Benchmarking: Gene One
Introduction
Gene One made a name for itself in the biotech industry with its breakthrough gene technology that eradicated disease in tomatoes and potatoes. It was a benefit to farmers who no longer need the use of pesticides and consumers that like organic produce. This successful discovery helped Gene One grow to a $400 million company in a short span of eight years.
Gene One hopes to capitalize on the growing interest in biotechnology as the stock prices on Wall Street continue to rise. The CEO and the Board at Gene One believe that becoming a public entity will help the company keep up with growing demand and realize their target annual growth of 40 %. Gene One has a strong leadership team to begin with but none of the members are familiar with the IPO process.
As the team continued to do its research on the IPO process, they realized that the Board isn’t aligned with the Securities Exchange Commission’s Sarbanes-Oxley Act requirements. Financial statements and internal controls are part of the SOX compliance as well. Some of the Board members are concerned that the current leadership team might not have the qualifications to pull off an IPO transformation. Going public isn’t cheap and Gene One needs capital for new development, marketing and advertising. It also needs to increase interest in the stock by finding multiple firms to make the initial offering. The stock price has to be right to ensure a return on investment for initial investors.
Build-A-Bear Workshop
Issue
From the beginning Build-A-Bear’s longterm plans were to become a public company. Prior to the IPO process the company had seen store sales drop as much as 16 % over three years. The executives knew something had to be done to get sales up in order for the company to be well-positioned for its planned $125 million initial public offering. (Jackson, 2004) To ensure the success of its IPO, Build-A-Bear made efforts to establish relationships with multiple investment banking firms. Stock pricing was also an issue. A main concern that the company had was being in compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act as well. Staff changes had to be made prior to going public to help the process along. (Thomson Financial, 2006)
Response
IR Director Molly Salky stated, “From the founding of BBW in 1997, the long term plan was to become a public company; therefore, from day one the company structured and grew its infrastructure with that goal in mind.
According to the Kohl’s Corporation Hoover Report (2014), in the late 1920s, a man named Max Kohl opened a grocery store in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (Hoover Report, 2014, pg. 9). By 1938, Max and his three sons had developed his store into a successful chain and incorporated the business. Max Kohl had experienced enough success by 1962 that he opened a department store right next to his Kohl’s grocery store. In 1972, Max Kohl and his family’s “65 food stores and five department stores were generating about $90 million in yearly sales” (pg. 9) In the same year, the British American Tobacco’s Brown & Williamson Industries (BATUS) purchased 80% of the Kohls’ two operations. Six years later, BATUS proceeded to purchase what remained of Kohl’s. In the early 1980s, BATUS decided that “Kohl’s discount image did not fit in with BATUS’s other retail operations” and decided to ultimately separate the two operations in order to put them up for sale (pg. 9). The president and chief executive officer at the time, William Kellogg, “and two other executives, with the backing of mall developers Herbert and Melvin Simon, led an LBO (leveraged buy-out) to acquire the chain’s 40 stores and a distribution center” (pg. 9). By the time Kohl’s managed to go public in the year 1992, they “had 81 stores in six states, and sales topped $1 billion” (pg. 9). At this time Kohl’s began its expansion and within the next five years managed to top sales at two billion dollars. Kohl’s then “acquired a former Bradlees store to enter New Jersey and opened stores in Washington, DC; Philadelphia; New York; and Delaware” (pg. 9). The following year Kohl’s managed to expand into Tennessee by adding new stores. The company named Larry Montgomery CEO in 1999 and short...
In the late twentieth century, the field of biotechnology and genetic engineering has positioned itself to become one of the great technological revolutions of human history. Yet, things changed when Herber Boyer, a biochemist at the University of California, founded the company Genentech in 1976 to exploit the commercial potential of his research. Since then the field has exploded into a global amalgam of private research firms developing frivolous, profit-hungry products, such as square trees tailor-made for lumber, without any sort of government regulation.
Like many others who start out, BP Plc. was a small company struggling to succeed after experiencing almost two bankruptcies. B...
Over 40 years ago, two men by the names of James Watson and Francis Crick discovered deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA. DNA is hereditary material in humans and almost all other organisms (What is DNA?). From this finding, gene therapy evolved. Today, researchers are able to isolate certain specific genes, repair them, and use them to help cure diseases such as cystic fibrosis and hemophilia. However, as great as this sounds, there are numerous ethical and scientific issues that will arise because of religion and safety.
In September 14, 1990, an operation, which is called gene therapy, was performed successfully at the National Institutes of Health in the United States. The operation was only a temporary success because many problems have emerged since then. Gene therapy is a remedy that introduces genes to target cells and replaces defective genes in order to cure the diseases which cannot be cured by traditional medicines. Although gene therapy gives someone who is born with a genetic disease or who suffers cancer a permanent chance of being cured, it is high-risk and sometimes unethical because the failure rate is extremely high and issues like how “good” and “bad” uses of gene therapy can be distinguished still haven’t been answered satisfactorily.
Furthermore, he engaged the customer with an optimistic attitude and stated how the stock could affect him or her in the best way possible. Jordan could immediately hook any client into believing what he had to offer by providing the customer with the success stories others have had under his instruction.... ... middle of paper ... ... Works Cited Belfort, Jordan. The Wolf of Wall Street.
This case examines issues of asset control for Ben & Jerry’s Homemade, Inc., in light of the outstanding takeover offers by Chartwell Investments, Dreyer‘s Grand, Unilever, and Meadowbrook Lane Capital in January 2000.
The mission statement of the company was “As we grow as a company, it has become more and more important to explicitly define the core values from which we develop our culture, our bran...
What is more, we are now seeing gene therapy treatment getting closer to commercialization. Approval of the first gene therapy treatment in either the US or Europe occurred in November 2012 when the European Commission endorsed the recommendation of the European Medicines Agency to approve Glybera, a gene therapy, which address lipoprotein lipase deficiency which is the cause of severe pancreatitis (Richards).
When scientists want to put those genes into an animal or plant, they have to use special gear. Scientists usually use either a syringe, a special gun, or even a virus with the gene encrypted into the code of the virus to implant the new modification (“Genetically Modified” n.p.). When researchers first used the technology to genetically modify food, the goal was to combat world hunger. Scientists first modified the tomato to be able to make the skin thicker so that it would have a longer storage life. Scientists soon discovered there was already an organic tomato in existence that possessed the same qualities, so there was no profit.... ...
GM crops also benefit the economy and assist in feeding more people. While we struggle with feeding our population, “The population will continue to grow” (Calandrelli 1) For instance, genetic engineering in agriculture can minimize the cost of producing food. Thus, GMO’s in crops can result ...
Terminator Technology is a reality that threatens the very existence of traditional agriculture. Where in previous times farmers depended on saving seeds from year to year in order to subsist, we are ebbing upon a time where genetically modified organisms, or GMO's as they are commonly referred to, have become a commercial reality and venture in agriculture. This commercial venture was surely the focus of a seed company Delta and Pine Land Company. In March of 1998, the DPL (Delta PineLand) company along with the cooperation of the United States Department of Agriculture acquired a patent for the control of plant gene expression. One such application of this patent is the plan to engineer crops to kill their own seeds in the second generation of its life. After the second generation, it would be impossible for farmers to save and replant their seeds for the next crop. Hence, the adoption of the name "Terminator Technology." Such technology has not only economic and environmental implications, but secular ones as well.
This form of company relies heavily on accurate communication which has so far in this case proven effective. Who knows where the future will take this organization, but it seems to always be one step ahead of change.
The Body Shop International case is an interesting case study into the miscommunication of owners and stockholder interests with regard to financial conditions. Anita Roddick, the founder of The Body Shop had no financial experience and thought that all she needed to do was expand her business and the financing would take shape as she developed her business. While Anita’s product concept of a natural skin-care line was good; her lack of experience in financial matters took its toll on her business.
It is important that we safeguard the environment by continuing the separation of genetically modified organisms from the organisms that exist outside the grasp of genetic engineering, in the natural environment. In truth, there’s a lot to feel good about in the way modern agriculture is shaping up to the big challenges of the present – reducing carbon emissions, preventing soil erosion and minimizing any environmental damage by herbicides and pesticides (Roush). Doing this will secure the future of