Yellowtail Marine

Research & Development: We will concentrate our existing product line into the Low End and Traditional segments. The traditional product will migrate to the Low End segment. The High product will migrate to the Traditional segment. During the early years we will migrate (gradually) our Performance and Size segment products to the Traditional segment. We can also introduce a new product to work in the Traditional market.

The industry is in the sinking market as sales are declining for the last two years. Gilcrist must avoid re-establishing the company in a sinking market, but to make innovation and change. She should invest her marketing budget into the power boat segment of the industry and expand the company or even move the company to a different location. The challenge for Gilcrist will be to stimulate employee creativity and tolerance for change due to her new directorship as president.

There is a bright future for the sport boat industry; the market as a whole is expected to grow in the near future. In 2006 the sport boat market had a total value of $6.9 billion; that value has climbed by 9.3% each year, and that trend is expected to continue for the next 3 years. This means that the sport boat market will be worth $10.1 billion by 2014. This industry rebound is dependent upon the recovery of the market and a general change in attitude of banks to lend more money for boat purchases. In addition to this overall market growth and economic recovery, we can expect sport boat sales to increase due to an increase in the number of boat purchasers. As the baby-boomers reach retirement age, the number of boats sold can be expected to increase causing the overall market to increase at a rate greater than the expected 9.3%. With this explosion in the sport boat market, positive economic activity, and the increased willingness of banks to grant loans, it is expected that the sport boat market will expand beyond all future expectations.4

One frequently asked question in business today that is least answered is, as stated by David Chaudron, PhD (2003), “What can we do to make our business flourish, survive and grow?” With the rapid changes in technology and the rise in the globalization of markets, we must have a game plan in place for adjusting to these changes. It has become increasingly difficult to predict what is going to happen, and there are thousands of obstacles and opportunities along the way. To add to the confusion, there are thousands of products, solutions and methods for dealing with these changes. With many brands, sizes and varieties it is very difficult to choose what is best for your organization. Add to that,

The second objective is to find disruptive innovations that threaten the product roadmap and which, ideally, can be incorporated into corporate strategy to yield a competitive advantage [3].

Since beginning 40 years ago, Pleasure Craft INC. has been successful in both the domestic and international marketplace. Currently producing two products, snowmobiles and personal watercraft, both of which have become mature markets and thus giving little room to grow, two options have been determined to further the growth of Pleasure Craft INC.. First being to start production on outboard motors. This option allows Pleasure Craft INC. to remain in a familiar market, utilizing current contacts and sales tactics. The second option draws upon Pleasure Craft INC.’s experience with small

The team should do this by seeking to know the progress of their competitors. The trend of the competitors would help to understand the markets they are serving, the existing gaps, the planned products and pricing strategies. At this stage in the product life cycle, the company might consider to engage in expansion. Before making the decision to expand, it is critical to ensure that the company gets into something that will differentiate it from its competitors. Looking at competitors will help the team know some of the strategies they used when faced with similar situation and even avoid making mistakes. Any new product launched should build on what the previous product did better and bring about an improvement.

The Yellowtail Marine, Inc. case combines corporate and industry data with an "in-basket" exercise. It focuses attention on the difficulties of Robyn Gilcrist – the newly appointed President – to efficiently managing the company’s daily operations while at the same time developing a corporate strategy. Robyn Gilcrist has taken over as CEO a few days after the death of Olaf Gunerson, Yellowtail’s founder and former owner. Therefore, there was no proper hand-over for Gilcrist.

When she realizes who her market group is, she needs to decide how to market the product. She would do this by developing a new market strategy. She would need to establish what her goals and objectives are and move forward using those goals and concepts. The concepts she will

(NSY) had been providing parts and services to the Mega-Yacht Industry since receiving their initial seed capital in 2000. The Mega-Yacht industry provided an attractive opportunity for NSY. Although the industry was small by comparison, serving only 10,000 vessels, it generated in excess of $1 billion in economic activity annually, divvied amongst the new build, and maintenance, refit and repair business sectors (Mark & Mitchell, 2003, p. 48). The industry’s supporting cast included captains and crews, owners, management companies, procurement agents, yacht builders and repair entities, brokers, and local husbanding agents. Although unknown to the firm at its inception, consultants in 2002 forecasted the mega-yacht industry would see annual growth of 6%, with the potential for even better numbers in the short-term (Mark & Mitchell, 2003, p. 48).

Hints: How will you stay abreast of new developments in your industry? What new products do you have in development now, in addition to your flagship product?

The positioning strategy should be driven by the market, rather than by the ambitions of the product champions. The source of the problem is failure to understand how consumers' value product attributes. In all, over-appreciating a breakthrough or new technology that

General Issue: which segments should the company target? How should the company and its products be positioned?

Perhaps the easiest approach to the acquisition of BoatU.S. is to leave BoatU.S.’s current demand and forecast planning untouched and separate from West Marine’s planning processes. This would be inexpensive and non-disruptive to the current corporate culture. The drawbacks, however, could be a slow steady decline in profitability and reliability of the BoatU.S. brand, hence the reason for the acquisition in the first place.

Other section of buyers which may affect container line business are freight forwarders or clearing agents, with rapid expansion of shipping industry and import/