Black & Decker Black & Decker (B&D) is a global manufacturer and the world’s largest producer of power tools, power tool accessories, electric lawn and garden tools, and residential security hardware. The company was a pioneer in innovation and development of power tools and has used that position to build strong brand names that enjoy worldwide recognition. Key Causes for Poor Performance in the Professional-Tradesmen Segment The reason B&D has performed poorly in the professional-tradesmen segment is due to the positioning of the B&D brand in this segment. Poor positioning of the brand has resulted in customer confusion and negatively impacted customer perception of the brand in terms of being a quality product. B&D Performance in the Power Tool Industry Overall Any adjustments to B&D’s strategy in the professional-tradesmen segment must not have an adverse impact on their success in the consumer or professional-industrial segments. Therefore, a thorough understanding of the needs of each segment will be important in building a viable strategy to challenge Makita in the professional-tradesmen segment, while continuing to maintain share in the other two segments. _Consumer _Segment Professional-Tradesmen Segment This category consists of professionals who are buying a product for their own use on a job site. Their livelihood depends on the quality and performance, as well as the reflection on their skills that using a particular tool brings from others on the job site. Since they are purchasing their own tools, this segment needs this high quality performance at a reasonable price. However, since Makita and Milwaukee are both priced higher than B&D and are seeing greater success in this category, tradesmen are clearly willing to pay more for a product they perceive will be more effective for their use. Key needs for this market segment include: Performance and quality - {text:change} does the job needed to be done, doesn’t break down, produces high-quality results and more efficiently gets the job done. Reliability and durability - does the job every time and can be used for an extended period of heavy continual use. Safety Support from the Manufacturer – if the product breaks or performs poorly, access to replacement parts and service will be key in maximizing performance up-time.
Stirling Bridge had been a thriving power tool business for over 100 years. The company had sold and distributed power tools and equipment all over the U.S., Europe, and third world countries. Recently one of Stirling Bridge’s top selling products, the Braveheart power tool line, came under attack when consumer agencies conducted research and found many consumers who purchased the power tools were experiencing significant harm and personal injury after use. Stirling Bridge (STIRLING BRIDGE) had identified potential safety concerns with their power tools and hired an independent research company to investigate why consumers were being injured using their power tools, well before the company came under the attack of public agencies.
After several new product failures, the company began using customer input to help develop new products. In 1989, the fishing electronics industry is experiencing a downturn, and the company's sales and profits are slipping. The company, which has one product line (depth sounders) and a strong brand (Hummingbird), has conducted substantial market research on three new products. These products are project 901, hummingbird VHF Radio, Locator/ GPS navigator. Of these, project 901 is an extension of the depth sounder product, while the other two would be new product lines for the company. Top management is deciding which one or more of the three new products it should proceed with. In this paper, I will discuss the positive and negative aspects of each product ideas and my recommendations to Techsonic management
ToolsCorp is not exempt from the need of profit. Financial objectives should be outlined and include increasing income, profit increases, maximizing of investment utilization, and decreasing costs (Dodangh, Mojahed, and Nasehifar, 2010). However, their financial plan goes beyond that of just numbers. It seeks to compensate its employees and investors to allow them to live life. Through continuous quality improvement, the company seeks to reach Six Sigma standards to reach for zero defects and waste, which will pass savings onto the customer. It will also provide a quality product that will create loyalty through repeat sales (Ridley, 2014).
Camar Automotive Hoist has built its reputation on a quality product in the Canadian market however in 2000 the company is facing the problem of sustaining future growth of its business. In an attempt to address this need of sustaining growth we recommend that Camar Automotive Hoist clearly defines its position as a safe and convenient scissor lift producer on international wheel alignment markets; and transfers its focus mainly on the US and the European Union markets. Our suggestion is to spotlight the US market by working closely with the wholesalers instead of using a direct sales-force; while exporting products to Europe by means of indirect exportation instead of through other ventures. By doing this, the company will efficiently allocate its resources and achieve its goal of sustaining growth gradually with low risks. The Canadian market potential is limited thus we believe that US market is a quick growth opportunity for us immediately with low risks while exploring the EU now will allow us to search for long term future growth.
Brand; - brand is known as uniqueness in term of what products or service the company provides. Brand is also set of insight or image that represents seller. Brand defines symbol, name, term or feature of company’s service or goods. Example of popular brand is apple, Amazon and Samsung.
Our commitment to steady, long-term improvement in our products and processes is the cornerstone of our business strategy. To achieve this objective, we must work to continuously improve the overall quality of our design, manufacturing, administrative, and support organizations.
First, even though Black & Decker has a good brand perception in general, are considered to be among the powerful brand names in the world and considered to have the highest quality product in the industry, they were perceived badly by the tradesmen segment. Some trade people viewed all Black & Decker as for use at home rather than on the job. The tradesmen considers Makita to have a good baseline options in all majors categories, hence being their firs option and others brands as having particular product strengths. Thus, the customers in this segments were not identifying themselves to the products that Black & Decker proposes to them.
1. As mentioned Toyota is one of the top leading car companies due to their business strategy or plan being focused on the quality of their products for their customers. Now what do you think would have happened if Toyota did not choose to have quality as their main goal but instead they were more focused on low cost of expenses as being the most important factor in their business plan or strategy? With this scenario for Toyota's operations, their parts that are being used in their vehicles would not be as good of quality, due to the fact that they are getting these parts from the manufacturer that is going to be of cheapest cost to them. Well we all know that when something is cheap and inexpensive, it does not mean that it is always the most reliable and it may create more problems for Toyota in the future. With that being said there is a very good possibility that customers who purchase vehicles from Toyota will have problems with them more frequently due to the lower quality parts being used. Then when the customers bring their vehicles back with problems, Toyota is going to replace the non functioning part with another cheap and inexpensive part, allowing them to save money, instead of putting a quality part in. Another factor that would hinder the success of the business would be the fact that the company is going to be spending as little money as possible on the required tools that the vehicle mechanics at Toyota need in order to repair their vehicles when maintenance is required, resulting in the possibility that the employees will not being able to accomplish all the necessary maintenance or repairs to the highest standards or best of their ability due to having limited tools. If the necessary resources are no...
...s identified the key factors which affected the external operations of the organisation. These factors have been identified by the organisation and take adequate steps to provide unique customer service and solutions based on the market conditions. While on the other hand industry competitive environment analysis depicts the level of competition in the industry. BHP Billiton is ranked one of the top natural resource leaders in the world due to its assets and portfolio. Among all the five forces of Porters framework, bargaining power of suppliers affected this organisation a lot. Increased labour and shipping expenses force them to increase their product prices. After the evaluation of external environment of the company, three key success factors are found –skills, exploration and sustainable development which play an important role in quality delivery of services.
Miles and Snow analyze the strategies of a business unit by classifying them as one of four specific strategic types: prospectors, defenders, analyzers, and reactors (Parnell, 2014). Under Miles and Snow’s strategy, prospectors strategize how to bring new products, designs and innovation to their specific industry. They are the ones who react quickly to changes in the market and are constantly looking for at ways to develop new products and services. Parnell (2014) relays that prospectors often seek first-mover advantage; meaning that they are quick to take their product to market in an attempt to gain an advantage over their competition by being first to present a new or original product. They practice product differentiation. Defenders, on
NHP is a leading provider of industrial electrical engineering products which they take to the market in Australia and New Zealand. Their primary focus is on switchgear and automation products, but they have a huge range of items from climate control systems to solar panels. NHP cements their place as a leader in the industry by providing outstanding customer and technical support services which ensure customers return in the future. The role this case study is based on is the product information management for all of the electrical products that NHP stocks. This position relates strongly electrical engineering as prior knowledge of the different aspects of products assists with the work. However,
This work will determine the baseline of the current market situation for the company, which is essential for any further exercise and analysis. To understand how the business model correlates with the product marketing, need to see if there is any evident cause-effect relationship between product characteristics and the nature of the product company. If such correlation exists, it will be important to see the transition of such characteristics into the company marketing strategy. It can show how company’s strategies can be successfully addressed in a real-world scenario. Both internal and external analysis, SWOT matrix will help to determine the company’s current market position.
Over the past few years, the increasing dynamism and competition in the business operating environment has led to a lot of changes in how the companies conduct themselves with respect to its customers. Customers being the focal point of revenue; manufacturers are increasingly taking interest in being focused on customer satisfaction by delivering the products and services on time.
Every organization uses different business strategies in order to remain in business. Some adopt customer- centric strategies; some uses strategies to maximize their profit. For a long time, many organizations have made quality as their selling point.
emerging or new market. It can originate from new technology or new market opportunities (Eliashberg, J., Lilien, G. L., & Rao, V. R. 1997). Literature defines product development as exploiting an untapped market opportunity and turning it into a value product for customer satisfaction. Development and introduction of a new product requires extensive research on understanding customer needs, market structure, emerging trends and analysing the internal & external competitive market environments. To evaluate customer satisfaction previous researches provide strong relationship between customer satisfaction and product quality, product features and value for money. ***