Essay on High Performance Tires Executive Brief

Discount Tire Co. (2016) SWOT summarized the following analysis of the company, “Strengths: Comprehensive product and service portfolio, robust store operations and brand image and online shopping with interactive wheel system. Weaknesses: Private ownership and limited geographical spread increases its business risks. Opportunities: Positive outlook for the United States new cars market and establishment of new stores for business expansion. Threats: Intense competition and growing retail operations of other tire manufacturers” (Discount Tire Co, 2016, p. 12). This SWOT analysis if used properly, can help organizations make decisions that align their vision with their goals.

The company is the corporation’s question mark performer and has the potential of becoming a star performer given the limited competition in the market. The company has the advantage of the parent corporation’s 25-year-old positive reputation as a local family owned business known for the quality of their products.

Strategic management is very important in the business world. It is the way leaders or organizations steer their company to success over both the short- and long-term. It encompasses a host of decisions that range from what the company will produce, to how it will compete in its industry, to how it will grow over time. At the heart of strategic management is strategic planning. In this paper, the company Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, Inc., will be analyzed as a strategic plan is presented in regards to growing the business over the next three years.

These number will be used for predicting future financial statements later in this case study.

John Lewis is a British department store that operates in the United Kindom and is well known for its ‘Never Knowingly Undersold’ policy that brings quality products to the UK high streets and online shopping. A SWOT analysis is intended to analyse the organisation 's current status and its potential for the future. Morrison (2011, p. 158) states that a “SWOT analysis is a strategic tool used by businesses to assess the organisation 's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.” Using a SWOT analysis will encompass a detailed evaluation of the organisation for John Lewis, which could be used to benefit the company in the future. As Wetherly & Otter (2008, pp. 24-25) says “The capacity of a business to take advantage of opportunities and resist threats will depend on its internal strengths and weaknesses.” But if John Lewis has the internal strengths to undertake a change a SWOT analysis will help as it was “designed to enable an organisation to take into account internal and external factors that may affect its strategic planning decisions and thus improve its prospects of success” (Harrison, 2014, p. 6).

The Case Study concerning MacFarlane solutions is an interesting one to note down regarding strategic planning in an organization. From the information given, it appears that the small business expanded merely due to the insight of Bill MacFarlane and the planning that he gave forward. (McDonald 2011 pg. 736) Bill started off after working in a firm and having an experience of more than forty years. He specialized in what he knew and then gave forward what he was good out. There was risk in his ventures as the expert started out, however he trusted his instincts and went out with the planning.

Lima was one of Treadway’s best plants in terms of productivity and quality control because it updated its equipment and utilized new technology. However, currently, Lima undergoes dramatic changes: job dissatisfaction and high turnover at the foreman level. Moreover, misfortunes never come singly. The entire manufacturer industry is facing some huge challenges including drastic increase in raw material costs and fierce global competition. The director of human resources in Lima plant, Ashley Wall, intended to analyze the issues and make a action plan to address these problems. Ashley needs to do five steps.

Businesses in the same industry compete against each other to meet their organization goals and sustain competitive advantage over one another. But to meet those goals, it’s important for businesses to analyze their internal and external environment to allow them to come up with new business strategies beneficial to the business. Firms can use SWOT as a starting point. SWOT is a basic technique that can be used by business owners to analyze their business and industry condition (Dess, G., Lumpkin G.T., Eisner, A., McNamara, G, 2013). Using SWOT will help business owners understand the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of their business. It would help them analyze and come up

a. The Wallace Group suffers from moving back and forth from an entrepreneurial mode to adaptive mode in its decision making. This can be clearly seen from the early days of Harold Wallace running all three businesses, reacting to existing problems as they arise, to the more recent events of settling unresolved disputes between Corporate

SWOT analysis is a popular analysis tool used in different situations that include not just business and marketing but also project planning and personal career development (Chapman 1995-2012). As for the strategic planning, Kenneth Andrews popularized his idea that good strategy means keeping a fit between the external situations a firm faces and the internal capabilities (Hill and Westbrook, 1997). The format the SWOT analysis presented is a 2x2 'internal/external' matrix, in which questions and relative answers can be listed for analysis (chapman 1995-2012). And according to Hill and Westbrook (1997), the output of SWOT analysis comes from meetings facilitated by consultants or managers to contribute the final analysis. Brainstorming can be used for filling in the sections to answer the questions. In addition, similar arguments should be concluded and ranked according to their answers in meetings (Rauch, 2007). As for the newly developed analysis, the TOWS matrix matching the various factors enables companies to stimulate new strategic initiative (Dyson, 2004).

This paper highlights the creation of Lowe’s Home Improvement strategic plans utilizing the SWOT analysis that are in alignment with the Lowe’s mission and vision statements. The strategic plan which is define as “plans cover a large span of time that is several years or decades” (Gabrielle Brown, 2014), that covers plans that are in general manner that pertains to nonspecific and less-detailed format. On the other hand, an operational plan usually covers one year and provides very fine details on how the tasks are done daily (Gabrielle Brown, 2014).

Back in 1898, Frank Seiberling created, The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company. It is based in Akron, Ohio.

The main problem from McDonald's case, McDonald's Polishing the Golden Arches, is how to classify McDonald's strategy through Plan to Win into one of the five generic competitive strategies. Before we solve this main problem, we should determine the chief economic and business characteristics, the five forces analysis, and also the driving forces of the fast-food industry. After that we identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats by using SWOT analysis. Finally, we classify McDonald's strategy into one of the five generic competitive strategies.

4. How does this case illustrate how strategic intent needs to be matched by both organizational capability and managerial competence; and show how such

A flat tire is really inconvenient. Those who have used a car or even a vehicle may have at one time or another experienced this ordeal. Sometimes when somebody is headed to a very important occasion and is very descent he or she may experience a flat tire while on his or her way to the occasion. Motorists in the last century used to change tires by the road side more often unlike now. There are a few tips that one can use to mitigate this situation.