Four Corporate Strategic Thrusts and Decisions
The company’s or Just About You Bicycles’ corporate strategic thrusts are primarily focused on delivering a product with the highest possible value to the customer in order to become a major leader in the overall market. The emphasis is put on the value-driven markets, where the thrusts revolve around ensuring that the latter goal is achieved. The selected corporate strategic thrusts are the focus on the long-term perspective, willingness to take risks, market leadership, and thus, top competitive forces include superior customer value, high personal touch, high-volume and low-cost manufacturing, and prudent cash management. The first financial decision derived from these thrusts is focused on providing customers with the highest value in the marker of carbon fiber bicycles. Such a value can be delivered by selling the product at a reasonable price and with outstanding quality. Therefore, the company aims to sell its products with minimal profit margins with profits sustainable for maintaining and gradually growing JAYB. In other words, the key emphasis is put on value creation rather than pricing. For example, JAYB MAX 2.0’s retail price is $1025, and for JAYB SPEEDSTER1 and JAYB SPORT, the prices are $1500 and $675, respectively. The goal is to capture the largest market share of the general customer base by expanding the latter and establishing the company as a leader.
The second financial decision is focused on compensations for workers, where both sales force and production workers are paid around $25000 per year with expanded coverage and two weeks of vacation. It is important to note that although the sales force is paid more by a small margin, the overall ratio is in favor of manufacturing workers rather than the sales force (Chen et al., 2016). In addition, supervisor’s compensation, despite their position, is equivalent to both workers and sales force professionals. Therefore, it is evident that in order to provide the highest possible value, the decisions are based on employee empowerment focus on the quality of products, which can only be delivered by attracting the most skilled production workers as well as sales managers.
The first non-financial decision is superior manufacturing, which is of paramount importance in regards to strategic thrusts. It is important to point out that the majority of value is found in the product itself, which why manufacturing is critical for the company’s approach. In other words, the overall production process needs to both efficient and reliable in order to avoid faulty products as well as be able to adhere to the company’s long-term perspective. For example, reliable production means that fiber bicycles will not be of low quality, and thus, customer perceived value will be high, which will be the major catalyzer for the company’s goal of becoming a market leader. The second non-financial decision is centered around embracing conscious capitalism, where all stakeholders’ interests and perspectives are factored in rather than a sole emphasis on shareholders and management. For example, since the company seeks to be a market leader in the long term, it is critical to operating in an ethical manner, where profits are not the only goal.
Changing Decisions
On the basis of previous decisions made in the last three quarters, the majority of them were focused on employee empowerment and value creation through superior manufacturing. However, the company needs to change by allocating some of its focus on both consumer safety as well as worker safety. Firstly, it is important to note that the regular or standard carbon fiber material is not a reliable and durable material, which is prone to cracks and breaks. In other words, such a material can be a major source of danger for cyclists, especially for those who ride on mountains and high risk areas. Therefore, the company’s decision needs to switch to more expensive and durable enriched carbon fiber. Since the company primarily focuses on value generation rather than pricing, the expensiveness of new alternative carbon fiber is not an obstacle. However, the company is highly concerned with the safety of customers, which is why it is of paramount importance to integrate changes in regards to acquiring enriched carbon fiber as soon as possible. Therefore, JAYB should have prioritized the purchase of enriched carbon fiber bicycles earlier in order to avoid manufacturing high risk products.
Secondly, another change needs to be focused on employee safety and community well-being. JAYB should have prioritized protecting workers and communities from toxic substances as well as provided compensation. In other words, such an approach benefits in a multitude of ways, where the company attracts the most skilled workforce, which ensures that it establishes superior manufacturing. It also helps to promote sustainability and environmental plausibility, which are critical in the cycling industry. It is evident that people interested in bicycles are more likely to be aware of their environmental impact, which is why companies manufacturing them need to be extra cautious of their ecological influence (Karanikola et al., 2019). Protecting workers and communities from toxic byproducts of the production process needs to become a top priority for the company.
Decisions with Positive Effects
The first positive decision is centered around the fact that the company wants to embrace conscious capitalism by factoring in the interests of all parties involved in the business. In other words, JAYB does not solely emphasize the importance of executives and shareholders because customers, workers, and communities are of paramount importance as well. The decision benefitted greatly since such an approach will keep JAYB remain competitive with its main industry rivals, such as Thunder Bike and BIK3D. Without this explicit and highly prioritized decision, the company would worsen its chances of becoming an industry leader because it would be challenging to keep up with the given shift within the industry. Both consumers and companies are becoming more and more aware of the safety implications of their products, which is why embracing conscious capitalism benefitted greatly in avoiding overlooking these areas. Although JAYB still needs to switch its carbon fiber material and increase worker safety measures, the decision greatly reduced the amount of change, which would be required for adherence to the current shifts.
The second positive change is focused on economies of scale or achieving value generation for customers by producing more products at lower costs. The current trends indicate the market of carbon fiber bicycles is booming with increases in demand, revenues, production, and distribution. By focusing on both volume and quality by undermining immediate profits, the company will greatly enhance its chances of becoming an industry leader by being able to deliver high-quality products and meeting the market demands. In other words, the decision was a correct one because it was also risky. If the market had experienced a decrease in demand, then the company’s focus on volume alongside quality would have resulted in failure since it would have created substantial losses.
Valuation
The valuation of the company needs to be provided on the basis of all financial data as well as analysis. The method will primarily focus on the net asset valuation method, which focuses on the formula: Assets = liabilities + owner’s (stockholders’) equity. The approach will mainly utilize the balance sheet, which can be accessed in Table 1. Although the calculations will be primarily based on the balance sheet, the income statement can be accessed in Table 2 and cash flow in Table 4. In order to calculate the total asset value, debt needs to be subtracted from the total asset value, which is equal to $2 983 884 – 0 = 2 983 884. In order to find the total owner’s equity, retained earnings need to be subtracted from common stock equity, which is equivalent to $5 000 000 – 2 016 116 = 2 983 884. Therefore, the valuation based on assets indicates that the company’s worth is equal to $2 983 884. The original stock value issue is equal to $5 000 000 – 2 983 884 = $2 016 116, which is loss to investors.
Therefore, considering that there are a total of 50 000 outstanding shares of stock, the number $2 016 116 is divided by 50 000, which is equal to $40.32 loss per share, and the current value is equivalent to $2 983 884 / 50 000 = $59.68 per share.
Table 1.
ROI
In order to calculate the projected financial return on investment or ROI, it is important to Subtract the initial value of investment from the final value of the investment, and divide the calculated value by the initial value of the investment, which is multiplied by 100 for percentage. In the given case, ROI is equal to (($2 983 884 – 5 000 000) / (5 000 000)) * 100 = ((-$2 016 116) / (5 000 000)) * 100 = -40.32%. Therefore, the value shows that there is no gain from the investment but rather a loss. In other words, it would have a negative effect on investors since the ROI is negative. However, such a projection is expected since the company plans to focus on delaying immediate profits in accordance with the long-term perspective, which focuses on creating value for customers, establishing a superior manufacturing process, and increasing volume as well as expanding its current market share.
Table 2.
Business Analysis
Ratios
It is important to note the fact that the liquidity ratio is unavailable since there are no current liabilities, as can be seen in Table 3 as well as from the balance sheet. In the case of the activity ratio for JAYB, the fixed assets turnover is equal to 2.53, and the total asset turnover is equal to 1.08. Both of these values are below average for the industry ratios, which are equal to 2.76 and 1.20 for fixed and total assets turnover, respectively. The identified ratio is the total turnover ratio of 1.08, which is indicative of how efficiently the company is able to manage its working capital, which includes payables, receivables, cash, inventories, and other forms of assets. Therefore, the activity ratio is lower than the industry value, which means that JAYB is poorly managing its working capital by being inefficient with it. In other words, investors and researchers can clearly observe that the overall fiscal health of the company is not an attractive one, and it also shows that the company is inefficient in its asset usage in comparison to the industry.
In the case of the leverage ratio, both debt ratio and debt to paid-in-capital are equal to 0 since there is no debt, and the same value can be found in the industry average. It is highly useful information for banks and other stakeholders because it reflects a company’s capability in regard to debt management and ability to meet the corresponding obligations (Barth & Miller, 2018). The lower ratio value makes it easier for a company to secure some form of loan, and since JAYB’s leverage ratio is equal to 0, one can realize that the company can always loan funds from, for example, banks to expand and grow more aggressively. In other words, it can be indicative of potential opportunities of JAYB for securing funds.
In the case of profitability ratios, the net profit margin is equal to -18.61 for JAYB and 21.74 for the industry average. The given ratio is indicative of how efficiently a company can generate profits, and since the value is negative, investors will be able to understand that the company is not profitable at the moment and operating at a loss. Since JAYB’s key objective is to achieve long-term profitability at the cost of immediate gains, the ratio is in accordance with the outlined strategy. In order to fully achieve the economies of scale, which will ensure lower cost of production and higher volume output, the company will have to reinvest the profits into improving and expanding manufacturing.
Table 3.
Cash Flow Analysis
The statement of cash flow can be accessed in Table 4. In the case of cash flow, the beginning and ending cash positions for quarters four, five, and six are 1 044 424 and 3 272 529, 3 272 529 and 2 501 054, and 2 501 054 and 1 713 884, respectively. Cash flows from current operations are cash flows from operations in the ordinary course of business of an entity. As a rule, they are associated with the formation of profit or loss from sales. The information on flows from current operations shows the level of cash coverage and also provides a basis for forecasting future cash flows.
In the case of cash flow from operating activities, the cash inflow in quarter 1 comes only from the company issuing stocks and raising capital, and there was no revenue. However, JAYB spent $200 000 on store expenses, which made the operating expenses = -200 000. In subsequent quarters, revenue started to emerge, increasing cash inflow, but operating activities were always at a negative value since JAYB is heavily reinvesting the revenue cash back into a sales force, marketing research, internet marketing, distribution, research, and development, and production. There is a strong and prominent pattern of revenue growth each quarter, where, from quarter 4 to 6, the revenue increases by roughly $1 000 000 or one million each period. However, since the company is in an attempt to have manufactured with high volume and low cost through economies of scale, it is evident that the operating expenses or cash outflows will also increase. Each term, the company gradually increased the operating expenses at a higher rate than revenue growth, which is why net operating cash flow is negatively increasing each subsequent quarter from -200 000 to -547 170.
Cash flows from investment operations are cash flows from transactions associated with the acquisition, creation, and disposal of investment operations. Information about them shows the level of expenses of the organization carried out for the acquisition or creation of non-current assets. In the case of investing activities, the only form of investment can be found in fixed production capacity, which occurs at quarters 1, 3, 5, and 6. The former two are equal to $480 000 each, and the latter two are equal to $240 000 each. These investing activities reduce the total cash flow by a significant amount. Therefore, both investing activities and operating activities are sources of cash outflow or cash reduction because JAYB reinvests all revenue cash back into the operations and additional amount from the common stock cash. In addition, the fixed production capacity investments are equal to $480 000 for every two quarters.
In the case of financing activities, the company primarily gains additional cash inflow or an increase in cash, excluding revenue, solely from an increase in common stock. Cash flows from financial transactions are cash flows from transactions related to attracting financing by an organization on a debt or equity basis, leading to a change in the amount and structure of capital and borrowed funds. Information about them predicts claims of creditors and shareholders in relation to future cash flows and future needs in attracting debt and equity financing. JAYB issued stock for during quarters 1 to 4 and did not issue them in the quarter 5 and 6. The total amount of increase in common stock for the first four quarters is equal to $5 000 000, which allowed the company to reinvest all of its revenue and more during the initial periods without losing cash. However, the lack of increase in common stock in the last quarter led to a decline in cash balance. In other words, JAYB aggressively used the common stock cash to jumpstart the business by heavily investing into operations and production capacity, and thus, sustaining the company on common stock money. This allowed JAYB to grow its revenue effectively, which can become a full source for cash inflow for future operating and investing activities.
Payments and receipts from a single transaction can relate to different types of cash flows. For example, the payment of interest is the cash flow from current transactions, and the repayment of the principal amount of the debt is the cash flow from financial transactions. When repaying the loan, both of these parts can be paid in one amount. Cash flows are reflected in the statement of cash flows with a subdivision into cash flows from current, investing, and financing operations. Each type of income is reported separately from the sale of the organization. Cash flows are reflected on a net basis in cases when they characterize not so much the activities of the organization as the activities of counterparties and when the receipts of some persons determine the corresponding payments to others. For example, agent’s cash flows, indirect taxes, receipts from the counterparty for reimbursement of utility bills, payment for transportation of goods with receipt of equivalent compensation from the counterparty. Thus, the calculation of the cash flow statement by direct and indirect methods showed that in the first case, to compile this reporting form, information is needed on the turnover of the company’s accounts, taking into account the corresponding accounts. In the case of the indirect method, the preparation of the cash flow statement is based largely on standard accounting forms.
Table 4.
Decisions and Scorecard Performance
The conscious scorecard can be accessed in Table 5 in the Appendix. The first identified decision is focused on quality inspections, which took place in all quarters of 2 to 6. This affected the company’s performance by increasing the quality costs every quarter from $47 681 in quarter 2 to $120 276 in quarter 6. The second identified decision is centered around the environmental concerns, which took place in quarter six, and it is evident that these additional expenditures are reflected in production and system improvement costs. The latter values are the highest in the sixth quarter, which shows the overall performance was impacted. Since these are mandatory decisions for the company to make in order to adhere to the strategic changes, such as improving employee safety and environmental impact, the increased operating cash outflows by a significant margin. The third decision is focused on supplier relationships, such as measuring and rewarding purchasing agents, which also impacted the performance in the research and developments section of the cash flow. The given decision took place in quarter 6, and the research and development operating expense increase are partly due to these measurement activities.
Sources
Barth, J. R., & Miller, S. M. (2018). Benefits and costs of a higher bank “leverage ratio.”Journal of Financial Stability, 38, 37–52. Web.
Chen, Y., Sun, I. Y., Ukaejiofo, R. U., Xiaoyang, T., & Brautigam, D. (2016). Learning from China? Manufacturing, investment, and technology transfer in Nigeria. IFPRI.
Karanikola, P., Tampakis, S., Matzaraki, L., & Tampakis, A. (2019). The residents’ take on using bicycles in the urban environment: The case of the city of Alexandroupolis, Greece.WSEAS Transactions On Environment and Development, 15, 204-212. Web.
Appendix
Table 5.