Case Study : Mackinnon Equipment And Services

“People think about trucking as a meat and potatoes business where you pick something up and then deliver it to a destination, but it’s not that simple, it’s a highly competitive business, and in order to thrive, firms need to implement innovations that will give them a competitive edge.”

Assuming that the company’s goal is to maximize profits, the current cost system is not an appropriate tool for strategic planning. The ambiguity of the overhead costs per product makes it difficult to accurately analyze the cause and effect relationships of changes and/or improvements to specific product line.

We evaluated our company’s position in the industry, and found ourselves in an excellent starting position to further develop our products and match them to the industry’s needs. Our market share is adequate and we can advance further with our strategy improve and reposition our products in the coming years. We have underutilized capacity, which we intend to improve, while increasing automation to reduce costs. We have plans to improve our promotion to improve product awareness and with the appropriate product lines we will increase price to improve margins and better align our high-end product image. Our current financial position is optimistic, showing our leverage (Assets/Equity) at 2.0, when our goal is to maintain 1.5-2.0 overall. By utilizing the analysis tools we are learning what elements are driving demand, how to effectively tailor our products through R&D, how best to adjust our marketing and pricing, while lowering input costs, in order to improve margins and to ensure our stakeholders are all satisfied.

WalMart's (NYSE:WMT) expertise in discount retailing is globally recognized, as is their supply chain and extensive logistics capabilities. What differentiates WalMart from the many other discount retailers is their extensive reliance on buyer personas or representations of their customers. All aspects of the WalMart value chain are predicated on serving their customers as cost-effectively and efficiently as possible. WalMart has also created an extensive information systems network that includes satellite uploads of data on a daily basis from their thousands of retail locations to their Bentonville, Arkansas headquarters (WalMart Investor Relations, 2013). The intent of this analysis is to evaluate the mission, vision and strategy of WalMart from the perspective of improving its customer service while also taking into account its financial position. To accomplish this, objectives are provided, combined with performance measures and expected levels of performance as well. All of these factors taken together provide senior management at WalMart with insights into how they can profitably improve customer service.

DO YOU AGREE WITH MR. WILSON 'S ESTIMATE OF THE COMPANY 'S LOAN REQUIREMENTS? HOW MUCH WILL HE NEED TO FINANCE THE EXPECTED EXPANSION IN SALES TO $ 5.5 MILLION IN 2006 AND TO TAKE ALL TRADE DISCOUNTS?

In this case study, we will be analyzing the current position of how well Kingsford is within the marketplace and determine which of the issues are plausible causes in its drop in revenue. We will be creating a comprehensive strategy as well as a marketing plan to evaluate and adjust the matter at hand. First we will begin with identifying the issues and implementing a method to reemphasize the importance of marketing in the business. The goal is to create a marketing plan that will add value to Kingsford’s market share, sales, and profitability.

* Sales results over the past 5 years indicated strong growth in forklift and truck sales. The rental market has been in decline. Result in company decided to reposition itself to focus solely on retail sales and service and exit the rentals market.

To achieve these objectives with a limited budget, MM’s marketing strategy had to centre on value provision. Building on MM’s original strengths, we saw the opportunity to delight customers with superior power-to-size ratio. We identified Segments A and C as our primary and secondary target segments, as their needs fell within the optimal zone where our product positioning could provide a difference. With the need to reverse declining market share and boost customer satisfaction, aggressive investment in MM’s R&D was necessary to build a strong and positive brand name for our power-efficient motors and manage internal costs. This allowed us to price our motors to create value for customers while extracting value for our business. Enhanced increased in our sales representatives and marketing communications were identified as critical in communicating MM motors’ value to customers, and formed the key differentiators in managing MM’s dual sales force and distributor channels.

Product Innovation – Innovation of new products had failed many times and MTI has lost reputation with Wall Street. This process had been placed on the backburner and when the CEO came on board there were only six products in the pipeline. Therefore, to be successful in the future, MTI needs to invest more in R&D and focus on delivering new products.

Accordingly, “major new-product development activity was replaced by incremental product line extensions” (p.56) that resulted in a major revenue stall. The premature core abandonment cause is illustrated with the Kmart example. While the company was investing in a range of unrelated businesses searching for growth, Wal-Mart developed effective distribution and inventory systems. Kmart’s management failed to monitor and match these systems and fell far behind its rival. Hitachi’s example illustrates the talent bench shortfall. One of the leading causes of the stall was the company had executive management that lacked capabilities.

Our intentions are to grow company profits and obtain a high/dominant market share within the Crossover vehicle class.

Hardee Transportation is a small truckload business, and it is currently faced with a problem that practically every company has; how to better serve its customers, and maintain a profitable return. It is essential that companies such as these evaluate their operations to ensure that it possesses the most efficient way to manage their assets. There is a great concern for these companies considering that the competition is out there, providing the same services at a lower cost, or accommodating their customer needs more fittingly. Hardee Transportation must take a look at their operations and come up with some plausible solutions to increase their revenue operations,

In mid-September 2005, Ashley Swenson, the CFO of large CAD/CAM equipment producer must choose whether to pay out profits to the firm¡¦s investors or repurchase stock. On the off chance that Swenson pays out profits, she should likewise settle on the extent of the payout.

When a company grows it achieves economies of scale, it increases its market shares and thus wipes out competition. A company starts making more profits and can use these in constructive ways such as employing specialist workers and improving the variety and quality of products, by delving more into research and development. These are only some of the

The main focus of Jeff’s corporate strategy is customer service. Instead of focusing on the competition, he focuses on how he can improve his customers’