Fourth, the company in 2005 had a full senior management turn-over, signaling such a turbulent and uncertain internal economic environment. This resulted in very low levels of expertise on the board of directors as well. Sixth, the company had a very high and unpredictable level of spending in 2005, hiring 31,500 temporary workers for example. All of these factors taken together pointed to 2006 being a very difficult year from a profitability perspective. Opportunities

Six Flags has consistently shown the ability to manage third party licensing and partnerships, as evidenced by the licensing of Warner Bros & DC Comics for example. The future of the company needs to concentrate on additional quick service restaurant (QSR) partners who have high brand name recognition. These include Coca-Cola, Pepsi, McDonald's and others in the QSR category. Second, the company could capitalize on the interest conglomerates have in investing in this industry, and sell off several parks. This would generate much-needed capital for new rides and capital equipment investments that are badly needed...

Third, the company needs to concentrate on its e-commerce and digital media strategies, which are weak during the period of time of the case. It is imperative and a great opportunity for Six Flags to concentrate on this area quite intensively.
Threats

The greatest threat is the acquisition and hostile takeover due to low stock price which is exacerbated by Bill Gate's comments on the loss he has experienced with Six Flags. Second, smaller entrenched competitors who compete on bundling and pricing are taking market share away from them and gaining valuable customer loyalty. Fourth, Return on Assets (ROA) and Return on Equity (ROE) are both negative during the case's time period, which is making the turn-around all the more difficult. A sale per employee peaks in 2005 then drops to approximately $26,000 in 2006. Fifth, the closing of six parks in 2006 is not well-planned and appears to be done purely for cost containment when the company could have orchestrated their sale.

References

Mark Hyman (2006, May). The Batman and Robin of…