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Case 2: Ocean Carriers | Prof. Graeme WarrenFIN 4422 | Miguel OyolaZ23136486Feb. 25, 2014 |

Ocean Carriers

1) Identification of the strategic issues and problems Strong Tie Ltd. (STL), a family-owned corporation, has been the leader of its industry segment with a market share of 70% and through the years has obtain a remarkable reputation for its quality, especially on custom products. In recent years, STL has lost 10% of its market share and now at 60% is having trouble maintaining its leadership in the industry segment due to the arrival of new competitors, especially from China. These new competitors have obtained 30% of market share and are still growing. The problem identified is the high cost the company has, which has led STL to struggle in maintaining its leadership; in addition to these costs the start of the recession in late 2007, a 28% increase in metal prices at the beginning of 20081, and aggressive competitors have had an impact on the company performance, consequently, reporting a NEGATIVE growth of 5.76% in sales for 2007 – 2008.

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1. Mark Skaer. "Steel Prices Continue to Rise." AHR Expo. N.p., 31 Mar. 2008. Web. 08 Feb. 2014. http://www.achrnews.com/articles/steel-prices-continue-to-rise 2) Analysis and evaluation
Strategies
* Due to fluctuating prices of raw materials, STL tried to implement just-in-time (JIT) strategy. JIT brings out efficiency when companies can accurately forecast demand. This strategy is not the most efficient for STL, given that the company’s 60% market share is composed of standardized products and custom design services, consequently, it is hard to accurately forecast demand for custom design services. * STL has a strategy for ALL sales to be on terms Net 60. This strategy is currently inefficient and compromising cash on

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