Castlebridge Case
December 01, 2010
Case Study Analysis # 70 Castlebridge, a maker of high-quality outerwear, located in London is at a cross roads. Although its headquarters operates from London, most of its manufacturing has moved offshore. With the last domestic factory slated to close, the firm's executives struggle to preserve the "Britishness" of the brand. On the other hand, the company has to reduce costs to remain profitable. It seems that moving production offshore is inevitable. The executives believe that Castlebridge should come clean about it. In a world where stakeholders matter more than ever, the firm can't just outperform competitors. It has to go above and beyond to satisfy their constituents. Therefore, the CEO Mary Crane asserts that the plant closure is a logical step.
Reputational risk is a concern as well as brand image. The majority of the customers who purchase Castlebridge items are wealthy. They pride themselves in wearing high class British fashions. The company fears that Asian manufacturing tags will diminish consumer confidence in quality and authenticity. The CEO wants to take the logical approach where the objective of any …show more content…
Furthermore, it is well pointed out that the CEO does not feel threatened by British media. Supposedly she sees that production line workers are of the lower working class whereas buyers of Castlebridge's products of are of the wealthier class. Castlebridge simply cannot survive in their high cost market by maintaining its production lines within the UK. Labor cost is just too expensive. Trade unions have become cleverer with their protests and could potentially be a thorn in their side. The company needs to make a decision soon. The British public has been down this road before, as have foreign consumers of British
Case Study Analysis # 70 Castlebridge, a maker of high-quality outerwear, located in London is at a cross roads. Although its headquarters operates from London, most of its manufacturing has moved offshore. With the last domestic factory slated to close, the firm's executives struggle to preserve the "Britishness" of the brand. On the other hand, the company has to reduce costs to remain profitable. It seems that moving production offshore is inevitable. The executives believe that Castlebridge should come clean about it. In a world where stakeholders matter more than ever, the firm can't just outperform competitors. It has to go above and beyond to satisfy their constituents. Therefore, the CEO Mary Crane asserts that the plant closure is a logical step.
Reputational risk is a concern as well as brand image. The majority of the customers who purchase Castlebridge items are wealthy. They pride themselves in wearing high class British fashions. The company fears that Asian manufacturing tags will diminish consumer confidence in quality and authenticity. The CEO wants to take the logical approach where the objective of any …show more content…
Furthermore, it is well pointed out that the CEO does not feel threatened by British media. Supposedly she sees that production line workers are of the lower working class whereas buyers of Castlebridge's products of are of the wealthier class. Castlebridge simply cannot survive in their high cost market by maintaining its production lines within the UK. Labor cost is just too expensive. Trade unions have become cleverer with their protests and could potentially be a thorn in their side. The company needs to make a decision soon. The British public has been down this road before, as have foreign consumers of British