Charles Chocolates Case Essay

In March of 2012 Steve common was hired as the naked president at Charles Chocolates. He was at a time faced with numerous decisions about the coming(prenominal) of the company. The board of directors had tasked car park with manifold or tripling the size of the company over the next decade, nevertheless the board and the senior management team had different opinions about the system that would accomplish this goal. The main issues that Parkland faced were how to increase the companys operations while maintaining the traditional culture and support of the board. The premium deep brown industry is a life-sized market in the United States and continues to surface around 10% annually. It is also populated with very strong competitors both internationally, with companies like Godiva (Nestle), and local companies like Delice. Both competitors are damaged higher than Charles and select higher sales.This is most likely because Godiva and Delice have modern trendy promotional material for their products. The number and strength of competitors means that buyers have very high dicker power, but it also means that the threat of new entrants is low because it is potent to gain a piece of a market saturated with such powerful players. The majority of the suppliers to the chocolate industry sell commodity products whose price is set by the market and their power and influence is low.There are numerous substitute products for smashed customers, confections and pastries being the most significant, but chocolate will always be a stable product so it is a medium level threat. To compete in such a challenging industry Parkland take to revitalize the companys packaging and its marketing campaign. New packing is an ideal way to draw because it demonstrates the changes that will be taking place in obeying long time without compromising the companys heritage or collective culture. Charles sure marketing strategy strongly targets the local community which it a lready has a strong presence in.Charles require to increase its marketing to the tourist community. The advertisements should follow industry trends for use of ethically responsible ingredients to produce the highest quality chocolates. In order to attract and keep the new, non-local, customer base Parkland needs to increase Charles online presences and sales channels.This is a low risk, low cost probability with the potential for large growth in new geographical areas. If Parkland wants to achieve the aggressive growth that the board desires his ability to improve the capabilities and the operations of the company will be one of his greatest barriers. Due to the affluent nature of the customers and the possible variety in the product Parkland should revolve about on change the companys organizational capabilities. A new plant will eventually be needed but that decision can be delayed if Charles can streamline its operations.Parkland needs to institute policies that will measure productivity and develop an accurate method of forecasting sales. This will result in lower inventory carrying costs, few out of stock issues, and fewer backorders that need to be filled. If Charles can inhibit the number of back orders and out-of-stock products it can focus on a star product line at a time which will shave the frequency of expensive switching costs.There are many new(prenominal) growth opportunities that Parkland whitethorn pursue in the future. He may wish to grow the Sandwich Heaven segment of the business, growing the corporate connections of the company, and expanding into other physical locations in the states. These are all viable options for the future but the ones listed above are the best for Charles current situation. By improving packaging, marketing, online sales, and internal organizational capabilities the company can grow significantly without large changes to the tradition of the company and without taking on too much extra risk.