Strategic management
Strategic management
These are the critical thinking strategic questions from Strategic management.
Note
- For number one, you will need to conduct some outside research. Your organization (an American Manufacturer) is considering going abroad. After careful consideration, the organization has determined two finalists for its global expansion: Africa or Indonesia. Your organization has determined that the product that the company manufacturers would be a good fit in either country. The question your organization is pondering is which country would be a better fit from an external/industry environment perspective as well as a cultural perspective. Based on the text and outside research, identify, and compare cultural similarities and differences as well as external/industry factors between Africa or Indonesia and determine which country would be a good cultural fit for your American organization?
2. In this scenario, you are a small business consultant, and although you have expertise in all aspects of business your specialty is marketing. Two weeks ago, you were contacted by “Beautiful You” (a small business jewelry distributor), requesting your services. Beautiful You is selling an Emerald Lab Created Diamond. Here is the description:
Product: Emerald Lab Created Diamond
Carat: 1.01
Cost: $1374
Check out this link for a better description https://www.cleanorigin.com/emerald-lab-created-diamond-26106868007b/
Consider this information:
This diamond is basically a Cubic Zirconia (CZ), which is a synthetic manufacturer diamond. In other words, it is a fake diamond that looks like a real one. Many experts indicate CZ’s sparkles like a diamond, looks and feels like a diamond, and have all the characteristics of a real diamond. In fact, it is only when a gemologist closely examines the item that they can tell the difference.
The CZ’s have been around for several years, and when they first came out, they were a fraction of the cost of a real, authentic diamond. Although CZs were not as expensive as real diamonds, they have increased in cost through the years due to the demand for them. The reason for the demand is people did not want to pay the high price for a real diamond when they could get one that resembled the real thing for a cheaper price.
According to research, a real, authentic 1.04 carat diamond that is like the Emerald Lab Created Diamond (the fake one) will cost approximately $5700. Although the Emerald Lab Created Diamond is cheaper at $1374, that is still a lot of money to spend for a fake diamond.
So, based on this information, the owners of Beautiful You have asked you the following questions (which is your assignment)
- Who is their target market for this product? Consider the four types of segmentations which are demographics, behavioral, psycho-graphical, and geographic. You are free to use all the types of segmentation or only one or two. Whatever you think is best. The only requirement for this portion of the assignment is that you use demographics for sure. The reason for this is the demographics is the most widely used type of segmentation. Remember to be specific in your description. For example, when using demographics, be specific with age range, income range, educational level, etc.
- Consider the marketing mix for this product (the 4 Ps) Price, Place, Product, and Promotion. You already know the price ($1374) and you have determined your target market from question (a), so based on this information,
- Place – in what stores should their product be sold?
- Promotion – what is the best means of promotion and advertising? Think about this. Where does the target market get the information? Should they use social media or online sells be considered? How so? How would you position this product?
- Product – what need or want does this address?
- Positioning (See the video from Week Seven) – How do you position this product? How do you want your market, and the public to perceive this product? Here is an example of positioning. Sanderson Farms positions their product (chicken) as the only producer that does not use steroids in their chicken. While other companies do, Sanderson Farms remain organic, pure, and healthy just for you. Positioning is simply how you want to be seen and through of by your market
3.Thompson and Associates (TA) is a large trucking company in the transportation industry. TA is based in the Houston Area. Their delivery territory goes:
- As for west as Santa Fe, New Mexico,
- As for north as Oklahoma City, Oklahoma,
- As for east as New Orleans, Louisiana, and
- They make deliveries as for south as Brownsville, Texas.
- They are known for always being on-time with their deliveries not to mention they deliver exactly what was ordered. As mentioned, the organization takes pride in their on-time delivery. In fact, they have earned numerous awards for their on-time performance and their name has become synonymous with on-time delivery. TA consider this a sustained competitive advantage because no one in the industry can duplicate what they do. According to a survey conducted by TA, one hundred percent of their customers indicated the company had never been late delivering products.
TA’s trucks are always on the road and the drivers face a tight schedule, but that does not seem to be an issue because TA has an incredible logistics operation. They are very effective in how they how they get their truck’s loaded and back on the road.
For the last week, the National Weather Service has been talking about the potential of an ice storm that could hit later in the week. The weather service indicated early on they did not think the components of an ice storm was going to form because the arctic front was hundreds of miles way behind the rain. In fact, the only way the ice storm would come to fruition is if the arctic front accelerated.
Tim Thompson, the transportation manager, receives a weather bulletin about an hour ago that indicated the arctic blast had indeed accelerated and was moving much faster than first calculated. In fact, the fast-moving arctic front with blizzards conditions was to hit the Oklahoma City Area within seven hours. The storm is forecasted to go as far south as the Dallas/Ft Worth area. TA has a truck that is about to leave for Oklahoma City delivering lifesaving medical supplies to Oklahoma General Hospital. Oklahoma General does not keep a lot of supplies on hand because they subscribe to Just-in-Time Inventory system. It normally takes about six hours to make this run to Oklahoma General Hospital. The Texas Department of Transportation (TXDOT) is reporting that roads will be very hazardous within the next four hours. In fact, TXDOT has indicated that it would take approximately four hours to get from south Dallas to north Dallas.
Based on this, Tim realizes their reputation could be at stake as for as on-time delivery. This would be the first time they have ever been late. Not only is their reputation in jeopardy, so are the lives of the patients at Oklahoma General that need those life-saving supplies.
For this question, pretend, you are Tim. What do you do in this situation? Consider your company is delivering lifesaving supplies and you want to keep your reputation, but you must also be mindful of the ethical aspect and doing the right thing for your loyal and dedicated employees.
