The LEGO Case Study
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?
In 2002 and beginning of 2003 LEGO struggle with low sales and an increase in their inventory levels due to an intensification of their competitors, adapting their process as LEGO did in the beginning
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It is important to notify that Lego Classics and Make & Create (core products) double the sales in that year. In the same year the company was struggling with another category of the business that was not part of their core business the LEGOLAND parks, providing limited return to the company.
The company had ambitious objectives with their own retail units, having as an objective to open three hundred stores, but the company realized that retail stores were a distraction to management making harder to focus in their core business and damaging the relationship with their main retailers, making clear that the company was struggling on creating profits in products that were not part of their core business, the strategies and objectives needed to be adjusted in order to turnaround the decrease in sales and profits of the
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He realized that the company didn’t focused in a product analysis to know where does the organization were creating and losing money. After his financial and capital analysis Ovesen set financial targets like manufacturing cost ratios, return on sales and measurements of returns on capital to the LEGOLAND parks.
With the help of Ovesen, the new top management realized that more than focusing in the long term objectives they needed to focus in the short term with an action plan that will help to achieve the long term objectives that the company set with their strategies. The company had cleared which were the objectives for the long-term, but they lose focus in the short-term and in their core products that provide to the company the differentiation to their competitors.
The main problems of the organization were that the company set strategies to achieve objectives that weren’t focused in the core business and set without considering how many resources and skills does the company would need to reach them, focusing their efforts in processes or products that didn’t add value to the company and decreasing the profits of the
Because of this rapid growth several challenges can present themselves. A primary challenge that can present itself is the lost of the boutique feel because of the hundreds of locations. Even though each boutique is different and personalized, opening too many locations may cause the retailer to lose its niche in the market. Another challenge is the many changes the company has gone through in upper level management. Because of the changes investors have been discouraged, as mentioned before, and shares were down 16% after the changes.
LEGO, today, has become a household name but it hasn't always been that successful. Throughout the years, it has survived and thrived against all odds, repeatedly.
The Lego Group tried to catch up the market trends during the period, but they ignored that the industry total profit pool decreased by 50% Between 1999 and 2003. It's naturally for players to reduce mass production and focus on core competency. However, the Lego Group invested significantly in expansion not only in brick-based product lines, but also beyond the brick. The expansion was not focusing on its core competency.
This made the business to face decreased sales and profits in its general operations. There were threats in the organization due to the establishment of large chain departmental stores which provided adequate competition to the operations of the firm. In order to increase its sales, the business could have used the promotional sales opportunities in order to establish the value of its products to the customers in the market.
After two years of success of their mission, the organization sunk to a big crisis with its members and the community. What use to be their strength became their weakness, what use to be their quality became their main problem what use to be their difference became their obstacles?
LEGO, like most companies in the toy industry are fighting to stay profitable in this
The high brand equity of Lego and other well established organizations offer another disadvantage to new entrants. Collaborations with the film industry helped Lego sustain market share and increase sales volume in the toy industry through franchise agreements on Harry Potter and Star Wars.
Lego, from the Danish words “leg godt” or play well, was founded by Danish carpenter Ole Kirk Christiansen in 1932 (Herman, 2012). Known for producing iconic studded plastic bricks that were enjoyed by both children and adults, Lego produced more than 30 Lego-based video games and, through licensing agreements, popular Star Wars and Harry Potter Lego sets (Baichtal & Meno, 2011). Lego also sold a series of Arctic sets including an Arctic Base Camp, Arctic Outpost, Arctic Helicrane, Lego Ice Crawler, and Arctic Snowmobile. Those sets sold for $89.99, $49.99, $39.99, $14.99, and $6.99 respectively. Lego’s 2014 film, The Lego Movie, grossed more
Based on the case study Lego appears to be using the Focus strategy. Michael Porter proposed three generic strategies Cost Leadership, Differentiation and Focus. Focus is a strategy where organization focuses on specific niche markets; this may include a particular geographic region or particular segment of customers. Organizations which use this strategy develop their products after having a study of dynamics of the segment and unique needs of customer. Lego before the appointment of the new CEO appear to use the focus strategy as their top priority was always to focus on innovation and creativity with taking profits into consideration. Add to that the case study also mention that Lego used to create products that primarily targeted boys. After the appointment of new CEO Jorgen Vig Knudstorp the company appears to have changed its policy form Focus to Cost-Leadership. Cost-Leadership is a strategy where organizations focus on gaining competitive advantage by offering products and services at the lowest possible price. They achieve this by increasing profits by reducing production cost and other way is to increase market share by reducing the prices of products compared to the competitors. Knudstorp after taking charge of Lego changed their focus on reducing the production
Ever since LEGO started experiencing double digit annual sales growth, (by launching new toy games, branded theme parks, entering the video game sector, introducing mobile applications, introducing toys for girls, etc.) they realized they needed a model that was standardized, modular and scalable. Hence, allowing them to expand to new markets in a less amount of time. They already had a decently established market in USA and UK; they were looking for an expansion in other countries as well. This model had to tackle major issues like scalability challenges, employee
1. What led the LEGO group to the edge of bankruptcy by 2004? Please focus on the management moves during “the growth period that wasn’t” (1993-98) and “the fix that wasn’t” (1999-2004).
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
By 2004 LEGO was racking up with misfortunes of around 1 million per/day. Knudstrop as the new CEO with his administration ability and insight in business methodology put LEGO in most commended position. The entire business had been a massive disappointment with the huge misfortunes that affected Knudstrop to reconsider the pay structure by focusing on the cream layer of the association.
Every organisation must plan every action it intends to take, in the short-term as well as in the long-term. The company, on the basis of the objectives set by the top management of the organisation should plan for growth, expansion, restructuring of business or otherwise. Every company needs to plan out its strategies according to its future plans in order to avoid surprises and to overcome any challenges they may have to face. Therefore, without planning, the organisation cannot achieve any of its goals.
The LEGO Group is a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. It was founded in 1932 by Ole Kirk Kristiansen, initially a small carpenter’s workshop (Lego Group, 2011). It has since grown into a modern, global enterprise that is now, in terms of sales, the world’s fourth-largest manufacturer of toys (Keynote, 2010). The LEGO Groups core product is a line of plastic, interconnecting building bricks, predominantly targeted at children aged 3-14 years, sold in over 130 Countries (Encyclopaedia of Consumer Brands, 1994). The LEGO Group operate globally in the Toys & Games sector, with the UK market valued at