Current Issue : October - December Volume : 2015 Issue Number : 4 Articles : 3 Articles
Strategic positioning is very important in this 21st century era, where the marketplace is overcrowded with intense\ncompetition and me-too products. Firms are expected to strategically position themselves to achieve competitive\nadvantage. Any firm that lacks a clear strategy can end up in a muddle and confusion.\nThis study provides a critical assessment of the strategic position of the Melcom chain of shops within the\nGhanaian retail industry. A review of literature on the factors that strategically position a company above its\ncompetitors is conducted. This is followed by a summary of Melcom positioning and customer expectation. The\nstudy reviews the external environment in which Melcom operates and finds opportunities such as increasing\ndemand for its products, but also uncovers threats such as competition from foreign investors. The report considers\nhow the external environment influences Melcom's strategic position and identifies the company's generic strategies\nof differentiation and cost leadership.\nUsing a case study method, the paper derives qualitative data on the retail industry in Ghana using Porter�s five\nforces. It achieves this by analysing the industry and evaluating its effect on Melcom. The report also reviews\nMelcom's competencies and resources, and identifies the sources of the company's competitive advantage. The\nreport concludes with a series of strategic recommendations for Melcom. The aim of these is to help improve\nMelcom's market share and sales....
Using a series of Toyota automotive recalls as the context, this study examines reactions by consumers, investors, and reports on a combined measure to capture the overall effect of the recalls on the firm. Following the recalls, consumer sales returned to pre-recall levels quickly, however, investors immediately punished the firm with negative abnormal returns of between -14.16 and -16.04% over the longest event windows examined. A combined measure designed to capture consumer and investor reaction shows that the overall brand value of Toyota declined by 16% in the year following the announcement of the product-harm crises. Investor and consumer reaction was different following the recalls. Managerial implications are discussed....
Zimbabwe has faced persistent droughts from around year 1990 to date posing a structural food\nsecurity challenge to the populace. Recently, the government of Zimbabwe introduced a blue\nprint to spearhead and map sustainable balance in tapping value from the available natural and\nman-made resources in the country. This is known as the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable\nSocio-economic Transformation Programme (Zim Asset). Amongst its prospects, agriculture\nand nutrition has been reckoned as a sustainable cluster for economic development. This study\nwas undertaken one and half years after the implementation of Zim Asset as an evaluation\nmechanism on the successes and challenges faced in transforming the Zimbabwean economy\nwith specific reference to the Food and Nutrition Cluster. The study employed both post\npositivism and interpretivism philosophies applying quantitative and qualitative approaches in\ngathering research data. The research instruments included documentary evidence, face to face\nin-depth interviews and focus groups. The in-depth interviews explored issues to do with\nresources allocation in line with the Zim Asset agriculture sustenance objectives. Focus was\ntherefore, on the four Ministries supporting the Food and Nutrition Cluster. Eighty percent of\nthe respondents reported that the economic blue print has not made any significant strides in\nimproving the country�s agricultural performance and food security since the inception of Zim\nAsset in October 2013. It was noted that the country continued to import maize from Zambia and other countries in the region. The major reason for its lack of success was due to the\nunavailability of resources to support the programme and the fact that land was allocated to\nunproductive and cell phone farmers. There was consensus that land audit and recapitalisation\nof the agriculture sector were critical in achieving the desired outcomes. The study\nrecommends that the programme be adequately funded, so that the country can become\nself-sufficient....
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