JCT2 TASK 2
Western Governor’s University
Supply Chain Management
Task 2
A1. Brand Design MicroTeck chose two brand designs based on the needs of the market. Although different clients require the use of our products for different reasons, they all had similar requirements for the components of their orders. We chose to cater to the similarities and the components that were listed as the most important for each company’s requests. The initial brand design specifications requested to be filled listed below. The initial design decisions made by my company are listed below:
Based on these decisions our initial Lite Elite product line did not fare well on the market because its use did not quite meet the needs of the target market; Workhorse. They requested a more fun and easy use of the computers but we did not incorporate this need into the final design and our sales suffered as a result. In the third quarter however, we did take this into consideration when we designed the Lite Elite upgrade: Lite Elite 2. Design details listed below:
We would have started out with the brand decisions that we made in Quarter 2 if we could go back and start again.
A2 & A3. Target Markets & Sales Office Locations I would not change the target markets mainly for the reason of the Potential Demand. As a start-up company, being in the right market at the right time is the best combination that can be attained. Workhorse as well as Mercedes showed the biggest potential for the most profitable return based on the amount each company was willing to pay as well as the demand in the North American Markets. This demand was mainly spread across the North American Market sales locations. The second sales location that I chose was Paris-Europe. I would not change this location either because Workhorse was one of my main target markets. What this means is that although Paris-Europe ranked third in demand for the other two target markets, the location weighed heavy on the Workhorse market which showed the greatest potential for return on investment.
Here are the 12-month demand projections and the locations where they would need the most products, that assisted us in making the decisions for the target markets:
Here we see that Workhorse gave the best anticipated demand followed by Mercedes and the areas to cater to.
A4. Market Research In retrospect the amount allotted to the Market Research was not the problem in the near bankruptcy of quarter 2. It was the lack of use for the information provided by the market research. I spent $15,000 in quarter 2, which was the necessary amount to retrieve the market information that was necessary to make the proper decisions. I would spend the same amount on the Market Research again.
Listed below is the information gained in Quarter 2 from the market research that aided in the improvement of the product lines. It allowed us to see where we stood with the market needs.
In Quarter 4 we still had a little work to do but we were better prepared for the market as a result of the funds spent on the Market Research. Here was our standing position in Quarter 4, one of our products was always in the top 3: B & C. International Markets I chose to enter the international market because of the