Maple Leaf Foods has recently lost a noticeable market share amidst stiff competition. Problems contributing to the loss in the internal environment include deficiencies in the value creating activities. Some core issues for MLF are low morale among employees, an unfocused brand message, and a lack of proper responsibility and accountability in profit-making. Lastly, Maple Leaf has so many brands that the company is competing with itself in some instances. They are differentiating its product labels but not the product.
The public consensus that hot dogs are not nutritious coupled with the widespread promotion of living a healthy lifestyle, points to a socio-cultural aspect that effects the general environment. Other forces in the general environment influence one another as well. The public was concerned with the contents of hot dogs and this led to the federal governments of the U.S. and Canada to intervene in the industry allowing only “muscle meat” in the food products. Changes like this effect the entire manufacturing process. The meat now has to be more carefully separated and the additional machines or manpower is expensive. Also, the government imposed rules on calcium supplements added to one of the product lines forcing costly activities like re-sourcing and reformulating the additive. Government regulations will typically affect the value chain and companies should analyze the effects to ensure there competencies continue.
The threat of new entrants to the hot dog business is unlikely because the barriers to entry are quite high. There are significant government regulations on operations. In addition, capital requirements would be in the multi-millions, distribution channels are difficult to enter, and overall, the industry is an economy of scale. Per the case, rivalry is very intense and retaliatory among the top two market shareholders. This