Business Policy and Strategy - Assignment Sample

Business Policy and Strategy: Some Important Decisions
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Assignment Name: Business Policy & Strategy
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Business Policy and Strategy: Some Important Decisions
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Contents
Case Study Analysis through questions & answers...................................................................3
1. Factors George must have considered before deciding to manufacture............................3
2. Risks and opportunities associated with the licensing technology process.......................3
3(a) why middle and senior level managers are reluctant to adopt the disruptive
technologies?..........................................................................................................................5
3(b)(1)Disruptive technology of mini-mills was not considered as a competitive threat to
major US steel producers but it took over big steel giants.....................................................6
3(b) (2) how tabletop hydrogen pose a big challenge for the big hydrogen producers?........7
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................7
References..................................................................................................................................8

Business Policy and Strategy: Some Important Decisions
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Case Study Analysis through questions & answers
1. Factors George must have considered before deciding to manufacture.
There are many factors which must have been on George’s checklist before deciding to start
manufacturing the product (Lindgren, 2017). The first factor which he should have
considered is the demand for the product or the supply gap that is there must be a large size
of the unsatisfied market in which the product manufacturer intends to launch the product.
Luckily, in this case, the demand was very high for the product. The cheap and safe source of
hydrogen was required by school, colleges, universities and government labs. The second
essential factor is the setup and running costs or the fixed and variable costs. Establishing a
manufacturing plant is a costly proposition. It involves licenses, equipment, customized
machines, and expert technical know-how. George did not ponder upon all these factors and
jumped to the conclusion of production. He should also have researched that if there are any
other manufacturers and how well are they performing in terms of production, operations,
and profits. Also, it is necessary to assess the process of the production to be adopted for the
product manufacturing and to understand the technical implications of the same. The choice
of product to be manufactured decides the cost of the machinery and labor. This further
decides the amount of capital required for starting the business. The third crucial factor which
George missed out was his own inexperience of running a business, lack of production
process knowledge and scarcity of required professional and technical qualifications
(GALEA, 2017). Being technically solid does not guarantee success in production. Had
George been a seasoned and well-experienced businessman he would have chalked out a
strategic development and expansion plan keeping in mind the stages at which funding would
be required. George must have analyzed before foraying into production the cost factor. This
was the major reason for the failure of his startup. It even leads him on the verge of
bankruptcy. He did not determine beforehand the amount he would invest out of his own
pocket. Assessing and ensuring the source of funds is the backbone of any production
operation. The fourth factor which did not get George’s enough attention was the seed capital
or the initial investment source. He risked all his life’s savings and invested in the business
which was not a sensible decision. Apart from these major investments, there are other costs
also involved in retail cost per individual unit, raw material cost, logistics, and marketing etc.
In manufacturing, everything cannot be made (Otten, Krenzler & Daduna, 2015). Some of the
less important things are to be outsourced. Proper knowledge of what is to be outsourced is
also necessary. It also helps in reducing the fixed cost and the quality remain the same.
Another factor is the production capacity and system. Had George kept it on a low scale i.e.
as a small scale production and understood the production process in and out maybe he could
have attracted more investors as the risk would have been small (Kachanova, 2016).
Conducting a market survey would also have provided him the first-hand information. He
would have come to know about the need for the product, expected the price per unit, market
competition, etc. Gathering of data regarding the investments required, profits generated,
break-even points attained could have helped him boost his project. Studying the government
policies with respect to the production is also required to see if any subsidy or grant is
provided in the field of choice. It can act as a boost in terms of capital investment and may
lower down the risk factor. Last is the feasibility of giving any idea a shape. Sometimes plans
look good on paper but are difficult to put into practice. Even after spending $450,000 and
nine months of his life he gained nothing. He ultimately got a buy-out offer and took the
same. Apart from this, the opportunity cost he paid is also high (Aksaray & Thompson,
2017).