Goodyear Aquatred Case

Assuming that Kodak Gold Plus sells about 20% of its yearly sales during off-seasons, the resulting cannibalisation will amount to:

The competitive advantage for Canadian Tire stems from the dependency on its dealers and how they interact with their local economy and community. As the dealers are at the front line in garnering profits and attracting and retaining customers, it is critical that they adjust the supplies and stocks accordingly to the needs of their community. The competitive advantage for the Canadian Tire brand relies on three key elements that the dealers possess in order to support a growing and profitable business. According to the Canadian Tire Annual Report (2010), the brand depends on the “business instincts, [the dealer’s] connection and commitment to their communities and their local market insights to ensure [they’re] offering relevant products at competitive prices” (p. 29).

1. Do you think Mercury is an appropriate target for AGI? Why or why not?

Although surveys showed customers were very satisfied with Pioneer products, the sales force was unhappy and felt the lower margins were unacceptable. This drove a few dealers to speak disparagingly about Pioneer products and use bait and switch tactics to create profits for themselves. Mitchell knew the dealers’ support was critical to the current distribution chain, but he couldn’t go back to the old incentives. To continue to be profitable and adapt to the new electronics market, Pioneer reconsider its current distribution network.

This case involves a male and female Hispanic, entering TJ Maxx during business hours, and concealing various items in their bags. The suspects attempted to leave the store without paying for the items. Loss Prevention Agent Sergio Castro made contact with the suspects at the front entrance and retrieved all of the loss except for a black Michael Kors purse, valued at $159.99.

Multiple alternatives have surfaced for Kootenay including facility expansion, financing and channel distribution. These opportunities can assist Kootenay to address the growing demand in Canada and North American for high-quality customized frame bicycle market.

You have recently been hired as the HR manager responsible for two separate Ontario locations belonging to Wilson Brothers Limited. You have been asked by the HR Director at the head office in Brandon, Manitoba, to quickly provide a report on any initial HR issues related to Recruitment and Selection, Compensation and Benefits, Health and Safety, Training and Development and Labour and Employee Relations that are affecting or will affect the Cambridge operation and the new plant in Scarborough. The HR Director has made it very clear that Wilson Brothers would like both the Cambridge location and the new plant in Scarborough to remain union-free and are willing to offer very competitive wages and benefits

The information goes to the company's "tactical pricing group" in Akron. The 10-person group tries to determine whether the competitor's offer is for real, using information gleaned from what it knows of the other company's strategy in that area, and more importantly, whether Goodyear could make money if it matches the offer. Goodyear has had a pricing team since 1998, but it didn't have final say on such deals until January. To really gain control of prices -- and increase them -- Goodyear had to crack down on the deep discounts it gives its largest distributors. The prices were so low that regional distributors were loading their warehouses and reselling the tires outside their own area. Even with the added cost of transportation, they were able to cut into Goodyear's own sales to its smaller distributors, forcing the street price of Goodyear's tires down.

Bed, Bath and Beyond (BBBY) currently has $400 million more in cash than they need for ongoing growth and operations requirements. While the company is financially sound analysts and investors worry about the company’s capital structure decisions. Investors do not want to see that much cash on the books and worry that the current capital structure is not the most effective for the future. They prefer that BBBY change their capital structure by paying out excess cash and issuing debt. This could allow BBBY to improve their return on equity and raise earnings per share. Given the low interest rates available it seems like the perfect time for BBBY to add debt to its capital structure. Until now they

Based on our projections for the years 2002-2004, the biggest driver that effects debt is the company’s operating expenses. Based on the history of the upward trend of operating expenses, our recommendation is that The Body Shop needs to concentrate on lowering the operating expenses, and keeping those expenses around 45% or lower in order to avoid borrowing money. Our 45% recommendation includes a safety net which will prevent having The Body Shop borrowing cash if sale do not continue to climb at a significant rate.

Additionally, as expressed by Rebecca Ratner, Hsieh’s commitment to merging the workplace with social lives could present risk to the company in the form of unprofessional or inappropriate conduct that is not addressed properly.

1.a) To value Spyder Active Sports Inc., we decided to use the WACC method since we can easily value its cost of assets with the data immediately available to us in the case. We first unlevered the beta’s of 7 comparable companies and took the average to get a comparable unlevered beta for Spyder (Exhibit 1). Since we are assuming Spyder is entirely equity financed, its unlevered asset beta is equal to the beta of its assets. We now have a rough estimate of Spyder’s asset beta, we can

2. Compares the returns of the asset to the market over a period of time (Beta)

The brand story was considered very strong. It is a high end brand that accounts such as Bloomingdales, Nordstrom, etc. appreciated because it was the best performing brand. It could have been too strong, before the repositioning, because it shifted certain segments away. People associated the brand as for older people, well established in their careers as well as a mom/grandmother brand. It had a very strong brand loyalty associated with it. As the company grew older so did its customers. Some people did not want to be associated with that, and did not buy the brand; therefore shifting younger segments away.

This report presents an analysis of The Body Shop PLC’s pro forma financials from 2002-2004 and insights into financial requirements for the company as it moves forward with their new strategies for achieving operational efficiencies and reclaim its brand image as a top manufacturer-retailer in the beauty and personal care industry.