International Management Group and Competitors of IMG - Research Paper Example

Industry Analysis (IA Sports Entertainment Table of Contents Introduction 3 International Management Group (IMG) 3 Competitors of IMG 3 Areas Focused By the Competitors 3 Competitive Advantages of IMG 4 Financial Data of Industry and Competitors 5 Market size of the sports industry 5 Companies according to their annual revenue 5 Market value of each competitor 6 Industry Leadership 6 Analysis of Industry 7 INTENSITY OF COMPETITIVE RIVALRY 7 THREAT OF ENTRY 7 THREAT OF SUBSTITUTES 7 BARGAINING POWER OF BUYERS 8 BARGAINING POWER OF SUPPLIERS 8 Business Level Strategy 9 Conclusion 10 References 11 Introduction International Management Group (IMG) International Management Group or, IMG was founded in the year 1930 in New York City, of United States by Mark Hume McCormack. IMG is regarded as the worlds largest, diverse and truly global company which is committed to the marketing and management of sport, leisure and lifestyle goods. The company has more than 3000 employees across 30 countries. IMG is a privately traded company. Headquarter of IMG lies at New York. Sports industry is an important source of revenue in the world economy. The goods produced out of this industry are sports equipments, accessories and apparels. Along with the global giants several local industries too contribute to the growth of the sports industry worldwide. A few sports goods manufacturers of the world are like Puma, Slazenger, Stiga, Dunlop and Yonex. The estimated size of entire sports industry in 2010 is expected at $414 billion (Plunkett Research Ltd., “Sports Industry Overview”). Competitors of IMG The competitors of IMG are Interpublic, Clear Channel Entertainment (formerly known as SFX), William Morris Agency, Creative Artist Agency, Magnum Sports and Entertainment, Nike, WPP group, Dentsu, TBA Entertainment, Ford models and Pro Form Golf. Areas Focused By the Competitors The overall areas on which the competitor companies are mainly engaged are like athletes, models, authors, speakers, artists, actors, events, television production, consulting/ licensing, film production, money management, advertising and academies. Clear channel and Interpublic focuses on a number of areas except television production, money management, and academies. William Morris Agency focuses only in the areas like, authors, speakers, artists, actors and athletes. Magnum Sports focus on athletes, models and events. Nike’s focus is only on athletes and events. WPP and Dentsu focus only in academies and licensing/consulting. TBA focuses on speakers, actors, events, television products and advertising. Ford concentrates on the athletes only. One of the competitors ProForm Golf is involved only in the area of academies. Competitive Advantages of IMG The vision of the firm, the association of a number of renowned athletes, and the goodwill of the founder may be said to be a few of the competitive advantages of the firm. In 2000, the market value of American sports was approximately $200 billion, which made it country’s 11th largest industry. IMG in turn was credited with having invented the field of sports management almost 40 years earlier. At present IMG represents a number of the most talented and exciting athletes, including golf star Tiger Woods and tennis players like Venus and Serena Williams. Mark Hume McCormack was declared as the most powerful man in golf by Golf Magazine, Sports Illustrated labeled him as the most powerful man in sports and Tennis magazine figured him as the most powerful man in tennis. The founder never gave much importance to the competition which can be considered as the most suitable competitive advantage of the firm. According to him, “We really don’t pay too much attention to what our competition is doing. We keep an eye on them, but we don’t flog ourselves when they succeed or appear to be gaining on us. Gauging how you are doing by comparing yourself with the competition means you are stooping to their level, not stretching to establish your own level of excellence. You are letting other people set your agenda. That’s no way to run a dynamic creative engine of growth”(Anand & Attea, “International Management Group (IMG)”). The core values of IMG are integrity, team work, open and honest communication, client and customer centered attitude. IMGs competitive advantage lies in dedication to excellence which is one of the approaches of their business. The company also attracts and retains best people by contributing attractive pay and reimbursement in an entrepreneurial environment which promotes having fun. IMG’s diversity is an added advantage to their employees in gaining access to abundant career options across many specialties, in many countries including sales, law, marketing, client and event management, licensing, television production, graphics design, multi-media and website development, corporate tax, corporate finance, promotions, account management, administrative support and customer service. Financial Data of Industry and Competitors Market size of the sports industry The total industry size as per annual revenues generated from all the company is $248.5 billion. Companies according to their annual revenue The top 5 companies according to their highest revenue are- Interpublic with annual revenue of $7.2 billion Clear Channel Entertainment with $5.3 billion IMG with $1.6 billion of annual revenue Ford Models with $100 million of annual revenue and, TBA Entertainment with annual revenue of $89 million. Market value of each competitor Companies Interpublic CCE Magnum Sports Nike TBA Market value $8.4 billion $25.9 billion $1.2million $9.5billion $89million Industry Leadership It can be observed from the above figures that Interpublic and Clear Channel Entertainment are the market leaders and IMG is the distant third. It can be well said that there is a sort of duopoly existing in the sports entertainment industry. Interpublic, the market leader has been a public traded company and is listed at NYSE. The 52 week low share price for the period of September 01, 2009 to September 01, 2010 has been $ 5.89 where as the high was $ 9.87. The company in contention i.e. IMG has been a privately traded company (Yahoo! Finance, “Interpublic Group of Companies”). Analysis of Industry Michael Porter’s model takes into consideration the following factors; INTENSITY OF COMPETITIVE RIVALRY The competition in the sports industry can have both positive and negative impact. On one hand, good competition can boost the success and feasibility of business entities, and the sports industry as a whole. On the other hand, a bad competition can destroy both firms as well as industry at large. Sport business that competes in the same industry is very beneficial for the stakeholders. There are quite a few big players in the sports entertainment industry which suggests that there is high intensity of competitive rivalry. THREAT OF ENTRY The easiness by which the new comers can enter into an industry represents the critical issues to strategic planning and monitoring. The new entrants pose problems for the sports business for 4 primary reasons. New comers add another basis of competition that can potentially draw market share from the existing competitors. The new entrants may also saturate the market and create a situation where supply exceeds the demand. Being a highly lucrative industry the industry often has a quite a few of new players present in the domain. THREAT OF SUBSTITUTES Considering sports as a means of leisure and entertainment industry, it greatly broadens the substitutability of any one product. Sports entrepreneur must realize that their products are not insurmountable and that no sports business operates as a true entertainment monopoly. BARGAINING POWER OF BUYERS Bargaining power of buyers is of great concern to the sport managers because a powerful buyer can have more negotiating power as regards to the prices, means of delivery, process of installation, and a few contractual issues. The bargaining power of the buyers need to kept low and IMG has been quite successful in this regard. BARGAINING POWER OF SUPPLIERS Suppliers are the other important considerations. But, supplier’s fees and service offerings must fit within a sports business manager’s budget, needs, and desires. Heightened supplier power can cause increment in the cost structure of sports business. IMG being a major player has been quite successful in keeping the bargaining powers of the suppliers low. Business Level Strategy The business level strategies as used by the sports organizations are those which are meant to gain a competitive advantage. Sports organizations which adopt the cost leadership strategy, generally uses cheap labor in order to price its products and services cheap as compared to its competitors. The sports organization that adopts the cost leadership strategy doesn’t spend too much on its new product development and innovation. They are found to follow the market trends and provide their products and services as and when there is a demand. Sports organizations which adopt the differentiation strategy, aim to gain a competitive advantage by providing the market with a unique product and service. Because of the unique products companies, can charge a premium price for their products. Focus strategy is based on the criteria of demography. The strategy is adopted to focus a particular market for its products and services. The advantages of this strategy are like it helps the sporting companies in staying closer to their customers and meeting their needs appropriately (Slack, T & Parent, M. M., “Understanding sport organizations: the application of organization theory”) Conclusion Sports industry is one of the most promising industries. Not only in recreation but sports are a means of physical fitness. Sporting activities provide a wide scope in employment generation. The growing interest of people in sports facilitates one to identify it as a business opportunity. The growth of sporting industry will contribute to the economy of a country and thus creating enormous opportunities. A need of appropriate sponsors is prevalent in the sports industry and is a major challenge in the industry. Without which it will face a tough challenge. Also economic conditions like recession may have negative impact in this industry. In future I would like to be the owner of a private sports company, since I find it as a lucrative business with wide scope of development, personally and industrially. References Anand, B. & Attea, K. International Management Group (IMG) Harvard Business School, 2002. Plunkett Research Ltd. “Sports Industry Overview”. September 24, 2010. Industries, 2010. Slack, Trevor & Parent, Milena M. Understanding sport organizations: the application of organization theory Human Kinetics, 2006. Yahoo! Finance, “Interpublic Group of Companies”. September 24, 2010. Get Quotes. 2010. Read More