Strategic Assessment of Raleigh Cycle Ltd Case Study

Strategic Assessment of Raleigh Cycle Ltd - Case Study Example Business Environment The cycling industry in the United States of America (USA) had generated revenue of 6 billion dollars in 2005 (Wales 2009b). There are countless bicycle manufacturers around the world that compete for sales. A recent report dated 28th October 2009 listed 172 primary bicycle manufacturers (Wikipedia 2009). However the market is huge as stated by a 2009 report by Business Exchange which indicates a growth in the industry with 3.8 million people in the USA riding bicycle daily to work (Rickman 2009). This statistic is also supported by another statistic that indicates there are currently 450 million bicycles in China (Johnson 2007) and 16 million bicycles in Netherlands (Cycling in the Netherlands 2009). Hence capturing a customer would plausibly not be difficult. This notion is also supported by the fact that fuel prices constantly fluctuate (Shanghai Daily 2009) thus cycling offers an alternative mean of transportation. But some manufacturers reported losses. Shimano's net income fel t 58% in 2009 (Le 2009) and Dorel's revenue drop 8% in that same year (Reed Business 2006). These 2 contrasting statistics indicate that the business environment of the cycling industry is mixed. Assessment of Raleigh 2 Past and Current Strategies of Raleigh Cycle Ltd. In 2001 Raleigh's parent company went bankrupt (Teather 2007). But by the year 2004 the company's sales were increasing due to the reintroduction of the 'Chopper' (Teather 2007) but their market shares were decreasing and it was predicted to decrease until the year 2010 (Teather 2007). Different strategies were employed during the 122 years life span of Raleigh. From the period 1887 till 1943, the company employed the strategy of expansion and diversity. This is evidently shown as... This essay assessed the strategy employed by Raleigh Cycle Limited. Not only that the business environment of the company were also analyzed. The researcher of this paper thoroughly dissected the company and mentioned the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of the company. Several key factors that affect the growth and profit of the company were outlined. This paper ended with comments upon the sustainability of the current strategy and obstacles and hindrances faced by the company. Raleigh’s current aim is to increase sales and regain the share of the market. Mark Gouldthorp, the Managing Director of Raleigh, in his statement stated that focusing too much upon competitors would make Raleigh’s products similar to the competitor’s products. Thus Raleigh is currently employing a strategy of improving the quality of their products, while not concentrating too much upon their competitors. The researcher stated that in certain cities, there are few or no dedicate lanes for cyclists to commute. This can be denoted as a governmental issue since the government has the authority and initiative to appoint or construct such lanes. This situation exists throughout the world and companies have to be prepared to face these consequences. Even encouragements from companies like Raleigh are insufficient if higher authorities have contrasting policies. According to Kotler, this is a typical company-government relationship that one should take into account before venturing into business