Mini Case Discussions (100 pts.) Groups will discuss mini-cases in the discussion forum. Each case (four total) will present a business dilemma, and you are to discuss in your group different alternatives to solve the problem. The discussion forum will open and close at specific times. You need to write your entries during that time interval. Everyone is expected to have active and substantial participation. Just saying “I agree” or paraphrasing someone else’s ideas does not count as acceptable participation. Apply the principles learned from the book as much as you can. To get full credit, each student has to have at least five substantial entries. While discussion is in groups, your grade will be based on your participation. Deliverable: Individually provide at least five substantial entries per mini case. Case discussion questions: Schoolstuff, Inc. is a manufacturing company located in the South of the USA. Its product lines, which are geared to the school market, include market-boards, chalkboards, tack-boards, presentation cabinets, bulletin board cabinets, and display cases. Schoolstuff is recognized for the high quality of its products. Schoolstuff does not sell directly to schools but through a network of dealers who call on contractors whose part of their business is to build or remodel schools. These contractors compete for projects through a bidding process. In order to prepare their bids, contractors request proposals from all their suppliers including from Schoolstuff and its competitors. Once all the supplier information is compiled, contractors prepare a bid hoping to beat everyone else on price. Lately, Schoolstuff has been losing business to a Chinese competitor whose price is 30-40% lower. That has been putting a lot of financial pressure on the company to the extent that this year they may just break even. The future does not look better. Discuss how you would approach the problems being faced by Schoolwork. Ask questions if you think you need further information. This case is based on a real company. My Discussion: According to the case presented, Schoolstuff has sales problems, especially in its supply chain. In this case, the firm has no control over the prices of its products since they use contractors rather than selling directly to the consumers. The main strategy of this issue is the implementation of the cost leadership strategy in its production process. This strategy ensures that the firm reduces the cost of production without compromising the quality of the brand. The firm can achieve this through economies of scale, adopting new technology and differentiating the product range. This will allow the firm to lower the prices while remaining profitable and focusing on good quality. Secondly, the firm should begin promotional efforts to the schools and contractors to attract more bids and contractual agreements on the sale of their brand. Classmate Discussion: For Schoolstuff to win the bids they will have to lower the price of their products. Choosing a lower price for high quality products will leave them with lower profit margins and may even cause a loss to out bid others. If Schoolstuff wants to succeed they will need to sacrifice the quality of their products in order beat the predatory pricing as mentioned by other group members. Schoolstuff has branded its self based on their products. These changes may have many costs associated with them. They will have to rebrand themselves as a discount brand, change their mission statement and find a new supplier. The company also may be forced to cut down personnel in order to reduce costs which may have a negative effect on the work environment. What if these costs are not worth the change? Response (150 words): Classmate Discussion: Typically when companies begin to struggle financially, it's a good idea to go back and look at product histories and find sales and inventory records. In high school one of the statements I heard the most is to study history so we don't repeat our mistakes. This advice is crucial in the business world. By looking back at the financial history and sales and inventory records, the company can find out which products are selling less, or products that have been in inventory for a long time. This can help the company decide whether or not to keep the products in inventory or to sell them. Many of the products from Schoolstuff, Inc. are midsize so it would benefit the company to do a spring cleaning of their old products. If products are kept in inventory too long, the warehouse may not be optimizing their space which could be costing them more money. If some of the older products are too outdated to sell at their typical prices, Schoolstuff could consider donating the products to low income schools. They would be doing a good deed and could receive positive PR from it. By looking at past financials and seeing what Schoolstuff can do for their community, they can overcome their financial troubles. My biggest suggestion would be no matter what, don't change how they manufacture the products in order to save costs. Having high quality products from the United States is better than cheap products from China because high quality products will last longer. If Schoolstuff can increase their financials long enough to keep their doors open, they can still stay in business. Yes, they are losing contractors right now but it's possible this will be short term. If the products from the company in China are made cheap, it's possible the products can end up harming students or teachers. Imagine the lawsuit if a bulletin board fell on a student or cabinet door snapped a finger. Sometimes it's better to spend more money to know the products are good quality. it can end up saving you money in the end. Realistically, I think schools -and parents- would want safe and reliable products. If looking at past financial records don't help, I would say consider lowering manufacturing costs. However, this would be worst case/ we have no other options. Response (150 words):
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