Poland Spring Bottling Corporation Harvard Case Solution & Analysis

Poland Spring Bottling Corporation Case Study Solution

PEST Analysis:

Political Factors:

The political environment is considered to be an important factor for understanding the future potentials of the industries operating in the country. The political system of the U.S is quite stable and there are consistencies in both economic as well as the foreign policies of the country. However the changes in the policies and standard would affect the Poland and other companies of the industry.

Economic Factors:

The economic factors includes the inflation rate of the country and spending behaviors of the population. The inflation rate of the U.S is stable due to its developed economy. However, Poland spring bottle water is a domestic player so the fluctuation in the exchange rate wouldn’t affect the profitability of the company. The spending behavior of the consumers seem stable due to low inflation rate and the stable economy, which mitigates the chances for the company to face risks and get affected in future in terms of revenue generation or operational activities.

Social Factors:

Social factors include the consumer preferences and different activities of the consumers. Most of the consumers in the U.S market are considered to be health conscious, and are least likely to compromise on the quality of the products. Poland spring bottle water provides higher quality products to its consumer, but it has to improve its quality in order to become efficiently competitive in the market.

Technological Factors:

As a stable economy, the country depends on the high technology for its procedures. Poland spring water bottle should use efficient technology in order to improve its efficiency and procedures, and should also reduce the cost incurrence in its operations. (Sammut-Bonnici & Galea, PEST analysis, 2015)

Suggested Solutions

The suggested solution for the Poland Company are as follows:

Maintain Relationship with Distributors:

In order to promote and position it products in the market effectively, the Poland Spring should maintain its long term relationship with the distributors and other retailers in the market. Long term relationship with the distributors would help the company to reduce its cost, which occurs when finding new distributors and paying them high commission. The Relationship with distributors as well as the other retailors would also help the company in promoting its brands without incurring any additional cost

Eliminate Intermediaries In The Supply Chain:

The company would shrink its supply chain by eliminating the intermediaries in order to reduce the cost. Each intermediary in the supply chain take sits margins which ultimately increases the cost of the products. By eliminating the intermediaries; the company could be able to offer its product at lower prices which would ultimately improve its profits margins. Increasing the levels in the supply chain in creases the complexity of the business, and the products would take extra time to reach the shelf or end consumers. By reducing the intermediaries; the company would increase its efficiency to fill the shelves in a short span of time, reduce the cost, improve the margins and maintain a relationship with the consumers by gaining the knowledge of their preferences.

Improve its Quality:

The company would improves its quality in order to position its product. However, the company may charge higher cost as it providing the higher quality to its consumers. The higher quality would enable the company to create image of its product and position in consumer mind.

Conclusion

In the conclusion, it canbe stated that the company is facing an intense competition in the industry and is trying its best to differentiate itself from its competitors, while having  limited resources. The company provides quality bottle water in order to differentiate its products among the competitors. The company must eliminate the intermediaries from its supply chain. By eliminating the intermediaries the company could easily gain an insight about the consumers’ preferences, easily promote its products, reduce the cost in term of commission and other overhead expense, and would be ableto improve its profitability.

 

Appendices

Appendix-1: SWOT Analysis

Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats
·         Use the efficient distribution strategy

·         Limited sizes of water bottles (32 and 7 ounce

·         Increased in the preferences of the purified bottle water

·         Refill the shelf in a very short span of time

·         Low distribution and transportation cost

·         Superior quality of water to the health conscious consumers.

·         Mentioned the quantity of minerals on its labels

·         Few sizes of water bottles

·         Only deals in water bottles

·         Competitors spent high in advertising and promotional strategies

·         Lack of experience in the bottle water industry

·         Growing demand of the natural purified water

·         Expand in foreign markets to reduce the risk of competition

·         Target more restaurants, schools and hospital and different group ages.

·         Reduce the dependency on the water bottle business by diversification

·         Local and global players in the market

·         Different strategies and tactics used by various competitors

·         Strategies of the company would be imitable easy

·         Failure of  supply chain due to weak relationship with the distributor and retailors

·         More experience competitors in the market

 

Appendix-2: Porter’s Five Forces Model

Threat Of New Entrants Bargaining Power Of Suppliers

 

Bargaining Power Of Buyer

 

Threat Of Substitutes Rivalry Among Competitors
·         Low to moderate

·         Various laws and amendment in the laws for the purified water

·         Managing the supply chain

·         Position its brand is difficult between the dominant competitors

 

·         Low to moderate

·         Various suppliers exist in the market

·         Switching cost considered to be zero

·         Quality of the raw material and the chemical

·         High to moderate

·         Various local and global competitors

·         Availability of a large variety of water bottles

·         Switching cost is also considered to be zero

·         Health factors and quality of the water such as minerals, calories etc.

·         Low

·         Substitute are tap water, juices, wines and other beverages

·         Bottle water is healthier than tap water

·         Consumer perceive that thirst could only be eliminated by water

 

·         High

·         Various local and global players

·         More experienced

·         Using different tactics to increase its profitability and retain consumer base.

 

 

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