Andrews Corporation’s current position after the first four rounds is looking very solid; the company finished in 1st place at the end of Round 4. The company currently has six products available in five assorted markets. Andrews has found the balance of maintaining top sales that results in a solid cash position, while subtly making investments in production/automation for our equipment, and research and development of their products. Through thorough analyzation, this seems to be an effective formula. Andrews Corporation, in the first round, planned to keep a conservative strategy moving forward. …show more content…
The corporation’s largest expense occurred from the investment in corporate infrastructure to increase capacity and lower unit costs in volume production. Another costly project was continual investment in the marketing sector to raise awareness and accessibility of the products. This strategy was used as a template throughout every round and for every market segment. The overall strategy of the second round was focused on bringing in a new product, Arrow, into the high end market. The third round was fixated on strengthening production plans for all product lines and developing differentiation in each market. By the fourth round forecasting was fined tuned yielding accurate production quantities that netted substantial profits of $12,713,000. This enables expansion plans slated for the fifth round to go advance. It was in the fourth round as well where Andrews Corporation managed to outperform the competition, gaining first place on the Balance Scorecard. As for strategies to be utilized in the remaining rounds, Andrews Corporation plans to use the investment in corporate infrastructure to increase capacity and lower unit costs in volume production; and investment in marketing to raise awareness and accessibility of the products as a template for every round going forward. Andrews also plans to become aggressive in specific markets such as the traditional and low end market where the largest contribution margin is owned. Through increases in marketing spending, and continual revision to attempt to hit the sweet spot for customers. Conversely, markets such as the size, performance, and high end markets producing slower yields will be revalued for future decision making. This includes possibly significantly reducing prices in desperation of sales, cutting marketing cost, or ultimately erasing a product from existence. However, when it comes to R&D it seems that Andrews simply …show more content…
This strategy in turn aids in determining production numbers and whether increases or decreases in automation is needed. Customer awareness thus far has also been excellent, which is an integral part in marketing. One issue that Andrews Corporation has faced is production capacity. With six products in five markets, the company has to determine the most efficient way to allocate its capital to best utilize its capacity and to avoid inventory stock outs and while making a profit. The financing department for the company has been doing well thus far, needing emergency funds only once during the four live