Chapter 2 Questions

Question 2.1

How can a new company best define its mission statement? Can you find good and bad mission statements on the Internet? How might you improve the bad ones?

A new company’s mission statement should focus on the market or markets the organization is attempting to serve rather than on the good or service offered. They should avoid stating their mission too narrowly as well as too broadly. The goal would be to make sure their mission statement can stand the test of time.

Good:

• "To enable people and businesses throughout the world to realize their full potential."—Microsoft
• "Organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful."—Google

Bad:

• "Provide society with superior products and services by developing innovations and solutions that improve the quality of life and satisfy customer needs, and to provide employees with meaningful work and advancement opportunities, and investors with a superior rate of return."—Merck
--Their mission statement seems very generic. Unlike the two above, Merck’s mission could be used with any company and doesn’t even remotely describe what they do.

Question 4.1

Competition in the private courier sector is fierce. UPS and Fedex dominate but other companies, such as DHL and even the USPS, still have a decent chunk of the express package delivery market. Perform a mini-situation analysis on one of the companies listed below by stating one strength, one weakness, one opportunity and one threat.

UPS:

Strengths: Global brand identification and a very strong distribution network

Weaknesses: Perception of ground delivery instead of overnight and large union representation.

Opportunities: Expansion of online shopping and the emergence of a new and strong international middle class.

Threats: Increasing Fuel Costs, Competitve Landscape (DHL, USPS, FedEx) and Potentially slowing global economy might slow the demand for shipping.

Cirque Du Soleil Questions:

1. Based on what you have read in this case, outline a rudimentary SWOT analysis for Cirque du Soliel.

Strengths – Shows are very profitable, partnerships with casinos, brand identification, creativity.

Weaknesses – Market saturation in Las Vegas, splits profits with casino partners.

Opportunities – International Marketplace

Threats – Imitation, slowing economy could slow profits.

2. List and describe at least three keys to Cirque du Soliel’s competitive advantage.

Many key in-house resources: Cirque’s team of 32 talent scouts and casting staff that recruits and cultivates performers from around the world as well as their over 300 seamstresses, engineers and makeup artists.

Casino Partnerships: Partnering with the casinos can offset as much as 75% of their production costs. In addition, the saturation in Las Vegas provides them with a constant stream of business of tourists from all over the world.

“Let the creative people run it.” Business policies do not interfere with the creative process.

3. Explain how Cirque du Soliel implements, evaluates and controls the elements of its marketing plan.

Cirque implements their marketing plan by designing shows with unique personalities that are intended to evoke awe, wonder, inspiration and reflection. This is possible as they have a staff dedicated to producing the best product and most of their material is produced in-house.

Evaluation of their marketing plan is likely numbers driven: Production costs, revenue from shows, audience reception, etc.

Control: They monitor the effectiveness of their marketing plan. It is Dragone and his team of creative and production personnel, not a predetermined budget, that defines the content, style and material requirements for each project.