Strategic management reports and essays

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Brady corporation case study analysis - This report was written as part of my Master in International Business (MIB) programme at Grenoble Graduate School of Business (GGSB) for the Information Systems course taken in 2006. The report is essentially an analysis of the Brady Corporation. Analysing the case of the Brady Corporation, it is shown that the internet and information systems have brought many conveniences to Brady, its distributors and customers. The internet also provided Brady with the opportunity to bypass intermediaries to sell directly to the customer. Nevertheless, Brady focused upon end customer service by keeping their distributors and leveraging their technological capabilities to better serve the needs of both their customers and distributors. In concurrence with Porter (2001) the internet can be used a complement to traditional business activities and distribution channels.

RFID Powerpoint presentation - I worked on this presentation with Ashish Khalkho, Erik Sjobeck, and Siva Ilangovan. This presentation was made as part of my Information Systems course at Grenoble Graduate School of Business in 2006. This presentation looks at what RFID technology is, where it is being used, how it affecting the supply chain of many business, how it will affects customers in the future, discusses some concerns about RFID technology and concludes with how RFID technology will affect management. The orginial powerpoint presentation included three short video clips, if you would like to download the presentation with video clips, click here to download it as a zip file.

Strategic Management report on Xelibri luxury phones, an SBU of Siemens - This strategic management report was written with Alex Ashman, Angela EstevezMegias, Steve Richmond and Victoria Wood for our final year Strategic management course at The University of Birmingham in 2006 with Dr Mehmet Oktemgil. Although this case was written in 2006, Xelibri was in fact shut down several years before. However this report was written for the executive board of Siemens prior to Xelibri’s shut down. This report analyses Xelibri's strategic positioning in terms of the Market based view, Resource based view and Organisational based view. Throughout this report we identify Xelibri’s key strategic issues and follow this up by making a number of strategic recommendations to the executive board at Siemens. Here is the executive summary of the report: "We believe that Xelibri has a good chance for success even though the market is highly competitive. Xelibri can be successful by creating a new market in fashionable phones and using the six recommendations that have been discussed, whilst being backed up throughout with the core competency of marketing. We believe that the first mover advantage can be achieved despite Nokia previously launching a fashion phone, as their brand image is still driven by price and style. As the first manufacturer to launch handsets that solely focuses on fashion, we believe that Xelibri can build up a new brand image that no other company has. However, this advantage is not sustainable in the long term and will be lost if the product is not kept technologically relevant and up to date. Famous designers and role models should be used to ensure the product stays at the forefront of the fashion industry, but given that technology is the key driver of change within the industry, it also needs to be incorporated into the phone to maximise the potential for sales. "

What factors should managers take into account when considering the position of the firm within a business network? - I wrote this essay in 2003 for my second year course in supply chain management at the University of Birmingham for Glyn Watson and Chris Lonsdale. Essentially this essay discusses how a firm can have a sustainable position within a business network and looks at Porter's Five Forces as a means of evaluating a firm's position.