Homework Question on Standard Motor Products
- Research a medium-sized company in a different industry where the profitability is unstable.
- Explain how the five forces impact the business environment of this company.
- Learning Activity #2 In Chapter 4, we learned about SWOT analysis as an effective tool for creating a quick overview of a company’s strategic situation. SWOT is an acronym for the internal factors of Strengths (S) and Weakness (W) of a firm and the external (environmental) factors of Opportunities (O) and Threats (T) facing that firm. Reference: Unknown (2014). Introduction to strategic management. Washington, D.C.: The Saylor Foundation.
Step 1: Initial response:
- Research a medium-sized company in one of the following industries: banking, transportation, food processing, publishing, manufacturing, and construction.
- Assume that you are among the strategic management committee of that company.
- Describe the background information of that company in a paragraph. Information includes and is not limited to its size, location, industry, product or service categories, and scope of business activities.
- Compile a SWOT analysis of that company based on your research.
Homework Answer on Standard Motor Products
Standard Motor Products is a medium-sized company specialized in the manufacturing of vehicle parts for the automobile industry. It commenced in 1919 as the producer of spare parts for motors (Justin, 2006). Their main market includes the automobiles aftermarket. It has grown to be one of the producers, distributors and marketers of replacement parts for the autos aftermarket. It has its base in New York (Justin, 2006). The range of its brands includes Standard®, TechSmart®, Hayden®, BWD® and the Four Seasons® (Justin, 2006).
Concerning Porter’s model of Five Forces that affect competition in any industry, the automobile parts’ manufacturing sector includes the same competition factors like the rivalry, the threat of new entrants, suppliers and the buyers. Principal competitors in this industry include but not limited to Lear Corporation, EcoMotors Ltd and Bendix Corporation. In the practical business environment, competition may not be fair.
Therefore, rival companies must incorporate solid strategies to face off competition. With regard to rivalry, Standard Motor Corp. promoted their product differentiation to face off other competitors in the market. It made them get a higher market niche that translates to better profits. Rivalry influences the stability of the vehicles parts’ industry. The fresh participants denote the auxiliary products presented to the vehicle parts market.