Bang and Ofulsen Case - Potential Answers - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 4 Words: 1283 Downloads: 2 Date added: 2017/09/21 Category Business Essay Type Analytical essay Tags: Development Essay Did you like this example? Francois Baranne | September 14th 2010 | MBA Program 2nd year Operations Strategy Case Bang Olufsen Introduction It seems important to begin this case analysis with a evaluation of the company in order to underline some of the key points to keep in mind for this case. Appreciated First of all, we can say that Bang Olufsen have developed, through a differentiation by the design, a sustainable competitive advantage in the high-tech audiovisual market which have allowed the company to increase the willingness to pay of the customers. Normally, this solution, the design-differentiation, should not have last or generate this increase but this is where BG has done great by developing the design to the point of it has become the core competency of the firm. Every function of BO (supply chain, manufacturing/quality ) gravitates around the design function. Thus, such as Toyota, BO has succeeded to developed a operations-based strategy quite impossible to reproduce because based on a philosophy. Secondly, it is interesting to note that BO has tried to reach the last phase of the Sand Cone The company, which deliver a great quality (long product lifetime, handwork manufacturing), has a good flexibility (specialized workers, integration of top-technology by the engineering department) and is relatively fast regarding its products (delivery in 5 days, concentration of the resources, accelerating cycles), is now looking for cost-reduction. As we can see it in the documentation, the reduction of the number of employees (which had surely helped to increase profits) and the implantation of a new factory in the Czech Republic have probably been decided in that perspective. Development Now that we have defined what we consider as the key points of this case, it is time to think about the critical issues BO is facing. Concretely, BO is a producer of high-tech audiovisual products with great design. The problem is that, nowadays, with the emergence of new produc ts such as the Ipod, people have extended their quality expectations about the audiovisual to the virtual level. To satisfy what BO supposed to be the customer needs, the company has begun to think about this topic, even creating a new entity, Idealab, for this purpose. Until now, BO has not take the risk to develop this approach to the next level and the influence of Idealab on the products in development is quite limited. Nevertheless, this situation could evolve with a new project for a digital audio/video product. In definitive, this project raises for the company the questions of the integration of more great software and network-based interaction in its products and, consequently, the importance it should give to Idealab in its organization. These issues are critical because they could change radically the way BO is doing business. We will now see in the following development that every options has its pros and cons. To begin with, we could imagine that BO would decide t o integrate more software and network applications on its products, to reach the â€Å"50% software, 50% physical product† mentioned by Sorensen for its products, for instance. By making such decision, BO would make a bet which could have serious consequences but could lead to new incomes. First of all, BO would have to reconsider its process by integrating upstream some resources about the integration of virtual content, more than they did recently. Among other actions, that would mean to develop a closer relationship between designers and Idealab, but also maybe the creation of entire â€Å"back-office† systems and some technical support, the development of new partnerships with RD labs specialized in IT The rewards ould be important, if BO is able to maintain high standards in design: anticipation of the customer needs, potential conquest of new customers attracted more by the software side than the physical product side or seduced by the combination of the two, potential reduction of the launch cycle by reducing the influence of designers, diminution of the â€Å"design-dependance†, potential mid/long-terms savings (re-utilization/update of a software), increase of the willingness to pay On the other side, the risks are quite important too. Indeed, BO does not have a long experience in software and they do not have all the resources so they would have to invest time and money. They also would have to change quite a bit the process which could lead to delays, quality problems, difficulties to define a good balance between the different services, resistance from the designers The design of the products in development could suffer of this situation (potentially less resources allocated) which could hurt the image of the brand. The design is what makes BO products luxury goods; without that, they just are good quality high-tech products. And, last but not least, the competition could be totally different for these type of products . In the case of BO decided to keep to the minimum needed the integration of software and network-based products, it would be objectively safer. This choice would preserve for sure the competitive advantage of BO, and if the company chooses to collaborate with a new IT partner, instead of working with Idealab, for the projects which need software integration, they could allocate the potential remaining resources to new projects such as diversification or new partnerships or they could just save the money. But with this choice, they take the risk to see their customers leaving for a competitor able to fully satisfy their virtual needs. Also, it would perpetuate the long-term dependance of the company towards the designers (especially a few of them such as David Lewis) which could be a problem in terms of delays, appeal of the products (a product could be not welcomed very well by the customers) or will to lower the costs. We can add that this immobility is damageable in a certain way because they loose the long-term opportunity to develop new types of products based on network technology and software that could be able to educe a new clientele. Indeed, nowadays, the kids and the teenagers, the buyers of tomorrow for BO, are raised in a environment where the virtual technologies are omnipresent. Conclusion My personal point of view of this situation is that BO has to continue its integration of virtual content into some of its products but I do not think that the current organization, with Idealab, is a good solution and I do not think either that the virtual input should be too important, especially for certain products. About the organization, I think that Idealab should be developed at the image of the engineering department, with the same type of relationship with the designers and the same method of work (partnerships with RD labs for instance). The intervention of Idealab, at the early stages of a project, should be limited at a few category of produ cts, such as the phones and eventually the TV. By doing that, BO does not deny its identity, gives itself the time to determinate the value added by the software implementation on its products (customer satisfaction) and tests a new process. Thus, the risk is quite limited and according to the results, BO will know if it is necessary to take the virtual integration to the next level. Anyway, this topic would not be my top priority if I were the CEO of BO. I would rather focus on the reduction of the costs despite the fact that BO is a company which sells luxury goods. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Bang and Ofulsen Case Potential Answers" essay for you Create order

All Men Are Created By Thomas Jefferson - 2254 Words

All Men are created â€Å"equalish† In the late eighteenth century, Thomas Jefferson penned one of the most well-known documents in the history of the United States, The Declaration of Independence. Officially completed and signed in 1776, this document is one of the foundations that America builds its rich history on today. Jefferson borrowed English political philosopher John Locke’s philosophy when he wrote the line, â€Å"We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.† Many Americans today still base theories of American Exceptionalism on this idea of liberty and equality for â€Å"all men†, but a look back at United States history show that political and social policy hasn’t always reflect this sentiment. The main problem with the statement is the vague phrase â€Å"all men†. 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Analysis of Langham International Hotel Samples †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Analysis of Langham International Hotel. Answer: Introduction Langham hotel was first built in between 1863 and 1865 in England by John Giles. This was the first traditional cum luxury hotel of England and today it is known as the Langham Hotels. This hotel has set up its outlets in various places across the globe and all these are performing well. This hotel has set up its image in various parts of the world. Most successful places for this hotel are the East Asia, the Caribbean, the Middle East and the Southeast Asia. One of the outlets of Langham hotel is also situated in the Auckland city of New Zealand. Setting hotel business in New Zealand is not a difficult task but to gain the goodwill in the same industry is the bit difficult. Qualmark is the official New Zealands agency which provides the assurance to the tourists in regards to the quality, luxury, and the trust. Under this agency, any business could be registered through fulfilling all the requirements of the agency. It helps the tourists to build the trust of the hotels and other or ganizations and Langham is one of those enterprises which are registered under Qualmark agency of the New Zealand. This scenario explains that various competitors of Langham hotel such as Windham and Starwood are also planning to build a five-star rating Qualmark rated hotel in the Auckland city center. Hence, to maintain the effective image in the hotel industry, Langham hotel has asked its marketing managers to develop certain adequate strategies to compete with the organization as well as to maintain their effective image in the hotel industry. Current Operating System of Langham International Hotel Langham group of hotels has developed a distinctive goodwill in the hotel industry and in the New Zealand, they have been converted their hotel in a brand through registration under the Qualmark agency. Luxury, comfort, location and unforgettable service are the primary aspects of achieving success for Langham group of hotels. Apart from these basic services, main concentration is on providing additional services with the stay in the hotel as spa, games facilities such as tennis court, golf area, etc. Since the traditional times when it was developed in the England, the main concern of this hotel was to provide adequate quality services and adaptation of various techniques through which continuous improvement in the service offered to the guests could be maintained (Nieves Segarra-Ciprs, 2015). Below are some of the challenges and opportunities faced by the Langham hotel due to an entrance of its competitors under five-star rating and with Qualmark assurance: Lack of Staff: Finding new staff and retention of the key staff members is quite a difficult task for the hotel industry in New Zealand. It reduces the productivity and the efficiency of the organization as well as it also raises the labor turnover ratio. Hence, providing adequate quality to the customers becomes the difficult task for the organization in absence of the appropriate staff members (Hsiao, et. al., 2014). Hygiene: It is observed from the analysis that most of the New Zealand people are suffering from diseases such as diabetes and overweight. For securing their life, New Zealand's public has adopted the technique for ignoring the restaurant's food which will create the negative impact on the hotel industry. This has been a great challenge for the whole industry along with the Langham group of hotels. The entrance of competitors: This is the biggest challenge as well as the opportunity for the Langham international hotel. On the one side, it will create the negative impact on the Langham hotel's business whereas it will also generate more opportunities to grow and make the better image in the consumers in relevance with its competitors. Competition is very important for improving the quality of the products and services. Till the time, an organization will not suffer from competition; they will not focus on improving the product or service quality. Customers also get the opportunity to select the appropriate hotel as per their requirements amongst the selection available (Hon, Chan Chan, 2013). Apart from the challenges and the opportunities faced by the Langham group of hotels in the Auckland city centre, set of strategies are developed by themarketing manager of the Langham hotel with a view to increase the potential of the organization in order to maintain the goodwill of the organization after entrance of the competitors in the same rating of hotel industry (Jones, et. al., 2016). Marketing Mix Strategy It is the strategy used to promote the products and services of the organization. It could be used for the promotion of the existing products as well as to promote the new products and services. Under this strategy, all the specification including the importance and the features of the products and services are evaluated. This technique is included in the promotional campaign in order to gain the confidence as well as to attract the customers (Murshid, et. al., 2016). Product Langham Hotel needs to adopt the strategy of providing adequate quality services which could help them to attract the customers. As Qualmark is already an advantage for the organization but as their competitors are also planning to get registered under the same rating of five-star hotels.Marketing manager of the Langham hotel has introduced the unique strategy of providing customers cab service which will help the customers to reach the hotel easily (Benavides-Velasco, Quintana-Garca Marchante-Lara, 2014). They have launched a mobile application through which customers can book the hotel room in advance without paying anything on advance booking. This will save the cost of the customers to reach the hotel from airports or railway stations. They can request a pick up through sharing the time at the time of advance booking, the cab will be provided to the guests for picking them up and the same procedure will be followed at the time of check out. This will help the Langham group of ho tels to build a separate image in the competitive business environment and it will also result in the competitive advantage for the organization (Shyu, et. al., 2015). Place As Langham Hotel is already situated at the heart location of the New Zealand i.e. Auckland City Centre so, they do not need to focus on this point. Apart from shifting to the location, marketing manager of the organization has adopted the technique of expansion in order to increase the demand for their hotel. Rather situated at the heart location, it may be not reachable for all customers because public is situated at the every corner hence; to provide them feasibility to reach to their hotel easily, organization has adopted the technique for expansion under which another branch of the hotel will be set up in the prime location of the New Zealand. It will generate competitive advantage for the organization as they will be able to target a number of people (Pakdil Kurtulmu?o?lu, 2017). Price Under this technique, a customer should be provided with the adequate quality or the quantity of the services and the products against the money paid by the customers. In order to provide valuable services to the guests of the Langham Hotel, management of the organization has arranged a cab service under which pick and drop facility to the airports and the railway stations will be provided at no cost (Lee, et. al., 2014). Apart from this, they have also adopted the facility of providing customers various unique and valuable services which make them separate from their competitors as well as it will also result in the competitive advantage for the organization. Apart from the cab services, an organization has included various value added services in the package opted by the guests for the stay in the hotel. Adaptation of these services will help the organization in attracting more number of people (Mohammed, Rashid Tahir, 2014). Promotion Promotional techniques contribute their valuable role in spreading awareness amongst the people in relevance with the new services and products launched by the organization. The more potential techniques will be adopted, the more organization will gain the competitive advantage. Social media platforms and other digital media platforms will be more effective in comparison to the posters, banners and another print medium of advertisement. Apart from various communication channels such as marketing manager has introduced a mobile application through which guests can book anytime on their phones, computers only (Pereira Almeida, 2014). Apart from the mobile application, emails and messages have been sent to their regular customers in relevance with providing them the information regarding the opening of a new branch as well as an announcement of unique value added services in the same packages and at the same price. The mobile application will include an offers tab and under that tab, a ll the current and future offers will be disclosed to the customers directly. The offers may differ on the basis of visitors regularity as more offers will be provided to the regular customers as compared to the occasional visitors (Singh Kumar, 2015). People They are the only source of their profitability, growth as well as for the success of the organization. Hence, Langham hotels managers have built an effective strategy through which they can create a valuable goodwill in their customers mind (Hoque, 2013).Occasional customers could be turned into regular customers; they have launched the scheme for first-time visitors under which certain rate of discount will be provided to guests for stay with their hotel. As they are the primary source of the success of the organization, hence; appropriate and reliable steps need to be taken in order to attract them towards the hotel. Apart from the new guests, appropriate and attractive offers need to be launched for the regular customers to keep their interest in the hotel (Maziriri Chinomona, 2016). Processes The process of the service reddening needs to update in order to enhance the customers' experience. For this, a staff of the hotel will be trained in such a manner so that all the requirements of the organization could be fulfilled. Customers' feedbacks need to be resolved on the priority basis and if customers' have suffered anything unethical due to organization's fault then it should be resolved on the priority basis through any mode such as by providing free stay at the hotel or certain rate of discount depending on the severity of the issue (Fraj, Matute Melero, 2015). Physical Evidence Under this step, an organization needs to develop some physical evidence which could help the customers to rely upon the services offered by the Langham hotel are appropriate. Hospitality services could be measured on the basis of customers reviews hence; this is the best approach through which organization could gain the trust and reliability from other customers. Positive reviews from the previous customers will work as the element of attracting future customers (Mok, Sparks Kadampully, 2013). Conclusion Aforesaid explanation concludes the marketing and service plan for the Langham International Hotel Auckland City Centre, New Zealand. There is a quality assurance organization set up by the government of New Zealand in order to protect the tourists interest. Organizations registered under Qualmark are assured by the government in terms of the quality of services as well of the products. Langham hotel is also registered with the same sort of rating and they are enjoying their success adequately in the New Zealand. With the increasing demand of the consumers, Langham Hotel's primary competitors Starwood and Windham are planning to expand their hotel business in the Auckland city center with a view to providing competition to the Langham group of a hotel through providing the same sort of rating and the quality assurance. To maintain the image in the hospitality industry, marketing manager of the Langham Hotel has developed certain strategies including marketing strategy technique with a view to maintaining their goodwill in the New Zealands hospitality market. References Benavides-Velasco, C. A., Quintana-Garca, C., Marchante-Lara, M. (2014). Total quality management, corporate social responsibility and performance in the hotel industry.International Journal of Hospitality Management,41, 77-87. Fraj, E., Matute, J., Melero, I. (2015). Environmental strategies and organizational competitiveness in the hotel industry: The role of learning and innovation as determinants of environmental success.Tourism Management,46, 30-42. Hon, A. H., Chan, W. W., Lu, L. (2013). Overcoming work-related stress and promoting employee creativity in hotel industry: The role of task feedback from supervisor.International Journal of Hospitality Management,33, 416-424. Hoque, K. (2013).Human resource management in the hotel industry: Strategy, innovation and performance. Routledge. Hsiao, T. Y., Chuang, C. M., Kuo, N. W., Yu, S. M. F. (2014). Establishing attributes of an environmental management system for green hotel evaluation.International Journal of Hospitality Management,36, 197-208. Jones, P., Jones, P., Hillier, D., Hillier, D., Comfort, D., Comfort, D. (2016). Sustainability in the hospitality industry: some personal reflections on corporate challenges and research agendas.International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management,28(1), 36-67. Lee, J. J., Capella, M. L., Taylor, C. R., Gabler, C. B. (2014). The financial impact of loyalty programs in the hotel industry: A social exchange theory perspective.Journal of Business Research,67(10), 2139-2146. Maziriri, E. T., Chinomona, E. (2016). Modeling the Influence of Relationship Marketing, Green Marketing and Innovative Marketing on the Business Performance of Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMES).Journal of Economics and Behavioral Studies,8(3), 127-139. Mohammed, A. A., Rashid, B. B., Tahir, S. B. (2014). Customer relationship management (CRM) Technology and organization performance: is marketing capability a missing link? an empirical study in the malaysian hotel industry.Asian Social Science,10(9), 197. Mok, C., Sparks, B., Kadampully, J. (2013).Service quality management in hospitality, tourism, and leisure. Routledge. Murshid, M. A., Murshid, M. A., Mohaidin, Z., Mohaidin, Z., Yen Nee, G., Yen Nee, G., ... Fernando, Y. (2016). Physician perceived value as a mediating variable between marketing mix strategy and physician satisfaction.Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics,28(5), 780-806. Nieves, J., Segarra-Ciprs, M. (2015). Management innovation in the hotel industry.Tourism Management,46, 51-58. Pakdil, F., Kurtulmu?o?lu, F. (2017). Using quality function deployment for environmentally sustainable hotels: a combined analysis of customer and manager point of view.European Journal of Tourism Research: Volume 16, Year: 2017, 252-275. Pereira, L., Almeida, P. (2014). Marketing And Promotion In The Hotel Industry: A Case Study In Family Hotel And Hotel Group.Conselho Editorial| Editorial Board. Shyu, M. L., Chiang, W. J., Chien, W. Y., Wang, S. L. (2015). Key Success Factors In Digital Marketing In Service Industry and the Development Strategies: A Case Study On Fleur DE Chine At Sun Moon Lake.International Journal of Organizational Innovation (Online),8(1), 171. Singh, P., Kumar, H. (2015). A Study of Hospitality Marketing Mix With Reference To Indian Hotel Industry.Intercontinental Journal of Marketing Research Review,3, 14-23.