...CASE STUDY 2 “Know Your Audience” Background Bridgeport Ltd. is a Canadian marketing strategy firm with its headquarters in Calgary, with satellite offices in Vancouver, Winnipeg, Toronto, and Ottawa. Bridgeport employs 125 people (consultants, analysts, and support staff) in Calgary and 35 people in each of the branch offices. The firm specializes in the development and execution of sales promotion programs for Canadian businesses operating in one of three industries: financial services, specialty retail, and food and beverage service providers. Bridgeport’s CEO Jim Feltner founded the company in 1980 with only one partner and two employees, and has grown the firm’s annual sales to $42 million. The company is considering going public by offering shares on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Current Situation Before making the decision to take the company public, the Bridgeport board of directors has asked CEO Jim Feltner to prepare a series of research reports that could be used to create a prospectus (a document that details the company’s operations, financial situation, and prospects for growth for potential investors). Mr Feltner has put together a team of ten people to draft a report on the current operational practices of the company. Four team members are located in Calgary, two in Toronto, two in Vancouver, and one each in Winnipeg and Ottawa. Bill Rayford from the Calgary office will lead the project. The team is tasked with producing a formal report on the...
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...Referring to the eight characteristics of team excellence, Jim Towne’s team is lacking unified commitment, collaborative climate, standard of excellence, external support and recognition and principled leadership. Currently, the members come from all around the world with zero experience of working together on any projects. Although each member tries to inform other members how they are doing by sending emails, it is a sad truth that not everyone will read the emails and be interested in how their colleagues are doing. Everyone just work on their own, making the team a collection of individuals rather than a real group. Without a channel to communicate with each other, it is hard to develop a sense of unity. The frequently organized business trips and the multiple projects at once also show that there is a miscommunication between the secretary and other members. Moreover, there is no standard of excellence to regulate and guide the performance of the employees. Team accomplishment is not being recognized as well. Members thus cannot find the value of performing to the utmost and are frustrated with the heavy workload. Given the above situation, the leader seems doing nothing to handle the stressful circumstances. Base on the analysis of team effectiveness, Jim should intervene at this time at internal level, focusing on relational actions. Building team relationship for a virtual team is even more important than collocated team. As they are working across time and space...
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...line in order to monetize excess inventory and position Neptune to capture more of the North American seafood market share. Going forward Neptune management must be more cautious in matching investment in production to growth in market demands. B. Situation Analysis Summary: Neptune Gourmet Seafood is currently North America’s third largest seafood producer with 4% in market share. Tagged “The Best Seafood on the Water Planet”, Neptune has a reputation to maintain and focuses heavily on its product to keep its customers satisfied. Neptune has done a great job reaching a variety of customer. 30% of revenues from grocery chains, 33% from wholesalers distributing across the U.S., and the remaining third coming from sales to the biggest cruise lines and also choice restaurants within 250 miles of Neptune’s headquarters. Through the situation analysis it is apparent that the root cause for excess inventory is a rapid growth in production capacity due to technological investment but less significant growth in its single high-end market segment (See Root Cause Analysis in Appendix D). The two sides of the decision to either cut prices or introduce a new line are best highlighted by the interests and concerns of Jim Hargrove and Rita Sanchez: (See full Stakeholder...
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...|Assignment | |STUDENTENOMMER: | | |STUDENT NUMBER : | | |VAN : |VOORLETTERS: | |SURNAME: STEPHANS |INITIALS : M | |TELEFOONNOMMER : | |TELEPHONE NUMBER: | |VAK : |Managing Knowledge for Strategic Effectiveness | |SUBJECT: | | |AANTAL BLADSYE | 11 pages including this one | |DOSENT : ...
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...pasta experience for individuals, families, and take out customers with discretionary income by selling high quality, innovative products at a reasonable price, designing tasteful, convenient locations, and providing industry-benchmark customer service. In order to grow at a rate consistent with our objectives, Sigmund's is offering an additional $500,000 in equity. Existing members will be given the first option to subscribe to the additional equity to allow each of them to maintain their percentage of ownership. The portion not subscribed by existing members will be available for prospective new investors. Read more: http://www.mplans.com/pasta_restaurant_marketing_plan/executive_summary_fc.php#ixzz1gEUppQdh SWOT Analysis The following SWOT analysis captures the key strengths and weaknesses within the company, and describes the opportunities and threats facing Sigmund's Gourmet Pasta. Strengths • Strong relationships with vendors that offer high-quality ingredients and fast/frequent delivery schedules. • Excellent staff who are highly trained and very customer attentive. • Great retail space that is bright, hip, clean, and located in an upscale mall, suburban neighborhood, or urban retail district. • High customer loyalty among repeat customers. • High-quality food offerings that exceed competitors offerings in quality, presentation, and price. Weaknesses • Sigmund's...
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...WORK Both, Jacqueline Joseph and David Kadzirange affirm that:- The submission of this assignment on Managing and Leading Strategically module is the result of our own work. Primary and secondary sources of information and any contributions to this work by third parties other than the tutor’s have been fully and properly attributed. Should this declaration prove to be untrue, We recognise the right and the duty of the Board of Examiners to take appropriate action in line with the University of Gloucestershire regulations upon assessment. Signed....................................................... On the ..................day of........................... 2012 Executive Summary The following report is an analysis of the contribution that Jim Collins has made to the literature and field of leadership. It has been written by the two authors in response to assignment requirements for the Managing and Leading Strategically module which is a partial fulfilment for a Masters in Business Administration degree with the University of Gloucestershire. Olivine Industries is a wholly owned Zimbabwean company, that is a key player in the manufacturing of cooking oil margarine and soaps The business is headed by the managing director Jonas and his supporting executive team. The business is currently implementing a turnaround strategy in an effort to recover from the effects of the 9 years of economic meltdown the country experienced between 2000 and 2009. The report...
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...Case Study: South American Adventures Unlimited 1. To what extent does project management apply to Adventures Unlimited? Each one of their tours is an individual project, since each has a beginning, middle, and end, which have classic project phases, including a definition or selection phase, a planning phase, and an execution phase. Project management involves budgeting of resources, and their resources include their administrative staff and tour guides. In addition, project management includes project selection: the Rodriguezes need to be able to accurately anticipate the costs of each tour that they consider undertaking, so that they may make wise decisions about which tours to operate. Project management includes financial analysis, for instance calculating the net present value of each tour that they are considering offering. In addition, since their tours involve many details, the project planning methods taught in project management would be helpful for them as well. Using gantt charts to plan out the details of each tour would help them to avoid problems that they have had in the past, for instance, having missed a train connection in Blanco Puente. Project planning with Gantt charts would also help them to clearly delineate the details involved for each tour, and to be able to not only plan the logistics of each detail, but anticipate the cost of it as well. 2. What kind of training in project management should the Rodriguezes, the administrative staff...
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...Spill Abstract: The subject of my critique is regarding the analysis of British Petroleum's public relations strategy and its portrayal in the media during the 'Deepwater Horizon' oil spill that occurred on April 20, 2010. The author is anonymous and has laid out the importance of good communication during major crises. He gives examples of the Johnson & Johnson Tylenol product tampering and the Exxon Valdez oil spill and then compares them with the BP Oil Spill. He points out well the inadequacies of the BP's public relations team and how scholars address the importance of understanding media relations, framing and the public emotional response. The author has presented many examples of scholars' thoughts but according to me falls short of discussions and the perception of the public, their emotions and the manner in which they (the public ) could be affected during such huge crises and thus the importance of public relationsof organizations from the normal public perspective. The public who invests in such organizations shouldn't feel that they are being fooled/cheated. Further during his research the author has presented the importance of pre-crisis phase and how to analyze each crisis situation. The Critique: In the point of 'Public perception, framing and media relations' the author focuses on audience-centered perspective in crisis situations. Here I personally acknowledge the point made by Jim and Pang which explains that understanding the publics' emotional...
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...CLASS OR MASS CASE ANALYSIS A. Executive Summary: Neptune Gourmet Seafood is having issues with what appears to be a temporary problem of excess inventory. Due to new coastal laws, investments in new freezer trawlers and fishing technology, Neptune has increased their average catch size. The demand in high-end market hasn’t been able to catch up with the increasing supply, and Neptune has been struggling with making a decision on how to deplete excess inventory (60 days) of their “Gold Label” branding. My recommendation is to launch a new mass-market product under a different product name to deplete the excess inventory for the short-run, and to capture more of the North American seafood market share in the long-run. Finally, in the future Neptune’s management should better analyze the growth in market demand when making such heavy investments in production. B. Situation Analysis Summary: Currently Neptune Gourmet Seafood is North America’s third largest seafood producer with 4.1% in market share (See Appendix F1) . Known for their high quality, Neptune has a reputation to uphold and caters to offering the best product possible to keep their customers satisfied. Neptune currently markets its product to a variety of customers bringing in revenue from different channels: * 30% of revenue from grocery chains * 33% of revenue from wholesalers * 33% of revenue from suppliers & cruise lines within 250 miles of Fort Lauderdale’s headquarter * 4% of revenue from...
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...Module 5 Assignment 2: Manufacturing Budget Analysis Budgets are used for two distinct purposes—planning and control. Planning includes developing goals and preparing various budgets to achieve those goals. Control includes gathering feedback to ensure that the plan is being properly executed or modified as business circumstances change. To be effective, a good budgeting system must provide for both planning and control. Good planning without effective control is a waste of time and effort (Garrison, Noreen, & Brewer, 2012, p. 336). Budgetary control is an important tool in business decision-making processes, but for Ferguson & Son, they have been using the control system inefficiently. Budgetary control should help corporate executives monitor expenses and adjust operations accordingly. For example, senior management may reduce expenses in one department and increase the budget of another business unit based on performance indicators. For the issues with Ferguson & Son, Tom Emory’s statement regarding not knowing if the accounting department’s reports would reflect a good or bad performance shows a lack of communication within the organization. It seems the accounting department and the business owners are not communicating well because the business owners are not being kept informed of how they are performing and accounting is unaware of the business reasons behind the expense fluctuations. This creates inefficiency in reporting and management may make...
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...Running head: ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS Environmental Analysis Allmise Vertinord University of Phoenix July 16, 2012 Environmental Analysis Macroeconomic Forecast The importance of economic indicators to the strategic planning process in any organization is the ability to benchmark economic conditions that contribute to improve profitability, business growth and market size. Starbucks strategy is also expanding market in globally to provide high quality coffee in convenient and visibility locations. They are continuing to innovate and extend the business with imaginative new ready-to-drink beverages and expanded packaged coffee offerings (Starbucks Financial release, 2007). Starbucks Corporation has established by purchasing high quality coffee beans and sells the customers along with a variety a specialty drinks and food that has met with an ever-increasing amount of success. Starbucks have succeeded several economic factors as well as price elasticity of demand. Price elasticity of demand can be determined by the percentage change in the quantity demanded with the percentage change in price. They should consider household income that people are willing to spend more on food and beverages when household income increases. Starbucks innovation in joint ventures has opened new markets and opportunities increasing product use among different demographics. Starbucks has proven to be highly innovative in business culture that offers prepaid cards, priced from $5 to $500. Joint ventures...
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...Law, Ethics, and Corporate Governance AnnMarie Seidler Dr. Charity Lanier Legal 500 October 30, 2013 As the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of a midsize company that is preparing for an Initial Public Offering (IPO), I discover several personnel problems that require my immediate attention. It is my duty to be familiar with the Employee-at-will Doctrine and any exceptions if any that may apply to the employees and my employer. While preparing to deal with our personnel problems I discover that my company does not have a Whistle Blower Policy in place and I will address this issue with my CEO. As we present our company to the public, we need to consider Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), and how we impact our employees, our environment, our customers, retailers, wholesalers, (possible shareholders), from the very top to the very bottom. In order to be successful we must consider more than just the bottom line, the dollar. As I address each employee issue, I considered not only state and federal laws but also what if any long-term impacts my decision may have upon the entire company and community at large. The Employee-at-will is a legal doctrine “which gives employers broad discretion to fire employees for a good reason, a bad reason, or no reason at all.” Halbert & Ingulli, (2012).There are three major exceptions to the rule to help prevent wrongful termination but only two of them apply in the state where I reside of WV. The Public-policy exception and Implied-contract...
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...The company chosen here is Gulf Pharmaceutical Industries (Julphar). Julphar is one of the largest pharmaceutical manufacturers in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and distributes medicines to over 40 countries. Established in 1980 in the UAE, its first stand-alone facility produced only five products. The decision to create Julphar came at a time when the UAE was making the transition from herbal medicines to conventional medicines, and the creators of Julphar wanted to invest in a sector which would generate long-term value for the Emirates. Over three decades later, it currently operates twelve internationally certified manufacturing facilities globally, produces over a million boxes of medicines daily and holds 3,483 product registration certificates. Eleven of the Facilities are based in the UAE and covers production areas including Tablets, Syrups and Suspensions. In 2013, Julphar launched a twelfth manufacturing facility in Ethiopia, as part of its ongoing international expansion strategy. Julphar maintains a diverse product portfolio which targets major therapeutic segments including endocrinology, anti-infective, cardiovascular and gastroenterology, over-the-counter, nephrology, dermatology, respiratory, metabolic and burn and wound management. Julphar’s core business is manufacturing and is into Generics. Generic medicines help in reducing the cost of manufacturing by allowing the company to buy raw material for their products from various raw material manufacturers...
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...Mart 302 Essay The Future of Marketing Management Name: Ge Wenbo ID: 7241137 Tutor: Ming Wong Tutorial time: Friday 2 pm Introduction “The organizational environment has two components: general environment (comprising economic, technological, regulatory, and socio-cultural sectors) and market environment (comprising customer and competitor sectors) (Fahey and Narayanan 1986).Most organizations are susceptible to volatility in their market environment because changes in customer expectations or competitor actions can directly affect their performance (Boyd and Fulk 1996). Shifting market structures and competitive dynamics have compelled organizations to collect, analyze, and act on information from their market environment at an increasing pace (Eisenhardt 1989). It is evident that environmental change is an issue that has strong implications for organizations through its extensive debate in business literature. This essay will endeavor to identify and explain why Internet emerge that have taken place in the external environment is important to the air travel industry, and discuss the likely impact on air travel industry and how marketing might be applied to create a solution, and finally this essay will comments about the effect of Internet on the future of marketing. Discussion Fewer than ten years ago, commercial use of the Internet was considered improper. From 1969 to early 1990s, the Internet was restricted to military, academic, and a few corporate...
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...ensure a successful launch for the next project or team. Everyone benefits by reviewing past activities and decisions to learn what worked, what didn’t, what can be changed, and what must be managed”. The following Lessons Learned report has been concluded by applying the formal project management knowledge to case study of MIS project at First National Bank. This document will depict project management failures and their causes and use them to generate recommendations by identifying new approaches/improvements. The first part of the report is an overview of the project and analysis of its factual background information. Project stakeholders will be identified and their roles/goals defined. The second part of the report will describe the factors that led to project failure. That will include a description of any abnormal events causing deviations, an assessment of technical methods and tools used, analysis of project issues and their results. The contributing to failure factors will be grouped as follows: * Project proposal lifecycle...
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