Question

Question 1

Odyssey manufactures mountain bikes.

One well-known and established competitor of Odyssey was Bazookadale Bicycles. Bazookadale concentrates on customer service and had introduced a new computer system just before the Holiday season on November 15, 2011 to help retailers fit customers with the right frame size. The computer system automatically generated a customer database and was given free of charge to the retailers. The retailers loved the system because (1) it allowed them to keep track of who their customers were; and (2) it opened opportunities for marketing and after-sales services like coupons for maintenance, add-ons, etc. This last point was crucial, since retailers typically have low profit margins on bicycles but high profit margins on accessories (e.g., speedometers, racks, etc.) and soft goods (shirts, etc.).

Odyssey's management learned about the frame fit/marketing system on January 15, 2012. Odyssey’ management spent 3 months considering whether the frame fit/marketing system was a good idea. They decided it was a good idea and to develop their own system. Then Odyssey’s management spent 6 months working on two systems similar to Bazookadale’s with two different software companies. The management of Odyssey spent after 1 month deciding which system was better and choosing one vendor. The chosen system then was distributed to all stores and started working smoothly on January 15, 2013. By that time, at least four other bicycle companies had already implemented similar systems.

1. What are the time lags in responding to the frame fit/marketing system technology? Calculate the overall lag.
2. Comment on Odyssey’s responsiveness.
3. Is Odyssey's frame fit/marketing system giving Odyssey a competitive advantage? Why or why not? (2 points)

Question 2

List the keywords for all the concepts in the I-T-O Model.

Question 3

List the 5 strategies to increase organizational responsiveness. Give a one paragraph description of each strategy.

Answer 1

a. The overall time lag was about of one year. The time lags included extra thinking about which system to work, working on two-three different software and late decision making.
b. Odyssey's responsiveness is too late. They took too much time in deciding what to do with the software for their company and which would be good for the retailers.
c. No, Odyssey's is not giving them competitive advantage as they took too much time in setting up the software for the retailers. Up till then there were 4 more companies which were set up and hence all the first mover advantage was given up.

2. ITO model is Input Transform Output Model. It is the graph showing the model for all output and input. The output keywords will be the software which they want, software will be given and input will be available things for the company like details for the customers, bikes they purchased, frequency and regions where the cycles were bought.

3. Strategies are:
- Keep one step ahead of the competition and keep checking what they are doing.
- Try to quickly decode what the new thing your competitor has come out with so that you can build something similar or better than that of the competition.
- Have frequent meetings to discuss about the plan and what is needed.
- Set deadlines so that everyone abides by it.
- Have a dedicated team to make a new software for you.