Reference no: EM134038354

Question 1.

SR Limited (SR) is a producer of health foods. The company was set up in 2006 by Suman Raj who was formerly a Production Executive with one of the larger producers of packaged foods in India. Mr. Banerjee always wanted to own and operate his own business. He welcomed the change to break away from what he termed a giant bureaucracy. In 2007, SR was earning a return on investment of 20 percent. The company sale in that year was Rs. 260 lakhs. Mr. Banerjee felt that the firm was very successful but his objective was to increase sales and profits. In his own opinion as a marketer, this could be accomplished without continually adding new products. The company produced several items like salt free nuts, roasted nuts, dehydrated fruits, and almond and cream biscuits. The other items like packed teas, coffee, vitamins and ice creams produced from other producers and used the SR brand on them. Mr. Banerjee has targeted on middle and upper middle class living in urban areas. Some of his competitors aimed upper middle and luxury class while some others oriented their marketing mix primarily on health-conscious people. SR distributed its products throughout the country using wholesalers. Four Regional managers of the company supervised these. 24 Area managers reported to these regional managers. In 2009, some of the company operating personnel came up with a new cereal product they felt could be profitably sold by the firm. The product resembled corn flakes in structure, but had a nutty flavour. Further, it contained most of the vitamins recommended by the physicians plus folic acid, minerals, iron and calcium. The feedback upon testing was encouraging; Mr. Banerjee decided to introduce it to the mass consumer market. In his opinion, the major super market chain would be invited to carry this product. He branded the product as X.

a. What are the new product launching strategies available for X? Explain.

b. Do you think Mr. Banerjee is following the right distribution strategy?

c. Develop a marketing mix strategy for X.

Question 2.

For as long as business existed, people involved in it have been subjected to the whims of the economy. The only constant in business has been change and economic uncertainty has been just another day at office for all those who ever thought of financial success. Pervasive market fluctuations and economic volatility are here to stay. Interesting research in the recent past threw up mind boggling statistics. Of the total companies in the 1955, Fortune 500 list, 70% are now out of business and those listed in 1979, 40% no longer exist as corporate entities. This trend is widely seen across the world. Today, if corporations are being formed before one can blink one's eye, almost as many are being shut down daily. Big corporate names of yesterday are either shutting shop or are on the brink of closure and bankruptcies. If a third of the Fortune 500 companies of 1970 can disappear by 1983 and the average life span is decreasing by the day, there is little wonder that smaller companies are also feeling the pinch. At the core of the problem lies not just the lack of sustainable business plans. It is a larger issue. It is the result of the organizations' ability to change; to evolve, to accept challenges and to seek new avenues of growth. To be big and strong is one thing; to be evolving with the times is another matter. So, it is the capability of the organization to reengineer, transform and adjust to the rapidly changing business environment that separates the boys from the men. Building adaptive capabilities that will enable an organization to move with the market is the call of the day. Adaptive organizations revolve around dynamic real time processes; Performed anywhere and anytime using adaptive solutions. An organization's operating teams may be dynamic and effective but market conditions are beyond one's control and they do not look likely to rebound. One must, therefore, adjust and adapt and defy the economy.

a. What do you think an organization should do to cope with the changing business environment?

b. "To change or to close down" Comment on this statement in the light of the changing environment.

Question 3

Given that strategy is about future competitive positioning and yet no firm (or their competitors) has absolutely reliable 'data' about the future, how does this absence of information affect strategic decision-making?

Question 4

Why is it important to understand the approximate parameter of a company's unique competing space when forming strategic options?