Mercury Case

The All-Star Footwear executive team worked well together to create a high-performing corporation, which excelled in competing in the athletic shoe global market. Due to the strong execution of each member, we secured first place in the BSG simulation and learned about competitive analysis in the process.

West Coast Fashions, Inc a large business of men’s and women’s apparel decided to dispose of one of their segments; Mercury Athletic. John Liedtke, head of the business development for Active Gear, Inc saw it has a possible opportunity for them to acquire it. The footwear industry is very competitive, with low growth and stable profit margins. AGI is very profitable but it is smaller than its competitors, which is becoming a disadvantage. Therefore, Liedtke believes that if they takeover Mercury will double AGI’s revenue, increase it’s leverage with contract manufactures and expand its presence with key retailers and distributions. Liedtke is evaluating the company in order to find out

The company must work on strengthening its position among gymnastic clubs to avoid losing its competitive advantage. Innovating and expanding the customer base is very important in such environment. Maintaining lasting relationships with existing customers and reaching out to potential new participants must continue to ensure

There are several reasons why AGI should consider Mercury Athletic as an appropriate target for acquisition. First, acquiring Mercury could improve both companies financially. Acquiring Mercury would double AGI’s revenue. Although Mercury’s financial performance has been disappointing, they experienced top line growth of 20% in 2006. Unfortunately, their profitability has been disappointing due to price concessions to big box retailers and an unsuccessful women’s line. Mercury’s (and ultimately AGI’s) profitability could be improved by the synergies of the two companies merging. Synergies within supply chain, operations, research and development, and advertising should all improve Mercury’s EBITDA.

Based on our projections for the years 2002-2004, the biggest driver that effects debt is the company’s operating expenses. Based on the history of the upward trend of operating expenses, our recommendation is that The Body Shop needs to concentrate on lowering the operating expenses, and keeping those expenses around 45% or lower in order to avoid borrowing money. Our 45% recommendation includes a safety net which will prevent having The Body Shop borrowing cash if sale do not continue to climb at a significant rate.

The background of this paper we need to mention is that West Coast Fashions, Inc. (WCF), a large designer and marketer of branded apparel announced a strategic reorganization calling for a divestiture of certain assets, and one of the divisions it intended to shed was Mercury Athletic, its wholly owned footwear subsidiary. John Liedtke, the head of business development for Active Gear, Inc. (AGI), a privately held athletic and casual footwear company, contemplated an acquisition opportunity of Mercury that would significantly improve his business. So, he wanted to evaluate this opportunity.

1 We recommend Cumberland Metal Industries capitalize on their evolving position as a leader in the curled metal industry and effectively launch their new curled metal cushion pads to be positioned as the “new industry standard” in the pile driving market. In order to successfully launch this product, we first and foremost recommend that CMI acquire a patent to prevent this product from being copied and imitated, thus avoiding the entry of competitors. The associated value and advantages of CMI’s metal cushion pads are evident from the results of the two comparative performance tests by Colerick and Fazio. CMI pads drove piles 33 percent faster than asbestos per hour and lasted the entire job while also eliminating the downtime required

Determining the Future Business Strategy of Asiasports Limited In March of 1999 the primary decision makers of Asiasports found themselves at a crossroads. “Barnes, Weir, and Gribble had to make decisions about whether the company should promote hockey outside of Hong Kong and its choice of sports properties. An implementation plan also had to be developed for the chosen strategy” (Delios 1). Although every one of their sports properties was profitable except for the World Ice Hockey 5’s event, Asiasports still experienced a loss in 1998 operations. Therefore Barnes and the primary shareholders of Asiasports were faced with a difficult question regarding the direction of their future business

The primary reason why Ford designed the VEP was that Ford believed its stock was undervalued and the undervalued stock was limiting the company 's ability to use its stock for acquisitions or to attract, retain or incentivize employees. Ford thought the VEP would enhance the value of its outstanding shares because the recapitalization will highlight its cash reserves and cash flow generating capacity, and also indicates management 's confidence in the future of the business. In addition, Ford believed the adjustments in the employee incentive plans by the recapitalization will tie Ford management 's compensation even more closely to the performance of its stock price.

Sport Apparel is a large industries with many firms such as Nike, Adidas, Reebok, Under Armour, the Gap, Athleta, Nordstrom, Lucy and Bebe store. Large industries allow multiple firms and producers to prosper without having to steal market share from each other. Large industry size is a positive for Lululemon Athletica. … This qualitative factor will lead to an increase in costs.

Goodyear, around the late 1980s was developing a tire that would set them apart from the competition. Unfortunately they were stuck in a time when replacing tires was not high on peoples list of pleasantries, which will be explained in greater detail. Goodyear developed what they called the Aquatred tire which was supposed to give greater traction during wet weather and a superior quality that would have the same traction after much use as some tires did when they were brand new. However, they faced a few problems along the way. The price for this new tire was going to be quite expensive. The industry at this time was not looking for a high performance tire so much, but rather something with a guarantee and

Have you or someone you know experienced tremors, insomnia, mood swings, headaches, or even neuromuscular changes? These serious symptoms commonly found in patients suffering from Parkinson’s, brain tumors, and multiple sclerosis. However, what if these symptoms were not a result of disease but a common metal? Located on the periodic table of elements and considered a transition metal that is shiny and fast moving. Named after the fastest moving planet in our solar system; the ancients believed it was the “first matter” from which all other metals were formed. Commonly found back in the day at dentist offices, doctors offices and maybe even your own home. Mercury, or quicksilver, is a well known element today.

Firstly Nike sold its franchise licenses in different countries expanding the market share in sports wear industry, and then the company moved towards purchasing shares in equity to reduce the risk uncertainty. Finally the company managed to bring the dealers’s corporation under one direction enabling them a better control and monitoring capabilities. Nike is making new policies, analyzing the performance of marketing and advertising with the standards they have set to make sure that the company is in line with its required its standards in addition; company is moving towards improving its advertisement in order to make it more effective in different regions. Nike has also faced different issues while internationalizing the business, such as capabilities, access, finance and business environment; unavailability of trained workers, limited information about the market, inability of contacting foreign customers and new business environments describes these issues on a vast ground.

The management of Sports Products Inc. should pursue maximization of shareholders’ wealth as its paramount goal. As far as we know, the stockholders are the owners of the firm and the ones bearing the most risk in running it. In line with this, the board of directors and/or the management is

Kennedy, Robert F., and Marc A. Yaggi. "Mercury Poisoning Is a Growing Global Menace We Have to Address." The Guardian. N.p., 10 Jan. 2013. Web. 24 Sept. 2013. .