Case Study You have been working for some time at Unique Shoes, a local shoe sto
ID: 402692 • Letter: C
Question
Case Study
You have been working for some time at Unique Shoes, a local shoe store that specializes in unusual shoe designs and custom fitting. Currently, customers come to the store to select their shoe designs and have their measurements taken for the custom fitting. The shoes are then manufactured by a supplier in another state and shipped to the store for pickup by the customer. The owner, Bill, is very interested in expanding his successful business. He has just bought Sassy Shoes, a shoe store in a good location across town, and has hired a store manager. He plans to continue selling the brands of shoes that the Sassy Shoes has been selling, but he wants to add his “unique shoes†to that store’s offerings. Bill’s research shows that, in addition to all of the online sources for shoes, there are many other local stores that sell shoes: outlets for major shoe store chains, mall stores that carry popular brands, small outlets and specialty shops, and department stores. While Bill has been keeping all his records of orders and sales on paper, the records at Sassy Shoes are located on the manager’s PC in Excel files. Bill realizes that he must treat the two stores as a single business, with one set of accounts, one billing system, etc. He thinks this is also a good time to stop using paper records for his orders and sales. Bill really hopes to continue to expand his business by buying other shoe stores, but he will need good information about his current businesses to know when he should make his next acquisition. He has asked you to help him develop the business strategy and IT Plan to accomplish his goals. You know that there are methodologies for analyzing the business environment and that there are multiple ways to expand the business. You also recognize that IT is an important component for achieving that goal.
1. Explain Porter’s Five Forces Model and how Bill can use it to analyze his current business and his expansion. Be sure to address each of the 5 forces and explain to Bill what they mean for his business.
2. Based on your analysis in question #1, select one of the five forces and explain how Bill can incorporate his analysis of that force into his Strategic Business Plan (SBP).
3. List three business areas and/or processes that could be supported by an IT solution.
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b.
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4. List and describe (in two or three sentences each) three IT projects that should be a part of Bill’s IT Plan to support the area and/or processes identified in question #3 above.
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b.
c.
5. Explain how each IT project listed above specifically improves and/or supports the business.
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b.
c.
6. If Bill decides to enter the world of eCommerce, which of the eCommerce models (B2B, C2B, B2C or C2C) would you recommend to him as a best fit for his business and how would it benefit his business?
7. How could Bill’s business benefit from implementing an SCM solution?
8. How could Bill’s business benefit from implementing an ERP solution?
9. What benefits would Bill get for his business from implementing a relational database? Your response must be tied directly to Bill’s shoe stores.
10. Make a list of five ways that Bill could protect the data and systems that he is going to put in place. Consider the type of data and systems that would be relevant to Bill’s shoe store.
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b.
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Explanation / Answer
1) There are environmental forces that directly influence a firm and its competitive actions and responses within an industry. Harvard Business School Professor Michael Porterâ??s five forces model highlights the key factors that determine an industry's overall competitive rivalry and attractiveness for new entrants.
In some industries, new competitors find it difficult to enter the market because substantial capital investments are required, distribution channels need to be cultivated and a recognizable brand needs to be developed. For example, in the alcoholic beverages industry, Anheuser Busch-InBev has a strong distribution channel developed through years of partnership with distributors. Also, the company's Budweiser brand has been solidified in the minds of consumers through millions of dollars worth of advertisements. It will be relatively difficult for a new entrant in this industry to compete with existing players.
Some industries have many suppliers but only a few buyers, such as the automobile or defense contracting industries. In these businesses, buyers have the power and can set the price. On the other hand, some industries have low buyer concentration or buyers dependent on the seller for critical inputs, such as personal computer manufacturersâ?? dependence on producers of microprocessors. Buyer power is low in these industries.
A firm's suppliers--of raw materials, components, labor or services--may try to control the firm and attempt to seek greater profits for themselves. For example, drug manufacturers have power over hospitals in the healthcare industry. Typically, large companies within the industry mitigate this threat due to their size and volume-buying abilities (think Walmart and Costco) as well as by cultivating long-term relationships with suppliers.
In some industries, competition is aggressive regarding price, product innovation and marketing, driving down the potential for profit. For example, in the telecommunications industry carriers aggressively seek new customers by promoting their service plans, network coverage and technology. Rivalry in an industry can become intense due to a large number of competing firms, slow growth in the market, relative ease with which customers can switch to a competitor or high costs to firms for abandoning product lines.
A greater number of substitute products in an industry provides more alternatives for customers, making them sensitive to price. For example, in the gasoline distribution industry customers can switch between gasoline brands. This limits the ability of a firm in the industry to raise its prices over those of another company.
A firm planning to enter an industry should carefully analyze Porterâ??s five forces in the context of its own strengths and weaknesses, as well as its capacity to respond to these forces. In order to counter the five forces, Porter recommends that a firm lower its product costs, differentiate its product lines from competitors or focus on a select segment of customers while selling its products.
2) based onn my analysis Bill can incorporate PRODUCT SUBSTITUTES in his SBP as there are lot of shoe shops and there is a huge competition all around. As Unique shoes specializes in unusual shoe designs and custom fitting ,the products in his shop should have more alternatives designs to atract the customers
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