The scenario which the Chad Thomas
organization is experiencing is regarding the turnover & production. Chad
corporation has to improve its capacity, inventory and scheduling in order to
sustain in the long run. The corporation’s current scenario indicates that the
company needs to improve the scheduling process so that raw material can be
utilized efficiently. The production line can be scheduled for resolving the
issues the company is currently facing. The warehouse of the organization is
quite expensive; therefore, there is a significant need to decrease the
inventory. The demand for the corporations’ product is quite higher in the
market; therefore, for meeting the demand, the corporation would have to
increase the capacity. The corporation also has the opportunity to separate the
manufacturing line when it decided to increase its capacity. Through the
recommended options, the organization can definitely improve its current
operations, which will help it to sustain in the long run (PANNEERSELVAM).
How did sales and marketing affect operations when they began to sell standard
pieces to retail outlets?
The sales of the organization are growing
rapidly, which indicates that the employees of the organization that work in
the front end are performing their job efficiently.The good performance of the front
end team is visible from the high demand of standard pieces; however, the
operational team is not performing their tasks efficiently, which becomes the
big reason for issues which the company is facing. Due to ineffective
operations,the organization unable to meet the demand and the raw material
remain in the warehouse. This is happening because the organizations major
focus on the customs line and corporation is neglecting its standard line. If
the whole situation is critically analyzed than it can be said that there is a need
to improve the operations of the organization because this is the key area that
needs improvement. The sales & marketing professionals are already
performing their jobs accurately because that is why the demand for its
products are higher. For improving the operations and meeting the demand, the
corporation can evaluate its productivity. The productivity can be evaluated by
using the following formula:
The productivity of the labour can be
evaluated from the formula, which is explained below:
How has the move to producing standard furniture affected the company’s
financial structure?
The accounting & financial reports of the
organization have shown that the profit of the organization is not increasing
despite the increase in revenues. The financial reports are showing that the
cost of the organization is increasing because of the increasing inventory. The
reason for increasing inventory is the decline in active sales of the standard
line. Because of the increasing inventory, the organization has rented a
warehouse, which is expensive. If this scenario keeps on going, then it can be
said that the profitability of the corporation will further decline and the
goal of profit maximization will become impossible to achieve (PANNEERSELVAM).
What might Chad Thomas have done differently to avoid some of the problems he
now faces?
It is suggested to the corporation to reduce
its expenses so that it profitability can experience growth. The corporation
will have to set its new priorities and have to focus on its standard line. The
organization should hire new staff so that the corporation can increase its capacity
and can manage its operations more efficiently. If the whole situation is
critically analyzed than it can be said that there is a need to improve the
operations of the organization because this is the key area that needs
improvement. The sales & marketing professionals are already performing
their jobs accurately because that is why the demand for its products are
higher.
Further Case Study Questions
a. Describe
the problem facing the company:
i. Operationally: The company was facing the capacity
problem as it did not have enough space and resources in the manufacturing
plant to handle increasing demand from both custom and standard line furniture
ii. Financially: The space was not enough to
keep standard line furniture and inventory was growing, so company was forced
to rent any space for keeping this furniture, which was increasing their
overall costs, so profit margins were decreasing.
b.
Is this a temporary problem? Explain your answer
If
problem is analyzed closely, then it can be said that it is a temporary
problem, because if company can take required measures like renting more space
for warehouse as well as increasing its capacity by developing another
manufacturing facility with more workers, then they can quickly meet demand of
consumers and deal with the inventory issues as well. It can also allow them to
get more orders from both custom and standards furniture consumers. So, if
company can handle the problem properly with good planning and strategy, it can
be mitigated.
c.
Are there competing objectives between different parts of the company?
The
company was earlier dealing with only its custom line of furniture, but when
they started manufacturing standards furniture as well, this is where their competing
objectives have come in, because they were competing for only custom made
furniture, now they are making standard furniture, and facing problem to
deliver orders in time, which means that different parts of the company are
certainly coming with different competing objectives.
d.
What is more important to the company: standard or custom product lines?
Explain your answer
In
my opinion, both lines of furniture are now important for the company, because
they have already made their mark in custom line furniture, and now their
demand for standard line furniture is gradually increasing, which is a great
sign for their future growth and sustainability. So, the company should focus
on both lines of furniture, and should come up with a proper solution to ensure
that both lines of furniture are handled accordingly so that they can grow
further as a company.
e.
What is your proposed solution to resolve this situation?
I
have mentioned earlier that both lines of furniture are important for the
company and they cannot think to leave anyone of them, because if custom line
has gave them success, now standard line is also coming with huge potential for
growth and expansion. So, my proposal for the company is that they should
compete for both lines of furniture in the market by growing their capacity,
capability and resources. They should rent another space, where they can form a
warehouse to keep ready products and also install a manufacturing system with
new team of workers. This is how they can deal with the existing problem, and
expand to more markets in the future to grow.
Business
Analysis of Tesla Motor Company
The business analysis provides detail information
about the internal &external business environment. The SWOT analysis
providesinformation about the internal factors of the corporation, whereas the
PEST providesan overview of external factors. The porter five forces, on the
other hand, discuss the level of competition in the industry. Below SWOT, PEST
and Porter FIVE forces Analysis of Tesla Corporation has been performed:
SWOT
Analysis of Tesla, Inc. Electric car company
Strength of Tesla, Inc. Electric car company
Tesla
Corporation utilize cut edge technologies in their vehicles. Much major
organization has adopted the technologies which were introduced by Tesla
Corporation in the first place.
Tesla
corporation has gaineda competitive edge in electric vehicle manufacturing and
targets those customers who want to purchase these vehicles
Tesla has
its own distribution channel
The CEO
of the corporation possess leadership skills and which allow Tesla to gain
success over the years
Weaknesses of Tesla, Inc. Electric car company
The corporation
has majorly focused on electric vehicles and does not analyses the needs of
some of its customers (Kotler).
The Tesla
Corporation has only one manufacturing plant that is situated in California.
The
corporation liquidity position needs a significant amount of improvement.
Opportunities of Tesla, Inc. Electric car company
The
organization has the opportunity to expand its operations into different parts
of the world.
Tesla has
the opportunity to increase its current capacity by creating an additional
plant.
Tesla can
further improve its technological advancement (Economist and Kourdi).
Threats of Tesla, Inc. Electric car company
High
level of competition
Change in
customer preferences over time (Kotler).
PEST
Analysis of
Tesla, Inc. Electric car company
The PEST analysis provides brief information
regarding the external environment factors which impact the overall
organization. The external environment factors such as economic factors,
political factors, technological factors & social factors have a huge
impact on how the business operates and the revenue which it generates by
providing its products & services to its customers. In order to evaluate
the business environment PEST analysis, play a key role. The companies can
analyze external environment factors for taking rational decisions and can
mitigate several risks efficiently. The following are the key environmental
factors which are discussed in detail:
Political
Factors of
Tesla, Inc. Electric car company
The political factors include the rules and
regulations which the government formed regarding the operations of the
business in a specific country. The governments of different countries have
recently implemented new policies in which the Government have set incentives
for electric vehicle manufacturing corporations such as Tesla. Tesla has the
opportunity to gain advantage from the new policies which the government have
made regarding the electric vehicles. Through this, the profitability of Tesla
Corporation will increase up to a lot of extents. The free trade agreement
creates another opportunity for Tesla to expand its business in other parts of
the world (Kotler).
Economic
Factors of
Tesla, Inc. Electric car company
The economic factors include the changes in the
inflation rate, tax rates, foreign exchange rate and interest rates. The
economic factor changes have a major impact on the performance of the business
because due to economic changes, not only the costs of the company can increase,
but also the customer’s purchasing power also experience a change. If renewable
energy costs decrease, then Tesla Corporation can take advantage of it. The
lower renewable energy costs will provide a variety of opportunities for the
organization. In simple words, it can be said that economic factors do have a major
impact on the operations of the business (Corum).
Social
Factors of
Tesla, Inc. Electric car company
The social factors include the changes in the
needs & preferences of the customers. The consumers’ preferences keep on
changing with the passage of time, and it is highly necessary for the
organizations to analyze what trends are prevailing in the market and what the
customers are actually looking for. In recent years the demand for electric
vehicles has experienced significant growth, which indicates that Tesla has the
opportunity to meet the needs of electric vehicles. In addition, the advanced
technology which the Tesla motors used in its cars can provide a competitive
edge to the company other major brands such as Toyota, Volkswagen etc (Kotler)
Technological
Factors of
Tesla, Inc. Electric car company
The technological factors play a significant
role in making any business successful. Tesla is renowned for its technological
advancement and with its advanced technology, it has differentiated itself from
the rest of the corporations. It can be said that with its technology the Tesla
has the opportunity to increase its market share. Tesla can meet the needs of
its customers by providing innovative and high-quality products to its
customers.
Tesla
Porter Five Forces Analysis of Tesla, Inc. Electric car company
Threats
of New Entrants of
Tesla, Inc. Electric car company
The threats of new entrants are moderate in
the electric vehicle manufacturing industry. The demand for the electric
vehicle around the world is increasing, which means that new companies can come
in the industry and can grab significant market share. However, the new
entrants will have to face certain hurdles as well, such as creating a strong
brand image or customer loyalty. The companies such as Toyota, Ford and Tesla
over the years have become major brands. It takes time to create goodwill and
brand image into the mind of the customers.
The
threat of Substitute products of Tesla, Inc. Electric car company
There are many car manufacturing companies
which have started the production of Electrical vehicles such as Jaguar,
Toyota, Ford etc. If Tesla unable to meet the needs & preferences of its
customers, then the customers might switch from Tesla to another Car
manufacturing company. It means that the threat of substitute product is
significantly higher.
Bargaining
Power of Suppliers of
Tesla, Inc. Electric car company
The bargaining power of Suppliers is moderate
because the corporation has become a major brand and, in the position, to
negotiate with its suppliers efficiently. Furthermore, the corporation has gaineda
significant edge in technology, which allows it to differentiate itself than
the rest of the companies (Spender).
Bargaining
Power of Buyers of
Tesla, Inc. Electric car company
The buyer power is high in the electric
vehicle industry. The reason for high buyer power is the higher number of
substitute, which is now available in the market. It is obvious that if the customers
are somehow not satisfied with the Tesla product & services, then it can
switch to another electric vehicle manufacturer (Spender).
Rivalry
among Competitors of
Tesla, Inc. Electric car company
The competitors in the electric vehicle
manufacturing industry compete with each other to increase their market share. It
has become highly important for the company to differentiate itself from the
rest of the competitors so that its revenue can increase. Through porter five
forces, it can be said that Tesla faces high competition in the industry.
Walmart
Failure in Russia of
Tesla, Inc. Electric car company
Walmart is among the largest retail chain in
the world. It is an American retail chain whose headquarter is suited in the
city of Bentonville USA. According to the statistics of 2019, Walmart has
11,368 stores in various locations. Walmart is among the largest companies in
term of revenue. Over the years, the corporation has experienced immense growth
and have a presence in many countries around the world. Walmart has employed
approximately 2.2 million people in its stores. One of the key factors that
makes Walmart success is the variety of products at affordable prices (Spender).
There are several things which went wrong and
caused the failure of Walmart in the Russian market. The first major flaw was
the decision making the process of the Walmart corporation. Walmart Corporation
took too long to enter the Russian market. Walmart wants to enter into the
Russian market through acquisition, and when, after several years, Walmart did
not find an acquisition company than finally, Walmart moved out of the Russian
market (Kreitner).
Walmart also did not analyze the market
trends of the Russian market. Walmart can become successful in the major cities
which were experiencing retail growth, however becoming successful in the rural
areas, or smaller towns is not as easy as possible. Moreover, the
infrastructure facilities are also not feasible for Walmart to open its
branches in such areas. Walmart decided to enter the Russian market through an acquisition
strategy, which does not become successful. If Walmart decided to change its
strategy and come up with another approach such as franchising or opening an
official store in the country. However, Walmart did not do that.
The lack of planning seems to be the main
reason behind not entering into the Russian Market. Walmart should have taken a
fast decision so that it might get thema chance to acquire the corporation. However,
many analysts in Russia are optimistic and think that Walmart will enter into
Russia at some future point because Russian retail marketing is expanding
rapidly and there is huge potential for another retail chain to start their
operations in the country. If Walmart took a rational decision in future than
the possibility exists that Walmart will become successful in future (Moon).
It is concluded that there are several things
which went wrong and causedthe failure of Walmart in the Russian market. The
first major flaw was the decision making the process of the Walmart
corporation. Walmart Corporation took too long to enter the Russian market.The
lack of planning seems to be the main reason behind not entering into the
Russian Market. Walmart should have taken a fast decision so that it might get
thema chance to acquire the corporationif Walmart decided to change its
strategy and come up with another approach such as franchising or opening an
official store in the country. However, Walmart did not do that.
References of Tesla, Inc. Electric car
company
Corum, Rick. Principles
of Management: a Christian Perspective. WestBow Press, 2015.
Economist, The and
Jeremy Kourdi. Business Strategy: A guide to effective decision-making.
PublicAffairs, 2015.
Kotler, Philip. Principles
of Marketing. Pearson Education India, 2008.
Kreitner, Robert. Principles
of Management. Cengage Learning, 2008.
Moon, Hwy-Chang. Global
Business Strategy: Asian Perspective. World Scientific, 2010.
PANNEERSELVAM, R. PRODUCTION
AND OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT. PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd, 2012.
Spender, J.-C. Business
Strategy: Managing Uncertainty, Opportunity, and Enterprise. OUP Oxford,
2014.