Case Study : Discount Tire Company

CTC is definitely a company worth investing in. Due to the fact CTC is such diverse company no retailer in either the ‘brick and mortar or online’ sector competes directly with CTC. With so many departments and offerings for clients CTC is almost guaranteed to always be in a position of success because if one of its sectors were to experience any downfall there is a strong support system in place with its other offerings and strong and reliable history. A relatable way to truly appreciate the stable state of CTC is provided to the public on their website and listed as ‘Fun Facts’. Some of these facts that are the most interesting include: “The Canadian Tire Family of Companies sells enough rolls of hockey tape to connect Victoria and Halifax

Today’s companies are challenged by frequent changes in market demands and consumers’ desires for new products and services. Companies which fail to adapt to these changing conditions often find themselves struggling to survive. This is the situation for the Texas Plant, as described in the case study by Pryor, Humphreys, and Taneja (2011). The Vice President, Human Resources Director, and Organizational Development Manager find themselves not only facing the struggles of transforming the Texas Plant, but also the difficulties of working together to achieve it. The following paper describes these difficulties and examines how the actions of the leaders impacted the change process. Recommendations to assist the plant’s leadership in moving forward will be offered.

Two brothers John W. and Alfred J. Billes buy the Hamilton tire and Garage Ltd. with combined savings of $1800 in 1922 in Toronto. In 1923, Hamilton tire and Garage Ltd. was sold by the brothers and they moved to sides of Yonge and Gould under the Canadian tire. In 1927, the Canadian tire corporation was officially incorporated. The chain of Canadian Tire stores began in 1934, with their first associate store (it opened in Hamilton, Ontario).

One of the most important concepts that I learned about during the Leading Change course is that leaders must take a deliberate approach to change. Leaders use this approach because it involves thorough planning and purpose-driven actions that lead to the desired end state rather than leave the fate of the organization to happenstance. One of the primary models that we learned about during Leading Change is John Kotter’s Eight-Stage Process (2012). This model offers an organizational change template that addresses both the people and the processes of an organization so that leaders can pursue change effectively.

Leading and managing change require a solid theoretical foundation. This assignment will research the theoretical elements of change and change management. Addressed will be the following: Organic Evolution of Change, Formulating Strategic Development Approaches, Leadership and Management Skills and Gathering and Analyze Data. As societies continue to evolve and changing demand creates the need for new products and services, businesses often are forced to make changes to stay competitive. The businesses that continue to survive and even thrive are usually the ones that most readily adapt to change. A variety of factors can cause a business to reevaluate its methods of operation. According to literature from the past two

Treadway Tire Company is a supplier of tires to organizations that are original equipment manufacturer as well as tire markets and at the same time selling Treadway Primo, performance and private tire brands. Just like any organizations Treadway tire companies' faces various challenges including the increased prices of raw materials they need as well as a rise in competition globally. Apart from this there are also various personnel challenges that the organization faces such as an increased rates of foremen turnover within then organization as compared to other plants that are within the same division. This was due to some various morale issues that have been showing face particularly in the line-foreman segment that was slowly going to the entire plant.

John Kotter noticed that the way our world is changing is intensifying, but the ability we have to keep pace with this change and adapt to it, as an organization is difficult for us to do. That is why Kotter made an 8-step-process to give organizations the possibility to lead change in today’s world successfully. The first four steps mentioned describes the planning ahead in order to complete the change. Step five and six describes the actual changes in the organization, and, lastly, step seven and eight describes the maintenance of changes in the organization. If an organization follows the advices mentioned in all eight steps, they will ensure that the changes will succeed, according to Kotter.

J. P. Kotter devised an eight step model for change management. Its genesis, (aside from the 100 companies examined and scrutinised for inspiration) is seemingly derived and developed from Kurt Lewin 's simplistic 3-step change model (unfreeze-change-freeze) (Lewis, A. 2012). Kotter 's model deals with 'unfreezing ' in the first four steps, with the fifth and sixth stages tackling the 'change processes ' and the final two stages 'refreezing ' or as Kotter states: “Making it stick” (Ford, & Ford, 2017). Kotter’s model it is postulated goes into greater detail than his predecessor by looking thoroughly into the process of how the business should go about the whole issue of 'change '. He suggests

Canadian Tire Corporation has a supply chain that is unique to their business. With suppliers from all around the world, it is important for Canadian Tire to have a supply chain management system that allows inventory information to be accessed easily and fast. Two information systems are currently being used by CTC are Manugistics system (a supply chain management system) and, AS/400 which is used to track all inventory within the retail store. Many well-known companies continue to use AS/400, for example HSBC and Office Depot. CTC has international offices and partnerships with third party logistic companies which adds value to the company because it reduces cost, time and the amount of work needed for planning.

This model is an important roadmap for organizational leaders to utilize when implementing any type of lasting and successful change. The steps seem intuitive, but it is surprising how often they are neglected or not addressed, “this process is always easier when people know what they are getting into, feel supported, and are prepared for what lies ahead, both good and bad … this is the role of change management” (Mc Carthy and Eastman, 2010, p. 2). There are three phases in Kotter’s Change Management Model that involve different actions that must be accomplished within the

In 1979 Continental purchased the European tire factories of Uniroyal, the U.S. firm that was started its retreat from the tire business. As a result Continental obtained a second French factory and another German plant and factories in Scotland and Belgium. The other profit was the established marketing position of the Uniroyal brand. The acquisition of Kleber-Colombes, a financially troubled French firm in which Michelin held a major stake, was discussed, but not pursued in 1980.

Nowadays the world of business experiencing tough times and it has a big influence on the environment of the business. It is stated that different organizations throughout the world use SWOT analysis to identify the strong and weak margins of their businesses to work on further steps to develop the company. The previous task applied SWOT analysis of the “PIRELLI” giant automobile tyres manufacturer. Research helped to identify strong points of Pirelli as a big number of industrial plants spread across four continents as well as sales of the products in over 160 countries. However, the weak point of Pirelli is a small piece of market share in such developing economies like Middle East, Asia and Africa as well as less share in motorbike segment.

Ford motor company has been business for over a hundred and ten years. Ford also has a manufacturing arm, a credit business and dealer licensing. Additionally the company operates in Europe, North Africa, the Middle East and Asia. The segment is divide into categories for Ford North America, ford South America, Ford Europe and lastly Ford Africa and Asia-Pacific (Ford Motor company: Automotive, 2014).

A SWOT analysis is an effective tool for acquiring insight toward a company’s internal strengths and weakness and external opportunities and threats. P&G greatest strengths are their aggressiveness toward understanding consumer needs, strong research and development, and a diversification strategy. The company’s weaknesses are substantial competition in the consumer goods industry, and too much confidence placed in developed markets. On the other hand, there is opportunity in markets where countries are developing and experiencing industrialization, especially in countries where barriers to entry are low, and the company has a better chance of establishing brand identity. Although the company continues to sustain themselves in markets where there is a possibility of eroding their market share, as they rely heavily on the revenues they capitalize within these mature markets.

The company our group chose to analyze was Ford Motor Company. They are based out of Michigan with 181,000 employees and 65 plants worldwide. They currently sell on six continents and sold 2,493,918 vehicles in 2013. The Ford Motor Company Brand also includes Lincoln but it is only sold in North America.