinions, for not everything that is morally wrong should be made illegal and, consequently, punished by the government. For instance, lying may be morally wrong, but making it illegal would probably be viewed as ridiculous by most people.

Works Cited

Newport, Frank, and Robert Bird. On Abortion, Americans Discern Between Immoral and Illegal. Gallup, 2017, Web.

Rani, Pinki. Factors Influencing Consumer Behaviour. International Journal of Current Research and Academic Review, vol. 2, no. 9, 2014, pp. 52-61.

Singh, Jaywant, et al. Consumer Perceptions of Cobrands: The Role of Brand Positioning Strategies. Marketing Intelligence & Planning, vol. 32, no. 2, 2014, pp. 145-159.

Introduction

Creating a flawless environment, in which waste is reduced to zero, is practically unattainable). However, striving for waste reduction is an essential part of any enterprise. Sikorsky Aircraft is no exception to this rule; incorporating the approaches such as Just-in-Time (JIT), Lean Manufacturing, and the Six Sigma framework, the company has been striving toward a better performance. Nevertheless, certain dents in the companys design still create prerequisites for waste to occur in accordance with the seven mudas principle (Kubiak & Benbow, 2009).

Analysis

Defects

The defects emerging as a result of the lack of supervision are clearly becoming an issue at Sikorsky.

Similarly, the defects caused by the equipment imperfection are currently a problem.

Overproduction

Although overproduction at Sikorsky was dealt with successfully in the 90s, it seems to have returned. Particularly, the overproduction of rotocraft (McIntoch, 2011) needs to be brought up.

Similarly, the issue regarding the overproduction of X2 (Rotocraft outlook, 2015) needs to be addressed. Unless the company starts producing a smaller number of items, it may fail to sell the product.

Inventories

Unnecessary Over-processing

The process of transferring information from one member to another when checking the aircraft parts for compliance with the existing standards is one of the primary issues to be addressed as it leads to the possibility of making a mistake or misunderstanding information. In addition, the process of filing reports concerning the checking stages has to be simplified as they take a considerable amount of time and prevent from carrying out a full analysis.

Unnecessary Motion of Employees

Because of improper zoning of the quality control department, the staff members tend to spend a lot of time walking from one area to another. As a result, a lot of time is wasted.

Another essential issue regarding the motion of employees concerns the cooperation between departments. Because of the lack of a proper information transfer scheme, a range of staff members prefer to travel across departments to make sure that their messages are heard and taken into account.

Unnecessary Transportation and Handling of Goods

Because of information management issues and the following delay, the transportation processes at Sikorsky could use some work. For instance, the papers with the information regarding the quality of the product travel long before reaching the destination.

In addition, the process of goods handling could also use improvements. Although the production stages require working with the materials that cannot be deemed as fragile, certain parts, such as rotor blades, need careful handling (Napsholm, 2013). The current lack of concern for the identified parts leads to an increase in waste rates.

Waiting (Delivery, Processing, Support, Etc.)

Unfortunately, waiting remains one of the major dents in the current design of the firms processes. Particularly a significant amount of time must pass for the manufactured parts to reach the quality control department.

In addition, the time lapse between identifying the quality of the vehicle produced and filling in the corresponding form as well as waiting for it to be approved could be reduced significantly.

Conclusion

Although most processes are arranged in an impeccable manner at Sikorsky, some of the elements of quality assurance need a redesign or a minor improvement. The abundance of restrictions imposed on the staff might be viewed as a security measure. However, some of the rules prevent from carrying out the quality assurance process efficiently and, thus, must be altered slightly.

Reference List

Kubiak, T. M., & Benbow, D. W. (2009). Waste elimination. In The certified Six Sigma black belt handbook (pp. 332-336). Milwaukee, WI: American Society for Quality.

McIntoch, T. (2011). A process for improving long-term production planning. Boston, MA: MIT Sloan School of Management.

Napsholm, S. R. (2013). Prototype of a tilt rotor helicopter. Web.

Rotocraft outlook. (2015). Web.

Introduction

Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia is a large enterprise that exists across various industries, including television broadcasting, publishing, household décor, and radio broadcasting. As a result of a series of socio-economic precedents of the company, the current SWOT analysis draft may be represented as follows:

Table 1. SWOT Analysis

The aforementioned analysis demonstrates that the current position of the company in the market is rather vague due to previous incidents of Martha Stewarts incarceration and the companys takeover in 2019 (Shoulberg, 2019). For this reason, any presentation of a strategic change should be carefully analyzed in order to not to deteriorate the already unstable position in the market.

Advantages

Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia currently obtains two major advantages in the market. To begin with, the target market of the company most addresses middle-aged American women. Unlike youth, such a segment is more faithful and reliable in terms of customer loyalty. Thus, according to the sociological research conducted after Martha Stewarts conviction in 2007, the vast majority of the companys customers and Stewarts fans believed in her innocence and flaws of the US legal system (Click, 2017). Another significant advantage of the company is the cost policy, as the prices for publications and home décor are generally lower than those of Stewart Livings competitors.

Opportunities

Since the past years have become challenging for Martha Stewart Living in terms of both finance and brand reputation, the COVID-19 precedent has become a chance for the companys rehabilitation, along with its affected counterparts. If previously the target market of Martha Stewart Living did not require substantial investment in the creation of social media content, the current shift to online resources may catalyze the shift from television to social media broadcasting and content creation. Another important opportunity for the company is the fact that it currently has no relation to Martha Stewart as an individual. According to Fournier & Srinivasan (2018), personal brands present a significant threat to the brand, as they become closely associated with the company founder. For this reason, in order to improve sales and market position, the management of Martha Stewart Living should create a marketing strategy to demonstrate no affiliation to the founder of the enterprise.

Competition

The primary competition for Martha Stewart Living currently includes Pottery Barn and Crate & Barrel, as they are considered the most widespread home furnishing and décor enterprises both within and outside the US. The first risk in terms of the competition is brand recognition, as Martha Stewart Living is the youngest among the three, and both Pottery Barn and Crate & Barrel have already managed to reach nearly global popularity. Moreover, the approach to innovation is more evident in the companys competitors. For example, in 2017, Pottery Barn launched an IOS application that helped people choose furniture by placing it in their homes with the help of augmented reality tools (OShea, 2017). The last risk concerns Martha Stewart Livings lack of social media promotion and modernized e-commerce tools.

Areas for Improvement

Considering the aforementioned options, it may be concluded that Martha Stewart Living should address the following areas:

• The marketing paradigm, placing emphasis on social media content;
• Industry shift, relocating resources from television and radio broadcasting;
• Brand management improvement, attracting external experts.

In such a way, the company will be able to enter the market with an extensive target audience and a new company image less associated with the former CEO.

Strategic Alternatives

As far as the current position of the company is concerned, it becomes evident that strategic interventions are required to reintroduce business to the market. The strategic alternatives, hence, include market investments, mergers, joint ventures, product-oriented, and customer-oriented strategies. Among the aforementioned examples, mergers and joint ventures are concerned with external growth strategies that account for external investments. On the one hand, it would be beneficial for the company to find an external alliance. On the other hand, however, mergers and joint ventures will inevitably result in higher prices for goods, and the possibilities of finding an investor or another father company are rather limited due to the companys financial state. Product- and customer-oriented market investments, for their part, are focused on the internal growth of the company. The former strategy, which aims at developing a new market for an existing product, may seem like the most appropriate option for the company. However, the drawback of such an option is the fact that it requires internal investments that do not guarantee success, putting the company at risk.

Decision Matrix

When choosing the most appropriate strategy, the two most significant factors would be the cost and time required for the alternative implementation, as the market becomes more competitive every month. Thus, the other values listed in the decision matrix would include efficiency, target markets tackled by the strategy, the peculiarities of collaboration, if any, and ease. The primary issue concerning the decision-making process using the matrix is the fact that the choice of values is somewhat subjective, and a project manager or a business analyst may subconsciously choose variables that favor one of the alternatives. Thus, for example, when unwilling to address external growth strategies, one may exaggerate the hypothetical interest rates of the investments.

Factors Inhibiting Alternative Success

The primary factor that may affect the strategic flow is the phenomenon of the external socio-economic environment. Any external change such as tax system modification or economic slowdown will inevitably stand in the way of strategy implementation. Other inhibiting factors include poor leadership and communication, lack of feedback, and insufficient resources. In order to address and mitigate such risks, it is of paramount importance to find a management team capable of communicating tasks and objectives. Moreover, it is necessary to create an extensive budget with possible options for resource allocation. Hence, it may be concluded that the most time- and cost-efficient way of addressing any issue during the strategy implementation is to introduce an agile framework.

Elements of Expansion

The notion of business expansion, while obtaining a variety of features besides size increase, remains rather limited in the case of Martha Stewart Living. Essentially, the option for expansion for the company is the identification of new marketing roots in order to attract new demographics and markets with the existing products. Another means for expansion would be the innovation of manufacturing by investing market shares in new technology. In such a way, the company may benefit without expanding externally and spending money on either staff enhancement or product localization.

References

Click, M. A. (2017). Do all good things come to an end?: Revisiting Martha Stewart fans after ImClone. In Fandom (2nd ed.) (pp. 191-204). New York University Press. Web.

Fournier, S., & Srinivasan, S. (2018). Branding and the risk management imperative. NIM Marketing Intelligence Review, 10(1), 10-17.

OShea, D. (2017). Pottery Barn launches AR app for iOS. RetailDive. Web.

Shoulberg, W. (2019). Martha Stewart brand finds a buyer, but even at cheaper price, theres no guarantee deal pays off. Forbes. Web.