Owens and Minor Inc. Performance Analysis - Case Study Example

– I went about three hours late trying to finish up this order for you completely by teaching myself how to answer that last question and just can’t get it. There is another question I couldn’t answer because I didn’t have access to the page. I marked these with blue text so it would be easy for you to find them. I also referenced the textbook once, so you will need to enter in the reference information, also marked in blue. Student name Instructor name Course name Date CAE 1A. What business did you study? Owens and Minor, Incorporated. 1B. What is the name and title of the primary decision maker in the company? Craig R. Smith, President and Chief Operating Officer IC. Develop a mission statement for your business and explain how your mission statement satisfies the criteria discussed in the text. Mission statement: Our mission is to provide excellent value for our customers and partners by maintaining 90% reliable delivery and order fulfillment requirements while acting in an ethical and socially responsible manner through close interaction between management, team-members and community via website and quarterly teambuilding/community building activities. This mission statement satisfies the criteria discussed in the text because it you will need to add how it satisfies what’s in the text on page 213 because I did not have access. 2. Pick a product or service that your company produces and sells. Think about the characteristics of the individuals or businesses that buy that product. Determine which market segmentation best fits this product or service (i.e., demographic, geographic, psychographic, benefit or volume). Describe how the characteristics of the selected product or service appeal to the market segment you have selected. The market segmentation that best fits this service is benefit segmentation. “Benefit segmentation is based on what a product will do rather than on consumer characteristics” (text 301). Because the company provides similar services (delivery) to similar customers (hospitals) all over the country, there is also a degree of geographic segmentation involved as hospitals react to the more prevalent injuries or risks for their area. The company responds to this issue by maintaining a number of distribution centers all across the country with greater stocks of more regularly used items for that region. However, the primary issue for the clients is the reliability of the service provided. 3. Identify one opportunity which exists in some dimension of this business’s operating environment. Be sure to explicitly identify the dimension of the environment to which the opportunity relates (i.e., demographic, socio-cultural, political, legal, economic, financial, technological or ecological). Explain how the firm can take advantage of this opportunity. One opportunity that exists in this business’s operating environment is making a transition to alternative fuels in their delivery vehicles. This addresses several dimensions of the business environment – socio-cultural as it responds to community concerns for the natural environment, political in supporting the president’s call for new efforts in alternative energy, economic as alternative fuels can save money over purchasing gas or oil, technological as it embraces new technologies and ecological as it reduces greenhouse gas emissions. “[Ethanol] can help to reduce the dependence on oil imports and it may be regarded as a means to promote advances in biotechnology, particularly if one thinks of all the research that is going on in the biomass-to-ethanol sector. Ethanol has been promoted because it has a positive net energy balance that means that the energy contained in a ton of ethanol is greater than the energy required to produce this ton” (Berg, 2004). 4. Identify one threat which exists in some dimension of this business’s operating environment other than the dimension you used in answering the question above. Be sure to explicitly identify the dimension of the environment to which the threat relates (i.e. demographic, socio-cultural, political, legal, economic, financial, technological, or ecological). Explain what action the firm can take to minimize or avoid the negative impact of this threat. One threat that exists in the political, legal and financial dimensions of the company is the current instability of potential healthcare reform (Pan, 2009). Because there is no real understanding of how the industry will be re-organized in whatever plan comes through Washington, there is potential threat in a loss of funding or resources for future expansion, change of equipment, etc. The firm can ensure all of its processes are streamlined and ethical as a means of minimizing the effects of these types of cuts. 5. Describe one specific strength and one weakness that you believe your business would list in a SWOT analysis. Explain how the strength and the weakness might impact the development of the business strategy. One specific strength that could be included in a SWOT analysis would be the company’s versatility as a result of their open company environment. Because the customers, supply chain managers and employees are able to communicate in a very fluid management environment, the company becomes aware of changes in the environment earlier to be able to address issues or seize opportunities early. It is important for the business strategy to recognize the importance of this open culture and the need to listen from the bottom up as well as top down. A potential weakness might be the company’s continued dependence, along with the rest of the transit world, on oil and its widely flexible nature. Understanding how this flexibility might create difficulty with budgets and meeting deadlines, the company strategy may shift to converting the fleet to more reliable or renewable forms of energy or to signing fuel contracts to lock in a set rate for the fiscal year. 6. List three distinct partners in the organization’s value/supply chain and explain how each partner contributes to the Total Product Offer. Only one of the partners may be a supplier of raw materials/component parts/merchandise. U.S. Department of Defense – End User (medical equipment and materials in war zones). (“Owens and Minor”, 2005). The Department of Defense contributes to the Total Product Offer by making specifications regarding supplies needed and technological achievements, such as providing medical equipment that can be quickly and safely transported in an emergency. Access Diabetic Supply, LLC – Distributor, Retailers – individual consumer mail order division for diabetic testing supplies (Companies, Owens and Minor, 2009). Johnson & Johnson – Manufacturer, Supplier – provides the materials Owens and Minor distributes. 7. Describe two issues that relate specifically to your company that should be discussed in the ‘Operations Plan’ portion of the business plan for your company. One issue that should be discussed in the Operations Plan is the cost of brand-name goods as a part of their product/service offering. Companies like Johnson and Johnson can compete at a much lower rate while selling their products to Owens and Minor for distribution elsewhere. Another issue to be discussed is managing perceived quality. Although hospitals widely recognize the name Owens and Minor, most individual consumers are unaware of the brand name. As is indicated by Pan (2009), “consumers are beginning to take greater responsibility and interest in their own health, especially as technology makes health information readily accessible.” With more individuals interested in direct purchase medical supplies as a means of savings money, brand name recognition is essential. 8A. Identify two specific quantitative measures which should be used to assess organizational performance of this firm. Explain why these specific measures are important to this firm and its industry sector. I’m sorry, I cannot answer this question as it is beyond my knowledge 8B. According to each of the measures you identified in Part A above, how is the organization doing this fiscal year (include specific numeric data)? (see Chapter 14) I’m sorry, I cannot answer this question as it is beyond my knowledge Works Cited Badr, Rashad. “Owens & Minor.” Wikinvest. (2009). April 25, 2009 Berg, Christopher. “World Fuel Ethanol Analysis and Outlook.” FO Licht. (April, 2004). “Companies, Owens and Minor.” Linked In. (2009). April 25, 2009 “Owens and Minor.” New York Job Source. (September 14, 2005). April 25, 2009 Pan, Dan. “Johnson and Johnson.” Wikinvest. (2009). April 25, 2009 Textbook Read More