1. What has led the LEGO group to the edge of bankruptcy? External threats (macro PEST, micro Porter’s 5 forces) giant conglomerates dominating industry (risk of being taken over) p.2 competing rising costs while competitors outsource p.2 pressure from big retail customers with power? e.g. Walmart, Target p.2 negative industry trends in toy industry p.1 1) fad toys are rising and product life cycles declining. threat of shortening/declining life cycle despite rise of fad toys, steady growth of industry at 4% 2) children had more afterschool activities and less unscheduled time to play 3) demand shifts towards technology (inc., videogames and online activities 4) parents prefer to buy toys which they …show more content…
Despite their strategy being that of following Disney, it is not Disney and their competences and strengths would be different (LEGO started as a toy manufacturer with cutting edge capabilities in material science, not as a film, character based company that built a costly themepark to bring these films/Walt's imagination to life, as a brand Lego is more tangible andin order to understand its brand people need to touch the bricks) Yet, expansion tended to be done inhouse p.4 which means HUGE COSTS to manage that huge portfolio 1998 Huge investments did not result in positive sales results hence losses 1999 2004 structure reforms, production costcutting, consolidation (retail vertical integration) with Plougmann, employee morale still there? p.5 Continued product development and market development Yet a lot of problems still needed fixing: not understanding consumer demands (changing of
Did you know that LEGOs can boost young children’s engineering skills (MIT School of Engineering)? It’s true! Studies show that LEGOs can prove important for developing skills used later in life. From pink, to blue, to long or thick, LEGOs are building blocks that come in all colors, shapes and sizes. With dots on the top, and holes on the bottom, LEGOs are designed to interlock enable to form structures. LEGOs help many young children develop skills such as early engineering, fine motor skills, an creativity.
The use of LEGOs is an extraordinary thing, but it is shocking to see exactly how controversial a small toy can become. People of all ages have been found to enjoy this toy. Companies and organizations such as MIT and NASA have even found a use for them. The toy has become known as a child’s imagination tool and has not been exclusively used for adults. The documentary shows that adults come together to compete in competitions on who can create the greatest LEGO sculpture. Many people may not know just how big this toy is used around the world.
For example, as the ad says, it builds pride. You can’t teach a kid to have pride in their own work. It is something that happens just by the child learning themselves. This is important because having self-pride in your work is a life skill needed later on in life. Lego toys also open up a child’s imagination. Lego blocks all look the same when they are by themselves. When a child puts Lego blocks together it can become anything the child wants with imagination. A growing imagination is important to a child’s development as a person. When a parent understands this, it is hard for a parent to say no, this isn’t a good toy for my child. Also, what other toy could you substitute a Lego toy for that would teach the same lessons? This is the Logos part of this advertisement. Lego inadvertently makes a strong convincing case to buy their product, because of the self-conscious lessons it teaches to
The Cheesecake Factory is a successful restaurant in the urban areas in the United States of America (Kliman, 2006). The restaurant is popular because of the large proportions of food that it offers as well as its large menu. The company usually hires professional and qualified staff. This makes the company have fancy during service (Gabriel, 2008). The company has 165 restaurants in 29 states of the United States. David Overton founded the company in 1978. Since then, the company started growing a t high rate. The company later expanded to Middle East. There is a high expectation that the company will expand to other parts of the world in the near future. If this happens, the company will among the most successful company in the world
1) How did information systems and the organization design changes implemented by Knudstorp align with the changes in business strategy?
just building blocks. Due to the different segments that make up the toy industry, buyer power is
Lego President and CEO Jørgen Vig Knudstorp was surprised when Greenpeace activists, in an attempt to stop Arctic drilling, mounted a campaign criticizing his popular toy company for its cobranding relationship with Shell Oil. At first, Knudstorp and his executive team at Lego headquarters in Billund Denmark didn’t quite understand Greenpeace’s criticism. Was the criticism justified? Why didn’t Greenpeace tackle Shell directly? Would Greenpeace’s campaign be taken seriously or would it simply fade away? As Greenpeace beefed up its efforts through social media, Lego’s top management was left wondering how to respond to Greenpeace or whether they should respond at all. And more importantly, executives didn’t know whether Lego should continue its business relationship with Shell.
Advances in the field of information technology and introduction of new hi-tech form of entertainment such as tablets and gaming consoles had left Lego trailing in the entertainment field. Jorgen Vig Knudstorp was appointed as the CEO to revamp the company’s business process, organization structure and information systems. Knudstorp was quick to act and first made changes in the company’s production process. He encouraged designers to use the unused components in development of new products and design, thus reducing the number of unused
Product differentiation strategy: Lego was facing stiff competition from its Canadian rival Mega Blocks. They used the product
As we have seen strategies will provide to organizations a unique position in the market, making hard to our competitors to copy the competences achieved by those strategies differentiating us from them. Strategies also help organization to achieve the objectives in the long-term, focusing in not losing the core business, but what happen when the long term strategies are not supported by an action plan? What happen when the objectives are set without considering the resources and skills which the company will need to achieve them?
As their name and ideal, Lego has been beloved by the children as well as the parents for decades. Not only as plastic toy bricks, but also effective educational tools, the LEGO Company enjoyed continuous growth and broaden the global brand value. The LEGO brand moved to third place in 2002/2003 with only Coca-cola and Kellogg having greater respect among families with children. Even though as the overall toy market faces challenges, LEGO’s revenue and profits are increasing rapidly, especially since 2005. This profitability didn’t change even in the current recession in the global market. The LEGO Group achieved record-breaking profits in
Currently, LEGO is one of the world’s leading manufactures of play materials. The company is guided by the motto, “Only the best is good enough,” committing to the development of children and aiming to inspire and develop the builders of tomorrow through creative play and learning. Valuing imagination, creativity, fun, caring, quality, and learning is what drives LEGO Group. By sticking to these values, LEGO holds themselves to the expectations that the people have towards the company and its products.
Lego's key strengths may be seen as coming from both its brand recognition and its ability to use innovative
In 2111, Prof. Sethi and colleagues disclosed that Mattel Inc. had played a part in, what many would consider, unacceptable business practices (p. 483). Although Mattel took actions to investigate the level to which practices were truly occurring, they had also promised to remediate all noted unacceptable practices. One of the unacceptable business practices that was uncovered was the mandating of certain employee groups required to live in company dormitories and were not permitted to utilize any other options for housing. Was this practice a form of discrimination? In order to decide if the business practice and any alternatives are fair and ethical for all, resulting in the greatest amount of good for the greatest number of people, the scenario will be run through the EthicsOps.com’s Utility Test.
Strategy literature offers many techniques and models suited for systematic strategic analysis. The SWOT analysis, the PESTEL analysis, the Five Forces analysis framework are the prime examples of techniques that can be adopted for strategic analysis. This assignment will use PESTEL and Five forces model to analysis the environment of CRH plc.