Sara Lee Corp Analysis Essay Example for Free

Sara Lee Corp Analysis Essay 1. What is Sara Lee’s corporate strategy? How has its retrenchment strategy changed the nature of its business lineup? Sara Lee corporate strategy was to implement acquisition strategies which would enlarge their geographical coverage in order to expand into new business classes. When the company started it was a small wholesale distributor of several items: coffee, tea and sugar and over time Sarah Lee acquired food processing, packaging, distribution and the retail food business. Over 40 years, the Sarah Lee Company acquired related and non-related business. Sarah Lee sold 8 businesses that were looked upon as non-strategic. This initiative was expected to generate combined net after tax proceeds in excess of $3B. The leaders of Sarah struggled over time to manage broadly diversified and geographically operations. So it was decided in order for the company to stay focus it would concentrate on the grocery portion and the upcoming trend of the single serve coffee machines. Therefore, Sarah would also focus on the single serve coffee line business, which they believed would be profitable for the company and shareholders. The retrenchment strategy changed the nature of its business lineup from a small wholesale distributor to acquiring retail food business. The retrenchment strategy would allow Sarah Lee to focus even more closely on the food, beverage, and household products. Management believed in order to save cost and to be more profitable they would concentrate its financial and managerial resources on a smaller number of business segments in which market prospects were promising and by Sara Lee’s brands being well known and well positioned would help them to stay in alignment with the strategy. Sarah Lee also executed an outsourcing strategy known as Project Accelerate. It’s a company-wide cost saving and productivity project that focused on outsourcing, supply chain efficiencies, and overhead reduction. 2. What is your assessment of the long-term attractiveness of the industries represented in Sara Lee Corp.’s business portfolio? In 2008 100M revenue,  with 10-12 core products was recorded as showing an increase in market share in 2010. However, in between 2008-2010, divisional sales had grown faster than any other food processing company; Sarah Lee’s market share had increased from 9.2% in 2009 to 12.3 in 2010. Keeping in mind, the state of the economy along with the size of the household’s, it usually cheaper for people to eat their meals at home and bring their lunches to work. By consumers purchasing lunch meats and other foods products of the well know brand Sarah Lee products would mostly remain high. Therefore the retail, foodservice, and other related industries represent the most attractive long-term business portfolio growth for the Sarah Lee Corporation. 3. What is your assessment of the competitive strength of Sara Lee Corp.’s different business units? By Sarah Lee staying focus in the food industry and having less or in some cases no focus on non-fitting industries allowed for value chain match-ups in the form of production technology, shipping logistics and customers. This direction offers opportunities for skills to be transferred, cost and brand sharing including the production of bakery, retail and foodservice goods because many of these are products are similar or the same products. By having product similarity the Sarah Lee Company can manufacturer a large batch of the same product, costing less than having to set up and run a separate product line. North American Retail: market-leading brands 30% market share in smoked sausage 23% market share in hot dogs 14% market share in lunch meat 58% market share in breakfast sausage 22% in frozen desserts 55% in single-serve coffee North American Fresh Bakery: Sales increased from $91 million in 2003 to $2.1 billion in 2009 Best-selling brand of packaged bread with 8.3% market share Number one ranking in hot dog and hamburger buns Increased shelf space= 1.5 feet to 4.0 feet Resulted in tripled average weekly sales North American Foodservice: Even though recession, caused division years $2.2 billion in sales to $1.9 billion in 2010 Held a 65% market share in liquid coffee and tea 52% market share in pies 19% market share in cakes 20% market share in refrigerated dough International Beverage 40% market share in Europe in single-serving coffee machines In 2009, expanded line to include L’OR Espresso capsules which were compatible with the second-best-selling brand of single-serve coffeemaker with a 27% market share International Bakery Bimbo fresh bread sold in spain accounted for 63% of division sales Bimbo frozen bread sold in Australia accounted for 12% of division sales Bimbo refrigerated bread sold in France accounted for 25% of division sales Bimbo was market leader with 37% market share International Household Body Care Kiwi brand was the number one shoe care brand worldwide with distribution in 200 countries and global market share of 30% Sanax was the number one brand of bath and shower products in Denmark, Spain and France, and Ambi Pur was the best selling air freshener in the Netherlands and Spain. 3rd best-selling air freshener brand in the U.K., Italy, and France. 4. What does a 9-cell industry attractiveness/business strength matrix displaying Sara Lee’s business units look like? 5. Does Sara Lee’s portfolio exhibit good strategic fit? What value-chain match-ups do you see? What opportunities for skills transfer, cost sharing, or brand sharing do you see? Yes, Sara Lee’s portfolio does exhibit a good strategic fit for the following reasons: Product line and product relations support one another like: bakery, beverage and meat items can be sold together which can save cost, time and increase profits. By Sara Lee retailing and whole selling is an advantage for all the products, all products will most likely be consumed. The opportunity of skill transferring enhances cost saving by allowing a bakery worker to work in the beverage and meat sector or vice versa. Brand sharing the products can be handled by various techniques, saving time, cost sharing, promotions/ads and generate revenue. 6.What is your assessment of Sara Lee’s financial and operating performance in fiscal years 2008-2010, the period following the divestitures that were the core of Sara Lee’s retrenchment strategy? Sara Lee deciding to close 8 business units, (Direct selling, U.S. retail coffee, European apparel, European nuts snacks, European rice, U.S. meat snacks, European meats and Sara Lee branded apparel) after adapting the retrenchment strategy which was not an easy decision. With this incentive the company expected to increase its operating profits margins by 12%, but the company could not achieve its targets. From 2008-2010 to help with cost savings the project named Project Accelerate was implemented which was estimated to save the company between $350M $400M by 2012, accumulative the project saved the company $180M. 7.What is your overall evaluation of Sara Lee’s retrenchment plan? What evidence and/or reasons support a conclusion that Sara Lee’s shareholders have or have not benefitted from the company’s retrenchment strategy? The retrenchment plan created a gamble for the leadership team’s expectation and it did not create a huge impact for providing additional revenue for the Sarah Lee Company. Per Sara Lee’s financials and not due to the retrenchment strategy the company did show growth in some sectors and barely over previous years. The leadership team felt the retrenchment strategy would increase improvement on its return on investments, increase revenue to $14B by 2010 and operating profit margin in 2010 by 12% against operating profit margin i n 2004. Sara Lee did manage to improve its operating margin to only 8.5% where as $10.8B of revenue was generated in the 2010. Sara Lee stakeholders did not really benefit as much as the company hoped they would from the retrenchment strategy. The book value of the common stock decreased from $3.61 to $2.25 The market value of the common stock decreased from $17.4 to $13.9 Dividends Declared decreased from $0.50 to $0.44 8.What actions do you recommend that Sara Lee management take to improve the company’s performance and boost shareholder value? Your recommended actions must be supported with convincing, analysis-based arguments. Research and  endorsing current products (ex. teas and coffee) in new markets such as in the Asian and European markets to help with increasing brand awareness, revenue and profitability. There is a limited margin on the dessert products. By selling off its dessert brands, Sara Lee can invest the profits of the sale into other innovations business units. Sara Lee International should expand its household and body care brands into the United States. Its air freshener brands hold significant market share in Europe, which could be utilized in North America. The market for cleaning products and air fresheners is strong in the United States. Sara Lee’s innovations would be very successful in the growing market across the Atlantic. With Sara Lee having the product lines that are related products can take a declining shift at the same time, therefore an innovative product line needs to be added/ expanded/developed. Sara Lee should utilize some of its cash and perform another stock buyback program. Sara Lee’s leadership team needs to be analysis to see who should stay and who should go. Once that process is completed then the leadership team needs to manage what is working well and Project Accelerate should stay in place to continue to increase cost savings and increase profits. All of the recommendations are needed in order for the consumer base to continue be to grow at the necessary rate also for the company to continue to grow per goals and to keep the shareholder happy.

AT&T Essay -- essays research papers

The dominant economic traits of this industry start with having an enormous amount of capital required for staying competitive. One is also required to spend lots of money on research and development, as the telecommunications industry seems to be the vision of the future. More and more companies like AT&T are trying very hard to combine their network services of phone line, video and data transfer, high speed internet access, and television cable via one line in the consumers homes. With a successful combination of the above stated services AT&T is hoping to be the industry leader in the near future.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In today’s telecommunication market there is a lot of competition by industry giants such as Sprint, MCI, and AOL, but simultaneously the very high cost involved with entering and competing in this industry also makes it very unattractive for new entrants. These are just some of the big names who are planning to and are presently providing parts of the pipe dream that AT&T seems to seek. In this industry it is very important to have customer awareness of the line of products you carry. Most of the public hears the name AT&T or Sprint or MCI and they think telephone bills but many consumers do not realize that these companies have expanded their field of services from cellular phones to wireless web services. The reason mainly being the lack of marketing, and direct consumer advertising provided by these firms on the other line of p...

William Wordsworth’s Philosophy of Nature

William Wordsworth has respect or more, great reverence for nature. This is evident in both of the poems Ode: Intimations of Immortality and Lines Composed A Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey in that, his philosophy on God, immortality and innocence are elucidated in his contact with nature. For Wordsworth, nature had a spirit, a soul of its own, and to know is so is to experience nature with all the five senses. In both his poems there are many references to seeing, hearing and feeling his surroundings. He speaks of mountains, the woods, the rivers and streams, and the fields. Wordsworth realized, in each of us, there is a natural affinity for a certain setting for nature. To elaborate, a fisherman would be most comfortable in a setting where he can be beside the sea, which is beside the shore. His affinity towards nature is oriented to the sea. In the same way, a shepherd would like to be near meadows and fields and near lush rolling hills. Wordsworth’s affinity would be to mountains, woods, rivers, streams, and fields. He knew the sprit, the soul and the feel of these places for he was able to experience these places in the fullness of youth (Sparknotes, n. d. ). Both of these poems by Wordsworth are poems of recollection and in these recollections, Wordsworth came across something that was truly immortal: Nature and its soul. Though change, death and destruction might be normal occurrences that come to nature, there is rebirth and continuity to life. As in death and destruction, human endeavors are also mortal and temporary when compared to nature and its spirit. Nonetheless, though these things are only mortal, or temporary, they are still as much a part of it as much as water droplets individually make up a river. Of unremembered pleasure: such, perhaps,/As have no slight or trivial influence/On that best portion of a good man’s life ,/His little nameless, unremembered, acts (Lines Composed A Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey, stanza 2) portray life and all its endeavors as mundane to something immortal like nature and its spirit. Still these aspects of everyday life are swept away by the strong force that binds the spirit of nature to its occupants. These sentiments are expressed in Ode as well; Though nothing can bring back the hour/Of splendor in the grass, or glory in flower;/We will grieve not, rather find/Strength in what remains behind;/In the primal sympathy/Which having been must ever be;/In that soothing thought that spring/Out of human suffering (Ode: Intimations of Immortality, stanza 10). Wordsworth also speaks of his memory of childhood or innocence retraced in communing with nature in his adult years saying nature has the power to unearth those memories for a grown man to reflect upon. (Sparknotes, n. d. ) In Ode, he celebrates the gift of childhood memory or of innocence sharing the same insights in Tintern Abbey by expressing his delight to find himself once more with nature. As a young boy he delighted in his every interaction with nature. Nature made his day. Though, times have changed, he does not mourn nor shed a tear from this bittersweet memory of childhood rather Wordsworth, reminisces with new insights or what he claims as mature gifts that comes with growing up, the childhood memories becoming more valuable by the discovery of a philosophic mind. Innocence is not all lost but can be retraced through nature, nature reminding what has been lost and found. In the midst of his contemplation with nature, he discovers a far greater power beyond humanity, the presence of God in nature, â€Å"Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting†¦ Not in entire forgetfulness, / And not in utter nakedness, /But trailing clouds of glory do we come / From God, who is our home/ Heaven lies about in our infancy! †(Ode: Intimations of Immortality,stanza 5) from Ode . He discusses further the relationship of God in Nature in Tintern Abbey. He goes, â€Å"a motion and a spirit that impels / All thinking thoughts†¦ / And rolls through all thi ngs,† (Lines Composed A Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey, stanza 4) beyond nature, an energy spurs him to weigh upon â€Å"moral being†.

Solar Roadways - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 3 Words: 961 Downloads: 1 Date added: 2018/12/14 Category Technology Essay Type Problem solution essay Level High school Tags: Innovation Essay Did you like this example? Introduction Solar roadways are an innovation that is aimed at production of clean energy and therefore a cleaner environment. As the name suggests these are roads that have solar panels within their structure. The solar energy they trap is an inexhaustible source of energy (Northmore and Tighe, 2012). Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Solar Roadways" essay for you Create order This make the project sustainable as is the critical requirement in engineering designs. The aim of the design is to maximize its performance and in turn be of benefit to the society in terms of improving their standards of living (Wu, M.S., Huang, H.H., Huang, B.J., Tang, C.W. and Cheng, C.W.,pg 1935, 2009). The purpose of this project is to have roads that have better performance surfaces while at the same time producing renewable electricity. The electricity generated from these roads could either be sold to the national grid or used by the nearest buildings. A lot of considerations have to be undertaken before embarking on the construction of these roads to determine the feasibility of the project. Feasibility study In terms of the weight that the solar roadways can handle it was determined that they can handle trucks that are up to 250, 000lbs (Solarroadways.com. (2017)). This means that all locomotives, tanks included, can use the roads. They are therefore feasible in terms of the amount of weight that they can handle. The hardness of the material used to make them is impervious. Hardness is measured by an instrument known as Mohs scale which shows the resistance of the material to being scratched. The resistance is measured on a scale of 1 to 10 with the softest material being 1 and the hardest at 10. The roads are compared to asphalt roads in which the asphalt has a hardness of 1.3 while the glass used to make solar roadways has a hardness of between 5.5 and 6.0. This is the reason the solar roads are impervious and therefore not easily damaged. The strength of the glass used on the road is increased by tempering. Tempered glass is four to five times stronger. The tempering does not make the glass to be harder. It makes it stronger. It is such glass that is used as bomb and bulletproof glass. The glass is also less likely to be broken by extreme temperatures. This also supports the feasibility of the solar roadways project. Another important feature to look into is the texture of the roads. Since they are made of glass additional texture had to be added to ensure that they had the required traction even when they are wet. As a result, many textures have been tested and finally the sufficient texture was acquired that was enough to stop a vehicle moving at 80mph when the surface is wet on the maximum distance (Solarroadways.com. (2017)). New textures are still being tested to ensure that the best are used for the project. The durability of the solar roads is quite commendable. The panels are designed to for at least 20 years. More tests are being carried out to maximize the longevity of the solar roads. Such tests include loading test and environment test. The limitation about these roads is that the solar cells have a lifespan of about 30 years (Solarroadways.com. (2017). The repair will therefore be very costly since the cells will all have to be replaced. Also if the surface of the road becomes destroyed then it costs more to repair as compared to asphalt roads. The solar panels are made in small hexagonal shapes to enable then to be easily installed on curvy surfaces. It is expected that in the future even more shapes of the panels will be introduced to ensure that the roads are even more flexible. The hexagonal shapes are also important in times of a collision since it spreads the force to many different adjacent cells and therefore minimizing damage. In maintaining the cleanliness of the roads to ensure that the solar panels always produced maximum energy, various experiments have been carried out. These experiments are aimed at ensuring that the most economical cleaning methods are used. in this regard it is suggested that since most of the roads such as highways keep themselves clean as the dirt is blown away by th vehicles, the same concept is applicable for solar roads. The difference is that the solar roads need additional cleaning off of oil. This requires that titanium dioxide is used which changes oil and any greasy fluid into a powder that can be blown away (Agrawal, Rajat, and Dr. Om Prakash, pg 3, 2017). If this is still not effective enough then workers can be employed to do the cleaning in specific parts. This continues to show the comparison between asphalt roads and solar roads. In conclusion, solar roads are a good idea but further research needs to done to eliminate the shortcomings. The project can fist be implemented on a small scale to test its working. By small scale I mean on pedestrian paths as opposed to highways. This way further research can be done and tested in real life. Once the project has achieved some level of perfection at a good cost then it can be implemented. References Northmore, A. and Tighe, S., 2012. Innovative Pavement Design: Are Solar Roads Feasible?. In?  2012 Conference and Exhibition of the Transportation Association of Canada-Transportation: Innovations and Opportunities. Agrawal, Rajat, and Dr. Om Prakash. 2017. Feasibility Study of Solar Roadways IJIR.?  Imperial Journal of Interdisciplinary Research (IJIR)?  , , pp. 1–5., doi:https://www.onlinejournal.in . Selvaraju, R.K., 2012. Characterization of Solar Roadways Via Computational and Experimental Investigations. Solarroadways.com. (2017).?  Solar Roadways Specifics. [online] Available at: https://www.solarroadways.com/Specifics/Glass [Accessed 14 Nov. 2017]. Wu, M.S., Huang, H.H., Huang, B.J., Tang, C.W. and Cheng, C.W., 2009. Economic feasibility of solar-powered led roadway lighting.?  Renewable energy,?  34(8), pp.1934-1938.