Technology
Name
Institution
Case 1 Questions
Part 1
a) Please identify the value proposition for Mengsk World.
Mengsk World has the value proposition of selling the games a week earlier before the other retailer companies and at 10% less than the price of the other retailers. As such, customers go to buy the games from Mengsk World because they are cheaper in this location than all the other locations. The employees in this company also work under commission.
b) Please identify the value proposition for Raynor Games and Hobbies
Raynor Games and Hobbies use the value proposition of making all the employees in the company happy and focused on making higher sales. Such includes offering the “games night” every month, which grants customers an opportunity to play new games before buying them. As such, more customers end-up joining the store because they have an experience of the games.
c) Identify which primary strategy is used by Raynor Games and Mengsk World. Explain why these strategies best fit their respective companies.
Raynor Games uses the strategy of giving customers an opportunity to play the new games freely before buying them. Such a strategy fits the company because it is innovative in the creation of new games, which have value in the market. Mengsk Inc. uses the strategy of selling the games at a cheap price of less 10% in the market. The strategy contributes in ensuring that the company has a market competitive force, which contributes in the achievement of success.
Part 2
a) Identify the most important of the five forces for MengskWorld before it moves to Vancouver. Why is that force more important than the others? Justify your answer.
The most important force for Mengsk World is the threat of a new entry. Such is because the company is selling its products at a cheap price, which might trigger other companies to engage in the same methods of selling at even new prices. Such occurs when new companies emerge with better innovative strategies, which include low prices for the games than the Mengsk World. Further, the company is operating in a less economies of scale, less capital intensive business and it does not have a protection for its technologies. Hence, it is easier for other companies to use the same technology and enter in the business, which will have harmful effects in the business activities of Mengsk World.
b) Identify the most important of the five forces for Raynor Games before Mengsk World moves to Vancouver. Why is that force more important than the others? Justify your answer.
The most important force for Raynor Games is the competitive rivalry. Such is based on the fact that Mengsk World offers the same products of equal technology level as the Raynor Games at a cheap price. Hence, Mengsk World provides a competitive strength to Raynor Games. Despite paying its employees on commission basis, Mengsk World is able to achieve a competitive strength in the market because it sells its products at a price 10% than Raynor Games.
c) Will Mengsk World’s move to Vancouver change how the five forces affect MengskWorld and Raynor Games? Why or why not? If it does change the forces for either Mengsk World or Raynor Games then what changes does it make?
The move of Mengsk World to Vancouver will not change how the five forces affect the Raynor Games and Mengsk World. Such is because there are other companies, which are entering the market of selling games, which prove to provide competitive strength in terms of the products and the selling prices for these products. These companies will influence the business activities of both Raynor Games and the Mengsk World. The only change it makes is to increase the sales volumes of Raynor Games because it has created a market niche for the need of the games, which customers will have to visit Raynor Games to obtain their need for the products.
Part 3
a) What is the most important part of the value chain for Mengsk World when it tries to compete against Raynor Games? Justify your answer.
When trying to compete with Raynor Games, Mengsk World most important value chain is the marketing and sales. The company has identified that the customers need the same games as those provided by Raynor Games, but at a cheap price. As such, Mengsk World focuses on improving its sales volume by providing the products to the customers at 10% less than the price of Raynor Games.
b) What is the most important part of the value chain for Mengsk World when it tries to compete against Raynor Games? Justify your answer.
When trying to compete with Raynor Games, Mengsk World most important value chain is the marketing and sales. The company has identified that the customers need the same games as those provided by Raynor Games, but at a cheap price. As such, Mengsk World focuses on improving its sales volume by providing the products to the customers at 10% less than the price of Raynor Games.
Part 4
If you were Raynor Games what actions would you take to combat Mengsk World? Justify your answer.
As the Raynor Games, the best strategy to combat Mengsk World would be to focus on price competition through value addition. Such would not mean the reduction of the prices to match those of the Mengsk World, but it would imply adopting strategies, which include offering discounts and price coupons to customers. Hence, there would be a need to formulate an effective marketing strategy, which will contribute in winning the loyalty of customers.
Case 2: Questions
Part 1
What are the benefits and problems of using only Movepoint’s cloud based solution? Explain your answer.
MovePoint has the benefits of ensuring the scheduling system of MoveIT is effective. Such includes the arrival-times, calendar sharing and capacity tracking, as well as creation of the quote template. Hence, the company is able to have a standard pricing system for its services. However, the system has the limitation of not-allowing a change in price to occur on assurance discounts. Such limits the ability of the company to offer priced discounts to customers.
What are the benefits and problems of buying the DATS software? Explain your answer.
The DATS software has the benefit of providing task management pages and personnel profiles for different industries. These include the training and certification of employees, which ensures that MoveIT has the potential of hiring the best employees. The task management enables administrators to assign the best jobs and create specific moving task. Such includes technology support and personalized system for the company. However, the system has the limitation of the need to train employees on how to use the DATS software.
What are the benefits and problems of merging both Movepoint and DATS? Explain your answer.
Using both Movepoint and DATS in the company would ensure that the company has the best technological support. Such includes easing the work of the administrators and ensuring that scheduling of the tasks based on the qualification level of the employees occurs effectively. It would also aid in improving in the task assignment for the employees. However, these two systems would have the limitation of the need to hire external persons for training purposes and it becomes impossible to change price assurance discounts.
Based on your analysis, state whether you would choose Movepoint, DATS or merging the two systems. Explain your answer.
The selection would be to merge the two systems. Such is because these two systems will provide an integrated technological infrastructure, which will contribute in improving the operations and activities of the company. These include employee profiling, scheduling and assigning of tasks, tracking system and quote creation. As such, it becomes easy for the company to manage is moving business for all customers.
What would be the best conversion strategy for implementing the alternative that you chose? Explain your answer.
The best conversion strategy is that of mapping the technology needs for the company. Such a technology will ensure that the company has the best technological outcomes in terms of its achievement in the market place. Further, the strategy will ensure that the different technologies are integrated to obtain the best technological system for optimization of the processes.
Part 2
Assuming that the company decided to merge the two systems, what would be the best methodology to create the system, waterfall or agile? Explain why the methodology you chose is best for developing this specific system.
The best method is agile. Such is because Agile provides an incremental approach where developers will begin from simple project design and work in small modules. The method also ensures that it is easier to make changes (which is not the case with the waterfall sequential method). Thus, it is not permanent that an error made cannot be rectified. Further, the method creates rooms for feature addition and evaluation of the project priorities, which contributes in the achievement of success in the system design.