...Re: Cooper Industries’ Corporate Strategy (A) Diagnosis: Cooper Industries’ growth depends on its widely diversification. From 1960 to the following 30 years, the company purchased about 60 manufacturing companies that increased the size and scope of Cooper Industries. With its experience and strength in “Cooperization”, it has been able to digest the companies it purchased and welded the company into a highly efficient, profitable, competitive business. But they acquired too much debt due to it diversified its business too quickly. It leads whether or not acquires Champion and Cameron Iron Works became to the biggest problem when the case was written, which would raise the debt-to-capital ratio to 55% to 60%. If they leave the problem unaddressed, they might risk bankruptcy in the future. Analysis: Both of Champion and Cameron Iron Works were in related industries, automotive and petroleum equipment, which were profitable businesses. Cooper Industries was already doing those two businesses. For the opportunities identified in the case have to do with the purchase of Champion and Cameron Iron Works, both of them have a strategic fit with Cooper Industries’ long-term plans. For example, Champion has a poor management, old technology, and failures at diversification. But Cooper Industries is good at this field. Cameron Iron Works had a biggest Compression and Energy Business Segment until 1981. But it was the smallest segment of Cooper Industries. Moreover, Cameron Iron Works...
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...manufacturing firms begin their international expansion as exporters then later switch to another strategy for serving a foreign market. In August 1957, two Toyota Crown sample cars arrived at Los Angeles, becoming the first Japanese passenger cars ever exported to the United States (Isabel, 2008). Producing car in USA entails limited risk, expense, and knowledge of foreign markets and transactions, most firms prefer exporting as their primary foreign market entry strategy (Cavusil, Knight and Riesenberger, 2008, P.363). Japanese used exports as a large global business which deals in the export of used cars and vehicles from the Japanese domestic market to numerous markets around the world On the other hand, transportation cost is likely to reduce the probability of exporting cars to a certain extent of subsequent exports (Naudé and Matthee, 2010). The transportation cost for vehicles is decided by the sizing and weighting of the vehicles (Ghelani, n.d.). Because automobiles weigh a lot, thus, they are shipped over a large distance, their transportation costs account very high. In addition, trade barriers have a direct impact on automobile exporting. Import tariffs are important for a country to protect its domestic automobile companies. USA created import barriers to against the growth of Japanese vehicle imports (Chung, Mitchell and Yeung, 2003). Thus, many carmakers started other expansion strategies around the world. Joint venture Joint ventures provide a rapid way of expanding the...
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...Your Strategy Needs a Strategy The internet software industry would be a nightmare for an oil industry strategist. Innovations and new companies pop up frequently, seemingly out of nowhere, and the pace at which companies can build—or lose—volume and market share is head spinning. Still, the survey found, in practice many rely instead on approaches that are better suited to predictable, stable environments, even when their own environments are known to be highly volatile or mutable. Here we present a simple framework that divides strategy planning into four styles according to how predictable your environment is and how much power you have to change it. Using this framework, corporate leaders can match their strategic style to the particular conditions of their industry, business function, or geographic market. How you set your strategy constrains the kind of strategy you develop. With a clear understanding of the strategic styles available and the conditions under which each is appropriate, more companies can do what we have found that the most successful are already doing—deploying their unique capabilities and resources to better capture the opportunities available to them Finding the Right Strategic Style Your choice of strategic style should begin there as well. Although many industry factors will play into the strategy you actually formulate, you can narrow down your options by considering just two critical factors: predictability (How far into the future and how accurately...
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...automotive market. This development contributes to the globalization of the automobile industry that involved the integration of the Chinese domestic market into the international markets. Among many reasons, motivation to gain access to industrialized markets and to gain access to superior technology, management resources and knowledge are the most driving factors of the Chinese automotive industry for the internationalization and going abroad strategy of China´s automotive industry. This study investigated whether different external globalization drivers and internal organization factors have differential effects on various dimensions of China´s automakers firms’ global strategy. Most of the studies written about global strategies have implemented only either of the internal or the external drivers of the internationalization of the firms. The contribution of the paper introduces a more comprehensive model on the global expansion of a firm. This paper concludes that China´s automotive industry has some competitive advantages such as low cost, while, facing a number of challenges that hinder the internationalization of Chinese automobile companies. It also shows that multiple factors play an important role in firms' internationalization global strategy plan. It is thus essential that the interaction among independent variables is considered in the determination of global expansion strategy. This paper suggests that in comparative application of China´s ...
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...Executive Summary Industry and macro-environmental analyses of the international restaurant industry provides an overview of the industry and reveals the conditions that impact competitiveness and profitability of the industry’s players. The industry is split in two sectors: full-service restaurants (FSR) and limited-service restaurants (LSR). FSRs typically have a wait-staff; LSRs do not have wait-staff. The top five countries, in terms of total number of foodservice outlets, are: China, India, Brazil, Japan, and the US. The industry is of low concentration. Combined, the top industry players make up less than 3% of total global industry revenues. In terms of size, 2013 global sales were $2.6T, up 4.9%. The 2013 global labor force was 62.4M employees, up 2.4%. In accordance with Porter’s Five Forces framework, the forces that shape competition in the restaurant industry have a moderate to high impact on competitiveness. There is a moderate threat of new entrants and a high threat of substitutes. Buyers have a high degree of bargaining power and suppliers have a moderate degree of bargaining power. The restaurant industry is highly competitive and experiences intense rivalry. In terms of macro-environmental factors, emerging markets around the world over are having an impact on how restaurants execute strategy both domestically and abroad. The growth of the middle class in emerging markets, such as China and India, presents a new demographic and an opportunity...
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...Content 1.0 Introduction 1 2.0 Coffee industry in the world 1 2.1 Driver and trend 1 2.1.1 Porter’s five forces model 2 2.1.2 PEST analysis 4 2.2 Growth of coffee industry 7 3.0 Coffee industry in the China 7 3.1 BCG matrix analysis 8 4.0 Conclusion 10 5.0 Reference 12 1.0 Introduction Currently, coffee has been a very popular product in the world as well as become a daily item in people’s life. They usually drink coffee in order to relax their mind and refresh themselves. Therefore, coffee industry produces a significant development in the market. This essay will illustrate the situation of coffee industry in the world market, including driver and trend. Also, it will talk about some coffee companies in China like Starbucks, Costa and so on. Some models will be applied to analyze the industry and companies. 2.0 Coffee industry in the world 2.1 Driver and trend The most important driver of coffee industry is the continuous developing technology. If an industry applies the new technology and produce a new product that people may like, other industries would find advanced technology and use it to produce their products to attract people because the competition between industries is stiff. What is more, the healthy idea of people is an important driver for coffee industry as well. The idea may reduce consumption of coffee as people pay attention to their health and do not want to buy the drinks that are harmful to health...
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...The strategy of the mobile phone industry: A comparative analysis of Apple, Sony, Xiaomi The strategy of the mobile phone industry - a comparative analysis of Apple, Sony, Xiaomi I Executive summary The paper sheds lights on the strategy of three mobile phone industry and that task is to perform comparative analysis on Apple, Sony and Xiaomi. The author has first started with the analysis of the macro-environment using strategic analytic tool called PESTLE. The author has used tools such as Porter’s Five Forces and SWOT to analyze the micro-environment of a mobile phone industry and define Key Success Factors that are essential to be included in company’s strategy. Moreover the paper characterizes the comparative analysis such as objectives, strengths, weakness, financial analysis (quantitative), Vario analysis (Qualitative), merger and acquisitions, market share and competitive advantage strategy, of Apple, Sony and Xiaomi. At the end, the author of this assignment has given his recommendation to these three industries and concludes with a set of challenges being faced by mobile phone industry to create and maintain customer values and profit margins for present and future business successes. The strategy of the mobile phone industry - a comparative analysis of Apple, Sony, Xiaomi II Table of Contents LIST OF ABBREVIATION ..................................................................................................................
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...Industry and Strategy Analysis Porters five forces are an effective tool to assess the attractiveness of an industry, thus an indicator of future profits. Here is an analysis of the coffee shop industry. Power of buyers There is no, or very limited switching cost for customers, and there is an abundance of other substituting products that the ones offered by Starbucks. Even though this is a threatening fact for Starbucks business, this is what makes them unique buy offering the "Starbucks experience". This have shaped their success. However coffees addictive nature can also result in less rational decision which can overrule the need for a "Starbucks experience". Taking the arguments above into consideration, the buyers power is considered high. The threat of substitute products and services for Starbucks is substantial. Specifically, substitutes for Starbucks Coffee might include drinks like tea, juices, soft drinks, water and energy drinks, whereas pubs and bars can be highlighted as substitute places for customers to meet someone and spend their times outside home and work environments. However, Coffee is an important part of many people's lives and habits why coffee might be considered to be hard to substitute. Also Starbucks has shown their strengths in innovating related products why they are able to cover most related products in their product portfolio. Consequently, the threat of substitutes are considered moderately low. Suppliers power are considered relatively...
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...1. Why has Dell been so successful in the PC industry of low average profitability? 戴尔公司能取得今天的成功，跟它长期以来所采用的运作模式密不可分。人们把这种神奇的模式称为“戴尔模式”。 “戴尔模式”的核心是：低成本、高品质、标准化、多元化 低 成本：戴尔通过建立一个超高效的供应链和生产流程管理，大大降低了生产成本。 （1）直接模式：戴尔的直接模式不等同于直销模式，后者只不过是销售的扁平化尝试而戴尔的直接模式有两层含义：一是直接面向原材料供应商，二是直接面向客户。 ——按单生产：戴尔根据顾客通过网站和电话下的订单来组装产品，这使顾客有充分的自由来选择自己喜欢的产品配置。公司则根据订单订购配件，无需囤积大量配件，占用资金。 ——直接与顾客建立联系：戴尔通过直销与顾客建立了直接联系，不仅节省了产品通过中间环节销售所浪费的时间和成本，还可以更直接、更好地了解顾客的需求，并培养一个稳定的顾客群体。 （2）科学生产管理流程 低成本一直是戴尔的生存法则，也是“戴尔模式”的核心，而低成本必须通过高效率来实现。戴尔的生产和销售流程，以其精确管理、流水般顺畅和超高效率而著称，有效地将成本控制在最低水平。 力求精简是戴尔提高效率的主要做法。公司把电话销售流程分解成简单的8个步骤，其自动生产线全天候运转，配件从生产线的一端送进来，不到两小时就变成成品从另一端出去，然后直接运往客户服务中心。戴尔在简化流程方面拥有550项专利。分析家们普遍认为，这些专利也正是其他公司无法真正复制貌似简单的“戴尔模式”的最主要原因。 高 品质：在戴尔，只有客户认同的东西才值得戴尔去做。 论技术，戴尔身后有微软、英特尔、以及很多拥有高品质技术的合作伙伴撑腰。但是，高品质在戴尔有其独特的含义。在业界，很多厂商热衷于追求核心技术，其实核心技术只不过是竞争的一个区隔，于客户来说毫无价值。在戴尔，他们并不一味追求技术含量，只有客户认同的东西才值得戴尔去做。 戴尔公司拥有一个良好的质量保证体系。戴尔装配产品实行个人负责制，即每个工人负责整个产品的全部组装和调试工作，这一个人负责制是戴尔质量管理的一个重要组成部分。一件戴尔产品如果出了问题，公司只要向投诉顾客索取产品的序列号，就马上可以查出该产品的责任人。因此，戴尔员工都十分敬业，一丝不苟地确保质量。 标 准化：戴尔所经营的技术产品多是标准化的成熟产品，因此该公司总是能 让顾客分享到有关行业进行大量技术投资和研发而取得的最新成果。 注重树立产品品牌和提高服务质量是戴尔的另一个法宝。戴尔不仅拥有一个严格的质量保证体系，而且还建立了一个强大的售后服务网络。戴尔的工作人员不仅通过网站和电话为顾客提供全面的技术咨询和维修指导服务，而且在售出产品后会主动向客户打电话，征求意见。 多 元化：能精确地找到高技术产品市场的切入点，迅速抢夺对手的市场份额。 戴尔通常会在市场开始成熟、行业标准已经形成和配件供应比较充分的情况下介入某一市场，并以低价格迅速抢占地盘。罗林斯说，实践证明，在一种新产品走向成熟时，“戴尔模式”总是能让该公司在相应市场上占得有利地位。 根据这个“市场介入”理论，戴尔在巩固个人电脑市场的领导地位后，又雄心勃勃地提出了一个让同业吃惊的“多元化”扩张战略。近年来，戴尔加快了扩张步伐，陆续涉足高端便携电脑、服务器、网络存储系统、工作站、交换机、掌上电脑、打印机、收银机等多种产品。 ...
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...Question: For an industry of your choice, identify and analyse the most important drivers and barriers affecting its development. Answer Drivers and barriers affecting development of any industry revolve in the fraternity of globalization. Globalisation in business is the worldwide movement toward economic, financial, trade, and communications integration (Frank, 1998). It implies the opening of local and nationalistic perspectives to a broader outlook of an interconnected and interdependent world with free transfer of capital, goods, and services across national frontiers. Drivers in the business concept are critical forces which can be built within business strategy to enable a company to attain its set goals (Gilbert, 1994). Barriers to industry development are forces that deters the business organization from attaining the desired goals and these are encountered both in the internal as well as external business environment (Hough et al 2011) It is therefore imperative to evaluate key drivers and barriers affecting development in a bid to craft strategic tools that can stimulate strategic thinking, generate strategic foresight, provide a basis for testing existing strategies, explore and understand complexities of the future (Trompenaar et al, 2003). This can aid decision making and contribute to preparation for the future. As such, this essay seeks to explore key issues in strategic management and key theoretical models in the South African (SA) Wine Industry and that of...
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...Strategies for oil and gas companies There are a variety of challenges facing the energy industry, from decreased access to sovereign reserves, to declining fields, innovation challenges, increased regulation and new energy policies. These challenges pose a threat to the basic industry structure. Oil & gas companies espouse four common industry-wide strategies of Portfolio Management, Operational Efficiency, Financial Management and Sustainability-of which the first three are core operating strategies of oil & gas companies. The companies have derived their profitability, growth, and shareholder returns based on the superior execution of these strategies. Though talk about Sustainability is a business imperative, it is no longer a differentiating factor and is not integrated with the core strategies. The current challenges facing the energy industry, however, necessitate that the companies integrate sustainability, innovation and management of technology strategies with their core strategies of portfolio management, operational efficiency and financial management. In this thesis, we propose two distinct strategic options: Total Life Cycle Management and Management of Technology. Environmental management and organizational efficiency are an integral component of both the strategic options. Through Total Life Cycle Management, the companies address challenges of continued access to easier to develop and produce reserves and legacy fields, efficiencies, costs and hosts expectations...
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...Acquisition Strategy An acquisition strategy consists of a company having the agenda to further its success through acquiring other companies. Through acquisitions companies are oftentimes able to enhance resource strengths to gain a competitive advantage in their respective industries. We are seeing more and more companies with acquisition strategies in recent decades, fast becoming one of the major driving forces in many industries in America. Although acquisition relates more to the management, ownership, and financial arrangements than to corporate strategy, a successful acquisition will result in added or combined resources that lead to substantial competitive capabilities (Gamble 2010, p. 118). There are several reasons for a company to adopt an acquisition strategy: • To fill gaps in its product line • To obtain new technologies as opposed to developing the existing company in order to compete effectively • To expand its geographic coverage • To reduce supply chain costs and become a efficient organization • To lead the industry with a stronger position with combined products and /or resources (Gamble 2010, p. 120) In addition, there are several positive outcomes that an acquiring company might see after acquisition: • Lower costs due to combined personnel and resources • Gained technological knowledge • More or better capabilities...
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...service. All of these reputations have been playing a vital role in attracting increasing passengers to be loyal to Qantas. Consequently, Qantas has been becoming one of Australia’s most successful companies in aviation industry. With the rapid development of other competitors in aviation industry around the world, however, some challenges had been generated that Qantas has to overcome. Additionally, the key challenge for Qantas is about its global strategy, which is extraordinarily critical to determine the future of Qantas in the global aviation industry. To exactly and effectively understand Qantas’ global strategies, this report will be divided by five parts that could gradually make sense of the importance of global strategic management. Firstly, it will briefly introduce the history and growth of Qantas airline. Then this report will explain how Qantas’ global strategy operates. After that, it is going to analyze the nature and drivers of the company global strategies. Last but not the least, this report will analyze the challenges facing the global strategy and give some suggestions to overcome these challenges. More importantly, it emphasizes the importance of global strategic management for all companies in the world, not only for aviation industry. 1. Introduction of Qantas Airline Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services (QANTAS) Limited was established in Winton, Queensland, in 1920 and expanded rapidly as a transportation carrier. Its core competitiveness...
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...* Discuss the most commonly practiced form of forecasting The most commonly practiced for of forecasting is trend extrapolation. With over 70% of the world’s largest firms using this technique, it is the most widely practiced form of forecasting. Extrapolation is the extension of present trends into the future. Its theories are based on the assumption that the world is basically consistent and changes are usually slow coming. Extrapolation’s trends are based on patterns, and or relationships and it is those relationships and patterns that is its flaw. Because variables can change, it can drastically alter the future direction of the trend. The further the trend goes back, the more confident the trends prediction will represent. As a rule of thumb, the further back into the past you can find relevant data supporting the trend, the more confidence you can have in the prediction. * Describe the purpose of an EFAS Table External Factors Analysis Summary also referenced as EFAS, reflect in its list of five columns the Opportunities and Threats the company faces. Opportunities and threats are represented in the first column. The weight assigned to the factors mentioned are presented in the second column, and are the combined weight totals of the external factors equaling 1.0. The company’s response to these external factors are rated in the third column and are represented in ranges from 5 meaning outstanding to 1 as poor. The second and third columns are multiplied...
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...Section 1 Company Background 1.1 Introduce the background of the selected company. Brief about company Brief of history Brief talk about It – further discuss in next section (300 words) - Adeline Section 2 Strategic Systems Analysis 2.1 Describe the structure of the industry in which the company is located. 2.1.1 Analyse the competitive forces at work in the industry. (Are there new entrants to the industry? What is the relative power of suppliers, customers, and substitute products and services over prices?) 2.1.2 Determine the basis of competition. (Is the basis of competition quality, price or brand?) 2.1.3 Determine the direction and nature of change within the industry. (What are the direction and nature of change within the industry?) 2.1.4 Analyse how the industry is currently using information technology. (Is the company behind or ahead of the industry in its application of information systems?) (700 words)- Venithri 2.2 Describe the business, firm, and industry value chains for this particular company. 2.2.1 Determine how the company creates value for its customer. (How is the company creating value for the customer-through lower prices and transaction costs or higher quality? Are there any places in the value chain where the business could create more value for the customer and additional profit for the company?) 2.2 Determine how the company uses best practices to manage its business process. (Does the company understand and...
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