CASE STUDY ANALYSIS
Case 1: Marvellous meals
Case summary:
David and carol Williams were colleagues from the elementary school to the college after
graduation they both became school teachers and they shared many interests between them
one among them was cooking and eating naturally grown organic foods. They developed
their original recipes and they even served at their wedding.
The guest liked those recipes and soon they opened a restaurant with a small amount of
$3500 named “Marvellous Meals” nearby White hall community college. Since both were
nursery school teachers they were only open for dinner in which Mr. Williams has to work
part time at the restaurant.
After six months of operation the restaurant took up and as the sales revenue doubled
Williams left the job as school teacher and he worked as a full time employee at the
restaurant while Mrs. Williams continued her job at school and so they were open for both
dinner and lunch. The restaurant became even more famous as it sold organic foods.
Then their cousin who is a professor at community college spends two months’ time with
them and he came up with an idea of repositioning the business as a manufacturer of organic
goods. So the restaurant was closed and a small manufacturing space was rented out and with
their business plan and strategy they fist distributed their products only to the distributors as
Williams was the only sales force.
At first there were about three products and by later period the company expanded its line of
products now they were manufacturing and distributing about eight different products
distributed throughout USA, Canada, and several countries in Europe & south America.
Williams still run the organization and two of the original employees were promoted to
managerial positions. In the year 1995 the company made a sales revenue of 1.6 million and
posted a profit of 17% on sales.
Key factors for success:
Innovative work of organic foods only.
Healthy and chemical free
Original recipes.
Risk Management
Opportunity to reposition
Proper marketing and financial strategy
Second hand equipment’s helps in reducing the cost
Better planning
Product quality
Shared interests
Having a cousin with a business knowledge
Re use of employees
Few possible areas of diversification / Expansion:
Can create country specific original recipe
Can expand the export countries list
Try reaching out to classifieds and business magazines to promote business
Can get into healthy mixes and fitness drinks
Conclusion:
Thus the caselet of “Marvellous Meals” was analyzed and their key factors for success and
also their possible ways of expansion / diversification was also listed.
Case 2: Apple Inc.
Case summary:
Apple Inc. a US based company is the pioneer of brands in the smartphone world. Their
products were of high quality and they developed their own IOS system and software
developments which made them a distinct brand. The company’s CEO Tim Cook in the year
2018 released the impeccable records achieved by the company there was a huge rise in the
sales revenue and the profit percentage from the income. The gross margin gone up from $88
Million to $102million and their income increased to $59.5 billion from $48.4 billion and the
shareholders equity was about $134 billion in 2018 a $4billion increase from the previous
year
The company introduced their new mobile phones in the year 2018 IPhone X, X S, XS Max and
XR etc., they introduced their new features such as A12 bionic and Liquid retina display &
dual sin feature for the first time in IPhones. These phones also came up with tweaked
software improvements and voice recognition Siri. Apple also introduced apple watch for the
fitness freaks the IPhones were launched at a price of $999, $1099, $749 for the IPhone X,
XS, XS Max and XR respectively
Apple was the first companies to attain the US$1 trillion Market capitalization and the
company also employed 123,000 and was operating about 504 outlets in 24 countries. Apple
has sold about 2billion phones in the world and the smartphone sales increased form 216
million units to 231 million units in the fiscal year 2018.
Despite these success stories the competitors of apple were catching up and they were
launching phones at lower price. Samsung was the main rival of Apple Inc. and there were
also Chinese competitors who were planning to catch up. There was a huge price difference
between IPhones and android mobiles. The Chinese tech giant Huawei was also a main
competitor for the apple worldwide. In the year 2018 Huawei became the second largest
phone manufacturer in the world. The main tech giants like HP, DELL, and NOKIA were
also catching up with new launches at affordable price.
Apple was not as same as before now the tech giant launces variety of products like IPhones,
IPads, Mac Book, Air Pods and other entertainment services in the year 1976 apple was
introduced with the name of Apple Computer company started by three legends Steve Jobs a
college dropout, Steve Wozniak an electrical engineer at IBM & Ronald Wayne a consultant
It was incorporated as Apple Computer Incorporated in the year 1977. Apple built its first
computer named Macintosh and this triggered IBM a main frame computer manufacturer
along with chip manufacturer Intel and software developer Microsoft Developed a desktop at
a price much more affordable than the apple computer. Steve jobs was asked to leave the
company despite all its initiatives the company suffered a loss of $1.05 billion in the year
1997 so Steve jobs was called back and that’s when Steve jobs developed a cult force and
introduced the innovative products like iMac, IPhone, IPad etc. He had his own design and
style he developed apple has a user friendly and a quality product.
In the year 2011 Steve jobs died & Tim Cook took charge as CEO of Apple He introduced
many innovation and tweaked many upgradations in the Operating systems, IPhones, IPad,
and Mac Book etc.,
On November 03, 2017 Apple launched the IPhone X model with a tag line of Say hello to
the future. Apple CEO defended the high price tag of the mobile phone as its equivalent high
quality coffee. With the launch of apple the competitors such as Samsung and google
launched their own products at much affordable price. With every launch of apple IPhone
apple started to launch as event starting with pre book and through their online and offline
stores. Apple not only faced competitors in the smartphone segment they faced competitions
in each and every of its offerings. Apple has come a long away from its loss in the year 1997
due to its developments and strategies. Thus Apple today is a leading Tech Giant.
Key factors for success:
Superior Product Quality & Unique
Innovative features and developments
Excellent strategy and product marketization
Own hardware & software developments
Innovative Design ideas
Frequent Security Updates
Superior Customer base and support
Product Placement In the market
State of the art Technology & Features
Product Trade-ins and carrier offers
Security patch support for longer period than competitors
Customer Data Privacy
Strong customer base
Brand Name
State of the art software developments
Risk Management
Innovative Launch events
Best in class features and support for their products
Own ecosystem of products
Stores across the globe
123000 full time employees
Problems / Issues:
Higher Price Tag
Less Customizable options for customers
No region specific features
Difficult to shift to another ecosystem
Data Transfer Problems
Complicated security patches
Few possible areas of diversification / Expansion or Recommendations:
Develop country specific apps and products
Expanding Language support
Launch products at affordable price so that it can reach more customers
Open more offline stores
Introduce introductory offers for the products
Introduce Bundle of products at a specific price
Conclusion:
Thus the caselet of “Apple Inc.” was analyzed and their key factors for success, issues /
problems and also their possible ways of expansion / diversification was also listed
