For strategic management - Case Study Example

CASE STUDY By Keurig Company Case Study Keurig Company, established in 1990 by Sylvan and Dragone is one ofthe market leaders specifically in the coffee industry. The company provides its customers with a unique yet convenient way to enjoy a delicious mug of coffee whenever they need it. It basically achieves this by dispensing coffee alongside customers’ preferred condiments such as sugar, cream, and flavors among others. Becoming a full subsidiary of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (GMCR) in 2006, Keurig has experienced quick growth.

This can be largely attributed to its adoption of new brewing technologies, innovation, a wide range of flavor selection and its socially upright business practices. Generally speaking, there are various strategies that Keurig Company has used to fuel growth. To mention, these strategies include introducing newer beverage categories, adopting newer distribution channels, using better brewer technologies and introducing new brands among others. To begin with, the company expanded its traditional Single Cup Brewing system to encompass the desires and wants of the customers.

In other words, the company aimed at changing the consumer behavior through changing the way “that the company brewed and enjoyed coffee.” As such, the company expanded its consumer brands, used an effective distribution system and was excessively committed towards ensuring that there was incorporation of new brewing technologies and innovation.Notably important, Keurig’s external environment is filled up with factors which could impact the overall coffee industry. First, the existence of political instability in coffee production countries such as Ecuador and Venezuela due to governmental intent to increase coffee prices could affect the prices of raw material thus affecting the coffee industry as a whole.

Equally, political forces may economic fluctuations brought about by the changes in coffee prices thus affecting both the suppliers and producers. Moreover, various cultures in the global context will prefer different types of coffee. For instance, whereas Americans would mostly prefer lowly concentrated coffee, the Europeans would mostly prefer smaller quantities of concentrated coffee. Thus, the different societal cultures would affect Keurig’s and other companies’ performance in the coffee industry.

Consequently, the advancement of technology and innovation has impacted the coffee industry in various dimensions. For instance, due to the development of technology, Keurig managed to adopt a newer brewing Single Cup Brewing System which led to the production of more quality and a wide range of products. However, it is essential for the management to note the occurrence in technological changes so that the company is updated with the latest technology. Besides technology, there are various environmental factors affecting the coffee industry.

For instance, the K-Cup has been identified as a notorious pollutant since most of them are dumped in landfills. As such, Keurig should ensure that a large percentage of the K-Cups are recycled to avoid environmental pollution. Likewise, the company could adopt the use of a biodegradable materials to manufacture the coffee cups. Lastly, legal factors could also affect Keurig’s performance in the industry. For instance, the use of non-biodegradable K-Cups could raise legal concerns.Microfinance Case StudyBasically, the core duty of Microfinance organizations is to ensure that low income earners and poor individuals gain access to essential financial services.

Notably, over the past few decades, there has been a significant rise in the number of Microfinance organizations. In the Micro finance case, there are several major stakeholders who include the clients or customers, employees, governmental agencies, owners, creditors such as banks as well as donors. Arguably, these stakeholders have different concerns. For instance, whereas the clients seek special consideration more so when it comes to lending, employees make sure that the Microfinance organization have a deep outreach and remains financially healthy.

This is achieved through employees’ persistence and commitment to their duties. Subsequently, the government is concerned with the welfare of the borrowers and thus it is responsible for policy formulation. In other words, the governments sets up the rules and regulations to be used as the basis of interest charged by the lenders. Equally, creditors play the role of giving out organizational and or group loans and are concerned with the overall performance of the Microfinance as well as the daily decisions made by the management.

Similarly, owners, who are also the prime investors in the Microfinance are interested and concerned in the financial performance of the Microfinance. Generally, the owners appear in different forms such as Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), agencies and Groups among others.In general, there are several challenges facing the leadership of both Grameen and Banco. To begin with, there is the challenge of growth and expansion of the Microfinance. Generally, growth of the microfinance has various positive impacts on the financial performance of the organization.

For instance, growth would lead to an increased number of clients thus leading to an increased outreach. Furthermore, growth could also enable the Microfinance to achieve sustainability and reduce the overall operating costs due to an economies of scale advantage. In addition, the two Microfinances are faced with a similar challenge on how to find a balance between doing social good and performing fiduciary responsibilities. To illustrate, since lending to the poor has a high risk factor, the Microfinance tends to charge high interest rate to the poor relatively to the rich, a factor that is socially unjust.

As such, there are several challenges that do exist in Microfinance as provided by the case study.