Question

Business Case Sawchyn Guitars: Can an old business learn new tricks. Case study questions 1. Who are the main players within the organization affected by the challenges? 2. In what business and industry is the company operating? Describe the characteristics of the industry. 3. Briefly describe the history of the organization and milestones   4. What are the strengths and problems facing the organization? What do they do well? What do they need to improve upon? (Use the Internal Perspective from the SWOT as a foundation).     5. What internal circumstances caused or influenced the emergence of the identified problems? (Use the Internal Perspective from the SWOT as a foundation) 6. What external circumstances caused or influenced the emergence of the identified problems? (Use the External Perspective from the SWOT as a foundation) 7. What external influences potentially provide a competitive advantage to create a strategy for differentiation enabling them to compete within the context of their industry? (Use the External Perspective from the SWOT as a foundation, and refer to strategic management chapter in textbook and the YouTube SWOT video) 8. What are the possible solutions to the identified problems? 9. What are the advantages and disadvantages of the possible solutions? 10. If you were the key decision maker in this organization, which solution would you choose, and why?

Answer 1

1) The staff associated with the Sawchyn Guitars business have groomed with traditional styles in which they take adequate time to make a single product of guitar.But the firm has been experiencing a strain because of the strong demand for custom orders, retail instruments, and repairs.Hence these challenges have made the people uncomfortable as they don't have that leisurely time to make the guitar as they used to have when they had less orders in the past.

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2)Sawchyn Guitars business was started by Peter Sawchyn in 1970 .They have specialized in making handmade mandolins and guitars.Most of the companies today employ Computerized Machinery to produce Guitars and that helps them run the business with good efficiency.But Sawchyn Guitar business has mastered themselves in making Handmade guitars and mandolins.Many musicians prefer using a handmade instrument because of the unique sound quality. The guitars made by Sawchyn have got popular among the leading musicians in the world. In addition to the handmade guitars, Sawchyn also makes mandolins. At first, Mandolins were no popular, but during the rise of the Celtic tiger in the early 2000, the demand increased owing to the rise of the Irish economy.

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4) i)Strengths of the Organization--- Sawchyn have specialized in making handmade mandolins and guitars.They are best handmade guitar producers around the world.It makes them popular across all musicians across the world not just because they make handmade guitars because the guitars made by Sawchyn have a unique quality of sound.Hence musicians prefer their guitar.This has helped them retain a large number of loyal customers

ii)Problems faced by the organization

• Inability to produce more instruments because of the high demand
• The organization has a small staff and have more work burden
• Inability to incorporate computerized machinery in his design

iii) Their Unique selling proposition

• They make custom handmade guitars
• The guitars have a unique quality of sound
• Sawchyn have been in this business since a long time and most of the musicians love its artwork

iv) They need to improve by

• Recruiting more staff to meet the demands
• Maintain its strategy of producing high-quality instruments and develop a means to provide products that are computerized to add up to the existing hand-made instruments.
• They need to embrace New Technology: No one can resist change because time will come when there will be new invention that will provide unique quality sounds better that the hand-made instruments produced by Peter Sawchyn.

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8) Possible solutions to identified problems

i)Staffing

Expansion of business requires the company to grow in number so that responsibilities can be delegated and workload can be shared.But the firm has been experiencing a strain because of the strong demand for custom orders, retail instruments, and repairs. Peter is about to retire, and he wants to maintain the success of the business.This approach will call for restructuring the organizational structure. He has to outline new responsibilities and get people who will run his business once he retires. The main challenge in recruiting new staff is the lack of skilled individuals who can provide quality work.

b)Product and market Diversification

The business will explore more designs of the instruments required by the customers and expanding the market base. This strategy will make the business to minimize risks of losing potential customers as well as ensuring stable and consistent income. It has to maintain its strategy of producing high-quality instruments and develop a means to provide products that are computerized to add up to the existing hand-made instruments.Having a wide range of products increases the sales.

c)Embrace technology in the process of production

No one can resist change because time will come when there will be new invention that will provide unique quality sounds better that the hand-made instruments produced by Peter Sawchyn.

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