Assignment - Prepare a Critique Report on Under Armour Case Analysis.
Under Armour Critique to my report
1. Table of contents
Not included. Although unnecessary, it gives the reader an overview of the contents included in the report and allows for easier navigation.
2. Executive summary
Overall the executive summary was well done and had a very nice flow to it. Group F did a good job at introducing the company as well as identifying their products and business activities. Furthermore they gave readers an insight on the text's content by briefly presenting the alternatives and their suggested recommendation. In the future we suggest perhaps including brief summary of the analysis and the tools used to do so.
3. Problem Statement
The problem statement section started off nicely by stating Plank's vision for Under Armour and the company's future, however the actual problem was never clearly stated in this paragraph and readers had to continue reading throughout the text in order to really understand what the actual problem currently is. In addition we suggest discussing that the company is actually looking for ways to make Under Armour more successful through marketing, development and product line expansion as well as becoming a larger competitor in the industry to the well-established brands.
4. Company Objective
The company objective section was well done. Past and current strategies were identified as well as the corporate and function strategies. Company objectives were clearly stated reflecting the current and future goals Under Armour has set for themselves. The company objectives section also gave a good insight into Under Armour products. The only suggestion we have is including their financial goals of increasing global sales; $7.5 billion by 2018 and $10 billion by 2020.
5. Background
Although the background section presents some basic information about the company, the products and operations, there was no mention of why the company was actually founded or how Plank came up with the idea of the original products. In the future we would suggest including the company's vision, mission, goals/objectives as well as discussing the management business strategy in order to have a clearer idea on the direction of the company.
6. Situational Analysis
Group F did a great job at presenting the situational analysis with a SWOT analysis. There were many clear detailed points presented for each category of the SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats), which gave readers a very good idea of Under Armour's current situation. They finished off with a very good SWOT summary, which focused on their current strength.
7. Market Analysis
For the market analysis section, Group F has created a chart, which was very easy to follow. The industry growth of the athletic apparel industry is clear as we can see the sales per billion increasing as the years go on, however the full picture of the industry is not quite there. We suggest including the industry size, scope, life cycle and profitability to give readers an idea of the bigger picture. There is also the possibility of including a PESTEL analysis to identify external forces that have an impact on the organization's strategies.
8. Competitive Analysis
The competitive analysis was done using the Competitive Five Forces which overall was very well done and presented how each affects the company. While we agree with most of the ratings, we feel like the competition from rival sellers should be moderate to strong even though there are many competitors in the athletic apparel industry because only a few (i.e. Nike, Adidas) actually have the power to drive down prices and decrease profitability for the industry and Under Armour.
9. Financial Analysis
The financial analysis section was well done. A clear idea of what was going on with their finances during the period between 2011-2015 was presented by showing gross margins, revenues and cost of goods sold. The only suggestion we have for this section was including the financial information for each of the alternatives they have presented.
10. Key Factors
The key success factors were well done and listed before the alternatives in order to give readers a better idea of which alternative would work best for Under Armour.
11. Alternatives
Group F did a good job, presenting each alternative and I like the presentation of pros and cons but it seems like they listed some of the advantages under cons and disadvantages under pros columns. For alternative description they could use a longer explanation to help the reader understand what is being presented. They did a good job for alternative 1 identifying whether the alternative is truly viable. However, none of the alternatives addresses financial issues and explains how it will satisfy or not key decision criteria.
Although alternative 1 sounds like an appealing option, the reader is left to wonder how this would be done. The alternative does not clearly explain how UA would be able to reach target and satisfy their desire and how it will address each KDCs. Without this explanation, this alternative may be better left out of the suggestions.
12. Recommendation
For the recommendation section, we agree Group F made the best decision by going with the international expansion alternative. The arguments to support their decision were well done however more chapter 7 concepts could have been utilized for international expansions:
- Home-country advantages for different industries
- Location-based advantages in the value-chain
- Political and economic risks
- One of the 5 strategies fore entering foreign markets (think local/act local, etc)
- Profit sanctuaries to divert money for offensive/defensive international strategies
- Acquisitions, alliances, etc
13. Action Plan
The action plan created has at least 8 steps which is good. The actions relying heavily on alliances and joint ventures should have been discussed in more detail in the recommendation. The action plan didn't have steps for improving brand awareness through sponsorships which was a critical part of the recommendation.
The plan should address (from module 12):
1. Any resource deficiencies (tangible and intangible)?
2. Resource allocation to new initiatives?
3. New policy and procedures?
4. New best practices and continuous improvement?
Attachment:- Assignment Files.rar