David Dodson II Case Solution

The Harvard Business Review published a case study that primarily focuses on David Dodson II. The following case solution has been designed to give the reader an overview about the business world along with a clear understanding of its growth dynamics. Recently, David Dodson II has been subjected to strategic as well as managerial problems that require immediate attention so that they can be resolved to allow future growth, expansion, and competitive edge within the marketplace. This case study solution is being written to provide a strategic solution to David Dodson II using various appropriate tools and frameworks. Harvard Business Review’s case studies involve a central problem that is faced by a particular company. The problem identified involves strategic and managerial implications for the company. Therefore, it is important for readers to critically identify the problem David Dodson II faces. Moreover, it is also essential to highlight the key stakeholders that are impacted and influenced by the problem identified.

External Environmental Analysis

The external environment holds significant importance for David Dodson II to ensure that the company is able to respond to all the changes in the macro-environment. This is because David Dodson II cannot control the factors and thus can directly influence the company's operations (Indris & Primiana, 2015). The external environment of David Dodson II will be assessed using PESTLE Analysis.

Political

• A stable political environment provides a favorable market growth trend for David Dodson II.

• It is important for David Dodson II to analyze the pressure groups, and social environment activists. The company can make close collaborations with these groups to achieve company goals (Wang, Wang, & Shi, 2022).

• High restrictions on trade and high levels of taxes can contribute to the complex business environment for David Dodson II by impacting imports and exports.

Economic

• David Dodson II can benefit from wide-range opportunities in business growth by operating in developing economies (Munro, 2017).

• High GDP can determine the long-term growth strategies of David Dodson II, signaling the ability of consumers to spend on more products.

• Higher rates of interests can provide David Dodson II with more investment opportunities.

• The flexibility in the labor market allows David Dodson II to take advantage of higher workforce productivity.

Social

• The selection of appropriate demographic segments has allowed David Dodson II to select the right segments of the market that have high growth potential.

• The research on gender roles has helped David Dodson II to develop and align communication as well as marketing strategies accordingly.

• David Dodson II has been successful in understanding the norms and cultures of different countries by developing local teams and partnerships (Hueske, Endrikat, & Guenther, 2015).

Technological

• The adoption of innovative marketing techniques that involves communication technologies has allowed David Dodson II to collaborate successfully with consumers.

• The company has stayed ahead in the market, and can significantly increase its market share by placing its major focus on emerging technologies (Akpoviroro & Owotutu, 2018).

• David Dodson II should maximize its profits by investing in disruptive technologies.

Environmental

• It is crucial for David Dodson II to adopt effective waste management practices to reduce environmental pollution (J. K, W. J, & D., 2016).

• David Dodson II should adopt eco-friendly products to establish better relationships with the stakeholders.

• David Dodson II can take advantage of subsidies offered in renewable technologies to achieve the long-term goal of sustainability.

Legal

• David Dodson II should follow proper laws concerning employee health and safety, and anti-discrimination laws to effectively develop HRM.

• Consumer protection laws are also important for David Dodson II as it involves the consumer protection from fraudulent marketing (S. Samusenko, S. Plaskova, & A. Prodanova, 2020).

• David Dodson II can gain a competitive advantage, and can position itself strongly in the market by protecting intellectual property laws.

Porter’s Five Forces Analysis

Threat of New Entrants

• It is difficult to achieve economies of scale in David Dodson II’s industry, making it a weaker force for new entrants.

• There are high capital requirements in the industry. This makes it difficult for new businesses to set up their companies, and compete against David Dodson II.

• The industry has a strong product differentiation, and heavy investment is needed for customer acquisition. Thus, David Dodson II can focus on innovation to differentiate itself from its competitors (H. Th. Bruijl, 2018).

• There are strict legal requirements to join the industry in which David Dodson II operates, making it difficult for new entrants to enter the market.

Bargaining Power of Suppliers

• The bargaining power of suppliers in the industry is weak.

• David Dodson II operates in an industry with a higher number of suppliers. This means that suppliers do not have much control over their prices.

• Standardized products that have low switching costs are provided by suppliers allowing buyers like David Dodson II to easily switch their suppliers (Fabbri & F.Klapper, 2016).

• Raw materials can be purchased at lower prices by David Dodson II. The company can also switch suppliers for more reasonable pricing.

• David Dodson II can benefit from a variety of suppliers as it can have multiple suppliers for its various geographical areas (Cho, Ke, & Han, 2019).

Bargaining Power of Buyers

• The bargaining power of buyers in the David Dodson II industry is weak.

• There is a high product differentiation in the industry, making it difficult for buyers to switch to alternative firms.

• David Dodson II can come with differentiated and innovative products to attract more buyers of the industry (Zhao, Zuo, & Wu, 2016).

• Buyers of this industry has low incomes. This means they prefer to purchase items at lower prices, making them more price sensitive. Organizations like David Dodson II can offer lower prices to attract customers.

Threat of Substitute Products or Services

• There are few substitute products available in the industry in which David Dodson II operates.

• Expensive substitutes are available in the industry of David Dodson II, making it difficult for buyers to switch to those substitutes (Aithal, 2016).

Rivalry Among Existing Firms

• The rivalry among existing firms is moderate to weak.

• There are few competitors in the industry in which David Dodson II operates.

• A large market share is enjoyed by fewer firms in the industry. This means that more competitive actions will be made to become leaders in the market (Seema, 2016).

• The industry in which David Dodson II operates has highly differentiated products, making it difficult for companies to win each other customers.

• David Dodson II can focus on making more differentiated products to gain a strong competitive edge in the market (Zhao, Zuo, & Wu, 2016).

Internal Environmental Analysis

David Dodson II can use internal environmental analysis to identify and evaluate the competitive positioning of a company in the business environment. This involves conducting a SWOT Analysis that can help David Dodson II to identify the company’s internal strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (Halmaghi, Iancue, & Băcilă, 2017).

SWOT Analysis

Strengths

• David Dodson II has a strong distribution network that has allowed it to make its products available to large customers within the given timeframe.

• A strong presence on social media platforms has allowed David Dodson II to have a high level of customer engagement (Rizaldi, 2015).

• David Dodson II has been successful in building a large product portfolio, so unique and distinctive products can be offered to consumers.

• David Dodson II has a strong brand image in the market.

• A low-cost structure of David Dodson II has allowed it to manufacture products at lower costs, so they become affordable for consumers to purchase.

• The financial position of David Dodson II is strong as the company has generated higher profits over the past years (Phadermrod, M.Crowder, & B.Wills, 2019).

• David Dodson II has invested in the training and development of its employees to keep them motivates, leading to higher efficiency and productivity.

Weaknesses

• The expenditure of David Dodson II on its research and development is comparatively less to other competitors of the market.

• David Dodson II uses a centralized decision-making process that takes time and reduces operational efficiency (Ahmadi, Dileepan, & K. Wheatley, 2016).

• There are high rental costs because David Dodson II operates on more of the rental properties rather than purchasing them.

• There is no workforce diversification in David Dodson II. This makes it difficult for the employees to adjust with the different workers who belong to different backgrounds.

Opportunities

• Since the online shopping has increased significantly, David Dodson II can take it as an opportunity to expand its online presence.

• David Dodson II can make use of social media platforms to market its products, with more customers interactions.

• Due to more technological developments, David Dodson II can make its operations more automated so that overall company costs can be reduced (Ahmadi, Dileepan, & K. Wheatley, 2016).

• Globalization provides an opportunity to David Dodson II to expand its operations in multiple countries.

• David Dodson II can enter in a niche market and sell distinctive products to gain a competitive advantage.

• The increase in the demand of environmentally friendly goods, David Dodson II, can place its major focus on making such products (E.Quezada, A.Reinao, & I.Palominos, 2019).

Threats

• In recent times, there has been an increase in the bargaining power of suppliers, making it difficult for David Dodson II to buy raw materials at lower costs.

• Numerous players are entering the industry, posing a major threat to David Dodson II.

• There has been constant pressure on David Dodson II to conduct frequent research to understand the changing customer tastes and preferences (Kolbina, 2015).

• Technological advancements require workforce training. This adds to the costs of David Dodson II.

VRIO Analysis

David Dodson II uses VRIO Analysis to assess and evaluate the company resources to determine the competitiveness, and strategic advantage.

Valuable

• David Dodson II has a strong brand image and engages in corporate social responsibility.

• David Dodson II has a high brand recognition because of the quality of products it offers to its customers (Ariyani & Daryanto, 2018).

• The distribution system of David Dodson II is valued all round the world. The company has been able to successfully establish strong relationships with its suppliers.

• David Dodson II focuses on continuous innovation in its business. The company has expanded this innovation in its multiple functional areas.

• There are potential growth opportunities in the market, and David Dodson II has been able to penetrate the market through its ability to raise large funds.

Rare

• David Dodson II operates globally. This global presence has allowed the company to increase its customer base (Miethlich & G. Oldenburg, 2019).

• David Dodson II has an organizational culture that promotes more teamwork, innovation, and creativity among its employees, that leads to a competitive advantage.

• Since David Dodson II has a global presence, it allows the company to easily adapt to different cultures, norms and values.

• The risk-taking ability of David Dodson II is strong. This provides more opportunities to the company to penetrate different markets.

Inimitable

• The inimitable resource for David Dodson II is its high-quality products. These products have allowed consumers to make repeat purchases.

• David Dodson II operates through multiple locations of stores in different companies, allowing easy access to products.

• Strong marketing communications have been used by David Dodson II to attract more customers.

• David Dodson II has been using integrated technology that has allowed it to offer competitive pricing to its customers (Ariwibowo, Saputro, & Haryanto, 2021).

• David Dodson II maintains an excellent customer service that has enabled it to have a high brand engagement.

Organization

• Strong financial position has allowed David Dodson II to explore more product development opportunities.

• David Dodson II is successfully maintaining the efficiency and effectiveness of its business operations with the help of more integrated and advanced technology.

• Employees are given both in-house and off-the-job training opportunities by David Dodson II that allow more skills development (Adnan, Abdulhamid, & Sohail, 2018).

• The strong value chain and distribution network has enabled David Dodson II to increase its revenue through the sale of its products.

Marketing Mix

Marketing Mix is needed by David Dodson II to formulate effective strategies to achieve the company objectives.

Product

• David Dodson II has five product categories. Each of these categories has a product line that involves more variety of products (Išoraitė, 2016).

• Highly differentiated products are offered by David Dodson II to its customers. These distinctive products are not easily available at competitors.

• The products of David Dodson II are of higher quality, and thus, customers pay more prices for these products.

• David Dodson II designs products with traditional designs giving customers more product variety.

• David Dodson II offers multiple sizes for its every product to make it easy for its customers to select the right product.

• Warranty and same-day delivery option if also provided by David Dodson II to its customers.

Price

• David Dodson II follows a competitive pricing strategy.

• To attract more customers, bundle pricing has also been used by the company.

• Little higher prices are charged for products that are sold online because of the delivery costs (Thabit & Raewf, 2018).

• Optional product pricing strategy is also adopted by David Dodson II for some of its products, such as a base product is offered for a certain price, and there are separate prices for its accessories.

• Regular promotional prices are also offered by David Dodson II to its customers.

Place

• David Dodson II uses two channels for its product distribution. This includes online selling and through own stores.

• There are more than multiple stores owned by David Dodson II globally. This ensures easy product availability to customers (Pogorelova, Yakhneeva, & Agafonova, 2016).

• David Dodson II has partnered with delivery service companies to distribute its products effectively to consumers.

• David Dodson II has also adopted an omni-channel distribution system.

Promotion

• David Dodson II uses a traditional promotional strategy that involves TV advertisements (Fan, Y.K.Lau, & Zhao, 2015).

• Social media advertisements are also adopted by David Dodson II to increase brand awareness.

• David Dodson II takes part in various events and exhibitions as a way of promoting its products.

• Large sales force is used to provide the customers with a more personal experience.

• David Dodson II also makes use of influencer marketing to increase the demand for its products.

• Regular content and deals are posted on the social media pages of David Dodson II to attract and retain customers.

Value Chain Analysis

David Dodson II can use Value Chain Analysis to identify and assess inter-relationships as well as interdependencies.

Primary Activities

• David Dodson II’s primary activities involves the production and selling of products to the final consumers (Mintz, J.Gilbride, & Lenk, 2021).

• David Dodson II has a strong relationship with the suppliers. This ensures that the product is received, stored, and distributed in a timely manner.

• Operational activities of David Dodson II are effectively aligned.

• For inbound logistics, after the arrival of raw material, the company processes it to manufacture the final product (Hasan, Nekmahmud, & Yajuan, 2019).

• In terms of outbound logistics, David Dodson II has been able to set up optimal costs as well as efficient delivery processes to deliver the product on time.

• David Dodson II invests in its sales and marketing activities to build relationships with customers.

• Marketing funnel approach is used by David Dodson II to effectively devise and build sales and marketing activities.

• David Dodson II offers both pre-sale and post-sales services to its customers.

Secondary Activities

• David Dodson II has an effective infrastructure that has allowed the company to successfully optimize its value chain.

• The competitive pressure in terms of employee skill development, motivation, and commitment is reduced as David Dodson II has developed a strong HRM (Linkov, Carluccio, Pritchard, & Bhreasail, 2020).

• David Dodson II uses a cost minimization approach to reduce its costs by analyzing the costs associated with training and hiring the employees.

• David Dodson II has been using integrated technology in its value chain activities. This includes technological customer support, research and data analytics concerning product design, and automated software.

• The procurement activities of David Dodson II are effectively optimized with its inbound, outbound, and operational activities (Maheswari, Yudoko, & Adhiutama, 2019).

Market Penetration Strategies

• David Dodson II can increase the capacity of its production so it can reach more of the customers in its existing market.

• David Dodson II can focus on controlling the overhead costs so that it can offer competitive pricing that can attract customers of the market (Dawes, 2018).

• Investments can be made by David Dodson II in marketing and sales activities to increase the chances of successful market penetration.

• David Dodson II can design and develop a content that increases customer engagement within a particular marketplace.

• David Dodson II can assess and identify more enhanced distribution networks (Radpour, Mondal, & Kumar, 2017).

• Improved distribution systems and supply chains can improve the product accessibility for the customers, making it easier for David Dodson II to penetrate the market.

• David Dodson II can adopt price cuts in its products to compete in the market. This will give a company a competitive edge over its competitors.

• David Dodson II can plan strategies where it can focus on acquiring the leading players of the market. Such acquisitions will give the company an opportunity to reach more customer segments.

• Strategic partnerships and joint ventures agreements can be signed by David Dodson II to mitigate the risk factors, and to gain customer groups of the market.

• David Dodson II can come up with new and innovative features in its already existing product for the market (Daouda, Barth, & T. M. Ingenbleek, 2019).

Market Development Strategies

• It is important for David Dodson II to invest in the research and development department so potential markets can be identified (Hilman, Bohari, & Abdullah, 2018).

• Regional expansion strategy can be used by David Dodson II for growth purposes. This will also take into consideration the cultural differences.

• David Dodson II should also consider to expand its business operations in the international market. This will allow access to a larger customer base.

• New customer groups and segments should be explored by David Dodson II.

• David Dodson II should also invest in brand-building activities as it will give an opportunity to reach more potential customers (C. Koks & M. Kilika, 2016).

• David Dodson II should consider the market education in terms of its product. The company can significantly increase its sales by giving product awareness to new segments.

Product Development Strategies

• David Dodson II can come up with new improvements and modifications in the existing products to attract the market.

• David Dodson II should undergo the NPD process, so the company is able to assess and identify new points for its customers.

• Regular investments in the research and development will help David Dodson II to develop something new and innovative that can give a competitive advantage (Kalogiannidis & Mavratzas, 2020).

• David Dodson II can develop new products by getting into more strategic partnerships.

Diversification Strategies

• David Dodson II can adopt vertical diversification to develop business. This can be done by adding more products to the existing portfolio (Kalogiannidis & Mavratzas, 2020).

• Horizontal integration can also be adopted by David Dodson II, where the company can enter into a completely new product development phase that does not exist in the current product line.

• David Dodson II can also consider to conglomerate by starting a different business.

Conclusion

Based on all the models and frameworks discussed above, it is concluded that David Dodson II should focus on widening the existing product portfolio. Moreover, the psychological pricing strategy can be adopted. David Dodson II should also maintain close relationships with its suppliers to benefit from lower prices. Similarly, David Dodson II should develop more integrated outbound logistics for its perishable items. It is also important to continue producing quality and innovative products, so David Dodson II is less affected by the new emerging competition in the industry.

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