CanGo Case Analysis
Six Key Issues Facing CanGo

Effective organizational management requires going beyond managing the daily business operations. Organizational management requires paying attention to the financial and strategic side of the organization. However, strategy does not end with the mechanics of operating the business. Managers must attend to the "people" side of the organization as well. This firm has been hired as a business consultant to the CanGo company to explore the issues that confront the organization and to offer recommendations to help solve these issues. The following issues were identified during an exploration of business issues and practices. They are presented in priority of importance.

Issue #1 Lack of Strategic Plan

CanGo is an aggressive and enthusiastic group of entrepreneurs. They have their sights set on rapid growth and expansion. They have the best interests of the company at heart, but their enthusiasm overcomes their strategic thinking ability at times. They are…...

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References

De Menezes, L., Wood, S. & Gelade, G. (2010). The integration of human resource and operation management practices and its link to performance: A longitudinal latent class study. Journal of Operation Management. 28 (6), 455-471.

Othman, R. & Sheehan, N. (2011) "Value creation logics and resource management: a review," Journal of Strategy and Management,4 (1), 5 -- 24.

Pugh, J. & Bourgeois, J. (2011) "Doing" strategy. Journal of Strategy and Management, 4 (2), 172-179

Wu, Y., Loch, C., & Ahmad, G. (2011). Status and relationship in social dilemmas of teams. Journal of Operations Management. 29 (7-8), 650-662.

CanGo's financial condition can be measured by analyzing its financial statements, in particular by conducting a ratio analysis. The company is liquid. Its current ratio is very high at 5.39 and quick ratio likewise at 4.53. These figures are typical of a company that is in great financial condition. These figures are bloated, however, by the fact that much of the current assets are in the form of accounts receivable. CanGo's accounts receivable turnover is terrible. At just 1.52, the company is collecting on its receivables every 240 days, or 8 months. Having eight months worth of receivable overdue is absurd. Part of the discussion at CanGo right now is centered around finding cash for expansion projects -- there's about 7 months of it sitting in the A/R account. In general, the company has a lot of working capital, $164 million of it. If it wants to expand, there it…...

Primarily, the market for CanGo Inc. will be segmented in two ways, which include gender and age groups. Segmentation according to income groups cannot be used because all services provided by CanGo Inc. will be easily affordable by all income groups since the company cannot afford to charge high prices due to competitive pressures. Many services such as gaming will also be provided for free.
Marketing Mix

The marketing mix of CanGo Inc. is discussed under the following sections:

Product

CanGo Inc. deals with online entertainment market. Their services include online video, audio, reading and gaming. Since level of competition is high in the market, CanGo Inc. will have to show a high degree of innovation in their services. It will have to come up with newer ideas that are not yet provided by other businesses. Gaming services provide a lot of room for innovation. Like Zynga, CanGo Inc. can collaborate with social…...

CanGo: Competitive Analysis
Due to recent acquisitions and expansions of its operations as well as the changing nature of the retail industry as a whole, CanGo operates in several different market segments. This can make a competitive analysis of the company somewhat difficult to conduct with any degree of certainty and with concrete conclusions, as the complexities of a competitive comparison must take into account the differences in business model and operation that exist between CanGo and its various competitors in different market segments. The following paragraph will detail some of CanGo's major competitors across the company's different market segments of operation and penetration, in order to determine a more comprehensive and detailed analysis of the competition in the industry and CanGo's competitive position.

Amazon

A major -- according to many, the major -- innovator of online retail sales, starting with books but now including almost any imaginable consumer good, CanGo is in…...

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References

Hoovers. (2011). Booke Retailers & News Dealers. Accessed 13 June 2011. http://www.hoovers.com/industry/book-stores-news-dealers/1824-1.html

Mennecke, T. (2008). iTunes Manages to Expand in Crowded Market. Accessed 13 June 2011. http://www.slyck.com/story1778_iTunes_Manages_to_Expand_in_Crowded_Market

Wang, J. (2005). Selling Textbooks -- Amazon vs. Half.com vs. Ebay. Accessed 13 June 2011.  http://www.bargaineering.com/articles/selling-textbooks-amazon-vs.-halfcom-vs.-ebay.html 

Yahoo. (2011). Amazon. Accessed 13 June 2011.  http://finance.yahoo.com/q/pr?s=AMZN+Profile

CanGo Analysis
Financial Analysis of CanGo

CanGo does not appear to be especially efficient given the two efficiency measures appearing here. With both the eceivables Turnover and the Inventory Turnover, higher ratios indicate better efficiency -- the company is able to collect on accounts and turnover inventory faster (Spiceland et al., 2009). In the case of the former, CanGo's ratio of 1.56 is very low, suggesting that it takes almost two-thirds of a year to actually collect on accounts receivable, which would give the company far less cash flow from operations during the period than would be desirable (Helfert, 2001). Even if the company is making money, that is, it is collecting so slowly that it could still face problems (Bragg, 2007). The latter ratio demonstrates a problem in actually moving product, or perhaps in over-inventorying; if the company cannot boost sales to improve this ratio, it should reduce the level of…...

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References

Bragg, S. (2007). Financial Analysis: A Controller's Guide. New York: Wiley.

Helfert, E. (2001). Financial Analysis: Tools and Techniques. New York: McGraw Hill.

Spiceland, D., Sepe, J., Nelson, M. & Tomassini, L. (2009). Intermediate Accounting 5th Ed. New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin.

In a context of a discount rate of 7% and a life project of ten years, cash flows of a negative $4,148,126 for the first year and then positive $3,441,981 for the remaining nine years, the net present value for the new automated storage and retrieval system is of $9,377,897.27. Additionally, the current value of the project cash flows is of $17,081,476.27, which is higher than the initial cost (Investopedia, 2010). This leads to the conclusion that the implementation of the project is recommendable.
From the analysis of the net present value, it is also possible to assess the project from the standpoint of its internal rate of return. The I for the new automated storage and retrieval system is of 83%. In optimal conditions, this figure would be compared against the value of another investment project. Yet, in the absence of an alternative, the high value of the I…...

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References:

2010, NPV Calculator, Investopedia,   last accessed on June 4, 2010http://www.investopedia.com/calculator/NetPresentValue.aspx?viewed=1 

2010, Breakeven Analysis, Dinky Town,   last accessed on June 4, 2010http://www.dinkytown.net/java/BreakEven.html# 

CanGo
According to many of the events and reports contained in the news blurbs that make up the qualitative information supplied in this case study, Liz Bennett has every right to be proud of what she has accomplished with a company that started in her bedroom. A successful IPO, the acquisition of another company as a means of expanding operations, and the previous diversification of operations and product offerings all occurred within a few short years, demonstrating the pace, commitment, and ambition of this company and its leader. Not all of these ambitious projects have actually met with a great deal of success, however, and in fact according to the statements made in the case study the only profitable division of the company is the book selling division, which was the original business created by Ms. Bennett before any diversification or expansion took place. An examination of the company's financial well-being…...

CanGo Management and Communication Problem esolution
Planning a Technological Solution

Nick has been handed a project where he has to implement Online Gaming, requiring significant technological integration. What factors does he need to consider and manage for the project to be a success?

As Warren tried to explain to Nick, the successful implementation of the project will require the purchase of hardware, the testing and selection of the right software, the securing of sufficient bandwidth to support all of the users expected to use the system if it becomes popular and successful, licensing negotiation and procurement and the payment of the fees associated with licensing. Warren also explained that there is an inherent risk in this type of venture that the initial popularity of the site could fizzle out and die if the site crashes or malfunctions in any way because it turns out to be incapable of supporting the first wave of…...

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Reference

Lee, W.D. Risk Assessments and Future Challenges. FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin,

74(4).

Strategic Planning
CanGo strategic planning

Currently the worldwide online gambling industry has emerged as one of the major as well as most speedily growing markets. With an estimated net worth of about $30 billion, in the preceding year it stretched at the rate of about 2.5% subsequent to a retard in the year 2009 universal economic slump and is projected to keep on to growing in the coming years. At the same time as reputable markets have attained prime of their life and have minimal opportunity for revenue, they are still anticipated to perform robustly and gain from a recuperating economy. Betting emerged to be the uppermost grossing activity in worldwide interactive gambling previous years. It is clear that as of 2012 online gambling was prohibited in a good number of Asian countries; however, clients by and large maintained their interest in gambling. CanGo as the competitors is in an extremely aggressive…...

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Reference

Alina W, 2006, Designing Brand Identity: A complete Guide to Creating, Building, and Maintaining Strong Brands, Wiley, New York. Retrieved on 23rd Feb 2014;  http://www.prophet.com/sites/strongbrands/?gclid=CL66iN7I4rwCFQKWtAodYHMAvQ 

De Chernatony & McDonald, M. 2002 "Creating Powerful Brands" Prentice Oxford. Retrieved on 23rd Feb 2014;  http://www.amazon.co.uk/Creating-Powerful-Brands-Leslie-Chernatony/dp/0750659807 

Elliott, R and Percy, L. 2007, Strategic Brand Management, Prentice Oxford. Retrieved February 23, 2014 from  http://opinto-opas.metropolia.fi/fileadmin/user_upload/En/General/Liiketalous_kurssit/MBS_Course_descriptions_for_2013-2014_Spring_offerings.pdf 

Jevons, C. 2005, 'Names, brands, branding: beyond the signs, symbols, products and services,'

Just as troubling is the lack of focus on advanced technologies that would make bar coding look antiquated and archaic. The use of adio Frequency Identification (FID) for example could vastly improve the performance of the AS/A system as studies have shown from early adopters of this technology (Davis, Samanlioglu, Jiang, Mota, Stanfield, 2011). Yet there is no mention of this technology in the case study or the discussions in videos. This is a significant shortfall from the standpoint of creating long-term value by adopting a more effective technology that can scale faster than bar coding for example. Second, there is no actual definition of how to create an effective lean manufacturing strategy for the long-term as well. The lack of planning for a sustainable lean manufacturing strategy will over time cause any company to not attain its full potential for cost reduction and time performance gains (Ferdows, Thurnheer,…...

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References

Davis, L., Samanlioglu, F., Jiang, X., Mota, D., & Stanfield, P.. (2011). A heuristic approach for allocation of data to RFID tags: A data allocation knapsack problem (DAKP). Computers & Operations Research, 39(1), 93.

Kasra Ferdows, & Fritz Thurnheer. (2011). Building factory fitness. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 31(9), 916-934.

Gensheng (Jason) Liu, & George D. Deitz. (2011). Linking supply chain management with mass customization capability. International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, 41(7), 668-683.

Bob Trebilcock. (2010, January). Automation for expansion. Modern Materials Handling, 65(1), 18.

business consultant hired assist CanGo a Stragetic Management Plan start an online gaming systems. Elizabeth- CEO/Founder, Andrew- Director Marketing, Ethel-Director Accounting, Warren-Director Operations, Maria-Director Human esources, Clark-Director Finance, Gail, Nick, Whitney, Debbie- Senior Staff Members.
CanGo

Situation analysis

The first step in addressing the problems faced by CanGo is represented by the analysis of the company. At this level, it is important to identify the points of strength and weakness as they arise from within the company's internal environment, as well as the threats and opportunities presented by the external environment. These issues are best addressed throughout the following SWOT analysis:

Internal strengths

Internal weaknesses

- The company enjoys a strong presence within the market and it has created customer trust and brand equity

The product selection of CanGo is impressive, revealing an increased ability to serve the needs of wide customer segments.

- After a difficult year, the employees are tired and it is difficult to…...

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References:

Barrett, R., 2003, Training, developing and motivating people, Nelson Thornes

Evans, J.R., 2010, Quality and performance excellence, 6th edition, Cengage Learning

Trehan, M., Trehan, R., Advertising and sales management, FK Publications

Competitive Analysis: CanGo, Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble
Amazon.com Overview - Amazon.com has surpassed all other competitors and is now the largest bookstore in the global marketing arena. Their marketing and particularly their smart algorithm has virtually ended the era of the brick and mortar bookshop and indeed changed the publishing world and the way consumer's shop. Because of their unique technological advantage, Amazon is able to switch its strategy with almost the touch of a button, and has such a sophisticated set of algorithms that it is almost as if one has a personal shopper at all times -- and not just for books. Clearly, the model is successful in that Amazon.com posted revenues of almost $50 billion in 2011, with trends in 2012 showing consistent growth (osenthal, 2009, amazon.com, 2012).

Amazon has differentiated itself from literature and books to groceries, clothing, gifts and even electronics. For example, Amazon's Kindle is…...

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REFERENCES

   http://www.amazon.com http://www.barnesandnobleinc.com 

Anderson and Metz. (2010, June 22). E-Reader Price War. Retrieved from: Christian Science Monitor:  http://www.csmonitor.com/From-the-news-wires/2010/0622/E-Reader-price-war!-Amazon-cuts-Kindle-price-to-189-after-Nook-move 

Ovide, S. And Trachtenberg, J. (May 2, 2012). Microsoft Hook Onto Nook. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from: / SB10001424052702303916904577375502392129654.htmlhttp://online.wsj.com/article

Pierce, D. (October 30, 2012). Barnes and Noble Nook HD Review. The Verge. Retrieved from:  http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/30/3571394/barnes-noble-nook-hd-review

Selling PerfectManagement's Services to CanGo
The PerfectManagement concept is that most business organizations are generating less return on investment (ROI) than they could be, simply because they lose substantial productivity through less than optimal management. The PerfectManagement system is designed to identify the management areas where your business could operate more efficiently and effectively than it does currently. Since 1998, we have helped more than 1,000 professional business organizations improve their profitability by helping them implement changes to their management that streamline communications, increase teamwork and coordination, reduce duplication of effort, and decrease employee turnover.

The PerfectManagement system consists of four steps: First, we conduct a management audit to understand the needs of your organization and the current challenges facing your management team. Second, we conduct a detailed analysis of the results of our management audit. Third, we present our findings in conjunction with a detailed plan of action to executive management.…...

marketing management that are necessary for CanGo in promoting their company and penetrating their target market on a local and international level. The recommended target market for CanGo is the college students' pool as they require quick searches and purchases based on their curriculum readings. It will also be recommended that CanGo includes the range of books required by the curriculums in the states as well.
The two foremost strengths of CanGo include: ability to compete with other companies global and locally; and, having the ASS will improve their shipment quantity. The weaknesses of the company include: incomplete Mission Statement; high Consumer Expectations; missing Strategic Management Plan, The opportunities for the company include: global exposure; industry growth; improve business to business structures; use of future technologies. Finally the threats for the company include: federal laws affecting sale prices; privacy concern; and, lack of capital.

Market Analysis

Marketing Objectives

To rapidly penetrate the market…...

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References

Adams, T., Jan, M. And Spivey M.S. (2007). The project meeting facilitator: facilitation skills to make the most of project meetings. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Buttle, F. (2004). How CRM Has Changed Marketing. 'Marketing' magazine.

Clancy, K.J. And Kriegafsd P.C. (2000). Counter intuitive Marketing. The Free Press.

Hackett, S., Parmanto, B. And Zeng, X. (2005). A retrospective look at website usability, Behavior & Information Technology, Vol. 24 No. 6, pp. 407-17.

This is exactly what is going on at CanGo. It's a process and decision that could over time limit the company's growth however.
ecommendation

While the approach of assigning the most complex and rewarding projects to the most accomplished employees, it robs them of long-term motivation (amsey, 2010). The focus needs to be on providing the accomplished Java programmer with autonomy, mastery and purpose to ensure long-term motivation that will last one project to the next (amsey, 2010). It would be wise to promote the Java programmer and give her the opportunity to retain ownership of the bookstore and keep mastering that area of the business, and guide a new hire to completing the gaming site.

eferences

amsey, .. (2010, October). are you missing out on the power of purpose? SuperVision, 71(10), 19-21.

Zhang, X., Cao, Q., & Tjosvold, D.. (2011). Linking Transformational Leadership and Team Performance: A Conflict Management Approach.…...

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References

Ramsey, R.. (2010, October). are you missing out on the power of purpose? SuperVision, 71(10), 19-21.

Zhang, X., Cao, Q., & Tjosvold, D.. (2011). Linking Transformational Leadership and Team Performance: A Conflict Management Approach. The Journal of Management Studies, 48(7), 1586.