Finance - Week 8

Factoring process involves a financing arrangement that assists in improving the cash flow in firms with invoices that are slow-paying. The process helps firms in their financial needs so that they can b reach their maximum level of growth. The finance assistance extended acts as an alternative to conventional capital markets.  The process may involve an increase on the amount of cash that a given firm may have on hand at a particular time, which in turn gives it flexibility. The flexibility allows the companies to take advantage of emerging opportunities as. Winston Financial Group provides such assistance to different organizations including transportation carriers and brokers, staffing agencies, manufacturers, distributers , oil and gas firms , security firms , IT and technology related firms and even the government (Winston Financial Group, Inc., 2018).  The services are needed by companies that are focused on growth, that are young or not qualified to access banking financing, are experiencing tax problems or those with whose balance sheets are not strong.  

For Winston Financial Group, Inc., as long as a firm is selling a certain product or providing some services to other businesses, there are programs that meets their needs in terms of account receivable amount. This enables firms to qualify for factoring of a specific size of account receivable.  The firm encourages firms to be part of the collection process, but many firms choose to have the provider monitor and even pursue the collection on its own. This enables them in reduction of cost normally arising from the collection process.  Winston Financial Group, Inc. can buy any kind of valid receivable for a product that has been accepted or delivered or services provided on behalf of other organizations.  The factoring process has largely been recognized and accepted so that almost all retailors in U.S. leaves a blank while preparing purchase orders highlighting whether the resulting invoice will factored (Winston Financial Group, Inc., 2018).  

While in the past the process has been accessible to organizations whose receivables surpassed $ 20 million, the current technology advances enable firms such as Winston Financial Group to provide the services to even small business without much administrative expenses being incurred.   Given the strict credit parameters set by traditional institutional lenders, factoring process has become a better financial tool among small and medium firms.  The business do not have to go over the same procedures found in banking finance. This is because firms like Winston F Group, Inc., has complete application and even a detailed report of accounts receivable and thus the services are offered with shortest time possible (Winston Financial Group, Inc., 2018).

There are various benefits that can be attributed to factoring. The process turns the invoices of the firms into the required operating cash instantly.  The firms can obtain their cash within the shortest time possible and specifically within hours for the many of the invoices.  The factoring process can ensure an improved credit rating by offering cash for settling bills within a short period. The firms can also be able to meet their obligations in terms of tax and payroll obligations.  The buying power of organizations is also increased since they can exploit the advantages provided by discounts on purchase through cash.  Customers can also be given better credit terms while customer relationship can be improved since potential disputes are reduced through a confirmation that products have been received.

Reference

Winston Financial Group, Inc. Retrieved from: http://www.winfin.com/

CALYX FLOWERS

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The major problem that the company faces involves the right marketing approach that will ensure it maximizes on sales and thus revenue.  Currently the primary focus of the firm in terms of marketing efforts has been on  mailing catalogs to existing customers , previous recipients of its offerings and other individuals who fits its customers' demographic. To maximize in sales and revenue the form has focus on increasing the number of customers and also retain them. The failure to achieve maximum sale's revenue can be attributed to limited resources which also constrains the marketing budget. The increased competition especially from retailers such as supermarkets and traditional florists requires the firm to have a marketing strategy that will optimize on its competitive advantage. The firm has to effectively utilize the limited resources have a long-run focused marketing strategy, improve its customization capabilities and compete with local florists, deliver the products even on holidays and Sundays and even reach out to new customers. The use of catalogue alone means that only repeat customers can be reached and this does not utilize the opportunities available to attract new ones. Moreover, the fact that the can gain more information from these catalogs should provides an opportunity that can be utilized through the marketing strategy to increase sales and revenues for the firm. The marketing strategy should also take into account the fact that demand for flowers is seasonal, with high peaks being in holidays. The limited resources also mean Calyx Flowers cannot adopt multiple marketing strategies, and hence the need for one effective strategy that will improve the performance of the firm in terms of increased sales and profitability. To address problem that firm will a marketing strategy that focuses on upscale professional women as the target in the market. The focus on this segment is in line with the need to utilize the limited resources on a marketing strategy that yield maximum results through increased sales. For the strategy to succeed, the firm will have to improve the quality of services so as to meet the needs of this quality-sensitive segment. This would also require the firm to reach out to new customers by increasing the number of overall catalogs that are targeted to the upscale professional women. Even though the new market also comprises of men as a customer segment, the strategy focuses solely professional women. The limited resources in the firm have to be utilized to increase the market share which promises high possibility of positive returns to the firm. In the past marketing efforts, information has shown that women form the largest part of the market targeted by the firm. This means that focus the few resources on men segment is not likely to yield the desired returns in terms of sales.  Moreover, Calyx Flowers' products are expensive and women tend to pay higher prices for same products than men. Also, the buying behavior for men is quite different from that of women segment in the market.  Women tends to place more importance on new products than men, which means that the marketing strategy can chose to align its catalog content with women needs. Since the firm cannot adopt multiple marketing strategies due to limited resources, focusing on women segment alone would allow for a more specific approach that can ensure the maximization of sales and revenue. The catalogs can then be tailor-made so that they target upscale professional women who are capable of buying the expensive products more frequently than men.  This approach means that the targeted financial performance for Calyx Flowers is strategically achieved.

Jaguar Land Rover Company

The government has a mandate to support companies in times of financial crises. However, for the company to offer financial support, the company often goes through a series of tough tests which determines the reasonable course of action. Though the outcome of Jaguar’s bailing by the government was good, it was not the best solution for the company. In most cases companies are advised to first consider all other options before seeking bailing from the government. Jaguar Company was therefore expected to be responsible of their operations and how they managed their resources.  Doing this would have minimized their chances of seeking bailing from the government.

Corrigan, (2008), asserts that transforming the company into a viable business is one of the important goals that the company should endeavor to fulfill. Using the SWOT and PESTLE tools of analysis, the company has been able to realize some of the important opportunities in their environment. The emerging market on low-carbon vehicles is one of the opportunities that the company has seized. The company has thus established strong range rover brands. These vehicle brands are improved and updated models which have greatly attracted so many customers hence helping in driving the sales. The company invests heavily in innovation as a strategy to ensure that they obtain competitive advantage over their competitors. It has thus established new factories, adopted new technology that involves the expansion of the use of aluminum policy. This has been pioneered in the XJ model. The result of these innovations has resulted to production of lighter, less-fuel consuming and as a result greener automobiles. With continued efforts, the company will be in a stable position to bail their business out even in the face of financial crisis without depending on the government and banks.

References

Corrigan, T. (2008) Recession: Jaguar Land Rover must now turn itself into a viable business. Retrieved from:  https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/tracycorrigan/3903653/Recession-Jaguar-Land-Rover-must-now-turn-itself-into-a-viable-business.html>

Samsung Company Analysis Project

Executive Summary

This report provides an in-depth assessment and analysis of Samsung Company’s strategic management and decision making. This incorporates a detailed analysis of the external and internal operating environment via some tools and strategies. The methods and tools that were relied upon in the development of the report include SWOT analysis, PESTLE, IFE and EFE, SPACE, BCG, and Grand. Four different possible strategies acquired from QSPM as the strategic choice are also discussed. This is followed by an evaluation of the implementation and recommendation of feasible solutions. The results of the study reveal that Samsung has acquired an exceptional strategic advantage over all the respective competitors. In fact, the company relies less on the distribution of materials that are used in the development of its products. For market and competitive response, the company has retained the global leadership position based on its sales, manufacturing efficiency, customer satisfaction, revenue generation and sustainable competition. This report has thus established the current performance and strategic location as desirable when equated to some of the well-established companies in the industry such as Apple. Despite the strategic position the threats of the intensifying competition cannot be ignored. Thus, the study recommends that Samsung focuses on enhancing products diversity and invest more in development and research. The detailed assessment of the company’s external and internal operating environments demonstrates that the company is competitively and economically steady but more regarding strategic focus has to be done to sustain the ranking in the suture.

Company Background and Key Issues

Samsung is not only popular but also one of the most established companies in the world. Samsung Electronics is an international company that offers diverse products variety to the customers focusing on electronics and information technology solutions. The company has created and maintained a positive reputation as an innovative electronics company. The company was founded back in 1969 and has its operations situated across the world in over a hundred countries with an estimated workforce of over three hundred thousand persons (Samsung, 2017). The company’s headquarter is situated in South Korea. The company has sustained in original products being particularly electronics and electrical devices such as television, mobile phones, and cookers and so on even though it has diversified over the years in the quest to overcome competition. The diversification has resulted in the incorporation of other different and more advanced in terms of innovation technology such as computers, smartphones, telecommunication and memory solutions. Over the operative period since its establishment, the company has bought and in some instances tried to acquire distinct business companies as well. Some successful acquisitions have acquired within the research and apparel industries with entities such as AST and FUBU clothing respectively (Chien & Gunther, 2008). Evidently, Samsung has overcome a lot of complexities for it to be one of the leading electronics and Information Technology related solution giver in the contemporary world. The company has been ranked as the leader in terms of sales within the electronics market seconded by Apple over the competitors such as Nokia. Based on the present market changes and the company’s appealing strategic management, the ranking as the leading electronics manufacturer and seller is unarguable (Paek & Lee, 2017). However, this does not obstruct the formidable competition from the popular and accepted brands especially Apple which is rising innovatively in a rapid manner.

Samsung Company is strategically focused on sustaining a profitable operation throughout its operation an aspect that is attributed to its current success. This is achieved by consistently modifying its external and internal settings. In addition, it is worth acknowledging that the company has preserved its people’s focused culture that seeks to meet the needs of all its stakeholders from staffs, customers, community and investors without fail. The company widely acknowledges that financial gain is not a determinant of success if the customers and employees are unhappy (Chien & Gunther, 2008). In that while the customers offers a more valuable and wide market for the company’s produce, the productivity is mainly determined by its employees. Human resource is the most essential asset that the company holds that not only determines its produce but also the quality, innovative level and pace of production. The company is additionally committed to social responsibility as an ethical standard that seeks to guard the environment in which it operates in.

The electronics sector is an adaptable and modest business industry. The competitions within this sector on regular basis try to exceed others through products diversity, innovation, promotional strategies, strategic positioning such as focusing on the changing needs of the consumers and constant evaluation of the existing approaches with respect to the internal and external forces that affects business operation. While the marketing departments for the ruling companies especially Samsung centers their energy on the identification of the changing needs and preference  of their customers and developing products and services that meets the anticipation, competition is intensifying (Chopra & Wu, 2016). Samsung as the leader represent one of the companies that has succeeded in marketing roles, products development alongside its operational potential to persuade and maintain valuable relationships with the customers. However, despite the success in order for the company to retain its relevance and profitability in the market, it needs to grow its market and meet the demands of the customers. The market is changing rather rapidly, courtesy of innovation technology and the success of the companies therefore depends on the ability to mitigate and adapt to these changes.

Through the company’s active strategic management and decision making, it has managed to obtain a relevant position in the market at ease. It is without a doubt that this strength is linked to the ability to understand the needs of the customers and respond without fail. Also, to its strategic focus on developing innovative and diverse products that position it well to overcome competition, its marketing approaches have been effective. The company adheres to the provision of valuable products that satisfies the innovative needs, high quality, superior designs, differentiated and variety to suit the socio-economic needs of its diverse market (Chopra & Wu, 2016). For the company to achieve a sustainable advantage in the business, it must adopt strategic approaches that seek to guard it’s against all sorts of threats. The need to expand continuously throughout the expansive industry cannot be ignored. In that, as competition is rising exploring some of the large markets that are not fully exploited is beneficial in expanding its market share, increasing sales and enhancing its global positioning. Without a doubt, Samsung has a stable economic status based on its competitive advantage, but this can only last if specific measures are adopted for the preservation.

External Assessment (EFE): Opportunities and Threats

EFE functions as an external audit tool for the company since the intention are to create a set of leading factors to establish the chances to benefit while identifying threats that should be mitigated for effectiveness to be achieved. With regard to PESTEL analysis tool in the assessment, the critical success and competitive factors can be evaluated using the EFE matrix. This is accomplished through classification, rating and weighing the measure of each. The Ratings range from unit 1 up to 4 which shows the low to excellent response. 

The EFE table illustrates that Samsung has acquired a rating of 3.5from the highest score of 4. This therefore illustrates that the company’s external score is average and this implies that the company has done substantially well in exploiting the emerging opportunities while lowering the threats based on some measures. First, the company has gradually increased its productivity to meet the rising demand of electronic products across the globe. Also, the company launched several experience stores four years ago in some of the leading markets such as South Korea, UK, and the US with its focus on increasing sales of mobile devices such as smartphones, tablets, and appliances (Telegraph, 2014). The aim of the move is to capitalize on the instinct buying trend by mobile phone buyers. Also the introduction of innovative products such as Galaxy smartphones to exploit the growing interests by consumers in purchasing technological practicality items. The company also initiated its partnership with some of the established entities in China in the manufacturing of curved products screens particularly for television so that it can adequately manage the rising threat by LG and other distinct competitors who are entering into the electronics industry (Bloomberg, 2017). Technology in the company is fully exploited in the marketing functions and speed tracking of supplies from all over the world in the bid to ensure prompt delivery of materials. This supports its objective of fast and quantity production while adhering to the quality aspect. The payable period of supplies has decreased from 45 up to about 11 in a span of three years from 2013 up to 2016.

EFE for Samsung Electronics

Samsung’s operations are based on the electronics and computing sector, which is associated with increased growth rated and changes that are mainly driven by the technology advancement rate and competition. This means that the entities that operate within this setting have to focus more on products development, market research, products diversity and differentiation. While the industrial growth rate is steady, that is further boosted by the global economic expansion of about 2 percent the sector is approaching development, but the instability is still high on the grounds of technological growth such as the rise of LED products.

It is evident that the productivity in the industry increased by about 2 percent in 2016 thus representing approximately 2600 billion dollars with an expected similar rise in 2017 (Samsung, 2017). Samsung is the leader in electronics sales and production with a world market share of about 21 percent, while LG seconds with 11 percent (Oled-info, 2017). The gap between the two competitors is undisputable which shows that Samsung has been effective in exploiting opportunities. The sector is one that is saturated when it comes to electronic home items such as cooker, refrigerator, microwave, and others based on the geographical position and the establishment of firms in the market but the share of each does not exceed 20 percent. Concerning smartphones, Samsung still leads worth 21 percent while Apple follows with 13 percent. However, when it comes to display panels, LG has taken the lead despite the fact that Samsung leads to small sized displays. When it comes to the new technology being OLED display the company drives as well as it owns about 90 percent of the global market share. Competition is rising rather fast from the developed entities given that LG recently initiated it OLED production firm (Oled-info, 2017).

PESTEL Analysis

PESTEL approach is focused on understanding the forces that affect the external competitiveness of the industry.

Political

In close to all the markets where Samsung Company has set its operations, the political setting is favorable to all its focus. However, there are minor but significant political irritants in some foreign markets where the political context is unsteady (Srivastava, 2018). The government plays a critical role by utilizing the legislative authority in attracting or discouraging foreign investments. For instance, if the taxes are set very high, this dieters foreign entities from basing their operations in the country due to the fear of experiencing losses rather than benefits. Political stability is a determining force when Samsung similar to other firms is setting its operation by obtaining favorable taxing or an enabling operation environment (Srivastava, 2018). Samsung has been subjected to pressure by the United States government with the motive of setting a production setting. The chairman of the company was for insinuating arrested due to a corruption claim which illustrates that politics act significantly in driving business. Also, the company has been subjected to political challenges in its origin nation based on the underlying conflict with North Korea. The company has experienced a sales decrease in the region and the threat of an eruption of war that might affect its operations. Also, in most of the African states, the company operates under high political unsteadied. However, despite the instability, the issue is minor since the company is developing a strategic focus to mitigate such threats.

Economic

Contrary to what most individuals believe, electronics goods have a short lifespan due to the current technological advancement that is evolving rapidly. In other words, if the products are not sold within a set period, then the company suffers losses. Also, due to the effort and the level of innovation that is involved the pricing of the products is premium which is focused on enabling a quick breakthrough. The buyers within the developed economies have the power to acquire new products. However, the buying of electronics products particularly in the developing economies is hard. The highest buyer’s populace is made of the low and middle-class people who imply that most of these companies fail to target the segment.

Socio-cultural environment

The general changes in the living styles due to modernization has led to a rise in an instant and unplanned products buying in general which is driven by the need to achieve immediate satisfaction. Also, the popularity of smartphones and the use of internet has developed a segment of buyers who seek for innovative commodities without evaluating the cost. Affordability is an issue but not to those that are triggered by innovation, based on the natural availability of the products the price is accountable as favorable as less effort in commitment to the assessments and search. The company has obtained efficiency based on its strategy of adopting local development. In that, the company customizes the products to fit the preferences of the consumers’ in the market. The main point is that the company operates within a market that is highly driven by lifestyle and personal preferences of the buyers. Since socio-cultural influence differs from a country to the next, the company had to reorganize itself to fit within the demands.

Technological

The dynamic abilities of a company are dependent on market complexity which forces the company to enhance its core abilities with time (Capgemini, 2009). The electronics industry is dynamic as it is mainly influenced by technological innovation particularly in the development of smartphones and televisions. This implies that the involved companies have to invest in growth, research, and production technology substantially. Samsung can be accounted to be among the leading innovative firms globally. The company has the advantage of the use of technological innovation for sustainable competitive positioning (Amui et al., 2017). The company relies on a technological change in the production of unique products in fighting competitive rivalry in the market. This has become one of its obsession with other companies are following somewhat closely. However, this has resulted in imitation of other companies such as Apple.

Environmental

Most governments are asserting the essence of guarding the environment. This has originated from the rising concerns regarding the climatic change. Companies are therefore being forced to adhere to the measures in their operations. In this context, Samsung has adopted the eco-friendly move that involves the use of environmentally friendly materials and approaches in obtaining a competitive advantage.

Legal

Since the electronic sector depends on technology and innovation, intellectual property remains to be a leading issue since the firms have to guard their ideas from duplication. In the recent, the company has been accused of imitating Apple. Also, the safety subject t is essential given that it can affect the firm’s image thus affecting sales. Based on Bloomberg (2016) Samsung was forced to pay a 12 million dollars fine to Huawei Company for a patent violation.

Internal Assessment (IFE): Strengths and Weaknesses

EFE is a form of an internal audit that seeks to establish the factors that the company can exploit and the weaknesses to be corrected. The table below illustrates that Samsung scored 2.39 which is slightly within the average level. This shows that the company has many strengths which have not been used maximally to overcome the weaknesses. The result is caused by an increase in the initiation of new products thus diversifying the focus of the company which failed to adhere fully to the value of quality. Also, the company was unable to maintain the innovation pace since galaxy seven was introduced in 2015 and the next phone was launched two years later (Samsung, 2017). This might have affected its market.

In an industry that is characterized by rapid external changes, Strategic Resources and Capabilities (VRINE) view that is based on the company’s core capabilities and competencies ranging from financial to human resource offers a more steady approach of creating a competent internal strategy (Holsapple & Oh, 2018). Despite the fact that the electronic sector is not changing speedily the influence of technology has to be acknowledged, and therefore VRINE can be utilized in the identification of the experimental features that are valuable, competence, human resource, high financial gains and inability to imitate them. It is only the kind of resources that offer competency in their VRINE features that have the potential to equip the corporation with a competitive advantage.

Samsung Company’s competitive advantage has several sources. The outcome of the VRINE analysis illustrates the following as the company’s competitive source. To begin with, Samsung has invested adequately in technology research and products development with more than thirty R&D institutes that are located in different nations. Also, to its sizeable human resource about innovation is a benefit that it reaps (Gogoi, 2017). In that, the company has employed its workers based on the qualification. This plays a part in the classification of roles such as engaging, innovation, designing, marketing, manufacturing, sales, research and more. The development, innovation and research staffs comprise 16 percent of all its crews. This has enabled the company to distribute its resources to the roles in respective strategically. More so, the brand value and reputation of the company is desirable. The brand is valued at 51 million dollars which places it at the 7th position of the branding rank as per 2016 (Teece, 2017).

The company is well established in the global market given that it has been in operation for a long period. It means that through its successes and failures it clearly understands the trends in the market unlike the emerging entities. Also the company has a significant revenue and high sales rate. This means that, it has established such a stable market. Due to its financial stability it can easily afford to expand in different markets within the shortest time frame. More so, this plays part in finding its operations such as research and employing the most qualified personnel leading to products development (Paek & Lee, 2017). As a large company it boats of a large products supply at affordable prices since the suppliers cannot to lose it. Its reliable networks play part in ensuring that goods are delivered with adherence quality and time thereby supporting the efficiency and high productivity goal.

Strategic Feasibility

SWOT Matrix

Alternative Strategies

1. Niche focusing to capture the wider market

In that the company lacks a niche focus and this might be affecting its ability to expand and get into different markets. Focusing on a specific segment can be useful in capturing the widest share since the approach will differentiate the company from all the competitors.

2. Pricing reduction

Samsung is one of the companies with premium prices. Such approaches discourages low income individuals from purchasing its products. It is worth noting that middle and low class people represent the largest populace.

3. Create retail chain stores and increase R&D centers

This will create a more engaging environment amid the consumers and the company. In addition, the company can get to understand the preferences and needs of its consumers easily.

SPACE Matrix

Alternative Strategies

1. Establish additional R&D entities across the globe
2. Introduce loyalty programs and retailing sores
3. Market expansion

BCG

Alternative Strategies

1. Establish additional R&D entities across the globe
2. Introduce loyalty programs and retailing stores
3. Market expansion
4. Product development
5. Pricing adjustment to attract more customers

Grand Matrix

                                                     Rapid growth

          Weak competition characteristics:  Strong competitive characteristics:

                          Market expansion                Market Expansion                                                  

                          Product Development          Product Development

                          Liquidation                          Market Development

                          Market Development           Horizontal Integration

Weak competitive status                                                                             Strong competitive status

                                         Liquidation             Joint Ventures

                                  Market development      Reduced diversification

                          Product development              competitive advantage                                             

                                                        Slow growth

Alternative strategies

1. Pricing adjustment
2. Product development
3. Establish additional R&D entities across the globe
4. Introduce loyalty programs and retailing sores
5. Market expansion
6. Strategic Choice (QSPM)

From the above matching tools, the four strategies that appeared dominant are adding research and development centers, market development, creating loyalty and retailing stores and pricing reduction. Low cost and differentiation represent the primary competitive advantage drivers for Samsung. The company has achieved success in diverse and differentiated businesses which shows the strategic strength of the company. Also, the investment in development within the large scale offers the firm the advantage of adequately controlling the aspect of superiority and lowering expenses. Samsung prices its products highly based on the fact that the used materials and approaches are innovative that seek to satisfy the innovational desire. Thus has led to the lack of a market niche since those that understand about innovative quality only acquires its products. A market Niche would be essential in expanding the company’s market and popularity across individuals of all socio-economic classes (Amui et al., 2017). On the other hand, even though consumers are becoming highly sensitive to quality, innovation and satisfaction affordability is also a determinant of their buying wellness.

Creating loyalty and retailing stores is a strategy for ensuring that the company gets closer to its consumers to understand their needs. In turn, this will be useful in the creation of a substantial market share and enhance all its current efforts that seek to extend its interactions with the customers for all its electronic products. The shopping experience will be improved thus maintaining the loyalty aspect. Also, retailers are always closer to the buyers, and the sales will, therefore, be increased in the less exploited markets. The establishment of more R&D centers is aimed at supporting the fast production of innovative products. To keep up with competition the company must focus on short production to retain its relevance in the market. Market expansion and products development are one of the strategic methods that most firms are using to differentiate from the competitors. This means getting into the emerging markets and developing exceptional and yet satisfying products.

Final Strategic Recommendation

Retail chain and loyalty stores acquisition and the setting of more R&D centers across the globe are strategic options for Samsung based on its current performance. In that even though the company created it experience stores, it was driven by the need to defend itself against the competition. To engage its customers more, the strategic approach is to get closer to retails across the market (Holsapple & Oh, 2018). Customers are more triggered by brands that are not only superior but those that seek to meet their needs. Since the company has a people-centered culture, this move would benefit from the expansion of market share and sales increase. On the other hand, since technology is evolving very fast and the consumers’ needs are changing rapidly, research and development institutions can help in understanding the customers need and keep up with the competition.

VII. Implementation and Evaluation

For the successful implementation of the proposed strategies, the move has to be measurable, practical and beneficial. In that, it is not about implementing the plan, but the benefits have to be visible and measurable. Since the objective of the company is to become the leader in innovation, then the solutions must have the ability to achieve these goals. This, therefore, implies that the company must fast evaluate the potential and the benefits of the strategies in general. Also, the viability of the market must be assessed. Based on evaluation it is evident that with the unsteady market, there is a need to invest in retail, loyalty stores, and development initiatives. The company has to remain close to all its customers to understand their needs and adapt to changes in the global market. 

References

Amui, L. B. L., Jabbour, C. J. C., de Sousa Jabbour, A. B. L., & Kannan, D. (2017). Sustainability as a dynamic organizational capability: a systematic review and a future agenda toward a sustainable transition. Journal of Cleaner Production, 142, 308-322.

Bloomberg. (2016). Company Overview of Samsung Display Co., Ltd. Retrieved from: https://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=22399354

Capgemini. (2009).The Changing Dynamics of the Global High Tech Industry. Retrieved from: https://www.nl.capgemini.com/resource-file-access/resource/pdf/The_Changing_Dynamics_of_the_Global_High_Tech_Industry_____An_Analysis_of_Key_Segments_and_Trends.pdf

Chien, C., Gunther, H. (2008). OR in the electronics industry. OR Spectrum 30, (3), pp. 377-379.

Chopra, S., Wu, P. (2016). Eco-activities and operating performance in the computer and electronics industry. European Journal of Operational Research, 248, (3), pp. 971-981.

David, F. D. (2011) Strategic Management – concept and cases. 13th Ed. New Jersey: Pearson

Gogoi, B. J. (2017). Effect of Store Design on Perceived Crowding and Impulse Buying Behavior. International Review of Management and Marketing, 7(2), 180-186.

Holsapple, C. W., & Oh, J. Y. (2018). Reactive and Proactive Dynamic Capabilities. Global Business Expansion: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications, 366.

Paek, B., & Lee, H. (2017). Strategic entrepreneurship and competitive advantage of established firms: evidence from the digital TV industry. International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, 1-43.

Samsung. (2017). Samsung Electronics Announces Fourth Quarter and FY 2016 Results. Retrieved From: https://news.samsung.com/global/samsung-electronics-announces-fourth-quarter-and-fy-2016-results

Samsung. (2017).Research and Development. Retrieved from: http://www.samsung.com/us/aboutsamsung/samsung_electronics/business_area/rd_page/

Srivastava, D. K. (2018). Taxation of E-Commerce: Problems and Possible Solutions. In Contemporary Issues in International Law (pp. 447-457). Springer, Singapore.

Teece, D. J. (2017). Dynamic capabilities and the multinational enterprise. In Globalization (pp. 105-129). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.

Telegraph. (2014). Samsung opens first ‘Experience Stores’ in the UK. Retrieved from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/samsung/10755868/Samsung-opens-first-Experience-Stores-in-the-UK.html

Golden CAT Scale Company

Golden CAT Scale Company has establishments that are mainly engaged in the inspection and weighing of goods in relation to transportation. It is also associated with the operation of fixed facilities for vehicle transportation. The company offers the skilled truck driver a consistent, accurate and certified weight. Through a cooperative relationship, we are able to work with our truckstop partners. We will guarantee the highest quality of services and goods at considerable prices. We will ensure that weighing on a Way Scale will be the number one choice for all of our esteemed customers.

Company’s history

For the first time in history, professional drivers will have access to advanced scales. These scales have the capacity to weigh both the entire truck and trailer unit all at once.  With the scales offered by the company, the drivers are guaranteed to get an accurate weight on their vehicles. However, it is important to note that the company offers to stand behind their customers in case a problem arises. Our company has grown tremendously and is currently the largest truck scale network across the world with over 2000 locations throughout the United States and Canada. We offer the best place where drivers can trust to cover their rear with no guarantee of an excuse.

Following the strict weight rules and potential fines accruing from violation of such restrictions, golden cat Scale Company offers services that are much needed by the trucking public. The brands produced by our company are covered by an unconditional assurance. a driver in his course of transporting goods may receive an overweight fine after weighing legal on a brand scale. Once this happens, our company may decide to pay the fine or may appear in court to act as a professional witness who influences the court into making a fine dismissal.

Commitment

• We are totally committed to strengthening our leading position in the industry through:
• The superior quality of employees, services, and goods;
• Exceptional customers’ services to boost our great image and reputation in service provision;
• A sound set of beliefs;
• Addressing customer concerns earlier enough before they evolve into a quality issue.
• Support of new innovative programs;
• Persistence with a purpose to offer the best in the industry;
• Selection of the highest quality environment and geographical location that stresses quality of services and loyalty to customers

What are some of the driving forces to our exemplary success in the industry?

We offer so much more than the industry’s standard. We work closely with our customers to deliver quality works. As your partner in quality, we pride ourselves in the human personnel and strategies implemented in our company. In order to deliver excellence to each and every service and project, we offer our very best. We employ and implement highly qualified people and processes to achieve optimum performance.

Customer relations

Our company’s representatives are keen on establishing professional working relations with the truckstop partners and all of their service providers. We create a favorable environment where trust and credibility are highly promoted and shared with customers and partners.

Services

Golden CAT Scale Company has built their reputation on their timely and quality assurance. It will, therefore, be recognized as the leading service providers. We offer quality services to our customers. We have a team of professionals who work hard in ensuring that perfection is attained in all components of the services that we offer to our esteemed customers on a day to day basis. This ensures that our customers are receiving the best service that meets their expectations. Our devotion to making our clients happy guides our actions. Our customers are our number one priority. Without them, we cannot achieve all of our goals and objectives.

Quality measures

Quality issues often occur within the business. However, when these issues arise, we often have little time to address the problem before they negatively affect customers. Golden CAT Scale Company, therefore, states that when drivers are affected with non-conforming weights, several measures must be undertaken. These measures are geared towards protecting the transportation quality and this prevents further disruption in the transportation operation.  Though this is expensive and tiresome we are delighted to make our clients happy and satisfied.

Transportation

Apart from offering weight services, Golden CAT Scale Company also offers transportation services. We seek to lessen all of our customers’ transportation and logistics worries. Through our task force, partners and contracts with some of the leading transporters nationally, we are able to address and manage our customer's supply. We also focus on meeting the traffic control needs across all locations.

Golden CAT Scale Company seeks to deliver goods which are in good condition. To enhance this, the company ensures that each of their vehicles is loaded while the cargo is secured. This helps to prevent any leaking, spilling or falling of goods during the transportation process. We ensure that all cargos are secured and immobilized to prevent uneven movements within the vehicle that may cause vehicle’s stability to be affected. We not only ensure that the trucks have these cargo securement measures but most importantly, we ensure that the systems are in working condition. This, in turn, reduces damages of goods being delivered hence resulting in a high performance.

Warehousing, inventory, and packaging

Most of the goods required to be delivered are stored in our spacious warehouse. We have up to 800,000square feet which are managed under the warehouse management system capacities. Our professional staffs are involved in controlling the inventory within the warehouse. With this in place, we are able to track inventory from the vendors all through the warehouse and to the delivery destination to the customer. Our company therefore not only specializes in weighing the fixed weight of trucks but also focuses on supply chain management solutions.  We receive products of all sizes ranging from small to big ones. Once these loads are received, they are packaged to meet the client’s specifications. This value-added service involves obtaining a considerable rate of shipping and expenditure deliveries to the destinations needed.

Customers review

In the contemporary world that we are living in, safety and compliance form the most critical aspects of our competitive market in the industry. Golden CAT Scale services and equipment are readily accessible and their quality is guaranteed. Professional customers across all regions rely on Golden way Scale’s to help them deliver on their promise of quality.

Golden CAT Scale Company has always been there to meet my needs. It has my back. “Thank you so much for your continuous improvement in delivering quality services”. It is so revitalizing to find a company that fulfills what it actually promised.

Market Analysis Samsung smartphone

 Introduction

 Samsung is a leading electronic company and has a large market share in the smartphone division. This paper analyses the Samsung’s smartphone market and performance in terms of demand, supply and sales of these products in the local and global markets. The analysis also involves the production analysis of the firm including its production costs, distribution and marketing of the smartphones. A review of the recall program for the firm’s faulty products is reviewed so as to determine its impact. The market structure analysis involves the type and nature of competition of the market in which the firm operates in. The analysis uses both the qualitative and quantitative methods to discuss the various aspects.

The market

Demand

The demand for smartphone is driven by various factors in the market which acts as its major driver.  Factors such as product features, price, brand name and social life of the users have been driving the demand for smartphones in the industry especially among young adults with a growing purchasing power (Chen, Chen, & Lin, 2016). The demand for smartphones offered by Samsung Inc have also been influenced by such factors and the firms has been innovative in its products so that they meet the market needs. In the smartphone industry, social influence and brand name have a great impact on improving demand for products especially for the young market segments whose needs are dynamic. The Samsung brand name and its product features have played a big role in driving the demand for smartphone as consumers accept and adopt innovative use of the product enabled by such features.

 The demand for the company’s smartphone is increasing each day and those who are loyal to the brand have stuck to it due to increased innovation (Chen, & Ann, 2016). The increasing demand for smartphone is making competition in the industry to intensify as consumers have access to a wide variety from which they can choose. This means that Samsung has had to design its product so that it suits the current trend, demand for operating systems, price and screen size. This has enabled the firm‘s smartphone to remain relevant in an era that is more customer-oriented, where quality of smartphone and related service are major aspects determining performance. The firm has been striving to make costumers feel its smartphones special value so as to improve their purchasing frequency and hence, improve sales and profitability. As aforementioned, the demand for Samsung smartphone has been driven by its features or components. For instance, the demand for NAND memory has been improving and providers of mobile devices have been incorporating higher memory density on these devices and cloud computing firms have been improving capacity for SSD on data centers and servers. Samsung seems to have remained ahead of the curve in terms of such a transition since the inclusion of 3D NAND in its smartphones has lead to improved demand in the global market.

The high demand for these products can be seen in the firm’s strategy to produce smartphones in countries with increasing demand. For instance, the manufacturing of smartphones in India has been driven by the exploding demand in this market. With an exploding Indian smartphone demand, importation has increased while local manufacturing has focused on high-end products, with the firm’s major priority being to meet the local demand (Sharma, 2015). In addition, the demand for the latest Galaxy Note 8 can be attributed to improved features of the product that meets the changing needs of customers in the global market.  The heating up of smartphones demand has been a major contributor to positive earnings that Samsung has posted over the recent times. The demand for smartphone division is expected to continue boosting the firms’ revenue since such demand is projected to increase on seasonality. With increase competition posed by new smartphones from rivals will continue to inform more innovation as the Samsung strives to meet the changing need for new features and functionality of mobiles. While demand may be expected to improve in future, the seasonality will be a major determinant of customers’ choice. The increasing demand can be indicated by the growing number of users of smartphones with a projection that the number will increase to about 2.5 billion by 2019, from 2.1 billion observed in 2016 (Statista, 2017).  In countries like China with huge populations, the growth in demand is expected to be higher given that number of users is forecast to rise to nearly 675million by 2019 from 563 million observed in 2016.  For the United States, the number of expected to reach 247.5 million by the same year from 223 million users observed in 2016 (Statista, 2017). The growth in demand can be attributed to the report indicating that smartphones using Google’s Android are the most popular. Samsung smartphone uses this OS and therefore, demand can be expected to increase in the same period.

Fig.1 Samsungs market demand

Sales

As a leader in global smartphone market, Samsung has been experiencing a rise in sales in the past driven by rising demand for the product. Statistics shows that global shipment for smartphones have been increasing since 2010 first quarter even though sales have been seen to decrease at some points. The latest results shows that in 2017 second quarter, shipments of the firm’s smartphone have reached a high of 79.8 M units global which is an indication of increasing sales (Morris, 2017). Sales maximization seems to be the strategy employed by the firms given that pricing of its smartphones products such as Galaxy Note 8 have remained within the market range. Sales maximization majorly involves firms focusing on normal pricing or lower prices for profitability purposes rather than profit maximization. However, the sales of Samsung products have been rosy throughout given that in some periods; there have been decrease in the same. The global sales in 2016 stood at 311.4 million which represent a reduction of 3 percent year-over-year in comparison to sales of 320.9 million products in 2015(Statista, 2017). However, by close of 2016 period, the company controlled a 21.2 percent market share in comparison to 22.3 percent in 2015. The sales of these products have risen by 1.4 percent –   79.8 million in 2017 from 78.6 M in 2016 second quarter (Statista, 2017).

Fig.2 . Samsungs sales and market share

The pricing for the smartphone was within $200 -$300 range, a normal pricing in the market and an indication that the firm did not pursue the profit maximization given the nature of competitive market. The strategy to maximize sales was driven by more innovation especially in the company’s premium Galaxy Note 8 whose features aligned with the changing customer needs (Morris, 2017). In fact, in 2016 Galaxy Note 7’s demand in the global market resulted to supply constraints which is an indication of demand outpacing the supply. This could be attributed to delayed introduction of the premium product in some markets as production could not meet the initial demand for the phone. The features of the product including a waterproof, curved and iris-scanning design were obtaining positive reviews especially in South Korean and US markets (Morris, 2017).

Supply

Supply is a basic concept in economics that refers to total amount of products in the market and can relate to quantities available at a given price or quantities available for arrange of products prices (Ghose & Han, 2014). The supply for Samsung smartphone can be related to demand for the products especially the premium Galaxy Note 8 and S7 which have seen great performance in the global market. The supply for some of these products has in the past been below the market demand especially due to lack of competition for the premium products (Jung-a, 2016). The low supply can also be attributed to production problems that have been experienced by the firm in the past, and the failure of the firm to capitalize on the initial demand that is too strong. Production issues have lead to disappointing sales in the past especially for Galaxy S6 while Note 8 experienced such low supply due to increased that could not be met by the level of production at the time (Jung-a, 2016). The low supply of the product could also be attributed to the constant high price kin the market as lack of competition meant that customers had few options or substitutes.

Production analysis

Production costs

 This refers to the cost a firm incurs in manufacturing its products or in services provision and includes various expenses such as raw materials, labor and general overheads. The primary aim of output production is profit maximization but production costs minimize the profits made by a firm. The cost –profit relationship is important in determining how much output the firm can produce (Carbaugh, 2013). The smartphones manufactured by Samsung have generally involved large costs of production which have threatened to reduce profits by a big margin. The past devices including S6 and S6 Edge were more complicated to produce and hence led to less profit generation. In fact, due to the large costs, the firm has eliminated its standard device and turned to manufacturing of products that only have curved edge. In addition, production cost for Galaxy S7 was $ 271.20 and the cost increased in the production of Galaxy S8 to $ 307.50 each unit (Morris, 2017). The increase in cost makes Samsung S8 the most expense in the market which has an effect on price and even profitability.  The S8 smartphone is charged at $720, and this leaves around $420 as possible revenue for every sale. Other costs related to sales are also expected such as shipping costs, marketing and even Research and Development costs (Morris, 2017). The high production cost for this product reduces the profit margin in a big way and the firm will have to sell large quantities of units so as to remain highly profitable. The firm will also to reduce on its marginal cost so as to achieve the desired profitability within an acceptable production cost.

Distribution

 The distribution of Samsungs products can be understand from the firms supply chain through which smartphones reach the market and intended customer. The supply chain refers to the strategy employed by firms to ensure that products reach the intended customers in the market regardless of their location (Chae & Olson, 2013). The distribution of Samsung smartphones involves various established channels through which all the consumer electronic products for the firm are distributed into the market. These channels are critical to the success of the company. Distribution channels refer to various independent organizations that are involved in providing a product to be used or consumed by the intended customer. The strategy used by Samsung involves a distribution network formed in conjunction with existing businesses. This provides great value for the company since it does not require much in terms of resources, to provide smartphones to the traditional and new markets around the world (Chae & Olson, 2013).

The firm has many suppliers around the globe who forms part of the firm’s supply chain including more than 2700 suppliers located in different industries. Most of these suppliers are located in Asia, Americas and Europe which forms the largest part of Samsung’s market. The firm also has various logistics firms that acts as subsidiaries such as Samsung Electronics Logitec (Chae & Olson, 2013). These suppliers enable the distribution of the company’s smartphones by ensuring that they are delivered to various retailers that provide the products to customers in the market. The suppliers’ forms part of the company’s distribution channels which ensure that smartphones are delivered to all the customers in the local and international markets.

Marketing

 The marketing of Samsung’s smartphones involves a marketing strategy based on various principles. The first principle involves placing much emphasis on the features of a product and the marketing mix element. The firm uses its R&D centers and production bases around the globe to ensure a continuous process of innovative smartphone production with superior capabilities and features.  Secondly, the firm employs a positioning strategy and segmentation targeting, which incorporates positioning tactics and use of much market segmentation (PUTRA & Havranek, 2014). The Galaxy Note 8 and S 7 are targeted to certain markets around the world which are segmented for easier recognition and meeting their needs (Morris, 2017). The other principle involves a communication strategy during the marketing process and which comprises of two stages with each having separate roles.  The legal review is essential aspect of the communication process and is present in the two steps, execution and production. The neglect of legal impacts linked to the creation of   messages involved in marketing communication and their delivery can result to significant harm to the image of the brand and in turn results to considerable financial implications (PUTRA & Havranek, 2014).

Samsung’s marketing mix forms one of the strongest points for the company in an environment that is highly competitive.  The pricing for the smartphones involves a skimming price where the firm tries to obtain high value for new smartphones before the rivals can catch up.  The place in the firm’s marketing mix involves the various channels comprising of distributors, dealers and retailers. The firm employs different forms of promotion for its smartphones with an aim of capturing more customers through sales tactics like exploiting festive seasons (PUTRA & Havranek, 2014). The highly innovative products with highly performance and functionality ensures that they serve the customer needs while after sales services help in rectifying the faulty ones.

 Recall

Despite the innovative smartphones performing well in the market, some have been found to be faulty by a customer, which has lead to establishment of a recall program by Samsung. The recall program has been informed by the need to salvage the firm’s bran image after some of its smartphones have been found to have flaws, and thus eliciting complaints from customers. The Note 7 Refund and Exchange program in US was aimed at recalling of the Note 7 devices that had been found to be faulty since they could overheat and hence posed safety risk to users (Samsung, 2016). The customers who bought the smartphone were to switch it off and participate in the program or even be issued with a refund for the same. The expansion of the program was intended to ensure that all the affected customers would be given the option for replacement of the faulty product or refund for the same. The full impact of such faulty products and even the recall was that it negatively affected the profitability of the firm. In 2016, the profit of the company reduced by 16.8 percent to $ 4.0 billion, which was disastrous for the firm’s performance in the smartphone division (Cheng & Joeng, 2016).

Market structure

Samsung operates in a market where there a few dominant firms in smartphone industry including Nokia, Apple, Blackberry and HTC that competes with it. The other smaller firms do not present a big threat to the operations and performance of Samsung in this industry since it has a competitive edge over them. The market can be viewed as oligopoly since few firms control the largest share of the smartphone market. In many cases of oligopoly structure, the market has higher entry barriers especially because the dominant firms – Apple and Samsung- have strong brands or there is high-scale production (Giachetti & Dagnino, 2014). The introduction of Android OS helped in decreasing the entry barriers, since it provided a platform for other companies to establish their operations in the market. However, despite the lowered entry barriers, there is high competition among the large firms as they try to outdo one another in terms of innovative products and improved features (Giachetti & Dagnino, 2014). The smaller firms such as Tecno have been unable to compete fairly in major markets since the larger firms have already attained economies of scale and established brand loyalty and market recognition.

A major aspect in oligopoly is the interdependence, and the few dominant firms’ takes notice of any actions taken by competitors so as to avoid any surprises that may affect their market outcomes in terms of market share (Carbaugh, 2013).  The structure of this market involve a case where the two major firms – Samsung and Apple – engage in fierce competition since an action taken by one results to reaction from the other. The competitive tactic leads to collusions where some products are charged almost the same prices for smartphones with the same features. In this scenario, the firms can be said to be acting like a monopoly so that they become price setters, and abnormal profits shared according to each firm’s market share. When in its best performance, Samsung can achieve abnormal profits especially on its premium products (Giachetti & Dagnino, 2014). This is because in an oligopoly market, there are few firms that it will compete against, and hence the major firms are able to obtain abnormal profits.

References

Chen, Y. S., Chen, T. J., & Lin, C. C. (2016). The analyses of purchasing decisions and brand loyalty for Smartphone consumers. Open Journal of Social Sciences, 4(7), 108-116.

Chen, C. M., & Ann, B. Y. (2016). Efficiencies vs. importance-performance analysis for the leading smartphone brands of Apple, Samsung and HTC. Total Quality Management & Business Excellence, 27(3-4), 227-249.

Sharma, S. (2015). Market Structure of the Global Mobile Industry and the Indian Market.

Giachetti, C., & Dagnino, G. B. (2014). Detecting the relationship between competitive intensity and firm product line length: Evidence from the worldwide mobile phone industry. Strategic Management Journal, 35(9), 1398-1409.

Chae, B., & Olson, D. L. (2013). Business analytics for supply chain: A dynamic-capabilities framework. International Journal of Information Technology & Decision Making, 12(01), 9-26.

Ghose, A., & Han, S. P. (2014). Estimating demand for mobile applications in the new economy. Management Science, 60(6), 1470-1488.

Carbaugh, R. J. (2013). Contemporary economics: an applications approach. ME Sharpe.

PUTRA, A. G., & Havranek, G. W. (2014). Samsung Marketing Strategy (Doctoral dissertation, Universitas Gadjah Mada).

Statista, (2017).Smartphone unit shipments of Samsung worldwide by quarter from 2010 to 2017 (in million units). Retrieved from:https://www.statista.com/statistics/299144/samsung-smartphone-shipments-worldwide/

Aflac Insurance

A competitive compensation strategy should ensure that an organization is able to retains its best employees and motivate the employees so that they can maintain a high performance. The structuring if the payment strategy should not only focus on the job since an emphasis on the job can result in an attitude that parts of the activities are not part of the description (Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhrt & Wright, 2018). Aflac’s compensation goes beyond payment on the basis of described job’s performance so as to improve job satisfaction and support the initiatives of the organization. On this basis, Aflac uses its products as way of improving compensation by offering them to employees at little to almost no cost. For instance, the firm offers a life insurance cover that is paid by employer, cancer policy that is paid by the company and an accident protection cover that is subsidized for the employees. This means that the compensation plan for the firm goes beyond a competitive salary to include other non- monetary benefits that includes the insurance products to employees at zero or subsidized costs. The use of products to enhance compensation is effective since following the existing payment structures based on the job when new skills are required may lead to the rewarding of the wrong behavior.

  The internal strengths of firm include the high quality communication process which enables a thorough review of employment benefits and compensation in terms of its true value. This enabled the firm to carry out survey on employee needs and satisfy them through offering rewards. The firm was able to provide for the needs of the employees through benefits at the same time balancing the involved cost. The ability to control cost while addressing the needs of the employees formed a good basis for structuring the rewarding system. The external strengths stems from the company’s public image which it enhances through philanthropic activities aimed at supporting the education, health, arts and youth of the community. The firm recognizes the employees efforts through the “Volunteer of the Month” which is awarded to an employee for the time they spend in volunteering activities if their choice. The firm also creates a favorable working environment that aligns with the needs of the entire generational workforce which improves productivity. The major weakness in the firm is the large costs that come with employee rewards but the firm is able to overcome this through a motivated workforce which improves productivity. Rewarding employee in an effective manner helps an organization to remain competitive and while improving its sustainability into the future (Davis, 2013). A firm should understand the need for being committed to employees and hence, drive the success of the company.

The traditional rewards offered by Aflac Insurance are insurance products including life insurance cover that is paid by employer, cancer policy that is paid by the company and an accident protection cover that is subsidized for the employees while non-traditional rewards includes the various incentives that the firm provides to the employees such as “Volunteer of the Month” awarded to employees.  The integration of the rewards proofs the commitment of the firm to meets the needs of the employees. This leads to more retention of its workforces as seen in the 90 percent of employees wanting to remain , 81 percent sees the Aflac as better than competitors while 89 percent perceive the reward statement as a communication tool that is effective. The firm is able to achieve high productivity and product quality which improves it competitive advantage.  A satisfied employee will be motivate to increase his or her input in production and this will translate into high quality products and improved customer services (Agyeman & Ponniah, 2014). The firm has managed to establish a curve in the industry informed by better products than competitors.

When rewards and benefits programs are aligned with objectives of a firm, employees are aware of what is expected and work towards achieving the mission (CITP & Ballaro, 2014). The benefits of the firm are based on employees needs for better pay, growth and development.  The corporate training of employees helps the employee to improve their skills and then be promoted through various ranks. The improve skills acquired by the firm enabled it to remain true to the values, in terms rewarding and enriching employees. The philanthropic gestures mean that the firm is focused on community welfare.  Hence it upholds it principles including building better shareholder value and high quality services.  By paying attention to the needs of employees and satisfying them through better benefits and rewards , the company is able to  gain from the improved service delivery while observing the laid down principles.

Recommendation

 For the firm to fully gain competitive advantage, it should reinforce the values in all the communication so that employees can identify with them. Recognition and rewarding value centered behaviors can help a firm to improve employee motivation and hence, increase productivity (Malik, Butt & Choi, 2015). Aflac Insurance should reward the employees’ efforts to integrate values in their work.

References

Noe, R.A., Hollenbeck, J.R., Gerhrt, B., & Wright, P.M. (2018). Human resource management: Gaining a competitive advantage .10 Ed. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill

Davis, T. L. (2013). A Qualitative Study of the Effects of Employee Retention on the Organization. Insights to a Changing World Journal, 2013(2).

CITP, C., & Ballaro, J. M. (2014). Developing an organization by predicting employee retention by matching corporate culture with employee's values: A correlation study. Organization Development Journal, 32(1), 55.

Agyeman, C. M., & Ponniah, V. M. (2014). Employee demographic characteristics and their effects on turnover and retention in MSMEs. International Journal of Recent Advances in Organizational Behaviour and Decision Sciences (IJRAOB), 1(1), 12-29.

Malik, M. A. R., Butt, A. N., & Choi, J. N. (2015). Rewards and employee creative performance: Moderating effects of creative self‐efficacy, reward importance, and locus of control. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 36(1), 59-74.

PETS.COM INC.: RISE AND DECLINE OF A PET SUPPLY RETAILER

SWOT Analysis

SWOT analysis as a technique assist in understanding the strengths and weaknesses of a firm and identification of opportunities available and possible threats (McDaniel, Hair, & Lamb, 2014). Strengths refers to advantages that a firm has which enables to perform better than others and are usually internal perspectives (McDaniel, Hair, & Lamb, 2014).Pet.com had various strengths that gave the management the confidence that it would perform better in the market for pet products. The firm had access to large amount of capital especially from the partnership with Amazon.com. The resources provided through this partnership were poised to enable the firm to eliminate its competitors including Petopia.com, PetSmart.com and PetStore.com. By using strategic assets and experience of Amazon.com, the firm would build a competitive advantage. Other strategic alliances made it possible for Pets.cpm to provide animal health insurance and this made it the featured pet store on Yahoo! Platform.  Other strengths stemmed from the company’s ability to have a communication strategy that was aggressive and a penetration pricing-strategy. The firm was able to provide many product specials at low prices across board in comparison with other shops.

Weaknesses refer to external and internal factors that make a firm’s competitors to do better in the market (McDaniel, Hair, & Lamb, 2014). The weaknesses of the firm arose from the lack of a brick –and mortar establishment and as such it lacked warehouses that would have been important in putting pressure on its margins given that large shipping of orders by air freight made them very expensive.  The other weakness was the inability of the firm to break-even even after carrying out extensive marketing of its products.

Opportunities refer to trends and changes that a firm can utilize to achieve the required growth in market and revenue (McDaniel, Hair, & Lamb, 2014). The firm had various opportunities in the market that it would exploit in the market. The market was large given that around $23 billion was spent on pets’ products in 1998. About 60 percent households in US owned pets and 40 percent owned more than one and the market was predicted to experience a rapid growth over the following years. The other opportunities include rapid growth in internet usage and increasing online buying activities.

 The firm faces various threats internally and in the market. The internal threats involve the risk that the firm sells products at prices well below cost which poses financial products. The increased threats in the market arise from increased competition from sellers offering pets products including Petopia.com, PetSmart.com and PetStore.com that prevent the needed market expansion growth.

Target market refers to customers that a firm directs its marketing efforts to so that they can buy its products or services. The target market for Pets.com included the online buyers of pets’ product who would be looking for products, services and information on their pets. Positioning refers to a process of influencing the perception of potential customers about a given brand and product line. Positioning statement refers to an expression of how consumer needs will be met by a particular product differently from competitors (McDaniel, Hair, & Lamb, 2014).  The positioning statement for Pets.com included serving pets and pets’ owners with best possible care by providing products, service and information. This is through a wide selection of products and expert advice from veterinarians and experts in the industry.

The right marketing strategy should focus on should be creative while providing low-cost options (Pisano, 2015). The mistake in the Pets.com marketing strategy involved using big amount of resources in aggressive marketing and pricing but little efforts was paid to the need creativity and low cost in the process. The best strategy should involve being Tech Savvy, networking through online platforms and minimizing the cost of marketing efforts and overall operations. This would prevent providing products at prices below cost and hurting the performance of the firm. An effective marketing strategy should create a great impression of its brand and products to customers so as to gain their royalty and hence, increase market share and revenue (Pisano, 2015).

The establishment of the product pricing point should be based on the value, the pricing of substitutes and the sensitivity of customer to the price (Goi, 2009). The value of Pets.com products should be pegged on cost involved and high quality features that surpasses those of competitors. Lowering cost through technology adoption will lower prices below the market price. A product’s value should satisfy the needs of the products and features should match the use by customers (Goi, 2009). The product for Pets.com should only have features that will meet customers’ needs and avoid the ones that won’t actually be used. Place refers to where customers will find the product and how easily they can access it through the appropriate distribution channels (Goi, 2009). The online platform should enable customers to locate and select the product while establishment of strategic warehouses will make accessibility easy. Promotion refers to medium of communicating   marketing messages to the target market of a firm (Goi, 2009). The use of social media and other online platforms will allow the firm to reach out to many potential customers in need of pets’ products.

References

McDaniel, C. D., Hair, J. F., & Lamb, C. (2014). MKTG 8.

Goi, C. L. (2009). A review of marketing mix: 4Ps or more?International journal of marketing studies, 1(1), 2.

Pisano, G. P. (2015). You need an innovation strategy. Harvard Business Review, 93(6), 44-54.

Box Inc. Analysis

The company

Box Inc was founded in 2005 after Aaron Levie, one of the founders, discovered an unexploited and extremely unfounded opportunities in the data storage field for businesses. The opportunities arose from the need by businesses and individuals to be able to access data from various places at a given time (Box Inc., 2017, 1). Levie decided to create a cloud-based storage system where in his imagination; the data would be stored in a virtual box. The firm became a leader in management platform for cloud content, and helps users in accessing, managing and sharing of their data from any place using any device. The firm developed the EFSS software, which allows the users to collaborate in terms of content, automate their enterprises into process that are data driven and also build custom applications (Box Inc., 2017, 1). The firm was publicly traded in 2015 and by January 2017, its registered user base had grown to more than 52 million.  In addition to the large user base, the firm has more than 71000 organizations that pays for the services and these comprises of government and educational institutions, companies and big companies business units. More than half of revenue from subscription services was obtained from customers with over 1000 employees.  The services also extends to offerings that are specific for an industry like financial services , legal services , health care , energy , education, media and entertainment and government services. The firm also engages in creating partnership ecosystem through integration of applications from various providers such as IBM, Apple, Google and Microsoft. The firm operates in Synch and files sharing market that is very fragmented with many firms competing for a piece of the market share (Box Inc., 2017, 1).

Box Inc. Strategy and competition

Box operates in a market where there are many firms providing the similar services and many buyers in need of the same services. This means that the market is competitive and the availability of substitute products in the market arises from the various firms that are providing the data storage, management and sharing services. A competitive market involves many producers or providers for products that are the same in nature and hence, there are many substitutes which define the pricing of the product. In this industry, some of the barriers for new firms include the demand for the services and its supply. This competition in the industry has informed the marketing strategy for the Box. Inc, how it operates in the market and the kind of products it provides (Basso,  Mann &Smulders, 2014, 23).The aim of the competitive strategy adopted by the firm has been to enable it to remain the leader in cloud based content management and in enabling customer to have internal and external collaboration and all this in a secure manner. The various strategies have lead to a cloud startup that is money-burning but also successful IPO. Having a savvy leadership has been enabled by various funding efforts, as the firm aimed at sharpening its mission of being more than just any other site for sharing cloud file.

The similarity of the product offered by Box to other major consumer cloud-based share and sync services like Drop box , together with its embracing of a  market driven pricing model has  brought the confusion between the two (Marko, 2015, 1). This means that even those customers who have been using cloud service since its emergence find it hard to differentiate since Box, which entered the market before Dropbox, presented itself an effective way for people to access files from any place using any system. In the beginning, the competition was between the two service providers but later the market for cloud-file storage was crowed which led to commodification. The results were price wars that were defined by the implied free-tier capacity expansion. Box Inc. had to come up with a more differentiated and substantive product, one that is not just a freemium share and sync service (Marko, 2015, 1). Lack of a unique product meant that Box could not compete with more resourceful and established firms like Microsoft, Google and Amazon especially for the low end market.  On the understanding of this predicament, the firm under the leadership of Levie –CEO- used the capability brought by more private funds to have a more sharpened mission (Market Research Store, 2016, 1). This strategy placed at the lead in the management of enterprise information. In addition, there were various strategies adopted by the firm including focus on big businesses and then information management. The unique product from BOX includes various features like automation in workflow, central user, project and policy management and the integration of third-party application that is more appealing to the large businesses. The improvement of the tag line so that it has become “manage, share and collaborative “has improved the positioning of the firm in the crowded market (Marko, 2015, 1).

Price and demand changes due to elasticity

 The prices for EFSS may be high, especially for the offering of public offerings that comprises of cloud storage in a bundle. The responsiveness of EFSS demand can be attributed to prices changes for particular services offered by firms in the market. Price elasticity of demand is a measure of how demands respond to change in price of a product (MANKIW, 2014, 93). The price elasticity of demand for the EFSS products including those offered by Box Inc is high considering the increasing rate of adoption by various large, small and medium enterprises in the market. Prices for EFSS are dropping in part because various large firms providing the services like Microsoft and Google are able to provide large quantity of cloud storage for lower prices and even in some instances free of charge. The majority of these offerings are founded on subscription method – per user, per month – and on the basis of other parameters like user number and storage for each user (Marko, 2015).

The other firms such as Box Inc. are forced to lower the price for their services so as to be able to compete with the more established firms. The demand for EFSS is perfectly elastic in this case since it is affected greatly by reduction in prices.  The reduction in prices for a typical offering of public cloud has been high with price range being $10 to $ 40 for each user for every month. The many number of firms providing these services means that the consumers, both business and individuals have a wide range to choose from which is helping to push the prices lower (MANKIW, 2014, 93). This also means that due to many substitutes offering the same services, the demand for EFSS is more elastic. In a normal market, the demand of a product will be more elastic of there are close substitutes. For Box Inc. to have a competitive edge it has been offering its services at a Freemium so as more organizations can afford it. The firm has also shifted focus to paying buyers, who comprises of large public and business organizations.

The Supporting Industry – Enterprise File Sync & Share

The competitive advantage of Box Inc is being influenced by various product suppliers in the marker especially products whose target is large businesses. The industry is made up of various companies whose operations fit these criteria including Box, Dropbox, Egnyte, Sharefile and Nomadesk , Syncplicity and SugarSync (Basso, Mann &Smulders, 2014, 23).  There has been market consolidation over the past few years even though it was less than expected in a market that is very crowded.  The market has seen various changes as solutions for the customer needs evolve and explode. The largest competitor for Box, Dropbox has seen its users grow to over 300 million most of who are consumers of their services (Bourne, 2017, 1).  The market has seen expansion as more businesses adopt Enterprise File Sync and Share in part of their operations. The driving factor in this case is the fast rate at which firms are adopting new technology in their operations. On that basis, Box Inc. has developed solutions that enable users to share data easily and even sync that data.

 The firm is being forced to constantly improve its services as changes in devices such as laptops getting lighter and smaller but with less capacity for storage.  The other aspect in the industry is how more functionality is being integrated into mobile solutions as the use of productivity devices that are lightweight such as tablets increases. The users of these services want a situation where access to file is not limited to time and place or the device being used. In addition, more users want for such services want to use them for disaster recovery and even backup so that they can use these solutions to restore past files’ versions.  The revolution in this market, in terms of increased use of mobile devises and related applications, has changed how businesses operate (Basso, Mann &Smulders, 2014, 26). The providers of such services have increased but what is defining their competitiveness is their ability to offer services that fulfill the changing needs of the market.

The increasing demand for cloud-based integration and mobility adoption trend are major factors that are driving the sale of file sharing and sync services and are defining the mode of operation for the firms in the industry. However, the concerns for privacy and security of data are some of the factors that are likely to reduce the rate of adoption of Enterprise File Sharing and even synchronization among the domains and vertical of the industry. There is increasing consumer preference for the cloud-based services; the growth in demand for Small and Mid-sized businesses offers many opportunities for the different players in the market.  The increasing number of businesses embracing the benefits of EFSS, the market size should be expected to continue enlarging. The market expansion is likely to favor the large businesses that use the paid services, and the gap between the smaller consumers and large consumers (all businesses) is expected to grow (Basso, Mann &Smulders, 2014, 25). A widening gap between firms competition for this market is expected to take shape as EFSS consumers tend to prefer the brands that they are familiar with which means that new entrants may not be able to catch up with large firms. This means that Box Inc is likely to continue enjoying its large market as marker barriers prevent new firms from emerging or new entrants’ from expanding.

Conditions affecting Box Inc. positioning

Cost and technological changes are the major factors that influence the positioning of Box in the market. These factors are affecting the efforts employed by the firm so as to impact on the perception of consumers on its brand relative to competing products.

High Costs

The growth of Box Inc. has come with increased costs and such costs have led to a big loss. The filing of this firm with Securities and Exchange Commission before the Initial Public Offering was, therefore, a surprise given the kind of loss it experienced. The operational costs that have contributed to these challenges are largely made of human resource costs. By 2014, the rate of staffing was increasing at 25 each month as more employees are hired to serve the increasing number of customers including more than 34,000 business clients (Box Inc, 2014). The firm is unable to remain competitive against its major competitor – Dropbox, with relatively less employees serving a larger number of users who are mostly individuals. This increase in the costs presents a strategic problem to the, management given that the firm is unable to grow sales team that is large enough at the time when it is needed. The market opportunities are quite big while competition is increasing fierce, and increase in the size of sales teams seems to be the only option available to the firm. In this market, the buyers have a strong bargaining power given the many substitutes available in the market.

Technological environment

The constantly changing environment means that firms have to remain relevant in the industry as they provide their services. The growing functionality integration in mobiles and light weight tablets and computers has led to changing needs for storing, managing and sharing of cloud-based content (Bourne, 2017, 1). The market is seeing increased consolidation so that the expanding offerings for EFSS are going beyond fundamental features on some paths. These include management and integration for resources and enterprise systems. This comes with more support for replacement of file share, more concerns for security and safety of data and governance and e-discovery. In addition, there is more improved collaboration, operations applications and even business enablement (Basso, M., J. Mann, and C. Smulders, 2014, 27).  Such offerings are evolving beyond EFSS to include wider suites for improved content collaboration and even corporate governance and management of data. With such improvements, the current EFFSS products will be perceived by businesses as being rigid and unable to change with time. The buyers in the market will be focusing more on flexibility in terms of deployment and integration between stored and the one in the cloud.

 These changes have significant implications on the operations of Box Inc. and the various EFSS offerings to the market. The market will continue to be dynamic and buyers will not require having long-term commitment with a specified seller as they look forward to embrace any new technological changes.  Box has sensed these changes and tailored its offerings on content -collaboration platforms that extend beyond EFSS to enhance content workflows and collaboration of teams.

Major policy affecting EFSS industry

There have been recurring revelations related to surveillance activities that can be considered pervasive which have made some organizations in the market not to have trust with cloud solutions. For instance, the PRISM program by National Security Agency or Central Security Service that relate to data mining, networks and Computer surveillance has contributed to such mistrusts (Basso, M., J. Mann, and C. Smulders, 2014 ,25). There are increasing concerns for safety and security for individual and business data as file sharing across different people and even devices increases.  This includes granular controls that will protect the date shared within and outside organizations and their use. In any regulated market such tools may go beyond the current compliance protections to include risk control by individuals and organizations (Basso, M., J. Mann, and C. Smulders, 2014, 25).  For the firms offering EFSS services like Box Inc., the evaluation of data security is necessary so as to avoid any compliance risks related to failure to control the clients stored and shared data. The EFSS offerings market will continue demanding for improved management capabilities in terms of security and policy compliance. In addition, the suppliers of public cloud will continue adding safety and security measures like key solution that enables customers to control encryption keys for cloud data.

Box Inc. future strategy in relation to zero marginal cost

In a global market that is largely driven by capitalism, there are various technological innovations and innovations related to information communication technology that are wipe out capitalism and its economic driving forces (Rifkin,2015, 24). The innate dynamic nature of competitive markets that propel increment in productivity while reducing marginal costs have enabled firms to lower the prices of products they offer; this has acted as a strategy to attracted more customers and hence, gain larger market share than competitors. Marginal cost refers to the cost incurred in production of additional units of some services or products when fixed costs are excluded (MANKIW, 2014, 97). In such a scenario , Box Inc has play a large part in the reduction of marginal cost driven by a technological revolution that may reduce this cost to almost zero. The EFSS products by the firm will have to assist the producing forms to make their goods or provide services that are priceless or almost free, in abundance and not subject to the various market forces.

The challenge that the firm has to overcome involves how to tailor the cloud-based content, related sharing and collaboration so that a platform is created that connect everyone and all things. This involves integrating the products with utilization of natural resources, the electricity grids, production and operation lines, recycling processes and even logistics networks (Rifkin, 2015, 24). The strategy may involve feeding Big Data – cloud data – into a neutral network with a global reach.  The producers and consumers can then connect to such network by using data analytics, enhance efficiency and thereby increasing productivity (Rifkin, 2015, 24). The final result is a reduction in the marginal cost incurred in production and sharing of various products at almost zero prices the same way is done with information.  In this case entrepreneurs will bypass barriers such as banking establishments and use crowd-funding in financing their businesses. The collaborative content or platform offered by Box Inc could bring great assistance.

References

Hotel Management

Company’s Overview

Shilla Hotel is a Korean based company that is involved in hotel operations as well as management. Shilla Hotel is mainly involved in operating luxury hotels along with duty-free outlets. The hotel firm is among the leading operators in the hospitality global context. The company is headed by Lee Boo-Jin as the CEO and general manager (Korean Foundation, 2013). The firm is owned by Samsung Corporation. The hotel was founded began its operations on 1979 in March under the guidance and plans of Byung-Chung Lee who is the establisher of Samsung Inc (Korean Foundation, 2013). The title Shilla is an origin of traditional Shilla family in Korea. In Korea, Shilla hotel is located in Seoul. The corporation has been expanding into the established fitness institutions management and the restaurant and hospitality businesses. Shilla Hotel is mainly centered on the attractiveness as well as the harmony of modernity and conventions. The hotel is currently situated in four different countries in addition to South Korea (Korean Foundation, 2013).

Shilla Hotel is popular for its consumer-centered services. In that its services and management is grounded and customized based on the different needs of the consumers from different locations across the countries that it is situated at. Shilla Hotel is a metropolitan lifestyle hotel that mainly combines conventional Korean stylishness with a contemporary sensitivity of its consumers (Okuro, n.d). The hotel is involved in the provision of international class hospitality servicing. The company’s vision is to be the leading provider of the required hospitality servicing for improving the quality of living such as entertainment services, shopping, dining, and relaxation and Spa services (Travel-Square, 2016).

Company’s Size and Brand

Shilla hotel is an international company that mainly operates in three major business divisions which includes hospitality management, duty-free outlets as well as leisure and routine related services divisions. The division of duty-free outlets operates under the brand title The Shilla Duty-Free which is mainly engaged in the provision of luxury brands in regard to jewelry, fashion, boutique products, cosmetics, accessories and so on (Samsung, 2014). The hotel operation is mainly focused on two major hotels being Jeju and Seoul Shilla (Korean Foundation, 2013).  On the other hand, the routine and leisure business division play part in management of a custom-built fitness association under the brand title Vantt (Korean Foundation, 2013).

The company’s entry and competitive advantage of its luxury brand lie on its differentiation, customized and modernized services. The hotel is globally celebrated as the leading hotel in South Korea (Okuro, n.d). The Shilla Seoul hotel is a reputable hotelier located in South Korea that partnered with Samsung in order to support its vision of becoming the best hotel brand in the entire region of Asia. The hotel was mainly in the need for innovative and modernized technological design to facilitate its differentiation strategy. Unlike most of its competitors who are mainly focused on brand affordability, the form is mainly focused on developing a more innovative and classy brand that suits its quality and the need to become the hospitality brand leader in Asia (Okuro, n.d). In order to improve the experience of its guests, the company sought an innovative solution as offered by Samsung to ensure that the consumers acquire the utmost satisfaction.

Brand Developement

The company mainly makes an emphasis on three major values which are a convenience, quality, and innovativeness. In that, the firm believes that effectiveness in the modern hospitality industry can best be achieved by applying innovation since it is one of the primary aspects that is driving the will and satisfaction of the industry (Samsung, 2014). The company’s hospitality services demonstrate a more precise picture of the focus of firm on modernity, quality, and more smooth design that suits well with the luxurious atmosphere. Similar to the global leading companies such as Apple, Shilla is guided by a rather premium setting that puts more emphasis on quality rather than prices. The company is guided by the philosophy that consumers are likely to get satisfaction based on quality and degree of differentiation that any company offers than cost. It is not the cost that counts rather it is the quality of such services (Samsung, 2014).

Shilla hotel has improved the hotel’s contemporary and luxurious image brand with its innovative aspects, quality as well as the smooth design to fit into its values and standards (Samsung, 2014). The company’s guests normally enjoy quality, customized as well as convenient experience since they can acquire direct information regarding the display of the hotel as well as the rooms.  In the meantime the utilization of the smart technology in helping the firm in communicating its cost constructions and enhanced operational efficiency (Samsung, 2014). The company’s brand is therefore based on the provision of differentiated, contemporary, luxurious as well as innovative services. the hotel is designed as a modern routine hotel that integrates traditional elegance with modernized sensitivity offering all kinds of needs that are needed in improving modern lifestyle in a premium and quality way (Travel-Square, 2016). The hotel is involved in hosting global events and it also accommodates prominent individuals across the globe thus influencing the revolution of the service industry in the Korean sector with pride and a feeling of accountability. Shilla Seoul which is one of the Korean icon landmarks is popular as the image that best represents the values and the achievements of Samsung Company as the Korean hospitality industry (Samsung, 2014). The company is focused on being the number one leader in the Asian market by creating a more customized, contemporary as well as comfortable brand image.

In order to rebuild its luxurious brand value after it engaged in a 7 months period renovation. The renovation has established itself as an international global luxury Hotel that is involved in competition with other global based luxury hospitality brands (Samsung, 2014).  The primary concept for the rebuilding of the company was to generate a location where each moment that is spent in the setting is never forgotten. It is perceived that the guests are exposed to essential lives moments at the hotel (Travel-Square, 2016). In that, the company allows and accommodates needs ranging from business, relaxation, meals and the general participation in leisure operations (Samsung, 2014). The hotel has built this name by providing the most conventional preferences within the market in a more definite and delicate style. In that, the preparation is both stylish and sophisticated.

Geographic Distribution and Global Expansion

Shilla hotel’s global or geographical distribution is however minimal since it is only based in Asia. The hotel has its presence on Seoul in Korea, China, Suzhou and Jeju (Okuro, n.d). This, therefore, demonstrates that is competitive position is weak and cannot confidently compete with some of the well-established hospitality firms in the World. However, this aspect is driven by the fact that the firm mainly seeks on becoming the global leader in Asia first prior to venturing to the rest of the world. However, based on its resources and profitability the firm has a number of strengths that can sustain it in the global market. With the positive image that it has created, it is rather evident that it can perform well in the global context. The differentiation branding and development approach is mainly fueled by its general potential by the guests to suitably and securely acquire services based on their needs. In that, the company mainly classifies the services not only based on the preferences but the need of the consumers. In that, it is particularly focused on diversification (Samsung, 2014). The company’s goal is to improve the experience of all the guests by providing them with the general access to varieties and well-recognized options.

Contrary to offering more domestic-based it offers more modernized and customized brand menus and settings. In addition, to improving the experience of the guests and their feelings, The Shilla hotel’s is based on a cost-effective display with a more ease setup, reduced energy reduction thus lowering the expenses related to operation (Okuro, n.d). The contrary’s expansion is guided by the need to maintain low operating expenses in general. In that, in doing this the quality of the services has to be balanced. However, the company has no challenges trying to minimize its expenses because based on its reputation most suppliers are willing to offer materials at the minimal costs since the firm will maintain long-run relationships and its purchasing more is quite high (Samsung, 2014). On the other hand, it has well-situated sources that are dependable and thus its operations cannot be affected.

The use of smart technology in providing more innovative services to the consumers and managing operations has led to increased efficiency. This, therefore, means that less effort is applied by the corporation in its attempts to reduce expenses since the efficiency addresses such issues directly. Most consumers in the hospitality are more centered on services quality rather than just the expenses. For those that seek premium and luxurious setting, it is the designs and the general quality of services that are offered that contribute to their satisfaction. This aspect of differentiation and quality leadership strategies seem to be paying off the company which has in the past retained its position (Okuro, n.d). Despite the intensifying competition, in the market, the general effectiveness and performance of the company have not been affected in any way.

To sum up, Shilla hotel has acquired a rather competitive position in the hotel industry in Asia and particularly in Korea. This has mainly been facilitated by its luxurious and yet quality brand. The company offers services that are customized based on the preferences of their consumers. Despite the fact that the company is grounded on the traditional Korean lifestyle its services are modernized and luxurious that suits the general demands of clients in the market. The hotel mainly supports and offers modern lifestyle services that combine the conventional elegance with more modernized compassion that promotes classy services. Through the use of differentiation and innovation, the company has managed to become a hotel leader despite the fact that its presence in the globe is particularly minimal.

References

Korean Foundation. (2013). Korea Focus – 2013 Focus. The Korea Foundation

Okuro, Nikko. (n.d). The Shilla Seoul. Retrieved from https://www.okura-nikko.com/korea/seoul/the-shilla-seoul/dining/

Samsung Inc. (2014). The Shilla Seoul. Samsung smart hospitality technology that complement a world-class hotel’s premiums guest experience, case study. Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. Retrieved from displaysolutions.samsung.com/fileDownload/23287?dir=solutions&file=hospitality

Travel-Square. (2016). The Shilla Hotel, Seoul. Retrieved from https://travelsquire.com/the-shilla-hotel-seoul/

Levi's case analysis

1. SWOT analysis

The strength of Levis Strauss & Co. can be driven from various internal characteristics which had previously seen an increased performance in the apparel market. Levis was a popular brand that was enhanced by advertisement using different languages, promotion of integrated factories and its human resources that were retained even amidst the Great Depression. Another source of strength is the product placement in various outlets including Woodstock, Marilyn Monroe and Marlon Brando which made the product to retain its popularity and fan favorite status. The ‘cool brand’ was major strength of the firm which allowed it to expand to various lines and finally, it had diversifies interest. This enhanced the competitive position of the Levis Strauss in the Apparel market.  A major weakness of Levis was a lack of an effective distribution channel where they only placed their products only into their stores rather than using retailers that were owned independently for distribution. In addition, the firm lacked a defined target market, lacked a wardrobe selection and prices were not favorable to customers. Even after diversification efforts, the products were only success in some markets while its innovations were not being adopted at the right pace. The opportunities available for Levis Strauss included a constant growth in the apparel market and even a forecast expansion of the market in the future. The market had also expanded to include other pant categories including other types and khakis. These represented opportunities that Levis Strauss & co. would exploit to deal with various threats in the markets. The threats emerged from increased competition that saw other firms come with adopt strategies that reduced Levis competitive edge and hence reduced performance.

The strategy employed by Levi Strauss & co. was differentiation focus where it made products that were different and unique compared to those provided by competitors and the aim was to achieve a product leadership in the market.  The management of Levi held a constant belief that their competitive rival was founded on brand that was globally recognized, a focus on value, quality and innovation. This was augmented by a focus on social responsibility and ethical treatment and these aspects made major selling points for their products. The differentiation focus can be seen in the decision to diversify product lines that involved high-image and innovative products that were newly released. The firm also focused slightly on cost leadership so that some of its products were diversified into price points indicated by various lines like Levi’s Engineered, Silvertab and fewer prices for the same products. Product innovation was seen as an important strategy that could help Levi back on its feet after experiencing difficulty in the market.

Levis should consider selling its products – jeans – at Wal-mart but using a strategy that is focused on the changing nature of the environment. With its brand reputation, the firm should exploits the opportunities availed at Wal-mart, especially taking advantage of the customers who were looking for value experience but affordable prices. The reason for lowering prices was in consideration of the larger and growing market segment consisting of individuals over 35 years whose preference was larger sizes but inexpensive brand. Even though there were risk of selling at Wal-mart – compromising the brand – the resulting benefits of increased growth in the market share and revenues justified this move.

Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd, (Huawei) has successfully expanded its class from just being a small company in Shenzhen, China, to become a key player in the telecommunications market worldwide. Huawei’s success in various markets unfolds a group of business-linked factors, which propose probabilities for other Chinese companies to thrive in the foreign markets (Porter, 2011). For instance, Huawei started with Chinese market being its core focus prior the economic reform in the contemporary business environment and the company slowly gained superiority in various markets. The thrive thus suggests chances for a great future for other companies including the emerging domestic firms to grab a considerable portion of worldwide market share owing to the unique nature of Chinese business environment. The success was attributed by various factors including innovation and industrialization, foreign direct investment (FDI) that maintains its consistency in the international markets Fu (2015).

 According to Fu, (2015), China’s business environment is reputed as a promising economy in regards to the available number of market opportunities not only for local investors but also for foreign investment. China has wealthy space in favor of economic development considering the fact that it presents viable chances for accessing a large market in different countries. In addition, the country offers investors chances for increased savings through reduced costs such as labor costs which enables companies to develop substantial transformations on operations in line with market changes (Rao, Rao & Sivaramakrishna, 2008). 

China is ranked among the top leading countries with large economic ratios in the world based on purchasing power parity (PPP) (Chan, 2007). The Chinese government has continued to focus on the improvement of GDP (Gross domestic product) and also, the country characterizes needs for increasing its per capita GDP (Lardy, 2014) . China evidences multifaceted strategies towards the betterment of its economy, mechanisms that boosts its market foundation. China encourages a dual structure of its economy while deterring centrally intended market (socialist economy).

However, the ever changing trend in technological advance cement can be backed as the cause of speedy industrial development in china. As a result, the country enjoys substantial range of direct investments from foreigners and also, gathers enough privileges concerning increased productivity. Importantly, china is in the World Trade Organization (WTO), which minimizes market restraints thus enhancing approvals for foreign trade (Cavusgil, Rammal & Freeman, 2011). Cooperative business enterprises are supported by the economic reform in china, which indicate probabilities for market growth in foreign environments (International, 2015). Huawei’s expansion from Shenzhen to become an international based firm proves the significance of economic transformation to other Chinese firms as far as market diversification is concerned.

The trend on multi-polarization of resources in the world continues to suggest positive probabilities for better development of Chinese market economy in the future (Gu, 2006). Regional integration of firms also builds opportunities for a sustainable market share in different business environments internationally. The contemporary Chinese business environment enacts the essence of escalating growth rates, effective use of domestic resources including rural workforce, improved financial systems and significant restructuring of government owned enterprises. It is as well intended to encourage the development on productivity of privately owned institutions while holding enough strategies able to maintain social security (Fu, 2015). The environment as well exemplifies significant emphasizes on educational development, particularly, scientific improvement which often entertain international cooperation in regards to changes in the international market environments.  The transformation on its economic arena has made china a key player in the international trade competing with large nations such as Germany and the United States, which increases its economic factors and reputation worldwide.

The country has been an area of interest for ‘Foreign Direct Investment’ (FDI). Considerable FDI has continuously gained China a great reputation on the bases of production value, tax revenue, which increases its ability for foreign trade (Wu & Ma, 2016). The reputation enables Chinese firms to maintain their competitive position while building a valuable customer base in different markets (Porter, 2011).

China provides firms enough space to evaluate the appropriate measures for creating sustainable customer segments, innovation base, Research and development (R&D), and distribution channels. China based companies have the priority to navigate for both industrial and administrative capabilities which are essential for imposing a positive change in the international market (Porter, 2011). Reduced government role in the Chinese market, for example, gives firms the mandate to endorse their products in the market. Government support through education provides the technical knowledge that emerging firms can use to diversify their market mix thus developing superiority (Gu, 2006). It provides firms chances to strategize their operations in accordance with consumer requirements through innovation and R&D.  

Reduced restraints on foreign trade by the government have significant benefits for Chinese companies (Griffin, 2012). For instance, firms with low scale of production, R&D investment have chances for reaching the international markets through market factors such as mergers and acquisitions.

References