...LAMAR UNIVERSITY - COLLEGE OF BUSINESS MGMT5380 - STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT Brad Mayer: Galloway 204 (880-2383); bradley.mayer@lamar.edu Office Hrs: MWF 9:20-10:20 AM (and by appointment) The mission of the College of Business at Lamar University is to provide a quality education to a diverse student population from Southeast Texas and beyond, resulting in well-rounded business professionals who are prepared to meet the challenges of a dynamic global environment while upholding ethical values and encouraging civic and social responsibility. The faculty promotes an environment supportive of applications-oriented learning by engaging in a balance of discipline-based, business pedagogy, and practice-based intellectual contributions. I. Catalog Description: The capstone course for the MBA. The course assumes that the company success depends upon formulation of an astute “game” plan and the ability to implement and execute that game plan proficiently. The purpose of the class is to enable students to “think strategically,” consider the total enterprise, and to make long-term decisions in a global market environment. A prerequisite for the Integrative Case Study. II. Prerequisites: - Student must be in last semester of course work and have approval of advisor. - Justification: This is a capstone course that draws upon all of the MBA core courses and stresses complex and interdisciplinary applications of the combined theories and experiences of these...
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...Nova Southeastern University Wayne Huizenga Graduate School of Business & Entrepreneurship Assignment for Course: MGT 5090 Entrepreneurial and Strategic Thinking Submitted to: Ron Steffel Submitted by: Georgette McIntosh N01 Xie Luxuan Dorquidia Alemany Date of Submission: May 3, 2015 Title of Assignment: Costco Case Study CERTIFICATION OF AUTHORSHIP: I certify that I am the author of this paper and that any assistance I received in its preparation is fully acknowledge and disclosed in the paper. I have also cited any sources from which I used data, ideas of words, whether quoted directly or paraphrased. I also certify that this paper was prepared by me specifically for this course. Student Signature: Georgette McIntosh ******************************************* Instructor’s Grade on Assignment: Instructor’s Comments: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY he purpose of this report was to examine the implications on employees motivations used at Costco Wholesale Corporation. Research for this report included a review of he purpose of this report was to examine the implications on employees motivations A. Problem Statement: State the main problem facing the firm (or industry) in one, succinct sentence. B. Analysis: Summarize the main findings of your analysis. You may use bullet points, bold, italics – any means to convey and highlight the key factors you have determined based on your analysis. C. Alternatives:...
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...be obvious. Ultimately, legacies are built, and the organization’s reputation utilizes power and self-reliance. A thorough global analysis assessment must be completed during an environmental scanning of any organization. This assessment includes businesses, clients, markets, and industries in the same industry. The objective of this paper is to examine the organization and conduct an environmental scan, which will define their competitive advantages and operating strategies. Environmental scanning is the monitoring, evaluating, and disseminating of information from the external and internal environments to key people within the corporation (Wheelen & Hunger, 2010, pg. 16). Let’s begin by a comparing Smart and Final’s values versus Costco values. Smart and Final has developed the First...
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...“A Players or A Positions?” The Strategic Logic of Workforce Management, Harvard Business Review A Great workforce is made up of great people. What could be more intuitively obvious? Is it any wonder, then, that so many companies have devoted so much energy in recent years to identifying, developing, and retaining what have come to be known as “A players”? Firms like GE, IBM, and Microsoft all have well-developed systems for managing and motivating their high-performance and high-potential employees—and for getting rid of their mediocre ones. Management thinkers have widely endorsed this approach: Larry Bossidy, in the best-selling book Execution, for example, calls this sort of differentiation among employees “the mother’s milk of building a performance culture.” But focusing exclusively on A players puts, well, the horse before the cart. High performers aren’t going to add much value to an organization if they’re smoothly and rapidly pulling carts that aren’t going to market. They’re going to be effective only when they’re harnessed to the right cart—that is, engaged in work that’s essential to company strategy. This, too, may seem obvious. But it’s surprising how few companies systematically identify their strategically important A positions—and then focus on the A players who should fill them. Even fewer companies manage their A positions in such a way that the A players are able to deliver the A performance needed in these crucial roles. While conventional wisdom might...
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...INTERNATIONAL BUSINESSMBA 5011 BOARD APPROVAL DOCUMENT FOR COMPANY EXPANSION IN THE INTERNATIONAL MARKET | | | | | | | Dated: AUGUST 11, 2013 Table of Contents 1.0 Introduction4 2.0 Objectives5 3.0 Company Overview6 3.1 Targeted Company Overview…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….7 4.0 Market Situation8 4.1 Local Market Situation……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….8 4.2 International Market Situation…………………………………………………………………………………………………………..9 4.3Overview of Canada9 5.0 Market Assumptions………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..10 6.0 SWOT Analysis…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………11 7.0 Target Market Needs……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….12 7.1 Selected Products…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….12 7.2 Product feature……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….13 7.3 Product Packaging…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..13 7.4 Product Launch……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….13 7.5 Legal Considerations…………………………………………………………………………………………………………..……….…15 8.0Market Entry Strategy…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….16 8.1 Types of Risks…………………………………..…………………………………………………………………………………………...18 8.2 Competitive Advantage………………………………………………………………………………………………………………...
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...COMPANY BACKGROUND Costco was founded by Jim Sinegal and Seattle entrepreneur Jeff Brotman. Operation of the first store of Costco began in 1983. There were nine Costco stores in five states by end of 1984. Costco became a public company for raising additional fund for business expansion in December 1985.Costco successful to reach one billion dollar in sales in less than six years which make the company the first ever United States (U.S) that reach that huge amount of sales. Costco merge with Price Club in year 1993 and came out with name of PriceCostco. Later, the name was changed to Costco Wholesale Corporation in August 1999.This warehouse club chain have 57 million members. It sales volumes only based on its members as it only open to their members and guests. Costco is the fourth largest retailer in the US and is the seventh largest in the world. Currently, Costco holding market share or in other words industry standing of US and Canada is about 55% . Whereas its close competitor Sam's Club market share is about 36% and 9% by BJ’s Wholesale Club. Costco offer tremendously lower price products with good quality and branded name. The price which are offer by Costco much lower compare to other conventional wholesale or retail that sell similar items and products. Profit generated by the company from its membership fees is about one billion with E- commerce sales contributing about five hundred and thirty four million. It was estimated that the renewal rate of the card...
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...leader in thinking outside the box, anticipating market opportunities and executing effective strategies to capitalize on them. It has over 10,800 stores worldwide. Businesses have to face the challenge of too many competitors, partly originated by the globalisation, all competing for same objective of making highest profit. So, increasingly companies are not merely asking themselves the management question of ‘Are we doing the right?’ but are having to regularly ask ‘Are we still doing it right?’ They have been seeking a more holistic means of doing this than traditional means of delivering products and services to the customers. In a volatile world, decision makers need options on the future and the ability to change direction as strategic opportunities. Although, business as usual (BAU) performance change is providing a short term success but they are typically faced with a less than perfect processes to make investments. In this case analysis, we are trying to summarise the current situation facing the firm by analysing the general environment, industry, competitor, swot analysis with the recommendation and conclusion. 2.0 External Environmental Analysis Wal-Mart is a household name in the retailing industry. It is one of the few companies that have managed to...
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...Examination instructions to Students Subject: Bus 317 Strategic Management Please read these notes carefully: 1. The examination will be based on the following case Cochlear via the LMS site for BUS317. 2. You are expected to read the case in detail AND update the information i.e. you are required to know the competitive situation and the internal functioning of Starbucks to October 2013. 3. You are allowed to prepare a single A4 sheet, double-sided, TYPED. Attach this sheet to your answer script. Please DO NOT attempt to reproduce everything you have written down on the A4 sheet in your answer. The A4 sheet is a SUPPORT not a CRUTCH!! 4. To help you answer the exam questions, I suggest you include data on: a. the external environment, cochlear implant industry and closely-related concentric industries and competitive environments.e.g. market share, value of market, major players, rates of change, growth rates; b. Internal analysis to determine organisational capabilities, core competencies 5. The 2-hour exam will comprise 1 section, with a choice of 2 questions. You will answer one of these 2 questions, not both. If both are answered, the answer that appears first will be marked. 6. Q1 looks at the competitive environment and asks you how to resolve a critical competitive issue where you need to devise real world solutions grounded in theory. What is your solution, and more importantly, show how your solution is viable given...
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...Marketing plan Craftmade International Inc. Marketing Plan Executive Summary With energy prices increasing and an increased interest in sustainability, a market for high efficiency, environmentally friendly lighting has been created. This need can now be cost effectively met with LED lighting technology because of recent advances in LED manufacturing techniques in China combined with maturing LED technology. Currently, no one has successfully entered into the market place to fill this void. Craftmade is well positioned to step forward and fill this void. Recent legislation in Washington has paved the way for increased public uptake of more efficient CFL and LED lighting. While incandescent light bulbs have not been phased out yet, it is important for Craftmade as a lighting appliance manufacturer to lead the way in lighting technologies. Already, competitors such as GE Lumination, and Philips have begun to introduce innovative products that incorporate LED lighting, and have seen large returns as a result. Due to technological advances in LED manufacturing and increased consumer exposure on store shelving, LED light bulbs are increasing in quality and decreasing in price. In order to take advantage of these recent developments in the lighting industry it would behoove Craftmade to adjust current designs or introduce new designs that implement the use of LED technology. The most advantageous opportunity would involve re-introducing current designs with LED capabilities...
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...to Investopedia, when using SWOT analysis, be realistic about the strengths and weaknesses of your organization. Distinguish between where your organization is today, and where it could be in the future. Also remember to be specific by avoiding gray areas and always analyze whether the company is better or worse than competition. Finally, keep your SWOT analysis short and simple, and avoid complexity and over-analysis since much of the information is subjective. Thus, use it as a guide and not a prescription. This paper seeks to evaluate the strategic implications of the SWOT analysis model of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA). The paper will give a brief background of the organisation, then proceed to talk about the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and finally its Threats. BACKGROUND The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) of Ghana is the government agency responsible for the licensing and evaluation of drivers and cars. DVLA was established in 1999 by Act 569 of Ghana's parliament....
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...of England. This strategy was overwhelmingly successful, and continued to be the central tenet of M&S strategy for many years. M&S sailed through the depression and several recessions, but at the end of the 1990's something went severely wrong. Profits were falling year on year and the footfall in the stores was lower than it had been for several years. From the year of 1991 to 1998 it started to regain its profit again. But from 1999 the situation started to worsen again. This report sets out many of the reasons for that failure then concludes by suggesting and evaluating the strategic options open to the organization going forward. The report concludes that drawing on the substantial capital resources of M&S, brand and product development are the appropriate measures to take in order to put M&S back on the retail map. 1|Page Part 02 Strategic Profile and Case Analysis Purpose Strategic Profile The case study provided several descriptions on the basic elements of the company. It has been described as a company that adheres to top-down management approach compounded by the close supervision provided by its former CEO. This has worked well with the company for several decades, however in the latter part of the 1998s a noticeable decline in the sales as well as in the overall performance of the company was observed. Various revolutionary and evolutionary changes have...
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...The Wilson Brothers Limited Case History In 1960, the Wilson Brothers, Bob and John, started Wilson Brothers Limited. This Canadian company manufactured and distributed various lines of prepared food products for the Canadian market from a number of plants, with the head office located in Brandon, Manitoba. Bob was just 23 years old at the time, and John was 21. In the first year of operations, the sales volume for Wilson Brothers Limited was $300,000. By 2000, Wilson Brothers Limited had six operating plants in Canada. They had also expanded to the western US market and had several plantsin Europe. Wilson Export Division was responsible for exporting product to Japan and China. In 2000, the total sales volume of the Company was over $6 billion. The company was a Canadian business success story, both at home and abroad. In addition to the spectacular volume increases, the company was very well managed financially. Ithad no reason to go public to raise capital as it financed all of its expansion through earnings. There were several reasons for the Company’s exponential growth. First and foremost, the brothers valued hard work. They each worked ten to twelve hours per day, even in the latter stages of their careers. Consequently, their senior and middle management group worked similar hours. Secondly, each brother was a skilled salesman in the traditional sense. Their handshake was their bond. Thirdly, they had tremendous “cultural sensitivity.” Whenever they expanded to...
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...force in Job Creation 3. Marketing helps influence beneficial behaviors GENERAL MARKETING MODEL 1. Understand the Marketplace(市场) and Customer Needs 2. Design a customer value driven market strategy 3. Deliver the marketing strategy (4 Ps: Product Price Place Promotion) 4. Build Profitable Customer Relationships [they want the customer keeps buying their product] the Long-term TYPES OF VALUE CREATED BY MARKETING Form Value: Utility provided by changing raw material to finished product. Created by production but influenced by marketing. Time Value: Making product more available when the customer needs it Possession Value: Enhancing ability of customer to acquire and use product over time. (Free samples at Costco) Place Value: Make product available where the customer needs it. Information Value: Providing relevant info about the product. Service Value: Providing excellent service on an ongoing basis The Marketing Mix: (营销组合) The set of controllable, tactical marketing tools that the firm blends to produce the response it wants in the target market FOUR Ps of MARKETING (From the Sellers perspective) 1. Product: goods and services the company offers to the market 2. Price:...
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...What is strategy? An integrated and coordinated set of commitments and actions designed to exploit core competencies and gain a competitive advantage. What is the strategic management process? The formulation and implementation of value-creating strategies, in order to give the firm a sustained competitive advantage. What is a competitive advantage? Gained when a firm implement a strategy that competitors are unable to duplicate or find too costly to imitate. Typically results in high profits – profits attract competition, and this limits the duration of competitive advantage. When can a competitive advantage be sustainable? Achieved when a firm is able to gain a competitive advantage over its competitors for a considerable period of time. * * STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT PROCESS: 1. EXTERNAL & INTERNAL ASSESSMENT (What are the key strategic factors and issues?) 2. INTENT – Vision, Mission & Objectives. 3. STRATEGY FORMULATION (Evaluation of strategic alternatives & making a strategic choice). 4. STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION 5. EVALUTATION & CONTROL * * Vision: * How the organisation wants to be seen in the future – what does success look like? * Desired end state. * Challenges everyone to reach for something significant; inspires the future. * Provides a long-term focus for everyone. * Mission: * An over-arching short statement covering: * What the immediate future looks like, why...
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... 1. What threats and challenges is Wal-Mart currently facing? From the beginning, Walmart did not have many threats. However, not only the competition is different, several global retailers such as Target, Carrefour, Costco, and Amazon, are working hard to keep efficiency. They are trying to work together to shrink the prices difference between them. Walmart has facing difficulties from every single angle. Not only the company has internal labor relation problems, but also it has some external threats from its competitors. The company must work hard to get possible solutions against its competitors, and to solve any internal problems regarding its labor relations. Even though Walmart does not have any problems with its good sales performance, it does not stop the company to have issues with sales. Walmart needs to pay attention because there are too many claims from women regarding the lawsuit discrimination for several reasons inside the company such as pay, promotions, and training. The company has no other recourses to re-evaluate the situation to make its employees feel better as far as the coverage is concerned. There are several companies in the United States that offer better health insurance coverage than Walmart does. As a result, a re-evaluation is necessary so that associates can pay less with a higher contribution of the company. Life insurance is important for every single employee within an organization. An employee with no good life insurance can be in trouble...
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