Radio Shack Strategic Management Research Paper

Radio Shack Strategic Management - Research Paper Example RadioShack is primarily focused on the US market where as at the end of 2011 it employed 34,000 people, and owned and operated 4,476 stores under its brand and an additional 1,496 stores under the Target Mobile centers brand. RadioShack’s products and services are categorized into four platforms: mobility, signature, consumer electronics and other sales. The mobility platform consists of prepaid and postpaid wireless handsets, commissions and residual income, tablets and e-readers. The signature platform includes home entertainment, wireless, computer, and music accessories; general purpose and special purpose power products; headphones; technical products; and services (RadioShack 3). The consumer electronics platform includes personal computing products, laptop computers, digital music players, residential telephones, GPS devices, cameras, digital televisions, and other consumer electronics products (RadioShack 3). Other sales include sales generated by the Target Mobile centers, sales to independent dealers, sales generated by RadioShack’s Mexican subsidiary, sales from www.radioshack.com website and sales to other third parties through the company’s global sourcing operations (Rad ioShack 22). The contribution of each of these product platforms in 2011 is displayed in Figure 1 below. In 2011, RadioShack net sales increased by 2.6%, to $4,378 million over its 2010 revenues. However, the company’s gross margin went down by 3.5% to 41.4% within the same period. This was largely attributed to change in the company’s sales mix within its largest product platform, the mobility platform, towards lower margin smartphones and tablets (RadioShack 20). The company has sound financial strength depicted by its quick ratio of 1.61 and current ratio of 2.73. Figure 1: RadioShack Product Platforms (RadioShack Corp 1) 2.0. Strategic issues There are two major strategic management problems facing RadioShack Corporation: merchandise mix and growth strategy. To begin with, RadioShack established its mobility platform as the more attractive unit and has continued to steer corporate resources towards it. Figure 1 above, shows mobility devices accounted for 51.4% of the company’s net sales in 2011, up from 46.1% in 2010 and 35.3% in 2009 (RadioShack 22). Howev er, the high competitive rivalry in the retail consumer mobility industry, short product cycles, and its much lower margins has made the company vulnerable to weak consumer spending. For this reason, on March 2, 2012, Standard & Poor's Ratings Services lowered its corporate credit and senior unsecured debt ratings on RadioShack to ‘B+’ from ‘BB-’, with outlook also moved from stable to negative (FitzGerald Para 2). This downgrade lowers investor and creditor confidence on the organization. Ultimately, the lowered rating may affect RadioShack’s ability to raise financial capital for any major investments that it may seek in future. RadioShack’s senior management

Marketing research goals Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Marketing research goals - Essay Example Apart from this marketing research also is important for an organization as it gives them directions for future planning. Its like if marketing is an engine that drives a country's economy than marketing research is the process that keeps the engine tuned. Marketing Research's wide range of uses can measure the importance of it. For example it helps in making new and improved products and enables an organization to have a more convenient delivery of products and services. Well marketing research results can be both correct and incorrect, same is for the viewpoints of the senior management. The major reason for following either one of the options, which is following the marketing research conclusion or the viewpoints of senior management, depends on how much a person knows about the marketing research. If a person is sure that there has been no mistakes or errors throughout the marketing research then he can be sure of following the conclusions based on the marketing research but its not necessary that the results come out to be positive. It's vice versa if u follow the viewpoints of the senior management. Rather than offering the same marketing mix to different customers, organizations plan out market segmentation. Market segmentation helps firms to tailor marketing mix for specific target markets, hence better satisfying customer needs. Not all elements of the marketing mix are changed from one segment to another. For example in some cases only the promotional campaigns would change. A niche is a further division of a segment. Thus, the difference between a segment and a niche is that between segments substitution is negligible, while a large part of the customers in a segment will allow substitution between niche products. Niche products are aimed at a smaller group of consumers within a segment, for whom specific product properties are obligatory, while the same properties were only positioning properties in the broader market segment. We can have a market segment of one individual but in business markets not in consumer markets. There is a major reason for it. The reason is that in business markets an organization can have only one consumer. This is due to the high priced machinery transactions that take place in the business markets. Apart from that, organizations do want many customers to cater to but they can have a single customer as well and can be specialized producer for a single buyer as they are still making profits in doing so. Ans.3 There are basically two types of sellers in any international market. These two types rely on the two basic terms that a buyer uses to distinguish the products. These two factors are price and quality. Some seller might be giving a good price but not good quality and vice versa. Sellers can be buyers there is no doubt about it. There is no country that is completely self sufficient in producing every single good or commodity that is required by the people living in it, hence keeping this fact in the mind a seller can be a buyer is proved easily. The challenges in regard