Room And Board Essay Example for Free

Room And Board Essay As a Minnesota-based privately owned company, Room amp; Board has been known for offering products that combined classic, simple design with high quality handcrafted furniture and giving exceptional service to their customers. Approximately $50 million of revenue a year was generated through Room amp; Board fully integrated, multichannel sales approach, consisting of its eight national retail stores, an annual catalog and a web site. The purpose of this case analysis is to determine how to institutionalize its way of doing business beyond the life of its founder and how to strengthen its culture and high employees and customer engagement while growing at a rate that sustained its economic health. The situation analysis will examine four factors: the general environment, the industry, competitors, and Room amp; Board internal environment. The general environmental analysis consist of Technological Trends Room amp; Board does not really have any technological advantage over it’s competitors but two advantages it has is giving people a choice of materials used in the product like custom designs in wood and metal materials along with ordering these material ahead of time to cut down on time when a customer does order a product made with certain material in mind. Demographic Trends Room amp; Board demographic trends group is nation-wide which include suppliers and customers. More than 85% percent of its furniture is manufactured in America. Room amp; Board is proud of its commitment for supporting American manufacturers and small, family owned business. Economic Trends At Room amp; Board, quality was also about providing value. That value was inherent in the company’s products, which lasted and whose style and design were timeless. Providing furniture that customers could count on enjoying for many years. Political/Legal Trends Room amp; Board decided early on that it did not want to compete by the traditional rules associated with the retail furniture industry. They wanted to create its own supply chain of approximately 40 vendors, nearly all privately owned family businesses. Sociocultural Trends Room amp; Board was based on the principles of trust, respect, relationships, transparency, entrepreneurial ownership of one’s job and career, and the importance of a balanced life. They believed that individuals thrive in an environment where they are empowered to make decisions and everyone’s view is heard and respected. Global Trends Room amp; Board was looking to expand in other region of the United State but has not yet looked to go global. Industry Analysis Competitor Analysis The competitor analysis is to better understand Room amp; Board top competitors and their outlook on the industry. Room amp; Board made it impossible to have any direct competitors because their exclusive design, corporate structure, and long-lasting quality products. Room amp; Board has two indirect competitors which are Designs Within Reach and Crate and Barrel. Designs Within Reach was a public company. In fiscal 2006, it had $110 million in sales through its 63 stores, which ranged in size from 1,100 sq. to 11,000 sq. ft. Although Room amp; Board stores were fewer in number, they were much bigger, at 30,000 sq. ft. Crate and Barrel had grown from a small family business, to a chain of over 160 mall-based stores. More than 50 percent of Crate and Barrel products were imported from Europe. SWOT Analysis Strengths Room amp; Board has a great corporate structure. They have achieved the eniviable market position of managing its growth and avoiding the capital market pressures. Room amp; Board has created a consistent, seamless, self-reinforcing system that cut across culture, execution philosophy, employee hiring, and benefits. Weaknesses The two alternative strategies would be one to extend catalog and retail furniture business by adding E-Commerce to their website. The other would be to create a dynamic method of hosting web assets. Strategic Alternative Implementation Both alternatives should be implemented but the one that should be addresses first would be to create a dynamic method of hosting web assets. This would allow customers to purchase custom merchandise online, which is critical that they see a visual of the furniture that they have uniquely designed. Room amp; Board should hire an interactive agency to help design and develop a dynamic consumer facing configuration tool that would allow customers to design and purchase customized furniture with ease and confidence.