Marketing Management

At the end of Chapter 12: 4-Ps: Marketing Management there is a case study under the section titled:  CASE STUDY: Yale Lift Trucks . Carefully read the case study in your Chapter 12 Reading that describes the U.S. company, Yale Lift Trucks. Here is the case study for your review:

“What’s in a name in the business-to-business (B2B) marketplace?” Under the watchful eye of its founder and CEO Sandy MacKinnon, Yale Lift Trucks prospered, expanded and acquired additional product lines over a 30-year period. As a result, Yale Lift Trucks outgrew its original brand name. As of 2012, the company’s goal was to earn $100 million in annual revenue. Despite the widespread 2008 economic downturn, Yale Lift Trucks remained profitable by providing superior customer service in an industry in which the core product is considered a commodity. Through a strong, service-first company culture, MacKinnon developed a loyal following and focused the company’s efforts on product line expansion to gain market share. Customer service is often the only differentiator in this industry, and Yale Lift Trucks successfully made customer service its sustainable competitive advantage. But this expansion strategy came at a cost: Yale Lift Trucks faced a fragmented brand strategy that put the company at risk for successfully managing the entire brand experience when competing with companies like Toyota, Caterpillar and Komatsu. Without sacrificing 30 years of building brand equity and maintaining satisfied customers, Yale Lift Trucks faces the complex challenge of a rebranding effort that will better represent its expanded product line.

The Growth Challenge : In 2011, the opportunity to represent another major equipment brand was presented to MacKinnon. As he contemplated this addition to the Yale and JCB lines the company presently carried, MacKinnon reflected on the company’s growth strategies. With two thriving business divisions, MacKinnon realized the company was not leveraging the strength of the dealership’s reputation by continuing to do business under two brand names: Yale Lift Trucks of Florida and Georgia and JCB of Florida and South Georgia. The company has been promoting the manufacturer’s brand names as opposed to the dealership’s brand. While an additional brand would help the dealership reach its revenue target, it would also increase the confusion with the use of the Yale and JCB brand names. MacKinnon explained, “My goal is to have customers choose to do business with the us because of our reputation and the quality of the services we provide, not because of a particular equipment brand we carry.”

In 2011, the opportunity to represent another major equipment brand was presented to MacKinnon. As he contemplated this addition to the Yale and JCB lines the company presently carried, MacKinnon reflected on the company’s growth strategies. With two thriving business divisions, MacKinnon realized the company was not leveraging the strength of the dealership’s reputation by continuing to do business under two brand names: Yale Lift Trucks of Florida and Georgia and JCB of Florida and South Georgia. The company has been promoting the manufacturer’s brand names as opposed to the dealership’s brand. While an additional brand would help the dealership reach its revenue target, it would also increase the confusion with the use of the Yale and JCB brand names. MacKinnon explained, “My goal is to have customers choose to do business with the us because of our reputation and the quality of the services we provide, not because of a particular equipment brand we carry.”

Questions That Remain : Moving into 2012, MacKinnon continued to struggle with the growth plans for his company. He was uncertain about how to help customers make the connection between the dealership and the multiple brands the dealership represented. He was also unsure about the best launching pad for growth. Despite the long-term success and positive reputation his company had achieved, MacKinnon felt that he and his team had failed to fully explain the company’s value proposition to204  customers. “Our competitive advantage comes from the positive culture and attitude that our people make sure shines through to our customers,” MacKinnon thought. He wondered, “How do we communicate that to potential customers?”
Please fully answer these three (3) critical questions to complete your extra credit assignment:
1) Why do customers choose Yale Lift Trucks over its competitors?
2) What has Yale Lift Trucks overlooked that would help it to reach the growth goals?
3) Has Yale Lift Trucks developed its own brand equity? If yes, then what is that brand equity? If not, what should their brand equity include?

Develop a full written REPORT answering Questions #1, #2 and #3 on one (1) page in MS Word or Pages.  Be succinct, clear and concise in your writing because you must fit everything onto one (1) page.

Due Date: Sunday (April 7th) not later than 11.45pm.

Send the assignment to me as an email attachment ONLY in MS Word or Pages.   When you send me your assignment, you must include all of the following information:
1) your full name (first name and last name), AND
2) the name of the assignment (Here it is: Marketing Management Extra Credit), AND
3) your BUS 101 Section Code (One of these: J2, K, M)

You must include ALL of the above information (the immediate above list of three (3) in all of the following three (3) locations:
1) in the subject line in your email that you will address to me, AND
2) in your document (MS Word or Pages) file name, AND
3) in the MS Word or Pages doc itself at the top of the page of your written assignment.

You will be graded on the QUALITY and COMPLETENESS of your answers of Questions #1, #2 and #3. To accomplish these you will need to use the entire page to explain your answers to me. If you submit anything less than a full one page it will indicate that your analysis may be lacking and insufficient.

Finally, you will earn anywhere from zero (0) points up to the full two (2) points depending upon the QUALITY and COMPLETENESS of each of the three (3) required answers as part of the assignment.
[4/4, 11:57 PM] ‪+974 5540 0504‬: Chapter 13: Operations Management Extra Credit Assignment (2 Points)

At the end of Chapter 13: Operations Management there is a case study under the section titled:

CASE STUDY: Mercedes-Benz

Carefully read the case study in your Chapter 13 Reading that describes the German company, Mercedes-Benz that sought to open up its first manufacturing operations in the United States.  Here is the case study for your review:

 In the early 1990s, German automotive business Mercedes-Benz was facing competitive pressure from Japanese automakers, whose costs were approximately 30 percent lower than theirs. In an effort to combat the threat from Japan and enter the fast-growing market for sports utility vehicles (SUVs), Mercedes designed the M-Class, a new vehicle whose primary market would be the United States. Mercedes hoped that locating the manufacturing plant in the United States would help them take advantage of labor costs that were lower than Germany’s. Because this would be Mercedes’ first SUV and its first manufacturing facility outside of Germany, it was making a decision that would take the business into a new direction.  Mercedes considered a few dozen locations in the United States, almost all of them within a day’s drive to the Atlantic coast or Gulf coast.

In late September 1993, it announced that the manufacturing plant would be located in Alabama. The choice of a rural site in Alabama between the cities of Birmingham and Tuscaloosa was a surprise. Even more surprising were the details of the incentive package that the state of Alabama offered Mercedes to build the plant there. These incentives included the costs to purchase and develop land at the construction site, tax breaks and costs of training workers. The total amount of these incentives—$253 million—was higher than what was offered by any of the competing sites.

After Mercedes’ decision, people in Alabama and other places scrutinized the incentives that Alabama offered to get the plant. The new plant was only expected to employ 1,500 workers, and it was not even supposed to be operational until 1997. However, Mercedes estimated that the plant would “create 6,000 jobs at its suppliers [and that] it planned to buy 70 percent of its parts from U.S. vendors.”

Please fully answer these three (3) critical questions to complete your extra credit assignment:

1. What risks did Mercedes take by deciding to build a facility outside of Germany and, more specifically, in Alabama?

2. Was Alabama’s decision to offer Mercedes more than a quarter of a billion dollars in incentives to build its facility there a good one or not? Explain.

3. Besides the incentive package, what factors do you think influenced Mercedes to locate its facility in Alabama?

Due Date: Sunday (April 14th) not later than 11.45pm.

Send the assignment to me as an email attachment ONLY in MS Word or Pages.

When you send me your assignment, you must include all of the following information:

1) your full name (first name and last name), AND

2) the name of the assignment (Here it is: Marketing Management Extra Credit), AND

3) your BUS 101 Section Code (One of these: J2, K, M)

You must include ALL of the above information (the immediate above list of three (3) in all of the following three (3) locations:

1) in the subject line in your email that you will address to me, AND

2) in your document (MS Word or Pages) file name, AND

3) in the MS Word or Pages doc itself at the top of the page of your written assignment

Finally, you will earn anywhere from zero (0) points up to the full two (2) points depending upon the QUALITY and COMPLETENESS of each of the three (3) required answers as part of the assignment.

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