abhishreshthaa
Abhijeet S
Ball Corporation (NYSE: BLL), originally Ball Brothers Glass Manufacturing Company, is an American company famous for producing glass canning jars. Founded in 1880, it is currently headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado. The company has expanded into other areas such as avionics, space systems, metal beverage and food containers, aerosol containers and plastic containers.
In 1880, Frank C. and Edmund B. Ball, two of the five Ball brothers of fruit jar fame, borrowed $200 from their Uncle George Ball to buy the Wooden Jacket Can Company. The wooden jackets encased tin cans which held kerosene. Because the acid used to refine kerosene caused corrosion in tin, the brothers decided to use glass for the inserts of the wood jacketed cans. Initially, they bought the glass containers from a factory in Poughkeepsie, New York. In 1882, the factory that supplied the glass containers was destroyed by fire. Some of the glassblowers from that factory suggested to the Ball brothers that they build their own factory. They purchased land in East Buffalo and built a two-story brick building for the stamping works and a one-story frame factory for the glass works. Because of the volume of business, a larger furnace was soon needed. In order to use the full capacity of the furnace, it was decided to make other glass products.
Sometime in 1884, Frank and Edmund discovered that the patent covering the Mason Improved fruit jar had expired. This meant that they could make the fruit jars in the glass works and the metal lids in the metal factory. The “Buffalo” jars were made for part of 1884, 1885 and 1886. The BBGMCo (Ball Brothers Glass Manufacturing Company) logo was used on the jars, which were either amber or aqua. Sizes ranged from half-gallon to pint and midget.
In 1886, while on a business trip in Cleveland, Frank heard about the gas boom in Findlay, Ohio. After visiting Findlay, Frank told Edmund about the advantages of natural gas for glass making. Edmund then visited several towns in the gas fields, including Muncie, Indiana. After he returned, he and Frank decided that they should make a more extensive trip to investigate the possibility of locating a factory in a gas boom town. They briefly had doubts about extending beyond Buffalo but decided that to grow their glass business, they had to explore the possibility of taking advantage of gas. Frank and Edmund stopped first in Fostoria, Ohio where they were enthusiastically welcomed. The next stop was Bowling Green. After one night in town, Edmund returned to Buffalo. When Frank had been in Bowling Green for about a week, he received a telegram from James Boyce of Muncie. Frank said that “Having become weary of the monotonous life in Bowling Green and ready for a change, I decided to run down to Muncie and see what they had to offer.”
In 1963, Amancio Ortega started a small company in Spain that manufactured women’s pajamas and lingerie products for garment wholesalers. In 1975, after a German customer cancelled a sizable order, the firm opened its forts Zara retail shop. The original intent was simply to have an outlet for cancelled orders but the experience taught the firm the importance of a marriage between manufacturing and retailing – a lesson that guided the evolution of the company ever since. From a starting point of 6 stores in 1979, the company established retail operations in all the major Spanish cities during the 1980’s. In 1988 the first overseas Zara store opened in Porto, Portugal, followed shortly by New York City in 1989 and Paris in 1990. But the real ‘step-up’ in foreign expansion took place during the 1990s when Inditex entered 29 countries in Europe, the Americas and Asia (particularly during 1998 to 2001 when it entered 21 of these 29 countries). In parallel with its overseas expansion, Inditex diversified its retail offering by adding and acquiring new brands in order to target different customer segments. Each brand operates independently, with its own stores, ordering system, warehousing and distribution system, subcontractors, and organizational structure (Inditex 2006). Zara is the largest Inditex division – accounting for more than 75 percent of total Inditex sales. The first Zara clothing store opened in 1975 in Spain as a small retailer selling men’s and women’s clothing. Since then Zara chains have grown into retailing giants with almost 1000 stores worldwide and an impressive sales record. The success of Zara is partly to do with the appeal of its men’s and women’s and children’s fashions and accessories that display unique style but at real world prices.
Strategic management starts with strategic planning an important part of the strategic planning process is External Environment Analysis. It is important that the company conduct a futuristic view of its environment as the environmental conditions may change from the date of the conception of the strategic Plan. Forecasts are needed in strategic planning and all environmental factors must be forecasted. This section will present an in-depth analysis of the industry where Zara competes. The analysis will include customer analysis, competitor analysis, PEST analysis, Porter’s Five Forces Analysis and to have a complete view of the company’s business environment a SWOT analysis will be conducted.
External environmental analysis reveals the health of an organization, its values, political climate, its use of technology and resources, its competitive rank within the industry, its overall image, and the areas requiring improvement (Gilley and Maycunich 2000). An organization’s environment is composed of those institutions or forces that are outside the organization and potentially affect the organization’s performance. These typically include suppliers, customers, competitors, government regulatory agencies, public pressure groups, and the like (Sims 2002). Because of uncertainty, these environmental factors play an important role in determining the success of the organization. Organizations are now faced with very dynamic environments where government regulations rapidly changes, new competitors arise, raw material are difficult to acquire, and consumer preference continues to change and so on. Now let us look at these external factors that shape the organization’s strategies and objectives and affect the organization’s success.
In 1880, Frank C. and Edmund B. Ball, two of the five Ball brothers of fruit jar fame, borrowed $200 from their Uncle George Ball to buy the Wooden Jacket Can Company. The wooden jackets encased tin cans which held kerosene. Because the acid used to refine kerosene caused corrosion in tin, the brothers decided to use glass for the inserts of the wood jacketed cans. Initially, they bought the glass containers from a factory in Poughkeepsie, New York. In 1882, the factory that supplied the glass containers was destroyed by fire. Some of the glassblowers from that factory suggested to the Ball brothers that they build their own factory. They purchased land in East Buffalo and built a two-story brick building for the stamping works and a one-story frame factory for the glass works. Because of the volume of business, a larger furnace was soon needed. In order to use the full capacity of the furnace, it was decided to make other glass products.
Sometime in 1884, Frank and Edmund discovered that the patent covering the Mason Improved fruit jar had expired. This meant that they could make the fruit jars in the glass works and the metal lids in the metal factory. The “Buffalo” jars were made for part of 1884, 1885 and 1886. The BBGMCo (Ball Brothers Glass Manufacturing Company) logo was used on the jars, which were either amber or aqua. Sizes ranged from half-gallon to pint and midget.
In 1886, while on a business trip in Cleveland, Frank heard about the gas boom in Findlay, Ohio. After visiting Findlay, Frank told Edmund about the advantages of natural gas for glass making. Edmund then visited several towns in the gas fields, including Muncie, Indiana. After he returned, he and Frank decided that they should make a more extensive trip to investigate the possibility of locating a factory in a gas boom town. They briefly had doubts about extending beyond Buffalo but decided that to grow their glass business, they had to explore the possibility of taking advantage of gas. Frank and Edmund stopped first in Fostoria, Ohio where they were enthusiastically welcomed. The next stop was Bowling Green. After one night in town, Edmund returned to Buffalo. When Frank had been in Bowling Green for about a week, he received a telegram from James Boyce of Muncie. Frank said that “Having become weary of the monotonous life in Bowling Green and ready for a change, I decided to run down to Muncie and see what they had to offer.”
In 1963, Amancio Ortega started a small company in Spain that manufactured women’s pajamas and lingerie products for garment wholesalers. In 1975, after a German customer cancelled a sizable order, the firm opened its forts Zara retail shop. The original intent was simply to have an outlet for cancelled orders but the experience taught the firm the importance of a marriage between manufacturing and retailing – a lesson that guided the evolution of the company ever since. From a starting point of 6 stores in 1979, the company established retail operations in all the major Spanish cities during the 1980’s. In 1988 the first overseas Zara store opened in Porto, Portugal, followed shortly by New York City in 1989 and Paris in 1990. But the real ‘step-up’ in foreign expansion took place during the 1990s when Inditex entered 29 countries in Europe, the Americas and Asia (particularly during 1998 to 2001 when it entered 21 of these 29 countries). In parallel with its overseas expansion, Inditex diversified its retail offering by adding and acquiring new brands in order to target different customer segments. Each brand operates independently, with its own stores, ordering system, warehousing and distribution system, subcontractors, and organizational structure (Inditex 2006). Zara is the largest Inditex division – accounting for more than 75 percent of total Inditex sales. The first Zara clothing store opened in 1975 in Spain as a small retailer selling men’s and women’s clothing. Since then Zara chains have grown into retailing giants with almost 1000 stores worldwide and an impressive sales record. The success of Zara is partly to do with the appeal of its men’s and women’s and children’s fashions and accessories that display unique style but at real world prices.
Strategic management starts with strategic planning an important part of the strategic planning process is External Environment Analysis. It is important that the company conduct a futuristic view of its environment as the environmental conditions may change from the date of the conception of the strategic Plan. Forecasts are needed in strategic planning and all environmental factors must be forecasted. This section will present an in-depth analysis of the industry where Zara competes. The analysis will include customer analysis, competitor analysis, PEST analysis, Porter’s Five Forces Analysis and to have a complete view of the company’s business environment a SWOT analysis will be conducted.
External environmental analysis reveals the health of an organization, its values, political climate, its use of technology and resources, its competitive rank within the industry, its overall image, and the areas requiring improvement (Gilley and Maycunich 2000). An organization’s environment is composed of those institutions or forces that are outside the organization and potentially affect the organization’s performance. These typically include suppliers, customers, competitors, government regulatory agencies, public pressure groups, and the like (Sims 2002). Because of uncertainty, these environmental factors play an important role in determining the success of the organization. Organizations are now faced with very dynamic environments where government regulations rapidly changes, new competitors arise, raw material are difficult to acquire, and consumer preference continues to change and so on. Now let us look at these external factors that shape the organization’s strategies and objectives and affect the organization’s success.