Marketing Campaigns and Ethical Perspectives of Entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurship and Innovation
Session: 3
Subject: The Social and Ethical Perspective of Entrepreneurship
Case: A Friend For Life
The Glades Company is a small manufacturer. It has produces and marketed a number of different toys and appliances that have done very well in the marketplace. Late last year, the product designer at the company, Tom Berringer, told the President, Paula Glades, that he had invented a small, cuddly, talking bear that might have a great deal of appeal. The bear is made of fluffy brown material that stimulate fur, and it had a tape inside that contains 50 messages.
The Glades Company decided to find out exactly how much market appeal the bear would have. Fifty of the bears were produced and placed in the kindergartens and nurseries around town. The results were better than the firm had hoped. One of the nurseries reported: “The bear was so popular that most of the children wanted to take it home for an evening.” Another said the bear was the most toy in the school.
Based on these data, the company decided to manufacture and market 1,000 of the bears. At the same time, a catchy marketing slogan was formulated: “A Friend For Life.” The bear was marketed as a product a child could play with for years and years. The first batch of 1,000 bears sold out within a week. The company then scheduled another production run, this time 25,000 bears. Last week, in the middle of the production run, a problem was uncovered. The process of making the bear fur was much more expensive than anticipated. The company is now faced with two options: It can absorb the extra cost and have the simulated fur produced, or it can use a substitute fur that will not last as long. Specifically, the original simulated fur will last for up to seven years of normal use; the less expensive simulated fur will last for only eight months.
Some of the managers at Glade believe that most children are not interested in playing with the same toy for more than eight
Session: 3
Subject: The Social and Ethical Perspective of Entrepreneurship
Case: A Friend For Life
The Glades Company is a small manufacturer. It has produces and marketed a number of different toys and appliances that have done very well in the marketplace. Late last year, the product designer at the company, Tom Berringer, told the President, Paula Glades, that he had invented a small, cuddly, talking bear that might have a great deal of appeal. The bear is made of fluffy brown material that stimulate fur, and it had a tape inside that contains 50 messages.
The Glades Company decided to find out exactly how much market appeal the bear would have. Fifty of the bears were produced and placed in the kindergartens and nurseries around town. The results were better than the firm had hoped. One of the nurseries reported: “The bear was so popular that most of the children wanted to take it home for an evening.” Another said the bear was the most toy in the school.
Based on these data, the company decided to manufacture and market 1,000 of the bears. At the same time, a catchy marketing slogan was formulated: “A Friend For Life.” The bear was marketed as a product a child could play with for years and years. The first batch of 1,000 bears sold out within a week. The company then scheduled another production run, this time 25,000 bears. Last week, in the middle of the production run, a problem was uncovered. The process of making the bear fur was much more expensive than anticipated. The company is now faced with two options: It can absorb the extra cost and have the simulated fur produced, or it can use a substitute fur that will not last as long. Specifically, the original simulated fur will last for up to seven years of normal use; the less expensive simulated fur will last for only eight months.
Some of the managers at Glade believe that most children are not interested in playing with the same toy for more than eight