Jiffy Case
The Jiffy Case
Key Issues
Company:
Jiffy's company culture clearly represents the cause of the biggest issues of this case.
Although initially supported by market potential, steady increase of turnover, strong economic growth and development of new successful products, the Baldwin's private family-owned business philosophy had created several issues:
Complete absence of team emphasis and lack of participation of the upper and middle management to the company's policy-making process.
Need for major investments in company's equipment to minimize production costs and meet environmental standards.
Very wide product range.
Little knowledge of market developments.
Lack of customer orientation.
Competition:
By relying too much on its reputation of UK number one protective packaging manufacturer, Jiffy exposed itself to a very aggressive and organized competition. Companies like Sealed Air and Sunsetsu can be mentioned as good examples.
Mainly focused on the production of plastic based products, Jiffy's competitors used market knowledge, higher technology standards and specific applications for their product lines to approach both end-users and distributors. Lower prices, customer service and customized solutions, were their most visible competitive advantages.
Customers/Collaborators:
The identification of the customers is clearly an issue in this case. Weather the distributors should be considered as customers or collaborators is the key question. The current situation reveals that although threatened by poor service and lack of communication, the relationship between Jiffy and its distributors is still pretty strong thanks to the brand awareness factor.
Context:
The market reached saturation point and the economy is trying to overcome the recent recession. Further, Jiffy is still under the pressure of the new environmental standards that are yet to be met.
Alternatives
A. Consider the distributors as end users
Under this
Key Issues
Company:
Jiffy's company culture clearly represents the cause of the biggest issues of this case.
Although initially supported by market potential, steady increase of turnover, strong economic growth and development of new successful products, the Baldwin's private family-owned business philosophy had created several issues:
Complete absence of team emphasis and lack of participation of the upper and middle management to the company's policy-making process.
Need for major investments in company's equipment to minimize production costs and meet environmental standards.
Very wide product range.
Little knowledge of market developments.
Lack of customer orientation.
Competition:
By relying too much on its reputation of UK number one protective packaging manufacturer, Jiffy exposed itself to a very aggressive and organized competition. Companies like Sealed Air and Sunsetsu can be mentioned as good examples.
Mainly focused on the production of plastic based products, Jiffy's competitors used market knowledge, higher technology standards and specific applications for their product lines to approach both end-users and distributors. Lower prices, customer service and customized solutions, were their most visible competitive advantages.
Customers/Collaborators:
The identification of the customers is clearly an issue in this case. Weather the distributors should be considered as customers or collaborators is the key question. The current situation reveals that although threatened by poor service and lack of communication, the relationship between Jiffy and its distributors is still pretty strong thanks to the brand awareness factor.
Context:
The market reached saturation point and the economy is trying to overcome the recent recession. Further, Jiffy is still under the pressure of the new environmental standards that are yet to be met.
Alternatives
A. Consider the distributors as end users
Under this