Case Study
Introduction
Healthy Potion (HP) is a small, unique business operating within the $1.1 billion Australian functional beverage industry (Gargano 2014). HP specialises in the production and sale of a single health beverage product. In the past two years the company has made significant profits and has found a niche in the industry with a loyal customer base. However, reliance on a single product raises concerns about instability and profitability in the future and thus HP’s vision has evolved into one of growth and expansion. Through the use of a SWOT analysis coupled with Porter’s Five Forces Model, this report will explore potential business development strategies and will recommend, along with a fund raising plan, the most
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Weaknesses:
• Reliance on single supplier: Porter (2008) argues that if a supplier has significant control over an important input in a firm’s production process, changes in the supplier’s condition is outside the firm’s control. Therefore if the supplier increases the price of its product, HP is forced to pay this new price thus increasing expenses.
• Branding: Porter (1979) suggests that brand recognition particularly in the beverages industry provides a barrier of entry to new firms. HP does not have a recognisable brand, thus, if a firm with a successful marketing campaign entered the industry, HP could lose market share very rapidly.
• Size: As a sole proprietorship with one supplier and one brick and mortar store, HP has a small presence in the market with limited channels of distribution. According to Stan (1946) HP therefore lacks the resources for long-term financing and R&D. Legal battles and stringent government regulation will also become a problem.
Opportunities:
• Positive image: HP has had no public relation hiccups. A survey conducted by Ipsos MORI, found that 83% of consumers say that a company’s social responsibility is important when considering a purchase (Ramrayka 2006). This is to HP’s advantage because having done nothing ethically irresponsible, consumers are more likely to be satisfied with their purchase.
• Growing market: HP is operating
However, regardless of its advantage, sole sourcing of supply is usually considered as risky decision since the company has to rely on the sole supplier. Therefore, it may result in a catastrophic event which is delay in shipment or stop production if the sole supplier has problems in terms of producing machines. Also, the supplier may become complacent or financial problems may occur if ACE increases the cost of production. Thus, maintaining the strong relationship between companies is crucial.
Bargaining power of suppliers: This force analyzes how much power a business 's supplier has and how much control it has over the potential to raise its prices, which, in
Bargaining power of supplier: High levels of competition among suppliers act to reduce prices to producers. This is a positive for Ford Motor Company. Standardization of parts allowed Ford to reduce dependency on fixed supplier/vendor which goes into producer’s favor.
The SWOT-driven strategic plan is New Belgium’s Brewery (NBB) competitive advantage, the most important and the cornerstone of the company’s strategic focus (Ferrell & Hartline, 2014). The purpose of a SWOT analysis is to collect marketing information via a situation analysis which identifies the advantages and disadvantages of New Belgium’s Brewery (Ferrell & Hartline, 2014). A SWOT analysis provides a strategic focus for New Belgium’s Brewery marketing efforts (Ferrell & Hartline, 2014). The process of collecting information for the situation analysis is done by first identifying New Belgium’s internal strengths and weakness (Quast, 2013). As well as identifying New Belgium’s external opportunities and threats (Quast, 2013).
Suppliers generally have a moderate to high bargaining power within the industry due to the limited number of suppliers which forces aviation companies to choose from the number available and accordingly to accept their prices. In fact, fuel is the second highest cost for aviation companies. There are highly depended on supplier’s prices and the availability which indicates on a relatively high bargaining power of suppliers. In addition, there are high switching costs which are strongly in favor of the suppliers and means that the company experiences an increase in operating costs when switching to another supplier as flying another type of aircraft leads to additional costs (maintenance, training etc.).Aircrafts are vulnerable to delays due to the location of gate locations which leads to a decrease in utilization and therefore to an increase in costs.
Catherine, W., Tat Pui, L. and Henrik, U. (2011) The Roles of Branding for a Brand Entering
I will never see the day when there is not yet room for improvement. Through time, HP's focus on innovation had brought the world products such as the handheld calculator and the inkjet printer. In 1992, the company continued to invest heavily in technology, spending $1.6 billion or 10% of revenue on research and development. The high levels of investment have paid off. For three straight years, over half of HP's orders had been for products introduced within the last two years.
If suppliers are limited, they have a greater opportunity to charge higher prices for raw materials, and they may also pose a threat of forward integration to the industry. Similarly, if an industry has few buyers, or buyers can cheaply and easily change suppliers, they can make demands for less expensive higher quality products, causing impact to profit (Porter, 2008, p. 83).
For example, Boeing and Airbus supply most commercial aircraft. The concentration within the suppliers segment of the industry makes it very difficult for competitors to exercise leverage over another supplier and obtain lower prices. The power of the supplier is one key in prohibiting the ability of competitors to earn higher profits.
A supplier group have even more power over an industry if it is dominated by a few companies, there are no substitute products, the industry is not an important consumer for the suppliers, their product is essential to the industry, the supplier differs costs, and forward integration potential of the supplier group exists. Labor supply can also influence the position of the suppliers. These factors are generally out of the control of the industry or company but strategy can alter the power of
Supplier Power: This highlights that it is easy for suppliers to rise up their prices. This is determined by the number of suppliers, the uniqueness of their product, their control over the buyer, and the cost of changing from one buyer to another. The scarcer the supplier choices you might have, and the more you need the help and that
However, though Fiorina’s tenure was not a perfect one, board members of HP insisted Fiorina was correct in her vision and strategic plan for HP. Reviewing the company figures, although Fiorina did not meet her own financial target, and the market share of the most lucrative printer business has decreased, HP has obtained larger market share of personal computers (from 7.7% to 15%) and servers ( from 14% to 31.7%) from 1999 to 2004.
HPs business model is advantageous because their customers have more choice in purchasing options, they can buy online, but if they need more assistance they can buy from a store where advice will be provided. Although this is good for the customer, it has detrimental effects on HPs traditional
Competitors might face increasing costs when firms deliberately increase the price of supplies or when competitors are forced to bid for remaining inputs. However, this does not mean it will increase competitor’s cost if supplies are available from alternative suppliers.
The Competition: Suppliers need to be able to keep costs down, in order to keep