Charlotte Facility
Strengths
The facility’s safety standards are quite commendable. This is quite fundamental, especially when it comes from the United States government. The facility also produces high-quality bedding, which puts it at a higher-level competition-wise. It has set aside committees that handle most of its safety requirements in the various departments that it has. These departments in most cases specialize in the production of interrelated commodities. The facility has the strong financial backing to conduct its operations. This is visible from the financial statements.
Weaknesses
The charlotte facility is expanding at a very slow rate. This is in sharp contrast to the amount of profit that the company makes. Its presence is basically in one state, North Carolina. It has not made any forays in other states, leave alone foreign countries. This is a case of missed opportunities. Its balance sheet and income statement show potential. The facility should take advantage of this and expand. The company’s online presence is not well defined. Its website optimization is not a priority making it hard for people to find the company by engaging search engines (Johnson, Scholes, and Whittington, 2010).
Eastvaco
Strengths
The company has a large number of customer bases. This gives it an insurmountable market share that can only be eroded through high-level marketing. This is what many companies fear especially in this global economic environment. The cost of doing business is quite high. The company has a burgeoning balance sheet and its income statement shows an improvement every year. With this, they can be able to expand. This is unlike competitors who are facing problems in that department.
Weaknesses
The company’s managerial status is wanting. The company managerial positions are not well defined which makes it hard to run the company. Its marketing strategy is also a source of criticism. For instance, its online presence is visibly not there. This makes it get exposed. Competitors may have an upper hand in the future in light of this disregard. It is like the company does not take into consideration the changing business environment. If it has a website, it should make an effort towards updating it and optimizing its search so that potential customers are not disillusioned by its lack of online presence (McGee, Thomas, and Wilson, 2005).
Opportunities
Both the company and the facility have opportunities that they can explore. As noted earlier when discussing weaknesses, both have no defined online presence. This means there is a glaring gap from which competitors can fire salvos. The company and the facility should make their online presence manifest so as to tap into the market that is quickly shifting to that arena. This will also give them opportunities to tap into foreign markets (Johnson, Scholes, and Whittington, 2010).
The financial statements of the company had a few bit of issues related to government regulation procedures. The facility and the company should hire competent accounting department managers and support staff to streamline that. The cost of the various aspects of operation can further be reduced. This will give the company the impetus to improve operations. The company in particular needs more funds to have a better online presence. Both the company and the facility management should realize that the market structure is quickly shifting online. Therefore, by engaging its research and development department, the two should carry out a study that analyzes these opportunities and come up with ways to tap into that field (McGee, Thomas, and Wilson, 2005).
References
Johnson, G., Scholes, K. & Whittington, K. (2010). The Environment in Exploring Corporate Strategy. London: Pearson Education.
McGee, J., Thomas, H., & Wilson, D. (2005). Strategy Analysis & Practice. New York: McGrawāHill Maidenhead.