Assignment Problem: Red Fish-Blue Fish, LLP
Two years have elapsed since Fran Fisher, CEO of Red Fish-Blue Fish met with Eric Lynch and Jeff Fisher, Senior Vice President of Supply Chain Management and Vice President of Operations, respectively, to discuss increasing their scope and scale of operations. There has been good news and bad news during this period. The good news is that sales have increased domestically as the company expanded into Maryland, New Jersey,Virginia, and Washington, D.C. In fact, the construction and consulting business improved dramatically. Jim Beierlein accepted the position of Vice President of Construction Sales and his experience and contacts had been a real benefit to Red Fish-Blue Fish. However, global sales were disappointing, according to Fran Fisher. European and Canadian Sales were good, but the Asian Market sales were not very good. They developed some new web pages for China, India, and Japan. While they had many "hits" on the web page, the sales were not satisfactory. The company relied upon Internet sales in the Asian markets.
Some Additional Background:
Red Fish-Blue fish was established in 2007 by Fran Fisher after he decided to make a career change. He was at that time a successful broadcaster specializing in broadcasting athletic events but was also visible in other venues. He had developed an interest in fishes over the years and maintained large fish tanks, which were part of the décor in his office. One of his friends, Andy Zimmerman, was a dentist who specialized in dental care for children and adolescents. Andy approached Fran when he was remodeling his offices to help use fish tanks for new décor but he also thought that it would help relax and interest his young patients and make their experience less stressful. Fran got interested in the project and spent a considerable amount of time and effort in the design aspects and in the selection of the fish. Andy was so impressed along the way that he insisted on paying Fran a substantial consulting fee and offered to provide financial backing for a new venture that subsequently was named Red Fish-Blue Fish. And as they say, the rest is history. The business took off like it was "shot from a gun" and Fran was able to bring in several additional individuals to help with supply chain issues, construction, and overall operations. Now they were at a crossroads with respect to expansion.
Current Challenges and Issues:
The company had established a footprint in China through purchasing most of their fish from supplies in China and a Chinese Export Company. Fran hired several students from Penn State's Supply Chain Program to do some studies for him as part of their internship.
Their analysis agreed with Fran's conclusions, that is, global markets offered the most potential. They based their conclusions on two important developments that they found with their research-the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement that was in the works between the United States and about a dozen Asian countries and the demographics of the Asian countries!
Relay your ideas and answer the following questions in organized paragraphs based on the case facts, your knowledge, and internet search.
1. Explain the advantages of a trade agreement and how it might affect a company like Red Fish-Blue Fish?
2. What makes the demographics of the Asian countries attractive for future trade development?
3. What challenges would Red Fish-Blue Fish likely experience?
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