MBA留學生dissertation范文：如何運營自己的公司
11-03, 2014
本文提供的案例研究包括公司所描述業(yè)務,可以是視頻或音頻材料,并且輔以少量的書面文本。大多數情況下都是描述的真實情況,有些情況下使用編譯器,但有時也可以虛構一些情況。案例可能范圍從一個非常簡短的一個場景,也可以是一百頁以上的詳細描述,案例中補充描述了公司賬戶,銷售數據,預測,圖片關鍵性數據,一些相關的其他信息對于運營公司的發(fā)展也認為可能是有益的。案例研究是目前最好的教學媒介業(yè)務和其他管理計劃的相關研究(Sheila 1997)。
案例研究是由丹佛大學的瓊韋恩提供,本文描述一個企業(yè)的業(yè)務銷售主要是女裝系列，基礎市場在美國。公司的創(chuàng)始人已經業(yè)務通過其初創(chuàng)階段和市場面臨的挑戰(zhàn),公司將進入下一階段的增長。
Case studies consist of written description of business situations, or sometimes video or audio materials, supplemented by a small amount of written text. The majority of cases describe real situations, as perceived by the case compiler, but sometime fictional cases are constructed. Cases may range from a very brief outline of a scenario, to a hundred pages or more of close description, supplemented by company accounts, sales figures, projections, pen pictures of key participants, and any other information thought likely to be helpful. Case studies are favorite teaching medium on business studies and other management programs (Sheila 1997).
The case study (Making it Big), written by Joan Winn of the University of Denver, describes an entrepreneurial business that sells larger size women's clothing to a niche market in the USA. The company's founder has taken the business through its start-up phase and is now faces with the challenge of moving the company into the next stage of growth.
The case study was written in 2004, but the business issues presented are typical of those faced by owner- managers today, and worldwide.
Making it Big's CEO named Cynthia Riggs was not able to understand the trend of her business alone and need assistance to go forward. She gained her belief and determination when she worked in a book store and made her mind to take the next step and begin her own business. She also gained practical experience when she started selling off her excess in to a flea market and built a steady business later.
Cynthia formed MIB after the success of Cheap Frills in nearby Cotati where she worked before and later sales of 'parachute pants' in various women's fairs and music festivals with a great success across the country. She used to dyed them with bright colors and add several pockets for larger women.
Cynthia made partnership with a single mother and part-time student named Janet Sturdy who helped her to sell vintage clothing. Cynthia spent a year long to attend the various cloth exhibition and looking for the cloths that available for at woman.
The next step for going forward is expanding its online mail order system and manual mail order system where they can print more brochure, hire mailing list and post to the prospective customer. but the response had received below the expectations. For not having a strong vision, Cynthia realized that she can't pushed up MIB on her own and required some expert in this field for picking up the company.
MIB business was strong enough to go for next step. But Cynthia's lack of effort, time, stamina, work pressure and loneliness stop her to go for next level with the business and her assistance from some one who can help her in this stage.
Task 1 Business Strategy
Definition of Business Strategy:
Business strategies are set of policies which is followed by an organization to meets its mission and vision.
As the owner of MIB, Cynthia will be responsible for defining her business strategy what has three components:
•Analysis-where are MIB now and where they want to be?
•Choice-what options are available to Cynthia?
•Implementation-implement set strategy based on the analysis and options.
Bagozzi () states, "--In its broadest sense, marketing strategy entails goal setting; customer, firm and competitive analysis; new product development, target market selection, product management and demand estimation; and implementation and management of the marketing mix. More narrowly, marketing strategy is characterized by a focus on product differentiation, overall cost leadership, or market focus."
Besides this Brassington and Pettitt (2000) claims, "Marketing Strategies defines target markets, what direction needs to be done in broad terms to create a defensible competitive position compatible with overall corporate strategy within those markets. It is, therefore, concerned with many of the aspects considered in buyer behaviour, as well as the decision to target particular market segments."
Also Wilson and Gilligan (2000) said that understanding the strategic situation confronting an organization is an essential starting point in developing a marketing strategy. They also stated that this understanding can be derived from an assessment of:
•Organizational capabilities
•Threats from environmental forces
•Competitors strengths and weaknesses
•Customer needs iterative
In other words, for MIB it's challenging to operate in the international market without implementing an outstanding marketing plan where marketing strategies plays a great role.
From a different point of view, Cravens (1989) supported that the marketing strategy followed by most firms could be have the following four aspects/ forms: "Market domination in the firm that tries to achieve market development or hold the dominant competitive position in an industry. A strategy seeks to expand market boundaries to generate enhanced performance: A market selectivity strategy is defined as trying to dominate one or a few market segments in heterogeneous markets. Finally, a firm may employ a differential advantage strategy where it seeks to develop and exploit a competitive advantage in a homogeneous market".
According to Czinkota and Kotabe (2001) Business strategies are generally concerned with the four Ps:
Product strategies:
•New products need to develop and if necessary re launch again
•Would be advantageous if add new features on it
•Need to Balance product portfolios
•Some times need to change and layout of packet
Pricing strategies:
•Price of the product should be reachable to customer
•Some times different price for different sector
•Need to decide how to reach competitive price
Promotional strategies:
•Need to select the advertising platform and media
•Need to know about customers belief
•Need to reorganize the sales team about new products and services or markets
Placement strategies:
•Need to select the right channels
•Need to determine customer service level
MIB should always have to follow the above four marketing strategies if they want to reach more people by reducing price of garments, good availability of garments, highlight essential features on packages, save money by the good deal or offer on essential buy, add extra feature or extra free product within same product, choose the right location and place to attract more customers, advertise in national and specially in local news papers, journals, distributing leaflet in front of main door etc.
Effectiveness of Business Strategy on small business:
Strategy of business has a great impact on business despite of size small or large. But before that for any business it need to set out objective and mission statement where purpose of any business can clearly understand.
It is absolutely essential to have a crystal clear idea of what the main objectives of MIB are. Business objectives relate to a business as a whole and to what MIB want to achieve in the long and short term.
Short term objectives will relate to what MIB want to achieve on an annual basis, over a period of twelve months. Long term objectives relate to a period (usually) of five years.
It has become commonplace now to set up a criteria against which Cynthia can measure the effectiveness of MIB business objectives. This is known as 'SMART' criteria. Within SMART all the objectives that Cynthia set for MIB must be:
•Specific
•Measurable
•Agreed
•Realistic
•Timed
The above are self explanatory and enable a business owner to set clear objectives which can be re-evaluated over time. SMART objectives should be set against a clear MISSION statement.
Mission statements
A mission statement is the best way to identify business statement. The mission statement is really a vision statement which details the whole point of MIB business. There are four key components of a mission statement which must be succinct and clear:
The role or contribution that a business makes- what exactly MIB in business for?
Here MIB aim to produce garments for large or super size women where there was a great demand. Cynthia had decided to become a clothing manufacturer of large and super size clothes and for that she need a good online delivery system where she can post her prospective customer the brochure and others to let them know about her company and products.
A definition of the business- this should be given in terms of the benefits MIB provide or the needs that they satisfy. It should not define what MIB do or what they make.
•Making it Big
•The company name explains itself for which the company stands for and what will be the ambition for the business.
An outline of MIB's distinctive competencies- factors that differentiate MIB from the competition. Theses are the skills and capabilities that are offered by MIB as opposed to other business in the same field.
•MIB offer exclusive range of cloth for large and super size women with varieties of bright color and extra feature like adding few pockets on it.
•MIB have highly motivated entrepreneur like Cynthia herself.
•Have skilled people like Janet who can understand the company and customer's need.
The indications for the future- what the business will do in the future, what it can realistically achieve.
MIB wanted to go for next level as it wanted to be a leader on this sector. In order to achieve this goal MIB need to set its resource or business strategy and need to put those in to action.
A clear and coherent mission statement is written in two parts. In the first part management will outline the industry that they are in and the products that they offer. The second part comprises the business strategies that they will follow to achieve success.
Obviously, the above needs to be fleshed out and thought through but it is the basis upon which the operations of MIB business will be founded and on which the SMART objectives will integrate in order to ensure that the business moves forward and achieves its goals.
Mission statement need to be re-evaluated on a regular basis as there is always the ever present danger that it will become just a form of words that sounds good but has no bearing in reality.
Defining MIB business strategy
As the owner of MIB, Cynthia will be responsible for defining business strategy. Strategic management, essentially, has three components:
Analysis- where are MIB now and where do they want to be?
•MIB now at end of a success and wanted to go for next step. But the founder and CEO Cynthia have exhausted all of her energy and skills and trust on people as her general manager Bridget left her. Cynthia said that she doesn't know where to go from here, and she is hesitant to invest in new projects or marketing ideas, given the current business climate. Over the years, she has relied on the belief that she could teach anyone the essence of her business if they were the right person for the job.
•If Cynthia have set up a business strategy for MIB before, then she no need to worry now for anything even who left her company or not. It will be automatic process to run the business without hesitation or interruption towards business goals when a good set of business strategy is on the place. There is no chance for personal belief or feelings on business as it is goes on its own way.
Choice- what options are available to MIB?
•To appoint some one to share Cynthia's commitment to the company. Cynthia was the founder of MIB. She did all the things on her hand to grow up the business as well as working full time. She traveled across the country to attend lots of apparel show to sell off her super size garments and to get more new idea to sell. She showed a great commitment to MIB and wanted some one join with her for prospering business.
•To welcome a new partner in the operation. After dissolved partnership with Janet, Cynthia was really upset and managed everything on her self. She was desperately after partners who can bare the same responsibility as Cynthia have and go forward with the business.
•Need to arrange some new people for the business who can help her marketing and strategic planning. It will be another alternate if she finds some people with extra ordinary skill to continue MIB business.
Implementation- implements MIB business strategy based on the analysis and options.
•Implementation is a major part for any management process. Without implementation nothing will take in action. Whatever the options are came here need to check carefully each and single and pick the right one for implementation. The best option will be to appoint some one to share Cynthia's commitment to the company and implement the action ASAP.
Strategic analysis
There are two distinct areas of any business that require analysis:
The environment
Need to consider the entire environment including political, economic, social, technological and economic for the business before entering into any market. MIB is not out of any environment and need to cope with its surrounding environments. Here PESTE analysis will be help to discuss this point more elaborately.
PESTE analysis
There are a number of factors in the environment that can have an impact on any business like MIB business. The PESTE analysis enables management to focus on these. PESTE stands for:
•P = Political-when examining the effect of political forces on a business it is really referring to legislation which has a direct impact on business, such as health and safety legislation and employment law. It is necessary to comply with all legislation and to be seen to be doing so. Cynthia realized that her experience at working with cloth sector give her spirit to open up her new business where she can implement her political belief that no one should discriminate about her size and shape and treated equally and fairly.
•E = Economic- economic forces will include all the variables that may have an effect of the profitability and sustainability of any business. These can include, inflation, interest rates and, if trade abroad, interest rates. Changes in the budget will also, invariably, have an effect business. MIB have a strong financial background what help to face any economic crisis if any comes up in near future. MIB faces few changes as it operates business in abroad while interest rate effect on it.
•S = Social- social forces can be complex and include demographic changes that will affect any business. For example, MIB sales trousers only for super size women. If any country people are health conscious and do exercise regularly, they will not able to get any super size women for their trouser and ultimately they are going to loose their business.
•T = Technological- the rapid changes in information technology and relevance to all business must be taken into account when devising future strategy. During 1996 MIB had launched its website for online purchases. Nearly half of MIB's mail order sales were from online by 2002. Most of purchases through catalog mailings and sales were from repeat customers. Local advertising was done via radio and newspaper.
•E = Environment- the impact of business on the environment must be evaluated and taken into account when formulating any business strategy.
The resource of the business
There are three main resources of the business are:
Physical resources
•Physical resources include plant, machine, tool, vehicles and so on. An audit of these resources whether existing or needed in the future will include longevity, cost of future replacement and also maintenance.
•MIB had not that mush debt left and most of its properties and machinery owned by them as they can enjoy that they have strong physical resources. Strong financial condition will encourage them to face any crisis if arise in future.
Human resources
•This will be an assessment of staff needed in the future, if some one in a new business, or existing staff they are established. An audit of human resources should take into account staff development, which allied to their own strategy for the business.
•At MIB, Cynthia realized that staffing is not that easy to retain and train them. For every management it is a challenging issue. Cynthia said that she expected too much from people and sometimes doesn't deal well with employees and not following set of standard about their ethic and beliefs. So it will be concluded that MIB have weak human resource strategy for what company are at the brink of continue or shut their business.
Financial resources
•This area, like the other two, is of vital importance. Without financial stability the business will not survive. An audit of financial resources will include all the sources of finance that any business have. This audit will also include an analysis of debtors and creditors. The end result should be a clear determination of current and future viability and, if problems are identified, the rectification of these problems.
•MIB has $100,000 line of credit that they use seasonally to keep themselves up and running. They don't need to go their treasury to help them when they are in crisis as they have enough cash in hand and they don't want to dependent upon it. So it will be concluded that MIB have strong financial condition.
Tools of Strategy making process
The marketing strategy process is a combination of three steps such as core strategy, competitive positioning and implementation are presented as follows:
Value of using key analytical tool
Marketing strategy process is a very essential tool for any business as it is define business purpose, market analysis, company analysis, market target, competitive advantage etc. its value a lot for any business. Without defining marketing strategy no business can survive in any industry.
Companies have competitive advantage when it is in advantageous position over its competitors where their profit margin is higher among others. The higher its profitability relative to rivals, the greater its competitive advantage will be. A company can call successful when its competitive advantage remain same over its competitors for continuous several years.
Application of the strategy tools on business (Making it Big's)
The application of strategy plays a great impact on MIB (Making it Big) as it tried hard to go for next level. As per Cynthia's concerned MIB is a healthy firm but stalled now. Basically it has been revealed that for lack of strong human resource strategy, MIB suffering with difficulty to go ahead. If MIB's strategy planning was good then no need to suffer this time or scare to go forward now.
The formal strategic planning process has five main steps:
1.Need to select the corporate mission and major corporate goals.
2.Need to analyze the organization's external competitive situation
3.Need to analyze the organization's internal operating situation
4.Need to select strategies that build on the organization's strong situation over its strengths and can correct its weaknesses. They should be congruent and constitute a viable business model.
5.Implement the strategies.
The task of analyzing the organization's external and internal environment and then selecting appropriate strategies constitutes strategy formulation. In contrast, strategy implementation involves putting the strategies (or plan) into action. This includes taking actions consistent with the selected strategies of the company at the corporate, business, and functional levels, allocating roles and responsibilities among managers (typically through the design of organization structure), allocating resources (including capital and money), setting short-term objectives, and designing the organization's control and reward systems.
Task 2 SWOT analysis of Making It Big
According to Kotler (2005) SWOT stands for Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats. It is a technique for analysing the internal and external environments of an organisation SWOT analysis entails a distillation of the findings of an internal and external audit which draws attention, from a strategic perspective, to the critical organisational strengths and weaknesses and the opportunities and threats facing the organisation.
Strengths:
•Skilled entrepreneur
•Flexibility of expanding
•Use of advanced technology
•Strong financial condition
•Innovation
Weaknesses:
•Over trading
•Women in business
•Not having a strong vision
•Lack of skilled people
•Weak human resource strategy
Opportunities:
•Scarcity of clothes for super size women.
•Strong capital
•Growing of online sales
•Increased consolidation and branding
Threats:
•Growth of competitors' share
•Possibly new entries in the particular market
•Partnership dissolved
The SWOT analysis of the MIB as presented above highlights the areas in which the company should pay particular attention. In this context, global competition and financial pressures should be regarded as the most severe problems that the firm has to resolve. The limitation of its operational expenses and the effort to keep the quality of its products at high levels could help to 'secure' the position of the firm in the market.
Strengths:
•MIB had a skilled entrepreneurship as Cynthia a university graduate majoring in humanistic psychology and teamed up her skill with various women project and practical work. She was CEO and founder of MIB and reached the company her self to a height that most of the people not able to that. She gained knowledge everything from ordering, advertising, promoting and book keeping, deal with staff etc.
•MIB has flexibility of expanding of business as it only runs by Cynthia and her partner Janet Sturdy where it was easy to take decision while no bureaucratic problem hammering them.
•During 1996 MIB had launched its website for online purchases. Nearly half of MIB's mail order sales were from online by 2002. Most of purchases through catalog mailings and sales were from repeat customers. Local advertising was done via radio and newspaper.
•MIB has $100,000 line of credit that they use seasonally to keep themselves up and running. They hardly touch their cash a they have enough cash in hand to cover all of its running costs. So it will be concluded that MIB have strong financial condition.
•Cynthia is very innovative. She started MIB on her own effort and gain knowledge everything with her experience. She grew up the business from zero to a height that she had to think now for go to next level.
Weakness:
•A common problem for many small and growing businesses such as MIB is what is described as over trading. The more sales MIB make, the more money they will need to spend on funding material and debtors before they are paid for the sales. If MIB's level or sales becomes too high and do not have the necessary level of working capital to support it, MIB may simply run out of cash. This can be disastrous for business and means that a full order book is not the only thing to strive for. Even with a profitable business and a full order book, it is imperative to have enough cash available. Extra finance can help company cash flow and make it easier to avoid the pitfalls of over trading.
•Although discrimination is still an issue for women in business, women business owners such as Cynthia now account for a third of business start ups. The proportion is reported to be rather lower for women aged over 50 but above 40 percent for businesses started by those under 50.
•Initially MIB had no vision to growth. Cynthia had established MIB with her effort and commitment but didn't form any sets of resource strategy for what MIB is now at the break even point of continue or shut.
•MIB have lack of skilled people that could propel company to next level of growth. Cynthia herself not enough experienced to deal with credit or taking on debt. She was a University graduate of humanistic psychology and only gained experienced in retail that gave her a steady income and had no desire to start-up any business. Janet, like Cynthia, did not have a financial history that enabled her to obtain credit or financing. Cynthia doesn't know about sewing but Janet knows that skills what incredibly depend on her.
•Cynthia realized that staffing is not easy as she thought and she demanded too much from her employee what was not effective found at the end of the day. Always Cynthia was in fear that she is going to loose her expertise people or they are going to leave her for better future. So it will be concluded that MIB have weak human resource strategy for what company are at the brink of continue or shut their business
Opportunities:
•There were no such cloths available for super size women. If cloths available for super size women but don't have any varieties of color or shapes or designs. So MIB took this opportunity to set up a business that meet super size women's demand with varieties. Founder of MIB realized it shouldn't be wise to discriminate anyone against his or her size. Need to make enough cloth with varieties of design and make the lives of fat women easier and she wanted to give that a try.
•Cynthia had enough capital to start up a new business. In 1984, at the age of 28, she had in hand $20,000 in savings and revenues of $35,000 what she earned from Cheap Frills what support her to begin a new venture.
•Sales go boost if it goes online where customer get opportunity to buy cheaper without going shop themselves and can choose varieties than the outlet where company don't need to invest that much money to take this advantage. MIB already expanding its mail order system and beefing up its websites and getting full advantage from information technology.
•Despite the proliferation of independent retailers in mails and on the internet, there was too much competition about the common brand as customer wanted to go for brand product where they can choose style, size, selection, quality, display, and price and if personally do shopping then store location, design, advertising, and promotion attract customers. MIB invested a lot to cope with this trend.
Threats:
•Not lots of companies make apparel for super size women and high in demand.
•While MIB growing up they had to face competition with renown brands. Common brands are familiar with customers and they sale over one-third of large women cloths purchased by customer. MIB's clothing exclusively from its competitor companies specializing in plus-size clothing. For example Charming Shoppes, Inc, the third- largest specialty apparel retailer in America, was the leader in plus-size women's apparel. Other competitors can named as Liz Claiborne, Tommy Hilfiger, and Macy's, Bloomingdale's and Saks Fifth Avenue, had recently begin to offer plus- size clothing due to the increased demand in this sector.
•Cynthia had dissolve partnership with her business partner Janet and bought her share as well. She had appointed some other people to run her business but couldn't get mental peace as like before to work with Janet whom she treats a threat for her business.
Employees and customers are the key through which company operates in the market. So, knowing their perception and satisfaction level is viewed as an integral part of total quality package to consumer by the company. Based on findings on task 2 and after analysis of collecting data, author can take and make decision for increase customer satisfaction and create a vital market position of MIB, which are as follows:
•To encourage the customers, MIB should train the employees for their overall skill. MIB have to formulate a new set of human resource strategy for recruiting, training and motivation. It is very difficult to find and retain the right people at MIB. Cynthia expected too much from her staff and don't value them either. Always Cynthia was in fear that she is going to loose her expertise people or they are going to leave her for better future as she depended on Janet and started get trouble after left her.
•Employees need to evaluate their activities related to the customer service for perfection of them and customers. If the motivation and reward system continue at work place it will automatically find out who did what in the last years and who need to be appraised though it is customer service or commitment to work.
•Every company wants their staff to improve their skills and competencies to support the growth of the business. It is up to management to identify where the employees are deficient and where their particular aptitudes lie. Need to encourage them, and pay for them, to enroll on courses that management select with them and that don't take them away from the day job too much. Day release scheme and evening classes will be available locally in a multitude of skills. MIB should arrange on the job or off the job training program under human resource management.
•MIB need to treat their employees well as they can feel greeting in running and carrying away their work. If people valued perfectly for their work then Cynthia had not any fear for continuation of her business.
•MIB should develop their service present the consumers a delivery service to their car and packer for the shopping, now a day they don't have that much facility to deliver customer's door. But it will be advantageous for customer who order bulk garments.
•Motivating the staff of an organization towards the attainment of its objective is a key question for all managers. Despite much research and study, no set of rules satisfactory for every situation can be offered simply because the behavior of human beings can not be predicted without absolute certainty. Nevertheless, it is the duty of managers to endeavor to attain the organization objectives and this can only be done with the willing co-operation of the people involved. It is, therefore, absolutely essential that staff at all levels be motivated to co-operate in the MIB interests and to work as effectively as possible. This applied equally to managers and supervisors and everyone else.
•MIB need to open more new branches where they don't have any branches to reach their over size garments to respective customer.
•MIB pricing is ok but need more price cut can make MIB more popular to the customer,
•MIB has been advised for more on its advertising in different media like, TV, radio, national and local newspapers, magazines etc. to increase its market share but not only just attending various apparel show throughout country.
•MIB should introduce more new product with varieties of color and shape while maintaining the quality for all segment of customers.
•MIB should use full benefit of internet and online facility and need to automation her whole manufacturing unit.
To get a clear understanding of MIB's business it need to establish their core strategy and competitive positioning.
Establishing core strategy:
The establishment of an effective marketing strategy starts with a detailed, and creative, assessment both of the company's capabilities-its strengths and weaknesses relative to the competition- and the opportunities and threats posed by the environment. On the basis of this analysis the core strategy of the company will be selected, identifying marketing objectives and the board focus for achieving them.
Business is looking positive for MIB. In 2001, sales had exceeded $2.3 million, an average increase of 12 percent over 10 years. Going into the spring season, 2002 revenues had been 7 percent above 2001, but returns from the latest mail order catalog had been far lower than expected.
Creation of Company's competitive positioning:
The competitive positioning of the company is a statement of market targets, for example, where the company will compete, and differential advantage, or how the company will compete. The positioning is developed to achieve the objectives laid down under the core strategy. For a company whose objective is to gain market share and the board approach to that is to win competitors customers, for example, the competitive positioning will be a statement of exactly how and where in the market that will be achieved.
MIB business will have some form of competition. And while it can't control what other competitors do, only tried to minimize their impact on business by following ways:
Reduce expenses, not advertising:
If there is a look at MIB's Profit and Loss statement, or itemize all of their expenses, and ask them how each line can be eliminated or reduced. It is very easy to find out where need to cut back. A little here and a little there will soon add up. However, the one expense do NOT need to reduce is advertising. In fact, many retailers will increase their marketing efforts during slower sales periods because there is more competition and fewer consumer pounds.
Get creative:
Manufacturers in the same industry generally use similar marketing methods to reach customers. Now is the time to get creative and use unconventional marketing methods to distinguish MIB from the competition. A unique marketing campaign attracts more attention and lands more sales. Also, it need to look for some new untapped market what MIB and their competitors overlooked. It may uncover a niche market for MIB which can dominate with little or no competition.
Provide outstanding customer service:
Customers are everything and heart of any business. It need to Improve Customer Satisfaction skills because, as everyone know customers can be demanding, belligerent, even hostile. They want answers before they call, and expect instantaneous response and solutions. And all know how important customer satisfaction is to any organization such as for MIB. Products are becoming more and more complex and personnel count is not necessarily increasing. MIB have to do the best job with the available resources. Customers must receive professional quality service and support. This combination will help ensure MIB's success as the leader in retail industry. Customer "problems" can be managed more efficiently when their employees have the proper tools By going the extra mile to provide good service, MIB can outlast the competition. Make shopping in MIB such a memorable experience that customers can't wait to come back or to tell their friends. People like to shop where they feel comfortable and where they feel the owner truly cares about their wants and needs.
Competitive advantage
Managers compare and contrast the various alternative possible strategies against each other and then identify the set of strategies that will create and sustain a competitive advantage:
Functional-level strategy, directed at improving the effectiveness of operations within a company, such as manufacturing, marketing, materials management, product development, and customer service
Business-level strategy, which encompasses the business's overall competitive theme, the way it positions itself in the marketplace to gain a competitive advantage, and the different positioning strategies that can be used in different industry, settings—for example, cost leadership, differentiation, focusing on a particular niche or segment of the industry, or some combination of these
Global strategy, addressing how to expand operations outside the home country to grow and prosper in a world where competitive advantage is determined at a global level
Corporate-level strategy, which answers the primary questions: What business or businesses should we be in to maximize the long-run profitability and profit growth of the organization, and how should we enter and increase our presence in these businesses to gain a competitive advantage?
The strategies identified through a SWOT analysis should be congruent with each other. Thus, functional-level strategies should be consistent with, or support, the company's business-level strategy and global strategy.
Strong leaders demonstrate their commitment to their vision and business model by actions and words, and they often lead by example. Consider Cynthia CEO is a very efficient garments producer with perhaps the lowest cost structure in the cloth industry. It has turned in twenty years of profitable performance in an industry where most other companies have lost money because of a relentless focus on cost minimization. In her tenure as CEO, Cynthia set the example: she answered her own phone, take only one partner Janet drove an old car, flew to apparel shows, and was proud to do that. This commitment was a powerful signal to employees that Cynthia was serious about doing everything possible to minimize costs. It earned her the respect of MIB employees and made them more willing to work hard. Although Cynthia reached to her limit, her legacy lives on in the cost-conscious organization culture that has been built at USA, and like all other great leaders, her impact will last beyond her tenure.
Cynthia had competitive advantage as there was not much manufacture that is making super size clothing. Two more other company was in market but they have no varieties of product where MIB make various lines of products for all groups of customer such as career wear, casual sportswear, formal wear, outer wear and accessories.
Strategy implementation
Having chosen a set of congruent strategies to achieve a competitive advantage and increase performance, managers must put those strategies into action. Strategy implementation involves taking actions at the functional, business, and corporate levels to execute a strategic plan. Thus implementation can include, for example, putting quality improvement programs into place, changing the way a product is designed, positioning the product differently in the marketplace, segmenting the marketing and offering different versions of the product to different consumer groups, implementing price increases or decreases, expanding through mergers and acquisitions, or downsizing the company by closing down or selling off parts of the company. Strategy implementation also entails designing the best organization structure and the best culture and control systems to put a chosen strategy into action. In addition, senior managers need to put a governance system in place to make sure that all within the organization act in a manner that is not only consistent with maximizing profitability and profit growth but also legal and ethical.
Task 4
The tools and techniques for crafting and executing business strategy will work for small business such as MIB. Because every business needs to establish their strategy on how they do their business or what will be their goal at the end of the day. It doesn't matter how many people run the business or it is sole trader ship or partnership or limited company and also resource not to be count for not setting up strategies. At MIB, Cynthia was the CEO and founder and started her business on the strength of a single inspiration but not a calculated plan.
Academic model so far been studied was not too complex and can implement into a small business or any types of business. Methods or models of academic theory so far can be used any types of business especially at MIB.
Some organizations go through a new cycle of the strategic planning process every year. This does not necessarily mean that managers choose a new strategy each year. In many instances, the result is simply to modify and reaffirm a strategy and structure already in place. The strategic plans generated by the planning process generally look out over a period of one to five years, with the plan being updated or rolled forward, every year. In most organizations, the results of the annual strategic planning process are used as input into the budgetary process for the coming year so that strategic planning is used to shape resource allocation within the organization.
The first component of the strategic management process is crafting the organization's mission statement, which provides the framework or context within which strategies are formulated. A mission statement has four main components: a statement of its reason for existence—which is normally referred to as the mission; a statement of some desired future state, usually referred to as the vision; a statement of the key values that the organization is committed to; and a statement of major goals.
MIB has a significance presence in the global commercial market with a stable rate of growth, a phenomenon which could be possibly explained because of the firm's constant development and the alternation of its marketing strategies in accordance with the local needs and culture of every country around the world. In this instance, the marketing strategy followed by the firm internationally will be evaluated and ability to identify commercial potentials of the local markets and the prospects for the future while the expansion in new markets could be criticized using as a basis the performance of the company in its existed operational centres around the world.
The major components of the strategic management process are defining the mission, vision, and major goals of the organization; analyzing the external and internal environments of the organization; choosing a business model and strategies that align an organization's strengths and weaknesses with external environmental opportunities and threats; and adopting organizational structures and control systems to implement the organization's chosen strategies.
Conclusion
A strategy helps to attain one or more business goals. A company has a competitive advantage over its rivals when it is more profitable than the average for all firms in its industry. It has a sustained competitive advantage when it is able to maintain above-average profitability over a number of years. In general, a company with a competitive advantage will grow its profits more rapidly than rivals. Even the best-designed strategic planning systems will fail to produce the desired results if managers do not use the information at their disposal effectively. Consequently, it is important that strategic managers learn to make better use of the information they have and understand why they sometimes make poor decisions. One important way in which managers can make better use of their knowledge and information is to understand how common cognitive biases can result in good managers making bad decisions.
Cynthia, CEO of MIB have to take decision to strengthen her human resource strategy by which they can recruit skill employee through proper recruitment process and retain them after provide quality of training and reward them as well annually when needed. It will help her to go to next level and fulfill her vision while set up MIB.
Bibliography
1.Making it Big (in Thompson, A.A., Strickland, A. J. and Gamble, J. (2005) Crafting and Executing- Strategy (Fourteenth Edition), McGraw-Hill, New York, pages C185 to C-196)
2.Cameron, S (1997) MBA handbook-study skills for managers, 3rd edition, Pitman publishing
3.Major, M (2006) Setting up and Running your own company, Easyway Guides, Brighton
4.Clarke G, (2007) Business Management, Business start up & future planning, Emerald Publishing, Brighton
5.Brassington F and Pettitt S (2003)- Principal of Marketing, 3rd edition, FT/ Prentice Hall
案例研究是由丹佛大學的瓊韋恩提供,本文描述一個企業(yè)的業(yè)務銷售主要是女裝系列，基礎市場在美國。公司的創(chuàng)始人已經業(yè)務通過其初創(chuàng)階段和市場面臨的挑戰(zhàn),公司將進入下一階段的增長。
Case studies consist of written description of business situations, or sometimes video or audio materials, supplemented by a small amount of written text. The majority of cases describe real situations, as perceived by the case compiler, but sometime fictional cases are constructed. Cases may range from a very brief outline of a scenario, to a hundred pages or more of close description, supplemented by company accounts, sales figures, projections, pen pictures of key participants, and any other information thought likely to be helpful. Case studies are favorite teaching medium on business studies and other management programs (Sheila 1997).
The case study (Making it Big), written by Joan Winn of the University of Denver, describes an entrepreneurial business that sells larger size women's clothing to a niche market in the USA. The company's founder has taken the business through its start-up phase and is now faces with the challenge of moving the company into the next stage of growth.
The case study was written in 2004, but the business issues presented are typical of those faced by owner- managers today, and worldwide.
Making it Big's CEO named Cynthia Riggs was not able to understand the trend of her business alone and need assistance to go forward. She gained her belief and determination when she worked in a book store and made her mind to take the next step and begin her own business. She also gained practical experience when she started selling off her excess in to a flea market and built a steady business later.
Cynthia formed MIB after the success of Cheap Frills in nearby Cotati where she worked before and later sales of 'parachute pants' in various women's fairs and music festivals with a great success across the country. She used to dyed them with bright colors and add several pockets for larger women.
Cynthia made partnership with a single mother and part-time student named Janet Sturdy who helped her to sell vintage clothing. Cynthia spent a year long to attend the various cloth exhibition and looking for the cloths that available for at woman.
The next step for going forward is expanding its online mail order system and manual mail order system where they can print more brochure, hire mailing list and post to the prospective customer. but the response had received below the expectations. For not having a strong vision, Cynthia realized that she can't pushed up MIB on her own and required some expert in this field for picking up the company.
MIB business was strong enough to go for next step. But Cynthia's lack of effort, time, stamina, work pressure and loneliness stop her to go for next level with the business and her assistance from some one who can help her in this stage.
Task 1 Business Strategy
Definition of Business Strategy:
Business strategies are set of policies which is followed by an organization to meets its mission and vision.
As the owner of MIB, Cynthia will be responsible for defining her business strategy what has three components:
•Analysis-where are MIB now and where they want to be?
•Choice-what options are available to Cynthia?
•Implementation-implement set strategy based on the analysis and options.
Bagozzi () states, "--In its broadest sense, marketing strategy entails goal setting; customer, firm and competitive analysis; new product development, target market selection, product management and demand estimation; and implementation and management of the marketing mix. More narrowly, marketing strategy is characterized by a focus on product differentiation, overall cost leadership, or market focus."
Besides this Brassington and Pettitt (2000) claims, "Marketing Strategies defines target markets, what direction needs to be done in broad terms to create a defensible competitive position compatible with overall corporate strategy within those markets. It is, therefore, concerned with many of the aspects considered in buyer behaviour, as well as the decision to target particular market segments."
Also Wilson and Gilligan (2000) said that understanding the strategic situation confronting an organization is an essential starting point in developing a marketing strategy. They also stated that this understanding can be derived from an assessment of:
•Organizational capabilities
•Threats from environmental forces
•Competitors strengths and weaknesses
•Customer needs iterative
In other words, for MIB it's challenging to operate in the international market without implementing an outstanding marketing plan where marketing strategies plays a great role.
From a different point of view, Cravens (1989) supported that the marketing strategy followed by most firms could be have the following four aspects/ forms: "Market domination in the firm that tries to achieve market development or hold the dominant competitive position in an industry. A strategy seeks to expand market boundaries to generate enhanced performance: A market selectivity strategy is defined as trying to dominate one or a few market segments in heterogeneous markets. Finally, a firm may employ a differential advantage strategy where it seeks to develop and exploit a competitive advantage in a homogeneous market".
According to Czinkota and Kotabe (2001) Business strategies are generally concerned with the four Ps:
Product strategies:
•New products need to develop and if necessary re launch again
•Would be advantageous if add new features on it
•Need to Balance product portfolios
•Some times need to change and layout of packet
Pricing strategies:
•Price of the product should be reachable to customer
•Some times different price for different sector
•Need to decide how to reach competitive price
Promotional strategies:
•Need to select the advertising platform and media
•Need to know about customers belief
•Need to reorganize the sales team about new products and services or markets
Placement strategies:
•Need to select the right channels
•Need to determine customer service level
MIB should always have to follow the above four marketing strategies if they want to reach more people by reducing price of garments, good availability of garments, highlight essential features on packages, save money by the good deal or offer on essential buy, add extra feature or extra free product within same product, choose the right location and place to attract more customers, advertise in national and specially in local news papers, journals, distributing leaflet in front of main door etc.
Effectiveness of Business Strategy on small business:
Strategy of business has a great impact on business despite of size small or large. But before that for any business it need to set out objective and mission statement where purpose of any business can clearly understand.
It is absolutely essential to have a crystal clear idea of what the main objectives of MIB are. Business objectives relate to a business as a whole and to what MIB want to achieve in the long and short term.
Short term objectives will relate to what MIB want to achieve on an annual basis, over a period of twelve months. Long term objectives relate to a period (usually) of five years.
It has become commonplace now to set up a criteria against which Cynthia can measure the effectiveness of MIB business objectives. This is known as 'SMART' criteria. Within SMART all the objectives that Cynthia set for MIB must be:
•Specific
•Measurable
•Agreed
•Realistic
•Timed
The above are self explanatory and enable a business owner to set clear objectives which can be re-evaluated over time. SMART objectives should be set against a clear MISSION statement.
Mission statements
A mission statement is the best way to identify business statement. The mission statement is really a vision statement which details the whole point of MIB business. There are four key components of a mission statement which must be succinct and clear:
The role or contribution that a business makes- what exactly MIB in business for?
Here MIB aim to produce garments for large or super size women where there was a great demand. Cynthia had decided to become a clothing manufacturer of large and super size clothes and for that she need a good online delivery system where she can post her prospective customer the brochure and others to let them know about her company and products.
A definition of the business- this should be given in terms of the benefits MIB provide or the needs that they satisfy. It should not define what MIB do or what they make.
•Making it Big
•The company name explains itself for which the company stands for and what will be the ambition for the business.
An outline of MIB's distinctive competencies- factors that differentiate MIB from the competition. Theses are the skills and capabilities that are offered by MIB as opposed to other business in the same field.
•MIB offer exclusive range of cloth for large and super size women with varieties of bright color and extra feature like adding few pockets on it.
•MIB have highly motivated entrepreneur like Cynthia herself.
•Have skilled people like Janet who can understand the company and customer's need.
The indications for the future- what the business will do in the future, what it can realistically achieve.
MIB wanted to go for next level as it wanted to be a leader on this sector. In order to achieve this goal MIB need to set its resource or business strategy and need to put those in to action.
A clear and coherent mission statement is written in two parts. In the first part management will outline the industry that they are in and the products that they offer. The second part comprises the business strategies that they will follow to achieve success.
Obviously, the above needs to be fleshed out and thought through but it is the basis upon which the operations of MIB business will be founded and on which the SMART objectives will integrate in order to ensure that the business moves forward and achieves its goals.
Mission statement need to be re-evaluated on a regular basis as there is always the ever present danger that it will become just a form of words that sounds good but has no bearing in reality.
Defining MIB business strategy
As the owner of MIB, Cynthia will be responsible for defining business strategy. Strategic management, essentially, has three components:
Analysis- where are MIB now and where do they want to be?
•MIB now at end of a success and wanted to go for next step. But the founder and CEO Cynthia have exhausted all of her energy and skills and trust on people as her general manager Bridget left her. Cynthia said that she doesn't know where to go from here, and she is hesitant to invest in new projects or marketing ideas, given the current business climate. Over the years, she has relied on the belief that she could teach anyone the essence of her business if they were the right person for the job.
•If Cynthia have set up a business strategy for MIB before, then she no need to worry now for anything even who left her company or not. It will be automatic process to run the business without hesitation or interruption towards business goals when a good set of business strategy is on the place. There is no chance for personal belief or feelings on business as it is goes on its own way.
Choice- what options are available to MIB?
•To appoint some one to share Cynthia's commitment to the company. Cynthia was the founder of MIB. She did all the things on her hand to grow up the business as well as working full time. She traveled across the country to attend lots of apparel show to sell off her super size garments and to get more new idea to sell. She showed a great commitment to MIB and wanted some one join with her for prospering business.
•To welcome a new partner in the operation. After dissolved partnership with Janet, Cynthia was really upset and managed everything on her self. She was desperately after partners who can bare the same responsibility as Cynthia have and go forward with the business.
•Need to arrange some new people for the business who can help her marketing and strategic planning. It will be another alternate if she finds some people with extra ordinary skill to continue MIB business.
Implementation- implements MIB business strategy based on the analysis and options.
•Implementation is a major part for any management process. Without implementation nothing will take in action. Whatever the options are came here need to check carefully each and single and pick the right one for implementation. The best option will be to appoint some one to share Cynthia's commitment to the company and implement the action ASAP.
Strategic analysis
There are two distinct areas of any business that require analysis:
The environment
Need to consider the entire environment including political, economic, social, technological and economic for the business before entering into any market. MIB is not out of any environment and need to cope with its surrounding environments. Here PESTE analysis will be help to discuss this point more elaborately.
PESTE analysis
There are a number of factors in the environment that can have an impact on any business like MIB business. The PESTE analysis enables management to focus on these. PESTE stands for:
•P = Political-when examining the effect of political forces on a business it is really referring to legislation which has a direct impact on business, such as health and safety legislation and employment law. It is necessary to comply with all legislation and to be seen to be doing so. Cynthia realized that her experience at working with cloth sector give her spirit to open up her new business where she can implement her political belief that no one should discriminate about her size and shape and treated equally and fairly.
•E = Economic- economic forces will include all the variables that may have an effect of the profitability and sustainability of any business. These can include, inflation, interest rates and, if trade abroad, interest rates. Changes in the budget will also, invariably, have an effect business. MIB have a strong financial background what help to face any economic crisis if any comes up in near future. MIB faces few changes as it operates business in abroad while interest rate effect on it.
•S = Social- social forces can be complex and include demographic changes that will affect any business. For example, MIB sales trousers only for super size women. If any country people are health conscious and do exercise regularly, they will not able to get any super size women for their trouser and ultimately they are going to loose their business.
•T = Technological- the rapid changes in information technology and relevance to all business must be taken into account when devising future strategy. During 1996 MIB had launched its website for online purchases. Nearly half of MIB's mail order sales were from online by 2002. Most of purchases through catalog mailings and sales were from repeat customers. Local advertising was done via radio and newspaper.
•E = Environment- the impact of business on the environment must be evaluated and taken into account when formulating any business strategy.
The resource of the business
There are three main resources of the business are:
Physical resources
•Physical resources include plant, machine, tool, vehicles and so on. An audit of these resources whether existing or needed in the future will include longevity, cost of future replacement and also maintenance.
•MIB had not that mush debt left and most of its properties and machinery owned by them as they can enjoy that they have strong physical resources. Strong financial condition will encourage them to face any crisis if arise in future.
Human resources
•This will be an assessment of staff needed in the future, if some one in a new business, or existing staff they are established. An audit of human resources should take into account staff development, which allied to their own strategy for the business.
•At MIB, Cynthia realized that staffing is not that easy to retain and train them. For every management it is a challenging issue. Cynthia said that she expected too much from people and sometimes doesn't deal well with employees and not following set of standard about their ethic and beliefs. So it will be concluded that MIB have weak human resource strategy for what company are at the brink of continue or shut their business.
Financial resources
•This area, like the other two, is of vital importance. Without financial stability the business will not survive. An audit of financial resources will include all the sources of finance that any business have. This audit will also include an analysis of debtors and creditors. The end result should be a clear determination of current and future viability and, if problems are identified, the rectification of these problems.
•MIB has $100,000 line of credit that they use seasonally to keep themselves up and running. They don't need to go their treasury to help them when they are in crisis as they have enough cash in hand and they don't want to dependent upon it. So it will be concluded that MIB have strong financial condition.
Tools of Strategy making process
The marketing strategy process is a combination of three steps such as core strategy, competitive positioning and implementation are presented as follows:
Value of using key analytical tool
Marketing strategy process is a very essential tool for any business as it is define business purpose, market analysis, company analysis, market target, competitive advantage etc. its value a lot for any business. Without defining marketing strategy no business can survive in any industry.
Companies have competitive advantage when it is in advantageous position over its competitors where their profit margin is higher among others. The higher its profitability relative to rivals, the greater its competitive advantage will be. A company can call successful when its competitive advantage remain same over its competitors for continuous several years.
Application of the strategy tools on business (Making it Big's)
The application of strategy plays a great impact on MIB (Making it Big) as it tried hard to go for next level. As per Cynthia's concerned MIB is a healthy firm but stalled now. Basically it has been revealed that for lack of strong human resource strategy, MIB suffering with difficulty to go ahead. If MIB's strategy planning was good then no need to suffer this time or scare to go forward now.
The formal strategic planning process has five main steps:
1.Need to select the corporate mission and major corporate goals.
2.Need to analyze the organization's external competitive situation
3.Need to analyze the organization's internal operating situation
4.Need to select strategies that build on the organization's strong situation over its strengths and can correct its weaknesses. They should be congruent and constitute a viable business model.
5.Implement the strategies.
The task of analyzing the organization's external and internal environment and then selecting appropriate strategies constitutes strategy formulation. In contrast, strategy implementation involves putting the strategies (or plan) into action. This includes taking actions consistent with the selected strategies of the company at the corporate, business, and functional levels, allocating roles and responsibilities among managers (typically through the design of organization structure), allocating resources (including capital and money), setting short-term objectives, and designing the organization's control and reward systems.
Task 2 SWOT analysis of Making It Big
According to Kotler (2005) SWOT stands for Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats. It is a technique for analysing the internal and external environments of an organisation SWOT analysis entails a distillation of the findings of an internal and external audit which draws attention, from a strategic perspective, to the critical organisational strengths and weaknesses and the opportunities and threats facing the organisation.
Strengths:
•Skilled entrepreneur
•Flexibility of expanding
•Use of advanced technology
•Strong financial condition
•Innovation
Weaknesses:
•Over trading
•Women in business
•Not having a strong vision
•Lack of skilled people
•Weak human resource strategy
Opportunities:
•Scarcity of clothes for super size women.
•Strong capital
•Growing of online sales
•Increased consolidation and branding
Threats:
•Growth of competitors' share
•Possibly new entries in the particular market
•Partnership dissolved
The SWOT analysis of the MIB as presented above highlights the areas in which the company should pay particular attention. In this context, global competition and financial pressures should be regarded as the most severe problems that the firm has to resolve. The limitation of its operational expenses and the effort to keep the quality of its products at high levels could help to 'secure' the position of the firm in the market.
Strengths:
•MIB had a skilled entrepreneurship as Cynthia a university graduate majoring in humanistic psychology and teamed up her skill with various women project and practical work. She was CEO and founder of MIB and reached the company her self to a height that most of the people not able to that. She gained knowledge everything from ordering, advertising, promoting and book keeping, deal with staff etc.
•MIB has flexibility of expanding of business as it only runs by Cynthia and her partner Janet Sturdy where it was easy to take decision while no bureaucratic problem hammering them.
•During 1996 MIB had launched its website for online purchases. Nearly half of MIB's mail order sales were from online by 2002. Most of purchases through catalog mailings and sales were from repeat customers. Local advertising was done via radio and newspaper.
•MIB has $100,000 line of credit that they use seasonally to keep themselves up and running. They hardly touch their cash a they have enough cash in hand to cover all of its running costs. So it will be concluded that MIB have strong financial condition.
•Cynthia is very innovative. She started MIB on her own effort and gain knowledge everything with her experience. She grew up the business from zero to a height that she had to think now for go to next level.
Weakness:
•A common problem for many small and growing businesses such as MIB is what is described as over trading. The more sales MIB make, the more money they will need to spend on funding material and debtors before they are paid for the sales. If MIB's level or sales becomes too high and do not have the necessary level of working capital to support it, MIB may simply run out of cash. This can be disastrous for business and means that a full order book is not the only thing to strive for. Even with a profitable business and a full order book, it is imperative to have enough cash available. Extra finance can help company cash flow and make it easier to avoid the pitfalls of over trading.
•Although discrimination is still an issue for women in business, women business owners such as Cynthia now account for a third of business start ups. The proportion is reported to be rather lower for women aged over 50 but above 40 percent for businesses started by those under 50.
•Initially MIB had no vision to growth. Cynthia had established MIB with her effort and commitment but didn't form any sets of resource strategy for what MIB is now at the break even point of continue or shut.
•MIB have lack of skilled people that could propel company to next level of growth. Cynthia herself not enough experienced to deal with credit or taking on debt. She was a University graduate of humanistic psychology and only gained experienced in retail that gave her a steady income and had no desire to start-up any business. Janet, like Cynthia, did not have a financial history that enabled her to obtain credit or financing. Cynthia doesn't know about sewing but Janet knows that skills what incredibly depend on her.
•Cynthia realized that staffing is not easy as she thought and she demanded too much from her employee what was not effective found at the end of the day. Always Cynthia was in fear that she is going to loose her expertise people or they are going to leave her for better future. So it will be concluded that MIB have weak human resource strategy for what company are at the brink of continue or shut their business
Opportunities:
•There were no such cloths available for super size women. If cloths available for super size women but don't have any varieties of color or shapes or designs. So MIB took this opportunity to set up a business that meet super size women's demand with varieties. Founder of MIB realized it shouldn't be wise to discriminate anyone against his or her size. Need to make enough cloth with varieties of design and make the lives of fat women easier and she wanted to give that a try.
•Cynthia had enough capital to start up a new business. In 1984, at the age of 28, she had in hand $20,000 in savings and revenues of $35,000 what she earned from Cheap Frills what support her to begin a new venture.
•Sales go boost if it goes online where customer get opportunity to buy cheaper without going shop themselves and can choose varieties than the outlet where company don't need to invest that much money to take this advantage. MIB already expanding its mail order system and beefing up its websites and getting full advantage from information technology.
•Despite the proliferation of independent retailers in mails and on the internet, there was too much competition about the common brand as customer wanted to go for brand product where they can choose style, size, selection, quality, display, and price and if personally do shopping then store location, design, advertising, and promotion attract customers. MIB invested a lot to cope with this trend.
Threats:
•Not lots of companies make apparel for super size women and high in demand.
•While MIB growing up they had to face competition with renown brands. Common brands are familiar with customers and they sale over one-third of large women cloths purchased by customer. MIB's clothing exclusively from its competitor companies specializing in plus-size clothing. For example Charming Shoppes, Inc, the third- largest specialty apparel retailer in America, was the leader in plus-size women's apparel. Other competitors can named as Liz Claiborne, Tommy Hilfiger, and Macy's, Bloomingdale's and Saks Fifth Avenue, had recently begin to offer plus- size clothing due to the increased demand in this sector.
•Cynthia had dissolve partnership with her business partner Janet and bought her share as well. She had appointed some other people to run her business but couldn't get mental peace as like before to work with Janet whom she treats a threat for her business.
Employees and customers are the key through which company operates in the market. So, knowing their perception and satisfaction level is viewed as an integral part of total quality package to consumer by the company. Based on findings on task 2 and after analysis of collecting data, author can take and make decision for increase customer satisfaction and create a vital market position of MIB, which are as follows:
•To encourage the customers, MIB should train the employees for their overall skill. MIB have to formulate a new set of human resource strategy for recruiting, training and motivation. It is very difficult to find and retain the right people at MIB. Cynthia expected too much from her staff and don't value them either. Always Cynthia was in fear that she is going to loose her expertise people or they are going to leave her for better future as she depended on Janet and started get trouble after left her.
•Employees need to evaluate their activities related to the customer service for perfection of them and customers. If the motivation and reward system continue at work place it will automatically find out who did what in the last years and who need to be appraised though it is customer service or commitment to work.
•Every company wants their staff to improve their skills and competencies to support the growth of the business. It is up to management to identify where the employees are deficient and where their particular aptitudes lie. Need to encourage them, and pay for them, to enroll on courses that management select with them and that don't take them away from the day job too much. Day release scheme and evening classes will be available locally in a multitude of skills. MIB should arrange on the job or off the job training program under human resource management.
•MIB need to treat their employees well as they can feel greeting in running and carrying away their work. If people valued perfectly for their work then Cynthia had not any fear for continuation of her business.
•MIB should develop their service present the consumers a delivery service to their car and packer for the shopping, now a day they don't have that much facility to deliver customer's door. But it will be advantageous for customer who order bulk garments.
•Motivating the staff of an organization towards the attainment of its objective is a key question for all managers. Despite much research and study, no set of rules satisfactory for every situation can be offered simply because the behavior of human beings can not be predicted without absolute certainty. Nevertheless, it is the duty of managers to endeavor to attain the organization objectives and this can only be done with the willing co-operation of the people involved. It is, therefore, absolutely essential that staff at all levels be motivated to co-operate in the MIB interests and to work as effectively as possible. This applied equally to managers and supervisors and everyone else.
•MIB need to open more new branches where they don't have any branches to reach their over size garments to respective customer.
•MIB pricing is ok but need more price cut can make MIB more popular to the customer,
•MIB has been advised for more on its advertising in different media like, TV, radio, national and local newspapers, magazines etc. to increase its market share but not only just attending various apparel show throughout country.
•MIB should introduce more new product with varieties of color and shape while maintaining the quality for all segment of customers.
•MIB should use full benefit of internet and online facility and need to automation her whole manufacturing unit.
To get a clear understanding of MIB's business it need to establish their core strategy and competitive positioning.
Establishing core strategy:
The establishment of an effective marketing strategy starts with a detailed, and creative, assessment both of the company's capabilities-its strengths and weaknesses relative to the competition- and the opportunities and threats posed by the environment. On the basis of this analysis the core strategy of the company will be selected, identifying marketing objectives and the board focus for achieving them.
Business is looking positive for MIB. In 2001, sales had exceeded $2.3 million, an average increase of 12 percent over 10 years. Going into the spring season, 2002 revenues had been 7 percent above 2001, but returns from the latest mail order catalog had been far lower than expected.
Creation of Company's competitive positioning:
The competitive positioning of the company is a statement of market targets, for example, where the company will compete, and differential advantage, or how the company will compete. The positioning is developed to achieve the objectives laid down under the core strategy. For a company whose objective is to gain market share and the board approach to that is to win competitors customers, for example, the competitive positioning will be a statement of exactly how and where in the market that will be achieved.
MIB business will have some form of competition. And while it can't control what other competitors do, only tried to minimize their impact on business by following ways:
Reduce expenses, not advertising:
If there is a look at MIB's Profit and Loss statement, or itemize all of their expenses, and ask them how each line can be eliminated or reduced. It is very easy to find out where need to cut back. A little here and a little there will soon add up. However, the one expense do NOT need to reduce is advertising. In fact, many retailers will increase their marketing efforts during slower sales periods because there is more competition and fewer consumer pounds.
Get creative:
Manufacturers in the same industry generally use similar marketing methods to reach customers. Now is the time to get creative and use unconventional marketing methods to distinguish MIB from the competition. A unique marketing campaign attracts more attention and lands more sales. Also, it need to look for some new untapped market what MIB and their competitors overlooked. It may uncover a niche market for MIB which can dominate with little or no competition.
Provide outstanding customer service:
Customers are everything and heart of any business. It need to Improve Customer Satisfaction skills because, as everyone know customers can be demanding, belligerent, even hostile. They want answers before they call, and expect instantaneous response and solutions. And all know how important customer satisfaction is to any organization such as for MIB. Products are becoming more and more complex and personnel count is not necessarily increasing. MIB have to do the best job with the available resources. Customers must receive professional quality service and support. This combination will help ensure MIB's success as the leader in retail industry. Customer "problems" can be managed more efficiently when their employees have the proper tools By going the extra mile to provide good service, MIB can outlast the competition. Make shopping in MIB such a memorable experience that customers can't wait to come back or to tell their friends. People like to shop where they feel comfortable and where they feel the owner truly cares about their wants and needs.
Competitive advantage
Managers compare and contrast the various alternative possible strategies against each other and then identify the set of strategies that will create and sustain a competitive advantage:
Functional-level strategy, directed at improving the effectiveness of operations within a company, such as manufacturing, marketing, materials management, product development, and customer service
Business-level strategy, which encompasses the business's overall competitive theme, the way it positions itself in the marketplace to gain a competitive advantage, and the different positioning strategies that can be used in different industry, settings—for example, cost leadership, differentiation, focusing on a particular niche or segment of the industry, or some combination of these
Global strategy, addressing how to expand operations outside the home country to grow and prosper in a world where competitive advantage is determined at a global level
Corporate-level strategy, which answers the primary questions: What business or businesses should we be in to maximize the long-run profitability and profit growth of the organization, and how should we enter and increase our presence in these businesses to gain a competitive advantage?
The strategies identified through a SWOT analysis should be congruent with each other. Thus, functional-level strategies should be consistent with, or support, the company's business-level strategy and global strategy.
Strong leaders demonstrate their commitment to their vision and business model by actions and words, and they often lead by example. Consider Cynthia CEO is a very efficient garments producer with perhaps the lowest cost structure in the cloth industry. It has turned in twenty years of profitable performance in an industry where most other companies have lost money because of a relentless focus on cost minimization. In her tenure as CEO, Cynthia set the example: she answered her own phone, take only one partner Janet drove an old car, flew to apparel shows, and was proud to do that. This commitment was a powerful signal to employees that Cynthia was serious about doing everything possible to minimize costs. It earned her the respect of MIB employees and made them more willing to work hard. Although Cynthia reached to her limit, her legacy lives on in the cost-conscious organization culture that has been built at USA, and like all other great leaders, her impact will last beyond her tenure.
Cynthia had competitive advantage as there was not much manufacture that is making super size clothing. Two more other company was in market but they have no varieties of product where MIB make various lines of products for all groups of customer such as career wear, casual sportswear, formal wear, outer wear and accessories.
Strategy implementation
Having chosen a set of congruent strategies to achieve a competitive advantage and increase performance, managers must put those strategies into action. Strategy implementation involves taking actions at the functional, business, and corporate levels to execute a strategic plan. Thus implementation can include, for example, putting quality improvement programs into place, changing the way a product is designed, positioning the product differently in the marketplace, segmenting the marketing and offering different versions of the product to different consumer groups, implementing price increases or decreases, expanding through mergers and acquisitions, or downsizing the company by closing down or selling off parts of the company. Strategy implementation also entails designing the best organization structure and the best culture and control systems to put a chosen strategy into action. In addition, senior managers need to put a governance system in place to make sure that all within the organization act in a manner that is not only consistent with maximizing profitability and profit growth but also legal and ethical.
Task 4
The tools and techniques for crafting and executing business strategy will work for small business such as MIB. Because every business needs to establish their strategy on how they do their business or what will be their goal at the end of the day. It doesn't matter how many people run the business or it is sole trader ship or partnership or limited company and also resource not to be count for not setting up strategies. At MIB, Cynthia was the CEO and founder and started her business on the strength of a single inspiration but not a calculated plan.
Academic model so far been studied was not too complex and can implement into a small business or any types of business. Methods or models of academic theory so far can be used any types of business especially at MIB.
Some organizations go through a new cycle of the strategic planning process every year. This does not necessarily mean that managers choose a new strategy each year. In many instances, the result is simply to modify and reaffirm a strategy and structure already in place. The strategic plans generated by the planning process generally look out over a period of one to five years, with the plan being updated or rolled forward, every year. In most organizations, the results of the annual strategic planning process are used as input into the budgetary process for the coming year so that strategic planning is used to shape resource allocation within the organization.
The first component of the strategic management process is crafting the organization's mission statement, which provides the framework or context within which strategies are formulated. A mission statement has four main components: a statement of its reason for existence—which is normally referred to as the mission; a statement of some desired future state, usually referred to as the vision; a statement of the key values that the organization is committed to; and a statement of major goals.
MIB has a significance presence in the global commercial market with a stable rate of growth, a phenomenon which could be possibly explained because of the firm's constant development and the alternation of its marketing strategies in accordance with the local needs and culture of every country around the world. In this instance, the marketing strategy followed by the firm internationally will be evaluated and ability to identify commercial potentials of the local markets and the prospects for the future while the expansion in new markets could be criticized using as a basis the performance of the company in its existed operational centres around the world.
The major components of the strategic management process are defining the mission, vision, and major goals of the organization; analyzing the external and internal environments of the organization; choosing a business model and strategies that align an organization's strengths and weaknesses with external environmental opportunities and threats; and adopting organizational structures and control systems to implement the organization's chosen strategies.
Conclusion
A strategy helps to attain one or more business goals. A company has a competitive advantage over its rivals when it is more profitable than the average for all firms in its industry. It has a sustained competitive advantage when it is able to maintain above-average profitability over a number of years. In general, a company with a competitive advantage will grow its profits more rapidly than rivals. Even the best-designed strategic planning systems will fail to produce the desired results if managers do not use the information at their disposal effectively. Consequently, it is important that strategic managers learn to make better use of the information they have and understand why they sometimes make poor decisions. One important way in which managers can make better use of their knowledge and information is to understand how common cognitive biases can result in good managers making bad decisions.
Cynthia, CEO of MIB have to take decision to strengthen her human resource strategy by which they can recruit skill employee through proper recruitment process and retain them after provide quality of training and reward them as well annually when needed. It will help her to go to next level and fulfill her vision while set up MIB.
Bibliography
1.Making it Big (in Thompson, A.A., Strickland, A. J. and Gamble, J. (2005) Crafting and Executing- Strategy (Fourteenth Edition), McGraw-Hill, New York, pages C185 to C-196)
2.Cameron, S (1997) MBA handbook-study skills for managers, 3rd edition, Pitman publishing
3.Major, M (2006) Setting up and Running your own company, Easyway Guides, Brighton
4.Clarke G, (2007) Business Management, Business start up & future planning, Emerald Publishing, Brighton
5.Brassington F and Pettitt S (2003)- Principal of Marketing, 3rd edition, FT/ Prentice Hall
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