Analysis Report of Cango

Analysis Report of CanGo Veronica Perla BSN460ON Senior Project Dr. John Martin September 7, 2009 Overview CanGo is an Internet startup company that retails an exciting array of products and services, ranging from books and videos to online gaming, and prides itself on providing the best customer service in terms of product delivery and support. The company’s Web site is fun and easy to use; employing the latest technology in Web site development, product innovation, and services is how CanGo strives to provide their customers with the most exciting entertainment. The majority of CanGo’s customers are the Gen-Xers and the Gen-Yers, who enjoy the latest in online gaming and entertainment. Under age, consumers (under 18 years of age) are serviced responsibly by requiring adult permission for online purchases. CanGo strongly values its employees and customers. The company best serves its employees by involving them in decision-making, staff training, and development. CanGo believes that keeping their employees motivated and working at their full potential can translate into the best customer service possible. There is a growing trend that CanGo has identified within the gaming industry that will be utilized to bring the company added success. This growing trend is online gaming. CanGo wants to become a leader of the online gamming market. The hope of the company is to become a complete success story both as an online retailer and online gaming service. The company has recently been called a success story by the Hudson Valley Business Association. The CEO of CanGo, Elizabeth Bennet, has been named the Regions Business Leader of the year. Potential entrepreneurs want to know how and why CanGo became a success story. This leads to the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that this Internet Company has and faces in its entrepreneurial endeavors. S. W. O. T Analysis The information used to develop this analysis was taken from the visual analysis performed on recorded episodes depicting staff interaction and company dynamics. The observations will be separated into internal (Strengths and Weaknesses) and external (Opportunities and Threats) issues. Strengths CanGo has demonstrated a few strengths in these preliminary episodes. Elizabeth Bennet, CEO of CanGo, is the company’s greatest strength. Her vision of knowing what consumers want and how to get it to them at a lower cost is what has made CanGo a success story in Hudson Valley. This passion is carried through to the staff and is demonstrated by Andrew’s eagerness to take on the potentially lucrative market of online gaming. The CanGo staff is another one of the company’s strengths. Each staff member brings an additional resource to the company that can be utilized to improve productivity and development. For instance, Debbie has organizational skills and a teaching background that can be utilized for training purposes. Training and development are strengths that successful companies posses. Utilizing the skills that each staff member brings can help CanGo become a bigger success story across the country and not just in Hudson Valley. These strengths also lead to CanGo’s weaknesses as a company. Weaknesses These preliminary episodes also showed many of CanGo’s weaknesses. The most apparent weakness would be the lack of a vision statement, mission statement and strategic plan. These weaknesses were made apparent by Elizabeth Bennet’s frustration with the writing of the speech she was to give at the Chamber of Commerce meeting. She states that her success was pure luck and that all she did was begin a new business venture. A strategic plan is important to a successful company because it guides and focuses all staff members to specific goals and establishes a course of action to achieve them. Strategic planning also serves as a way to ensure that all departments within the organization share a common goal. Another important component to a successful business is the vision and mission statements. Vision statements are written for the organization and its employees. They are comprised of the dreams and inspirations of the organization and where it is headed. This statement also serves as the framework for the organization’s strategic plan. Mission statements are a representation of the organization’s purpose for existing. It should be derived from the vision statement and used as a guide when producing a strategic plan. These three articles would have helped Elizabeth write the Chamber of Commerce speech by providing her with the foundation necessary to provide the potential entrepreneurs attending this meeting the how and why of CanGo’s success. There are a few other internal issues that plague CanGo and may impede its success if not addressed. The lack of project implementation procedures, organizational skills, management involvement and skepticism can lead to poor performance, failed projects, and miscommunication. Implementing a project plan can help keep staff members on course and pinpoint areas that may need special attention. This plan also helps make sure that projects follow specific paths to guarantee timely results. Utilizing the resources that staff members bring to the company will ensure that everyone has the skills necessary to accomplish their objectives. For instance, Debbie Haynes was previously a teacher at the Drake School of Business; she possesses great organizational and teaching skills that can be utilized by CanGo to further develop the staff. Debbie can head a training seminar on the importance of organizing, prioritizing and scheduling impending projects using Gantt charts. These types of resources are abundant within any organization; all that is needed is to identify what kind of skill each particular staff member brings to the organization. The last major weakness is the lack of management involvement in the course of a project. This is made evident when Warren handed Nick the task of creating an implementation report for online gaming. Nick was left to figure it out on his own. Management should be involved in the planning and implementation of any project. For instance, CanGo could implement procedures like research deadlines, preliminary draft sign off requirements and senior staff team eetings to discuss the progress of the project. This will eliminate the chance for poor and costly errors. CanGo has the opportunity to take these weaknesses into consideration and make some changes that will improve the organization as a whole. This kind of improvement will prepare it to achieve external opportunities and deal with external threats as well. Opport unities CanGo not only has strengths and weaknesses but also opportunities. These potential opportunities are for company growth, increased capital, new market ventures, and expansion into other areas of e-commerce. There is a great opportunity for company growth both in regards to increase workforce and possible mergers with other startup Internet companies. As CanGo reaches higher sales volume it will be necessary to incorporate an automated storage and retrieval system. With the impending five-hundred percent increase in sales this coming holiday season; CanGo needs to make certain that their order fulfillment and processing center is equipped to handle this possible increase. Every company is looking for a way to increase its capital. CanGo has been preparing to go public which will increase its capital base. This kind of opportunity can also become a weakness due to the fickleness of the stock market. However, if CanGo can successfully handle its five-hundred percent sales increase during the holiday season, this opportunity can prove to be a very lucrative venture. CanGo’s greatest opportunity is to branch out into new markets. E-commerce is a very broad market that has plenty of opportunities for organizations such as CanGo. The CanGo team may decide to expand and include other items to their list of inventory. Elizabeth Bennet’s dream was to help consumers shop and find what they need easier and at a lower price. If she sticks to this philosophy she may take CanGo in the direction of Amazon. com or Overstock. com. The sky is the limit for these kinds of opportunities. New market ventures may be a great lucrative opportunity but it may also bring with it threats. Threats The CanGo organization faces a couple of threats like the possibility of failure, loss of capital, and takeovers. Failure is eminent for any organization but it is especially eminent for CanGo. The lack of a vision, mission statement and a strategic plan can lead to failure. Vision and mission statements are important for any organization because they not only provide a clear view of what the organization’s goals and intentions are but they also help give the staff a standard that should be met and maintained. Implementing a strategic plan is a vital part of any successful business and has been proved to help carry a business through tough economic climates. Loss of capital is also a viable threat. This may be caused by lawsuits, manufacturer or vendor bankruptcies and low sales. Keeping capital secure is sometimes a bit difficult to do. This may be accomplished by purchasing liability insurance and using a variety of manufacturers and vendors. Low sales are often directly linked to the economic forecast. This is sometimes hard to prepare for and should be observed by the accounting and finance department to ensure that the inventory purchased match the possible sales and future market forecast. Takeovers of successful companies are also threats that need to be watched for. CanGo’s success as a small Internet e-commerce company may make it a very enticing company to purchase. Competitors like Amazon. com and Overstock. com may feel that CanGo’s success is a force that needs to be control before it becomes an e-commerce giant that may affect their sales margins. The easiest way to obtain this company would be by force; which is why takeovers are a legitimate threat to CanGo. Recommendations CanGo’s greatest asset and strength is CEO, Bennet’s vision and passion for this company. Elizabeth Bennet is the only one who has a clear picture of what the company is about, what its intent in the market is and how to achieve it. There needs to be a vision statement and a mission statement prepared to let the entire company in on Elizabeth’s vision. Once these statements are in place and all of the CanGo staff has had a chance to look them over and jump on board, the executive team should convene to prepare a strategic plan based on both the vision and mission statements previously prepared. This strategic plan should include specific goals for the company to attain within the next five to ten years. This is the most important recommendation that can be offered at this particular time. There is another not so eminent recommendation that is being offered at this time. This is in regards to the utilization of staff resources. CanGo has a diverse quality of people with different academic backgrounds and skill sets. Utilizing these specific traits can enrich the company as a whole. As mentioned earlier utilizing Debbie Haynes’s teaching credentials and organizational skills to train the staff on the importance of Gantt Charts and prioritizing tasks for impending projects may help save time, otherwise spent on trying to figure out where to begin and what needs to be accomplished first. This would help the staff members reach deadlines and complete projects without the added stress of disorganization. These recommendations are meant to promote company growth and development. These two elements are necessary for a successful company to remain a success in their particular market. References Archives: Why a Strategic Plan is Important? (2006) Online Business Advisor. Retrieved September 9, 2009, form http://www. onlinebusadv. com/? PAGE=171 Business Resource Software: Mission Statement. (n. d. ) Center for Business Planning. Retrieved September 9, 2009, from http://www. businessplans. org/mission. html CanGo Intranet: Company Information. (n. d. ) Mastering Business. Retrieved September 4, 2009, from http://myphlip2. pearsoncmg. com/masteringbusiness/cango/companyinfo. html Definition: SWOT Analysis. (n. d. ) Answers. com. Retrieved September 9, 2009, from http://www. answers. com/topic/swot-analysis Definition: Vision Statement. (n. d. ) About. com. Retrieved September 9, 2009, from http://sbinfocanada. about. com/od/businessplanning/g/visionstatement. htm