Rival products case analysis

Rival Products Case Analysis

The Rival Products Company is one of the most reputable players within the market of small kitchen appliances. The company has manifested an increased ability to understand and respond to market demands and proof of this ability stands the great success registered by the organization. The aim of this report is to look at the company's line of steamers -- there are two such products: models CKRVSTLM20 and FSD201 (Rival Products Company Website, 2009) and link the strategies implemented relative to them with several features in the environment.

Strategic Planning in the Environmental Context

Rival Products possesses a highly skilled and capable marketing team, which has been able to identify and integrate new market features within the company's product offering. Two of the most relevant examples in this sense are succinctly revealed below:

(1) the contemporaneous society is currently battling obesity as the source of countless health conditions, the most important of them being cardio-vascular diseases, the number one cause of deaths across the globe. A main generator of these problems is the food we eat and the means in which we cook it, referring generally to frying and deep frying cooking procedures. The Rival Products Company has identified the need to address this problem and has developed its line of steamers as a healthy and tasty alternative to frying foods. Additionally, it serves another need relative to healthy eating, that of best preserving the vitamins and minerals in aliments, components which are often lost in the boiling process -- the common alternative to frying.

(2) the second feature of the environment is that the populations seldom possess the time required for the cooking of a healthy and tasty meal. In order to satisfy this need of rapidity in the kitchen, the Rival food steamers incorporate technologies which help them prepare food in half the time it would require for the aliments to cook using traditional methods. Furthermore, both steamers have been equipped with a 60 minute timer and are easy to use and clean, further easing the task of the cook.

Given this adequate understanding of the environment, the Rival Products Company was able to identify, target and form the most productive customer base. In terms of corporate strategy, this has focused extensively on the study of the products and services the competition had to offer. The results translated in that, from an overall strategic standpoint, the attention to customers was enhanced by sustained efforts in overcoming the offer presented by the competition. This included numerous elements, such as market researches or technological improvements. Aside from customers and competition, the corporate strategy is also focused on the shareholders, in the meaning that the organization strives to generate as much value as possible and fruitfully and profitably use the received equity into more money. A final point on the overall corporate strategic plan is the attention played to the least obvious categories of stakeholders, such as purveyors or nongovernmental not-for-profit organizations. Emphasis has been placed on supplier diversity and corporate social responsibility. This helped not only with the corporate efforts, but also supported marketing endeavors.

Last, from a business strategic standpoint, these efforts have been generically focused on improving the internal features of the organization. Probably the most relevant example in this sense has been the development of the infrastructure, the attention paid to resource allocation -- capitals, commodities, technologies and human resources -- the emphasis placed on the training and motivation of the organizational staff members and so on.

3. Objectives and Scope

Generally, the scope and objectives of an economic entity are often perceived as one and the same thing. In the case of Rival however, it has to be noted that they differ based on the angle from which one looks at the entity. On the one hand, Rival is perceived as an independent organization which manufactures and sells its own products. From this standpoint, its objectives are those of satisfying the needs of its customers through the offering of high quality products and services. Additional objectives include the consolidation of a strong competitive position or the growth of the customer base addressed. On the other hand, when understood as subsidiary of parent company Jarden Corporation, its scope is that of supporting Jarden in reaching its own financial, marketing and business objectives by strengthening the company's competitive position and increasing its financial results.

The growth strategy at the Rival Products Company is centered on the identification and satisfaction of the customers' needs and wants, with special attention to the features of the modern day society. The implementation of such a strategic position, combined with the efforts made in sustaining the achievement of the previously mentioned scope and objectives constitutes a clear and sustainable competitive advantage for Rival. Another advantage is given by its belonging to a greater organization, which provides support and specialized assistance in business operations.

4. The Pattern

Through the observation and analysis of Rival's strategic approach, a pattern can be identified in that the company is striving to unite all of its efforts to achieve the pre-established goals. Otherwise put, all business, marketing and corporate efforts intersect and become united to form a company which strives to satisfy its multitude of stakeholder categories. This strategic pattern is briefly characterized by the following elements:

An emphasis on product diversification

Attention towards international growth and increased emphasis on the strengthening of a global position

The creation and consolidation of a solid foundation, which can then be used to build on Innovation is also a core element which is continually introduced to increase the quality of the small kitchen appliances

Rival places emphasis not only on satisfying the needs of customers, but increasing the perceived value of their products in a means that their usage constitutes for a valuable experience

Internally, Rival is focused on improving its business processes through actions such as better financial control or stronger infrastructure (Jarden Corporation 2008 Annual Report)

5. Errors and Change

The large majority of the stakeholders are satisfied with their collaboration with the Rival Products Company. Nevertheless, there are some customers who feel discontent with the quality of the merchandise they purchased. Most of these complaints are however linked to special pots, not the two steamers, which generally bring compliments to the organization. Still, the errors with the pots disliked by the customers can be easily pegged to the internal processes of change which affected Jarden's subsidiary. In a more specific formulation, Rival has undergone a series of changes in order to improve its infrastructure and implemented newer and better technologies. Yet, the transition period raised some difficulties and several errors were made in the processes. It is nevertheless expected that the customer complaints be resolved as soon as possible and that similar situations do not occur in the immediate future.