Zoecon Case Study Essay example

Changes in top management at Zoëcon Corporation brought about a shift in corporate objectives. The new objectives emphasized a focus on high financial-return products and businesses. In January 1986, Zoëcon executives called a meeting to determine the fate of their Strike brand insect growth regular (IGR) called Strike ROACH ENDER. This product had been tested in the consumer market in four cities (Charleston, SC; Beaumont, TX; Charlotte, NC; and New Orleans, LA) from May through October of 1985. Now that the test marketing venture was complete, Zoëcon executives were faced with determining the most profitable future marketing strategy for their IGR products.

If Zoëcon decides to launch Strike ROACH ENDER in all 19 cities, it will cost an estimated $7,020,500 ($5,542,500 less 4 initial cities)3. If these cities yield the same profit as the original four in the first 6 months, Zoëcon will have to absorb $5,718,145 in losses4. The low purchase rate could be due to the nature of the product taking 120 days to effectively reduce roach population, and 6 months of test marketing did not reflect accurate consumer buying trends for the product. It may also be attributed to the premium pricing, which were 50-75% higher than competitors. I suggest an additional year of test marketing in the first four cities before a full launch into the consumer market is considered.

Poor work life balance for gen. y – When gen. y can’t work due to their social life outside of work. The gen. y wanted more flexible working hours instead of wanting to only have to work full-time. Francoli gave them the solution to pick between two option which where 1) was to work longer hours four days a week and have the Friday off or 2) employees get to choose when they want to work put to only 8 hours a day.

Zoecon Corporation was founded forty three years ago by Dr. Carl Djerassi. The company mainly focuses on insect population control. The company has over 18 brands and Products. Zoecon developed an insect growth regulator (IGR) brand called Strike ROACH ENDER. IGRs are efficient in eliminating insect populations; they are also less toxic than other household insecticides. IGR affects the reproductive cycle of insects but do not kill them. For IGR to kill insects, it has to be combined with an adulticide. However, adulticide has a short term effect on roaches. Therefore, when all areas are not treated, roaches move away and dwell on untreated areas. So adulticide can reduce the effect of an IGR. To introduce Strike ROACH ENDER to the market,

Of concern is the overuse of insecticidal bed bug products, which can pose a threat to humans, especially children. With increased exposure comes, increase risk of toxicity to bed bug insecticides (Doggett, et al., 2012). Professional eradication is preferred, however, bed bugs are becoming resistant to pesticides and the eradication can be unaffordable to some households, especially when multiple treatments are needed. As a result people are increasingly using homemade recipes found on the Internet and unregulated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which have unknown toxicity risk and adverse reactions (Doggett, et al., 2012). The University of Texas A &M acknowledges that professional and consumer products such as aerosol “bug bombs” and “fumigators” are only moderately effective and that there are effective do-it-yourself bed bug control measures that need to be used in conjunction with hiring a professional (Doggett, et al.,

UC IPM. (2011, June). Statewide integrated pest management program. Retrieved July 2015, from Sampling with a sweep net: www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/r1900311.html

Founded in 2005, RJS Pest Management has been providing commercial pest control services to businesses in the New York City metropolitan area for nearly a decade. With the mission of providing a superior pest management service to customers, RJS Pest Management promises its licensed, certified technicians and friendly, helpful customer service to provide effective, ethical, and leading-edge pest control solutions that give their customers excellent results.

DIY treatments - You can purchase chemical treatments and baits from local pest control companies, and costs will vary. However, you can typically expect the cost to be from $150 to $300.

Berry’s Bug Blasters is a privately held pest control company that has been in business since at least 2005. They offer customers one time treatment and monthly service plans, as well as chemicals to allow customers to complete some treatment on their own to eradicate a variety of pests, including: roaches, termites, ants, scorpions, rodents, armadillos, snakes, bed bugs, silverfish and bees. In 2005, the company had a negative net income of ($380.65), but has successfully expanded since then, earning $293,475.56 in net income in 2006, then $769,000.80 in 2007, and $493,139.75 in 2008. The company now seeks to further expand

The problem of the Zoecon Coporation at this moment is how they can best allocate their technical, financial, and marketing resources for their IGR compounds. Some executives have suggested an informal consumer market expansion with their Roach Ender product to 19 cities, concentrate on the pest control operator (PCO) market with the Roach Ender, or sell its IGR compound to firms actively engaged in reaching the consumer market insecticide market. Some of these suggestions/alternatives are mutually exclusive and some are not, therefore Zoecon Executives should use the test market data analysis, in addition to their experience and knowledge in the insecticide industry to

1. Assume ParaWorld was eventually ordered to cease and desist due to IP infringement. What category of IP has ParaWorld most likely infringed? Explain the actions that constitute such an infringement. (5 Marks)

Flystrike (Cutaneous myasis), inflicted by the sheep fly (Lucilia cuprina) is the most detrimental parasite impacting the productivity of Sheep and wool production in Australia. (Armstrong et al, 2005). This health issue is combated by mulesing, which by practicality and effectivity is the most efficient and viable method of controlling flystrike. This treatment involves the surgical removal of skin around the breech, resulting in scar tissue that is resistant to blowfly infestation (Edwards et al., 2011; Lepherd et al., 2011b). However, as a result of the attempted boycott of the Australian wool industry, due to ethical and welfare issues raised regarding the practice, other control methods were investigated, which were intended to phase out mulesing by 2010. As alternatives are shown to be statistically, economically and physically

This Louisiana group has developed a plan to protect our state’s honey bees by cultivating cooperation between farmers, pesticide applicators, and beekeepers. The group consists of representatives from the LSU AgCenter, the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, the Louisiana Beekeepers Association, and several agricultural organizations.“What we’re doing is bringing stakeholders together, giving them all a seat at the table to increase communication,” entomologist Sebe Brown said. Because beekeepers often place honey bee hives on or near farms, communication with farmers is crucial. It is also important for pesticide applicators to know where the hives are placed, so they can alert beekeepers to move them for spraying. Other actions the organization has taken include establishing GPS locations for bee hives, spraying pesticides later in the afternoon when the risk to bees is not as high, and marking hive locations with the “Bee Aware” flags. The achievements of the EPA, USDA, and countless organizations formed to improve the health of honey bees since the Memorandum in 2014 have paved the way to create superior plans to reach new goals and accomplish new feats. By working together and developing Managed Pollinator Protection Plans, we

Neonicotinoids are an obvious hazard to honey bee hives, and even the EPA has come around to admit this in early 2016 after years of silence (Philpott). But no decisive action has been taken to reduce the use of these destructive pesticides. This lack of action can be attributed to agricultural and chemical giants such as Monsanto and Bayer, which have created a multi-billion-dollar industry from the sale and use of neonicotinoids. Bayer, a huge multinational chemical corporation, holds a monopoly over neonicotinoid sales, making over 1.65 billion per year. This makes up over 17% of the global agricultural market and 80% of seed coating sales alone (Suryanarayanan 73). Monsanto, America’s largest agrochemical company, makes billions of dollars

     While no real problem exists with Zoecon, there is a conflict of interests in regard to how Strike ROACH ENDER is marketed. A meeting was set in which Zoecon executives were to analyze and discuss the test market results for the Strike ROACH ENDER, after it was placed in a consumer test market for six months in four cities representative of the 19-city market where 80 percent of roach insecticides were sold. These four cities included: Charleston, South Carolina; Beaumont, Texas; Charlotte, North Carolina; and New Orleans, Louisiana.