Photocopier Case Study

Casturn hired a consulting company that possibly didn’t have the best interest of Casturn as its core motivation. The consulting company was paid on POTENTIAL cost savings and identification instead of a results oriented contract. Due to this structure, it became about quantity of parts that can be included in the bid instead of identifying the top say twenty percent of parts that, if managed well, could have yielded both companies a lucrative cost savings in the resourcing effort. In addition, the consulting company exited the process after the initial stages giving no one accountability to carry the resourcing effort to fruition.

Peter Bremner, general manager for Northern Drilling Inc. (Northern) was looking over the RFP for an upcoming exploration contract for one of Canada’s largest mining companies, Mond Nickel Company (Mond). The RFP consisted of 2 projects, a Deep/Complex job (3,000m holes) and an Intermediate/Routine job (1,800m holes). The proposal was due in 3 weeks and Peter had to make a decision whether to send a proposal on either Deep or Intermediate jobs, both jobs, or whether to bid at all.

Based on the textbook and my understanding, whenever there are negotiations between a procurer and a supplier regarding a competitive bidding, the first thing that might be favored is the scope of the project, meaning both will sit down and discuss the entire project prior the work begins. Meanwhile, during the negotiations, evaluation criteria should be clear, and stated and defined. As the evaluation is based on the criteria stated and the procurer can request or ask the supplier’s opinions on certain specifications and where things can be improved.

Part 15 of the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) “prescribes [the] policies and procedures governing competitive and noncompetitive negotiated acquisitions.” One component of negotiated acquisitions that occurs early in the acquisition process is the solicitation of proposals. FAR 15.201, titled, “Exchanges with Industry before Receipt of Proposals,” regulates the type and manner of communications, also sometimes referred to as exchanges, which can – and cannot – take place between the Government and potential suppliers prior to the receipt of a potential supplier’s proposal and the subsequent award of a contract.

There was no formal bidding process. In addition, it appeared that not all bidders were treated equally. This can be seen when the bidding process was opened back up after the contractors were narrowed down to

This would include human abilities, process capabilities, financial resources, products and services, customer goodwill and brand loyalty.

Weaknesses: no success abroad; low brand awareness; lack of the international experience of the executives; etc.

These are the strengths within your organisation. What exactly is it about you and your business that is better than the competition? Examples might include quality products, advanced technology, advanced knowledge and a long established business. Identifying the strengths of your current business or a new venture can improve the efficiency of your sales and marketing efforts – it helps you to visualise the unique selling point of your business which helps you write better sales copy, create better sales letters, make more successful sales calls and develop smarter marketing campaigns.

It lacks thorough understanding of its target market (the needs of the present and future customers).

Essentially, with the current cost system, the managerial analysis is highly flawed due to a lack of crucial in-depth cost information, as indicated by:

Strengths include highly innovative product (main competitive advantages over debeaking arriving into savings from reduced cannibalization, trauma elimination, better feed

Strengths include highly innovative product (main competitive advantages over debeaking arriving into savings from reduced cannibalization, trauma

Potential Internal StrengthsRespected companySuperior managementBetter marketing skillsAlliances with other firmsGood distribution skillsCommitted employeesWell trained employeesGrowing product line

A company’s strengths are found within their own company and members. Depending on how well and to what extent a company uses its resources determines just what its strengths are. These strengths may be what they do better than other companies, what they do different from other

In addition to the strengths outlined above, we have also identified several weaknesses that the company must overcome to be successful. Our key weaknesses are: