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Wave Riders

SWOT Review

Strengths
„X Well ¡Vestablished company that started in 1970
„X The company is the leader of the Rescue/Military sector with an estimated market share of 38%.
„X Products of Rescue and Military are very competitive with many unique features.
„X Only company that produces single boat to meet rescue and military specifications.
„X Low cost of production compared to the market price of inflatable boats.
„X Economy of scale will result in lowering cost/product which can result in generating higher profits if sales increased.

Weaknesses
„X Company¡¦s Board is running the company in a very traditional way
- Board is very reluctant to any change introduced by senior management.
- Decision making process is centralized.
- Sales techniques are old fashioned. (labor intensive based on personal representation)

„X Lack of strategic direction within the firm, the company had been suffering from declining profitability for four years without taking any corrective actions.
„X Some senior managers are not feeling empowered, while others don¡¦t see need for change.
„X Conflicts between senior managers as the company are not having a unified strategy.
„X Some senior managers are not competent.
„X Declining Market share in the leisure sector (19%) compared to SurfZA (32%) and Hagen (49%).
„X Declining profitability for four years starting from 1990.
„X Increasing volumes of non-sold stock.
„X Extremely low return on capital (4.5% last year).
„X High distribution costs (13% of the total turnover) and inefficient tendering process.
„X Inappropriate marketing strategy. (They thought that lowering prices will increase the demand)
„X Technical problems in the ¡§Sea Horse¡¨ and ¡§Spray99¡¨ which had negatively influence the customer¡¦s perception of the product.


Opportunities:
„X Consumers of Leisure sector are very loyal to the products they purchase.
„X Consumers of Leisure sector are not price-sensitive.
„X WaveRiders Rescue boats are...