I-Tech: Business Simulation Strategy and Development Report

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of I-Tech, a mobile phone manufacturing company operating in the smartphone market. The report is divided into two parts: a strategy paper and a professional development reflection report. The strategy paper examines I-Tech's vision, values, mission, and targets. It includes an in-depth competitor analysis using Porter's five forces, market share evaluation, product/price analysis, and a SWOT analysis to identify the company's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. The report reviews the company's performance results, including financial data and key decisions. The second part, the professional development reflection report, presents an executive summary, an introduction, identified events, and a review of relevant concepts and theories, industry practices, and application of theories. It concludes with a discussion, recommendations for practice and research, and a list of references. The report highlights I-Tech's strategic positioning, market performance, and areas for future development within the competitive smartphone industry.

Business Simulation with
Professional Development

Contents
PART A: STRATEGY PAPER.......................................................................................................1
VISION AND STRATEGY............................................................................................................1
Vision...........................................................................................................................................1
Values..........................................................................................................................................1
Mission........................................................................................................................................1
Targets.........................................................................................................................................2
HR................................................................................................................................................2
REVIEW OF EACH YEAR’S PROGRESS...................................................................................3
Competitor analysis.....................................................................................................................3
Performance results.....................................................................................................................6
Performance analysis...................................................................................................................7
FUTURE PLANS AND RECOMMENDATIONS.........................................................................8
Key decisions...............................................................................................................................8
Changes to current strategy.........................................................................................................8
Recommendations........................................................................................................................8
Potential growth...........................................................................................................................9
PART B: PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT REFLECTION REPORT....................................9
Executive Summary...................................................................................................................9
Introduction..............................................................................................................................10
Identified Events......................................................................................................................11
Review of relevant concepts and theories..............................................................................12
Review of industry practices...................................................................................................14
Application of theories and concepts.....................................................................................15
Discussion.................................................................................................................................15
Recommendations for practice and research........................................................................16
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................18

PART A: STRATEGY PAPER
VISION AND STRATEGY
I-Tech is a mobile phone manufacturing company which is operating in smartphone market
from last 11 years. The headquarters of this company are situated in Belgium and the operations
of this company are in various nations including United Kingdom, France, Netherlands, India,
Canada etc. The tag line of this company is to “Explore the world”. By this slogan, I-Tech
Company is persuading their customers to explore the world by using the advanced technology
smartphone products manufactured and marketed by this company. This company is operating
with the aim to earn profit and provide satisfaction to their client. The vision and strategy which
is followed by this company is analysed below:
Vision
Vision of an organisation is the direction which the company aims to follow. It is
important for every organisation to have a powerful vision so that it its stakeholders can rely
upon the belief of the company (Bindon, 2017). A vision statement is the future goals of a
company which company aim to acquire from their operations. The vision statement of I-Tech is
to shape the future of technology by manufacturing and selling affordable mobile phones to
everyone. I-Tech is a company that considers smartphones as the basic need of every individual
due to which they vision to manufacture affordable products that can be used by everyone. The
vision statement is base of every company that represents the values of that organisation.
Values
Among various corporate values of I-Tech, the core values of this company states that I-
Tech beliefs in gender diversity due to which staff members of this company are of both genders.
I-Tech believes in sustainable development due to which they engage their operations into
corporate social responsibility activities. Lastly, this company has be value of provide
satisfaction to their customers due to which they spend highly on he after sales services.
Mission
A mission statement is the main aim of an organisation which they objectify to acquire
from the operations (Creemers, Kyriakides and Antoniou, 2012). Like any other organisation, the
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mission statement of I-Tech is to earn high profit and shareholder value by providing effective
customer satisfaction.
Targets
Every organisation develops few targets which they aim to satisfy by their operations.
These targets are the key performance measures of that company which measures their success.
In case of I-Tech, this company has set few targets for different departments that they aim to
fulfil. Some of these targets are stated below:
 For the finance department of I-Tech, the management has set their KPM as 5% return on
total assets. This target states that if the operations of this company are successful in
acquiring 5% returns on their assets then it will be considered as successful.
 Another target of I-Tech is for their customer group which states that on the scale of 5 to
1, the I-Tech aims to sell products with lowest price. This target will help in acquiring the
competitive edge to this company over their competitors.
 There is one more KPI for customer group which states that I-Tech aims to acquire target
of highest quality. This target is a challenge for I-Tech as producing lowest price
products for highest quality products is a complex procedure which will lower down the
profitability of this company.
 Another target of this company is for the growth which states that I-Tech aims to acquire
71% satisfaction of their employees by providing those valid wages and recognition.
HR
HR culture of I-Tech is a diverse culture in which all employees are considered as equal.
The HR structure of I-Tech is classified into various departments for each department one chief
personnel is appointed. There are total of five chief employees in I-Tech; the overall operations
of this company are controlled by their chief executive officer. For financial matters, the chief
financial officer is appointed and for marketing operations such as campaigns and press release,
chief marketing officer is appointed. For technology up gradation and other affairs, chief
technical officer is appointed and lastly for the manufacturing process control. Chief operating
officer is appointed (Dede, and et.al., 2016).
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REVIEW OF EACH YEAR’S PROGRESS
Competitor analysis
Porter’s five forces
Porter’s five forces is a model which helps in identifies the market position of an
organisation in a competitive market. This model compromises with five forces that shape the
strategies of companies. The company which is currently focused is I-Tech which is operating in
smartphone industry that has an intense competition. The analysis of this industry has been
conducted below using fiver forces:
Competitive Rivalry – Smartphone sector is the most growing industry due to which the
rivalry level between the competitors is high (Draijer, 2020). The market leaders of this industry
are Flash, Skycomm, I-Tech and others. All these competitors fight in order to acquire high
market share due to which it can be concluded that competitive rivalry level in this sector is high.
Supplier power – Suppliers are the stakeholder of an organisation that supply raw
materials which are used in the process of production. The supplier power in smartphone
industry is low as there are high numbers of suppliers which are scattered in the entire world.
Buyer power – Buyers are the consumers who purchase the smartphones in this sector.
Due to high number of competitors, the competition of acquiring high market share is high that
provides power to consumers to bargain with the seller. Considering this, it can be said that the
buyer power in smartphone industry is high.
Threat of substitution – Substitute goods in smartphone industry are the products which
can be used in place of other goods (Lefoe, and et.al., 2011). Generally, the threat of substitutes
in smartphone industry is quite high but for I-Tech Company which manufactures high quality
goods in low budget, the treat of substitute is low. The reason behind this low threat is the
incapability of competitors to manufacture such products.
Threat of new entrant – In the smartphone industry of any nation, the threat of new
entrants is low, as in order to establish a brand, a high amount of revenue is required along with
which it is difficult to acquire the license due to which new organisations fails to establish their
brand in this industry. As far as smartphone industry of simulation is concerned any new entrant
is not permitted in this industry. So, it can be said that threat of new entrants in this industry is
low.
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Market share
Market share is a concept which states the percentage of total consumers which are
acquired by an organisation from the market (Newbery and et. al., 2018). A larger market share
is the indication of high revenue and profit. The company which is being focused in this report is
I-Tech which is operating in various countries and has different market share in each of the
countries. For the analysis of Market share, the smartphone industry of United Kingdom will be
considered. In this market, there are total 6 competitors of I-Tech which compete to acquire the
market share. From the results of last year, it has been analysed that the market share of I-Tech in
United Kingdom was 1,81. Considering this market share, it has been also analysed that highest
market share has been acquired by the local competition and among the international
competitors; the position of I-Tech is third from the total 7 market leaders.
In order to effectively judge the market share of I-Tech, another region that is considered
to be evaluated is United States. In this region the overall market share of I-Tech is 3.58 which
highest among all the 7 market leaders. Besides I-Tech, remaining market share has been
acquired by the local competition.
Product/ price analysis
This analysis helps in evaluating the product and pricing strategy of an organisation.
Product/ price analysis is important to be analysed as it provides interesting insights regarding
the performance of a company and it also assist in the procedure of competitive analysis between
the competitors (Palloff and Pratt, 2011). The product strategy of I-Tech states that on a scale of
1 to 5, I-Tech will manufacture the products that will have the product quality of 5 which is the
highest rate of quality. This strategy of I-Tech distinguishes it from its competitors as most of the
competitive brands of I-Tech have set their product strategy as low quality so that they can earn
more profit but the main aim of I-Tech is to satisfy their customers’ requirements.
On the other hand, the pricing strategy of I-Tech states that this company aim to provide
high quality products at lowest rates. On the scale of 1 to 5, the low price of this company is at 5
point. I-Tech Company has set their strategy in such a way that focuses on product as well cost
leadership. These strategies of I-Tech provide them a competitive advantage over their all the
other competitors.
Competitors
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In the smartphone industry, there are various competitors of I-Tech that fight against each
other in order to acquire highest market share so that they can acquire their targets are can be
considered as successful. By analysing the market of smartphone industry, it has been seen that
the highest market share in every region is acquired by their local organisations. Besides local
competitors that are different for each region, there are 6 competitors which compete with I-Tech
internationally.
Competencies and capabilities
There are various competencies and capabilities of I-Tech that distinguish them with its
competitors. These competencies and capabilities are analysed using SWOT analysis. SWOT is
an acronym of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (Pande, 2019) that are discussed
below in order to compare I-Tech from its competitors.
Strengths – There are various positive aspects of I-Tech which separate this company with
other competitors. I-Tech has the competitive pricing strategy due to which it has acquired an
effective brand value along with loyal customers. Another strength of I-Tech is that it has an
innovative supply chain due to which they procure their raw materials spending less monetary
resources due to which products f this company are most affordable among its competitors.
Weaknesses – These are negative aspects of an organisation. Weaknesses which distinct I-
Tech from its competitors are lack of high end customer target market and the non compatibility
of the products with competitor’s products and services. Another weakness of this company is
the risk of new market.
Opportunities – There are few opportunities which can be used by this organisation to
make a strong brand presence in market. These opportunities which I-Tech possesses that are
different from its competitors are innovative marketing strategies and environmental friendly
products that ensure high sales of the products of this company. As it has been observed above
that the products of I-Tech are not compatible with the products of its competitors, so it is an
opportunity for I-Tech to make compatible products.
Threats – Every organisation in simulation smartphone industry is facing few threats which
can highly impact the operations of this company (Pellas and Boumpa, 2016). The threats that
are faced by this organisation are threat from environment community, raising competition and
raising manufacturing costs.
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The above analysis shows the attributes of I-Tech which differentiates it from its
competitors.
Performance results
Financial results
Financial position of I-Tech is said to be effective as the total assets of this company are
worth 178 million euros that is increasing in every year of their operations. This value of the
assets is the consolidated amount which has been acquired from the assets of this company in all
the regions in which it operates. Besides assets, I-Tech owes loan value of 11 million euros that
are engaged in the operations of this company. When compared to the competitors, the loan
amount of this company is higher which shows the high operative value of this company.
From analysing the income statement of I-Tech, it has been seen that the total sales revenue of
this company is balanced in every growing year and has the value of 229 million euros. This
value leads towards the loss of 433 million euros. The reason behind this loss is the high
operating expenses of this company which are occur in order to develop affordable smart phones
(Syring, 2015).
The cash flow position of this company shows that the operations of I-Tech have resulted
into the total expenses of 679 million euros. This value shows that I-Tech is achieving its KPM
of selling and manufacturing affordable products with high quality. This position of I-Tech is
different from the position of its competitors but the main objectives and targets of this company
are satisfied by I-Tech.
Inventory results
From the inventory report of I-Tech, it has been seen that at first the demand of the
products of I-Tech was lower but with every passing year the demand of the products of this
company kept on increasing due to which sales revenue of this company is highest among all
other competitors. Inventory which has been procured by this company from the suppliers is
observed to be rising at a uniform speed due to the innovative supply chain management of this
company (Xiang-chao, 2012). The results of inventory show that the equilibrium of demand and
supply of I-Tech is different from all of its competitors.
Staff results
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From the staff report results of I-Tech, it has been seen that the number of people which
are hired by this organisation has been increased highly but the unlike other organisations the
retention ratio of this company is observing to show an increasing trend that is different from its
competitors.
Performance analysis
The strategy of I-Tech defines the performance of this company. Out of four strategies of
Ansoff matrix that are Product development, Market development, Penetration and
Diversification, the strategy that has been opted out by I-Tech is Market penetration (Tiwari,
Nafees and Krishnan, 2014). Under this strategy, I-Tech have decided to offer their same
products in same region but with agenda to penetrate the existing market. This growth strategy of
I-Tech is successfully achieved by this company. The targets of this company are also satisfied
with the operations of I-Tech; although these targets resulted into heavy losses to this company.
I-Tech has made various decisions for each aspect of the operations. These decisions are
analysed below:
 Marketing
I-Tech has made various decisions in order to ensure that their products can be effectively
promoted in the market. For this, I-Tech has invested 1200000 euros for developing a campaign
in global market. In this campaign, the name of I-Tech will be on the world class football team’s
shirt. Another decision for marketing purpose that was taken is the extensive budget for SEO
marketing so that social media audience can be captured. I-Tech has also decided to invest
950000 euros on Facebook and 750000 euros on LinkedIn.
 Human resource
I-Tech decided to provide maximum work load on their employees so that they can acquire
operational efficiency but this decided has resulted into lower satisfaction of the employees. But
as the main KPM of this company was to acquire more than 60% employee satisfaction, the I-
Tech decided to share their profits which their employees along with providing them rewards and
education so that their satisfaction can be procured.
 Financial
As it has been known that main aim of I-Tech is to manufacture and sell high quality
affordable products and for this it is important to manage the finances in such a way that valid
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profits can be made. For this purpose, I-Tech decided to acquire two loans rom market on which
they have paid interest of 5.50% and 9.50%.
FUTURE PLANS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
From the above performance and position review of I-Tech, there are various future plans
and recommendations that are suggested to this company. These recommendations and plans are
analysed below:
Key decisions
I-Tech is suggested to take the decision of increasing the cost of their products as it has
been seen that I-Tech is merely able to cover their costs and result into losses. Another key
decision suggested to I-Tech is that this company should increase the rewards which are
provided to the employees and do not provide any share in profit. I-Tech must take the decision
of procuring loans from financial institutions that can benefit this company of lower interest rates
as this is the main cause of their losses.
Changes to current strategy
 Current competitive strategy of I-Tech is the combination of cost leadership, price
leadership and customer focus. This strategy of I-Tech must be changed as selling affordable
quality products with high customer focus is a clear strategy for losses. Instead of this I-
Tech must offer different products ad each of the product type should be focusing on one
strategy instead of following all. By this way, I-Tech will be selling varied products for all
type of customers.
 Current growth strategy of this company is market penetration that has limited the growth
potential of this company. I-Tech must change their growth strategy from market penetration
to product development where they can offer multiple types of smartphones to their
customers.
Recommendations
There are few recommendations which are devised from the above analysis, some of these
recommendations are stated below:
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 I-Tech Company is recommended to diversify their product range so that each of their
products can satisfy the different needs of the customers as it is difficult to satisfy all the
needs from one product.
 I-Tech company is also recommended invest more monetary funds into social media
marketing so that their smartphones can be highly promoted.
 This company is also recommended to increase the prices of their products so that the losses
of this company can be turn into profits.
Potential growth
As it has been observed that I-Tech is facing high losses due to which the potential growth
strategy that this company should implement in their operations is diversification in which they
must diversify the range of their smartphones in current market so that high revenue can be
generated and profits can be earned.
PART B: PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT REFLECTION REPORT
Executive Summary
Professional development is method of developing and enhancing workers ability by
exposure to organizational educational and training programs, by outside company or via
observing others do the task. The aim of professional development is to maintain everyone up-to-
date on recent developments and to also help to achieve valuable skills for progression purposes
in the industry. The procedures and measures that institutions and companies pursue with an
objective of ensuring progress and ideal prospects, as well as capacity to enhance individual and
career productivity. This section will also provide an analysis about how the above-mentioned
operation supposedly happened and will be illustrated in the business simulations by different
activities and the introduction of ways of viewing. The main aim of the report is to focus on the
experience of the each participants of group due to bring out different activities in regard of the
business simulation. Thus, as per the reason there are assess many events that were analyzed and
identified (McComb and Eather, 2017).
Moreover, another aim of the report is to assess all the appropriate concepts and
theories which are related with the business simulation and help to define in proper manner.
Thus, in the context of business aim apply the decision making, team building as well as related
leadership theories in broad manner. These theories are reviewed and reflected upon within the
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