Glo-Bus Focus Point -- Final

Glo-Bus

Focus Point -- Final Assessment

Leader in the industry of digital camera manufacturers, Focus Point has undergone various process of organizational change throughout the past ten years. We have developed and implemented the most adequate courses of action and we managed to achieve a status in which we play a significant role within the industry. Despite this however, some issues remain pressing and continue to jeopardize the organization's well-being. The aim of this report is to assess the courses of action that were followed in achieving the current status. The information presented will cover topics such as the applicability of the previously established mission, vision and goals, the strategies relative to employees, customers and competition or the financial achievements.

Mission, Vision, Goals

Focus Point's mission has suffered reduced changes in the meaning that the company's desires and attention remain alert towards presenting the customers with a wide selection of high quality digital cameras, offered at high quality services, all to generate increased customer satisfaction. Also, the manufacturer is committed to delivering excellence within the industry through the integration of the latest technological developments. Today, Focus Point continues its sells operations throughout the four global regions in Europe-Africa, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and North America. What has however changed in the mission statement is the increased focus on employee satisfaction and the desire to create a pleasant yet challenging working environment that generates increased employee on-the-job satisfaction.

Relative to the vision, this has suffered modifications in terms of the company's position. In this line of thoughts, the initial vision statement argued that Focus Point strives to become a leader within the digital camera industry. However, throughout the past years, we have achieved this desiderate and the modern company envisions to maintain and consolidate its leading position for the years to come. The statements of high quality products and services, employee opportunities and maximization of shareholder value remain unchanged.

Despite the numerous changes the company has undergone in the recent decade, the goals established in the initial stages remain valid in today's environment. As such, Focus Point continually strives to increase its customer palette, offer high quality products and maintain its leading position within the global context.

3. Employee Strategies

Focus Point followed its idea that the organization is made of people, rather than products, and developed several courses of action with the aim of creating a strong, united, pleasant and, in the same time, challenging working environment. Significant amounts of money have been invested in this endeavor, but it has paid off as it generated numerous financial and non-financial advantages. The strategies implemented relative to the human resource include the development of a performance-based scheme, in which the hard working employees are recognized through salary raises, bonuses and opportunities for promotions. A second set of strategies saw intensified efforts to hire and retain the best employees. Focus Point recognizes that the growth of the digital camera industry translates not only into increased competition for customers, but also into incremental competition for the most skilled and capable workforce. In this light of events, the management at Focus Point offered a wide selection of financial and non-financial incentives that reduced the 10% employee turnover rate to a current 2% rate. Some of the incentives included premiums and bonuses or flexible working schedules, including telecommuting for the positions that allowed this system of work. The company also emphasized on the cultural diversity of its workforce and developed strategies that led to significant benefits. For instance, Focus Point hired multicultural employees in front desk positions. The endeavor meant that these employees would be able to interact with the multicultural clients, generating as such increased levels of customer satisfaction.

Overall, the totality of endeavors targeting the employees materialized in the following outcomes:

Reduced employee turnover rates, which means reduced costs with replacing the personnel (recruiting, training, integrating, accommodation etc.)

Increased employee on-the-job satisfaction which materialized in sustained performances and increased efforts in aiding the organization reach its overall objectives

Increased product quality and customer satisfaction, which in turn translated into financial gains.

4. Customers

Just like with the staff members, the key concern relative to the organizational customers became an increase in their loyalty. The strategic courses of action developed and implemented by Focus Point were aimed to increase the number of customers, but most of the emphasis fell on a desire to increase the loyalty of the already existent clients. The endeavor also requested additional financial investments but paid off in several instances. The actions taken were vast and included a wide selection of complementary services. Some of the most notable strategies offered the loyal customer the ability to purchase digital cameras at significant discount prices (10 up to 25% discount, depending on the history of the customer-company relationship and the amount of digital cameras purchased), extended warranties or the offering of complementary products, such as cleaning utensils, tripods or remote controls for the cameras. The outcomes of the customer loyalty programs implemented can be succinctly summarized as seen in the following lines:

Reductions in the marketing fees as the loyal customers are already familiar and satisfied with the company and will continually seek its products, without the need for so much advertising

Loyal customers can be assimilated with the cash cows in the Boston Consulting Group matrix in the meaning that they generate sustainable revenues by continuous purchases

Through word of mouth, loyal and satisfied customers bring in new clients and demands for Focus Point, further decreasing the marketing costs pegged to attracting new customers

Loyal customers are more patient and forgiving when the organization or one of its employees makes a mistake

Loyal customers lead to loyal employees, which in turn generates additional financial savings

The loyal customers also offer feedback to the company, which allows it to more adequately adapt and respond to market and R&D needs (Ramaswami, 2005)

The profits of Focus Point increased by 25% as a direct result of customer loyalty.

5. Market Position

The advancements made in terms of the market position have to be addressed from two instances -- the position within the local market and the position within the international market. In terms of the national market, Focus Point has managed to establish itself as the indisputable leader and the number one manufacturer and seller of digital cameras. Within the international context however, the situation is more complex. Due to some financial challenges and the difficulties of implementing numerous process of organizational change, in the first three years, the company lost its third position to Clickit Camera and took the fourth step on the global ladder. However, starting with the fifth year, the company regained its status and once again occupied the third place on the international podium. The successful strategies that followed (in terms of all products, employees, customer, resource allocation and so on) propelled Focus Point to the second place in the international digital camera scene. The current strategy revolves around maintaining this position, consolidating it and overcoming the differences between our organization and the international leader, a SnapShot Away. In terms of the zones operated by our company, we have managed to maintain our superiority in Europe-Africa and Asia-Pacific and we have further consolidated our position in Latin and North America.

6. Competition

Given that the organization has managed to move from the third to the second position in the international classification of the digital camera leaders, its number one competitor remains a SnapShot Away. This organization recognized the threats posed by Focus Point and developed a wide series of strategic courses of action to safeguard its position. They for instance became involved in intense process of headhunting -- basically, they contacted and tried to attract key organizational members in several companies within the digital camera industry. The fact that they possessed significant financial resources allowed them to make attractive salary package offers, which were accepted by several technical and managerial professionals. With this new, enforced and experienced workforce, a SnapShot Away increased its revenues and market coverage, registering an adjacent 20% increase in their I.E. score. The industry scoreboard today:

Rank

Company Name

I.E Score

B-I-I Score

Overall Score

1.

A SnapShot Away

2.

Focus Point

98

3.

BlackJack Digital

86

4.

DigiSnap

98

84

91

5.

Clickit Camera

88

68

78

6.

EyeSEEU Cameras

60

48

54

The most aggressive competition at this point comes from the part of BlackJack Digital, who is committed to regaining their second spot in the international board. It is yet unclear the course of action they intend to take, but rumors have been spread about a potential merger between them and EyeSEEU Cameras. The latter organization has encountered difficulties concomitant with the arrest of their manager on accounts of fraud. The potential merger will have to be assessed by the authorities to ensure that it does not breach the laws of friendly competition.

DigiSnap climbed two positions thanks to its strategy of reduced costs. It is a common fact that customers will always try to get the most cost-effective products, even if this means slight compromises on quality. The managers at DigiSnap emphasized on this characteristic and drastically reduced operational costs, to culminate with a 22% reduction in the retail price. The endeavor gained them increased numbers of customers and a wider market coverage.

7. Product Strategies

We have placed increased emphasis on the four elements of the marketing mix -- product, place, promotions and price. The retail prices were established based on the variable pricing strategy, which sees that the costs to the final buyer will change whenever the expenditures incurred in the manufacturing and sale of the digital camera modify. Focus Point is able to implement such a strategy as it is already a strong presence within the market which bases its actions on sustainable financial figures. As a result of this, we do not have to allure customers through penetration pricing strategies, nor increase our revenues on the short run by implementing skimming pricing strategies. However, we do offer promotional prices and discounts up to 25%. These actions have further increase the loyalty and satisfaction of our customer base.

An important goal relative to the product was that of developing a wide selection of digital cameras that would satisfy the needs of both novice as well as expert photographers. Focus Point is proud to recognize that, throughout the course of the past decade, this objective has been successfully completed. The company now presents its audience with no less than 50 models of digital cameras. The simplest models are based on the functionality specifications of the traditional cameras and have large screens that allow the buyer to preview the image to be photographed. The average retail price of these types of cameras does not exceed $150. 65% of the total revenues are generated by the sale of these cameras. As the models develop and are more suitable for professional developers, their applicability increases and so does their price. The most expensive digital camera sold by Focus Point reaches a final price of $4,500 and the company sells an estimated 2000 such products per year.

The product offering is extremely wide, covering cameras that take pictures, tape films or do both. The majority of the products offered by Focus Point ten years ago would simply take pictures or record videos. Today's items however can do both; and most importantly, we are able to assure the high quality of both videos and images constructed with our cameras. The technical specifications have also significantly increased as a direct result of major technological investments. Prices have been aligned to those offered by other digital camera manufacturers with a twofold purpose -- ensuring competitive prices and gaining the interest of customers, and secondly, generating increased shareholder value and maximizing the revenues for our investors. Throughout the entire period, the product strategies are estimated to have contributed to a 15% increase in the overall profitability. It must also be mentioned that all product strategies have been developed and implemented in full accordance with the legal stipulations and with the vote of the Board.

The functionality of the digital cameras remains the one basically established ten years ago, with the specification that additional applications have been introduced, such as better focus (automatic or manual), ability to zoom in and out several times, increased numbers of pixels, increased data storage, connectivity to computers and so on. The styling has also changed and the cameras became smaller and more modern looking. Repairs and support services have expanded; warranty was increased; more safety features were introduced and several accessories and complementary services or products were also made available (Net MBA, 2007).

8. Technologies

As mentioned previously, Focus Point has made several investments in technologies. The rationale for these strategies lays in the rapid development of the it community and integrates in the company's overall strategy of aligning its endeavors with market and industry trends. In this line of thoughts, the company has created its own research and development team, whose aim is to continually integrate the latest technological advancements into the Focus Point digital cameras. The R&D team continually communicates with the marketing team which offers them the customers' feedback on any new features they would like to have incorporated in the products. It can be then concluded that relative to product technologies, Focus Point has achieved its established desiderates, and more. The most notable technologies that have been introduced to further improve the applicability and quality of the Focus Point digital cameras include:

DIGIC III, iSAPS, Face Recognition Detection AF/FE and the Ultracompact Lens Unit -- these four technologies are integrated in the compact digital cameras, purchased by novice photographers and praised for their high definition images and easy usage and portability (Website of Canon Inc., 2009)

Memory sticks -- used in all types of cameras and functioning like small hard disks, this technology allows users to make and store thousands of photographs in their cameras

Multimedia technologies -- mainly used to conduct several actions, such as take photographs but also record videos

USB sticks that allow users to connect the camera to a laptop or personal computer

Raw technologies which allow users to take a raw photograph, and then modify in on the computer, such as reduce the red eye effect or other flaws (Atkins, 2003).

9. Outsourcing

The company continues to maintain its operational structure as that of a decade ago. In this order of ideas, manufacturing and assembly operations are still concentrated in Taiwan, from where the digital cameras are shifted to Europe-Africa, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and North America. The four regional centers continue to operate in Italy, Singapore, Brazil and Canada, from where the company controls its overall sales agenda. Despite the mentioning that modifications would not occur in this instance, the experience of the previous years has however imposed the need for one modification -- the four regional centers are not only in charge of sales operations, but they also come to make significant contributions to the design process. Given that these employees interact directly with the customer, they retrieve valuable feedback which is then transmitted forward to the R&D team and integrated in the process of product design.

Manufacturing and assembly operations remain based in Taiwan due to the cost efficiencies this region offers. However, a specification has to be made in that the company's recent growth and development might require the opening of a new plant. It is yet uncertain whether this new plant would be opened within Taiwan (or another emergent country) or within the United States. The U.S. is currently facing the challenges of the internationalized financial crisis and the creation of new jobs would be welcomed by the federal government, which could even offer Focus Point financial advantages. A decision will be reached during the following board meetings.

10. Porter's Five Forces

The elements in Porter's five forces have suffered few modifications from the stage they were in the previous decade. However, the mentioning of these features is important in placing our company within the market. In this line of thoughts:

the pressure from the competition due to rivalry remains increased, but Focus Point has revealed its ability to overcome competitive strategies and consolidate its positions the industry poses reduced barriers to entry, meaning that the threat of new entrants is increased; Focus Point has managed to overcome this threat and has consolidated its leading position in spite of the emergence of new digital camera manufacturers the threat of substitute products is also increased, but we have built on our commitment to quality and customer satisfaction, which paid off finally, the bargaining power of suppliers is increased as it could generate alliances that pose threats for out company; we have however managed to avoid such situations

11. SWOT Analysis

The analysis of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats we are faced with today contains common elements with the SWOT analysis of a decade ago. Nonetheless, it is also spiced up with new elements and the consequences of the strategic courses of action implemented throughout the past recent years. This then means that a better understanding of our contemporaneous status within the market, industry, as well as in the eyes of our customers, employees and shareholders requires a reanalysis of the core elements, the weak features, the external opportunities as well as the external threats.

Internal Strengths

Loyal employees and customers, which generate reduced personnel and marketing costs, increasing as such the levels of corporate profitability

Improved position within the local and international markets

Increased competitive strength

Cost-efficient operations

Wide offering of high quality products, backed by high quality services

Internal Weaknesses

The processes of organizational change undergone throughout the past years have taken a toll on the company's stability

Some financial indicators (mostly the earnings per share indicator) are weaker that initially estimated and have failed to maximize shareholder value

External Opportunities

Rapid development of technological appliances, which could be integrated within the new digital cameras to generate increased sales and attract new customers

The financial crisis generates a new need for job creators -- this status could improve the public perception of the company and generate financial benefits

The improved market status has generated increasing numbers of customers from the client bases established by other competitors, such as BlackJack Digital, Clickit Camera or a SnapShot Away

External Threats

Intensified competition in an industry that imposed relatively few barriers to entry

The rapid technological advancements generate the need to continually replace the technologies, having as such to continually invest financial resources in this direction