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...

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.
6. Conclusions

The Rival Products Company is a subsidiary of the Jarden Corporation and its fields of operation include the manufacturing and retail of small kitchen appliances. The product line which has been assessed throughout this report is formed from steamers, the most efficient alternative to frying and boiling foods.

In terms of the strategic approach implemented, this can be best assessed from three standpoints -- the corporation, the marketing approach and the business strategy. From a marketing angle, Rival has managed to identify and serve the most impending needs of the modern day population. From a business standpoint, it strives to improve its internal processes and, from a corporative standpoint, it emphasizes on elements such as suppliers diversity or corporate social responsibility. At an overall level, a pattern can be observed and this revolves around the efforts made towards the satisfaction of the needs forwarded by the totality of stakeholder categories.

Relative to organizational problems, these have generally referred to functionality issues revealed by the Rival special pots. The errors were mostly due to changes in technological infrastructure, which occurred during the transition period. They are nevertheless addressed as quickly and as efficiently as possible.