How can a company maintain its leadership position in the market? Encyclopedia of marketing Maintaining its position in the market

A variant of the milking strategy is a retention strategy whereby a firm avoids growth-oriented investment and spends enough to maintain product quality, production capacity, and customer loyalty. The application of this strategy is most appropriate in cases where the downturn in the industry is calm, systematic, there are pockets of unsatisfied demand, price pressure is not too high, the company has the necessary assets and competencies, and this species business fuels other lines of business. The retention strategy may be preferable in the case of an investment strategy when there are no growth opportunities in the industry, and the use of a strategy to increase market share threatens to increase retaliatory aggression from competitors. The strategy can be long-term - and applied as a cash cow management or temporary - when it is used until the uncertainty in the industry is resolved.

The disadvantage of this strategy is that when market conditions change, reluctance or slowness to recover investments can lead to a reduction in market share.

If there is a steady decrease in market share, a decrease in profits and working capital, an increase in debt, frequent changes in management, then the company seeks to change the position of the business and implements the following reduction strategies:

A strategy to reduce costs and increase efficiency throughout all stages of creating customer value;

An asset reduction strategy aimed at getting rid of low-margin, impaired assets or divisions of the firm that are not related to the future strategy of the firm;

Development of new strategies that imply the receipt of large incomes.

In addition to growth strategies in unattractive markets or unattractive business lines, an enterprise may use consolidation strategies. Consolidation strategies (reductions) may relate to the market, product line, business units.

Market Shrinking is a strategy that is the opposite of a market development strategy: a firm reduces the presence of existing products by withdrawing them from weakening markets. Firms stick to this strategy if performance in different markets fluctuates greatly.

A product line downsizing is a reduction in the number of products offered to the market by a firm. This strategy is the opposite of a product development strategy and is used when firms decide that certain market segments are either too small or too costly to serve further.

In divestment (counter-diversification), enterprises sell part of their business to another enterprise, since this usually means leaving a certain market and reducing the product line. This strategy is the opposite of the diversification strategy. Enterprises resort to it if the manager finds out that a certain type of business does not meet the requirements of the company and its goals.

In pursuit of the goals of protecting its position or abandoning the business, an enterprise may resort to a "harvest" strategy, which is implemented through:

Selling a business (often to your competitors);

Merging with competitors, but maintaining independence;

Refusal to develop a direction, for example, the implementation of production, but the termination of marketing of goods.

Azurit and Solitair 25 to hit the market in 2017

Despite the challenging market situation, professional horticulture specialist LEMKEN managed to maintain a good position last year and maintained a turnover of 325 million euros almost at the level of the previous year. The increase of 100 employees to 1405 also includes 56 employees who joined the staff during the reintegration of the formerly independent welding shop.

In Europe's main markets, primarily Germany and France, things did not go well, while the UK managed to maintain a relatively stable level in light of the exit from the EU. The growth was shown by the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, in particular Romania, Hungary and Bulgaria, which are the largest sales markets. Positive development trends were also observed in the important agricultural market - in Russia. Ukraine even managed to double the turnover. The top ten markets according to LEMKEN are Canada and China. In these countries, the family business opened its own assembly plants and distribution centers three years ago.

In the total trade turnover, the share of Germany was 26 percent, the share of the rest of Western Europe - 28 percent, the share of Eastern European countries - 33 percent, the share of the USA / Canada - 6 percent. The share of exports is 74 percent: it increased by 5 million euros and amounted to 241 million euros. Positive results were also observed in the area of ​​spare parts sales, where the introduction of new conditions models, as well as the implementation of a new service development strategy, contributed to an increase in sales.

In general, 12,809 cars were produced last year. Their largest share fell on plows, which showed the maximum growth compared to the previous year. The new machines, which will be launched in 2017, include the pneumatic seed drills of the Solitair 25 series. In addition, LEMKEN will also introduce the 6 m Azurit precision seed drill to the market for the first time. electronic equipment: From 2017, all ISOBUS-compatible implements will be equipped with a small modern CCI-50 terminal with a 5.6-inch display. Further innovations can be seen at Agritechnica, where LEMKEN will have a large booth in November.

“The past year has once again shown how difficult it is to predict individual developments,” says CEO Anthony van der Ley, evaluating the results of the work. “In general, we are very pleased that by the end of the year we managed to realize our ambitious plans. We owe this to the high efficiency and flexibility of our employees. In addition, the various capital investments in production technology and logistics have paid off and made it possible to maximize the use of production capacity.”

A number of new buildings were actually completed in 2016, including a new Agrofarm training center with production halls and arable land for hands-on training for dealers and end users. The construction of a new branch for after-sales service with a larger area in France and an expanded and modernized pre-assembly facility at the Alpen plant. The company has also invested in training its own employees and optimizing work processes.

“These investments, totaling 16 million euros for 2016, have been carefully planned and are of great importance for the subsequent modernization and dynamic development. As a family business, we are working hard and cautiously, and therefore we will be ready for a situation when the income of our farmers finally increases and, accordingly, the market for agricultural machinery improves again,” says CEO Anthony van der Ley. In general, factors such as population growth and increased demands on food quality indicate a positive trend. But according to LEMKEN, the economy will continue to show slow growth in 2017.

Specialist in the field of professional crop production, LEMKEN, total strength with more than 1,400 employees worldwide and a turnover of more than 325 million euros, is one of the leading companies in Europe. Founded in 1780 as a forge, today this family-owned business, at its headquarters in Alpena, two other German factories in Haren, and the Indian city of Nagpur, produces quality and high-performance agricultural machines for tillage, seed sowing and crop protection. Our thinking and our activities are driven by innovation aimed at the maximum benefit for the customer. additional information about LEMKEN you will find on our website

New record turnover of €1.9 billion

Spelle in December 2017 - "Contrary to the trend" - these words can accurately characterize the development of enterprisesKroneover the past few financial years.

While many manufacturers of agricultural machinery had to sharply reduce turnover,Kronesucceeded in this financial yearachieve record sales. Because production cargo trailers also showed a record high, the total turnover of the groupKroneamounted to 1.9 billion euros (1.8 billion euros in the previous year).

Turnovers within the country increased by 1.6% compared to the previous year (up to 515.5 million euros) and are distributed as follows: 30.8% - agricultural machinery, 69.2% - cargo trailers. In general, the group's turnoverKronewithin the country amounted to 27.2% against 28.4% in the previous year.

Sales incomeKroneabroad amounted to 1.4 billion euros; compared to the previous year, this means an increase of 7.6%. Of the foreign trade turnover, 30.7% falls on agricultural machinery, 69.3% - on vehicles. Thus, the share of the foreign market in the total turnover amounted to 72.8%, which is slightly higher than the level of the previous year (71.6%).

In 2016/2017 financial yearincome from sales of cargo trailer group amounted to about 1.3 billion euros, i.e. with a surplus to the previous period.

Germany, with a market share of 27.2% and a turnover of 356.6 million euros (364.7 million euros in the previous year), remains the largest sales market.

ConcernKronecontinues to increase its presence in foreign markets, increasing turnover to 956 million euros (855 million euros in the previous year). The most important sales markets are: Western Europe - 43.8% (41% in the previous year) and Eastern European markets - 21.6% (26.5% in the previous year).

INagricultural machinery segment Since the end of 2016, the increase in market prices for milk has had a positive effect. ConcernKronealso took advantage of this trend and, due to favorable market developments, especially in the second half of the year, was able to increase operating income to 582.8 million euros (569.8 million euros in the previous year).

In particular, the following markets contributed to this: Germany - 27.3% (25.1% in the previous year), Western Europe - 33.1% (32.4% in the previous year), North America- 15.4% (20.4% in the previous year), Eastern Europe- 9.9% (10.6% in the previous year), the rest - 14.3% (11.4% in the previous year).

Financial position / Financing

In the financial year 2016/2017, the balance sheet increased from EUR 931.7 million to EUR 1,031.3 million.

A total investment of 76.0 million euros (37.1 million euros in the previous year) and a change in the composition of the consolidated companies of 6.9 million euros is countered by depreciation in these areas of 31.1 million euros.

Proceeds consist mainly of investments in various production sites and the first full merger withBrü ggen Holding GmbH & co. KG.

As a result of net profit for the year, equity increased to EUR 486.1 million at the reporting date (EUR 445.3 million in the previous year). At the same time, the share of equity decreased slightly from 47.8% in the previous year to 47.1% as a result of higher working capital at the reporting date, as well as the above investment activities.

IN reporting period medium- and long-term capital raised increased to 286.1 million euros (254.3 million euros in the previous year). The group has at its disposal medium and long-term capital in the amount of 772.1 million euros (700.6 million euros in the previous year). This provides not only inventory, but also most of the debt.

Staff

Due to the expansion of the groupKronethe number of employees in different countries of the world increased to 4,497 in the past financial year (4,281 in the previous year). The number of students slightly decreased compared to the previous year from 261 to 243 people.

Investments in security future

Group investment volumeKroneamounted to about 76 million euros (37.1 million euros in the previous year), which was mainly directed to the new paint shop of the plant in Werlte, the construction of a new distribution center for the provision of spare parts for all cargo trailers and the automated production of components at the plant in Herzlack.

At the mechanical production plant in Spelle, the processing technology and capacities have been further adapted to meet the growing needs. In addition, a new industrial robot for loading and unloading machine tools was put into operation.

Bernard Krone, co-founder of the group Krone satisfied with the result of the financial year.

“In the agricultural machinery segment, low milk prices made us nervous at first; fortunately they recovered within a year. Our strategy with new branches to get closer to our customers is also working in the trailer sector.

In addition, we note that we are increasingly approached as a service provider, especially in the field of data digitization and telemetry. These features go a long way towards creating more efficient and economical machines and trailers.

Thanks to our high investments in the factories in Werlte and Herzlack, we take the side of the region. We look to the future with confidence, finally,Kroneserves two new megatrends: global population growth and connectivity. As before, this will result in a growing demand for food and an increase in freight traffic.”

404 means the file is not found. If you have already uploaded the file then the name may be misspelled or it is in a different folder.

Other Possible Causes

You may get a 404 error for images because you have Hot Link Protection turned on and the domain is not on the list of authorized domains.

If you go to your temporary url (http://ip/~username/) and get this error, there maybe a problem with the rule set stored in an .htaccess file. You can try renaming that file to .htaccess-backup and refreshing the site to see if that resolves the issue.

It is also possible that you have inadvertently deleted your document root or the your account may need to be recreated. Either way, please contact your web host immediately.

Are you using WordPress? See the Section on 404 errors after clicking a link in WordPress.

How to find the correct spelling and folder

Missing or Broken Files

When you get a 404 error be sure to check the URL that you are attempting to use in your browser.This tells the server what resource it should attempt to request.

http://example.com/example/Example/help.html

In this example the file must be in public_html/example/Example/

notice that the CaSe e sample and E xample are not the same locations.

For addon domains, the file must be in public_html/addondomain.com/example/Example/ and the names are case-sensitive.

Broken Image

When you have a missing image on your site you may a box on your page with see with a red X where the image is missing. right click on the X and choose Properties. The properties will tell you the path and file name that cannot be found.

This varies by browser, if you do not see a box on your page with a red X try right clicking on the page, then select View Page Info, and goto the Media Tab.

http://example.com/cgi-sys/images/banner.PNG

In this example the image file must be in public_html/cgi-sys/images/

notice that the CaSe is important in this example. On platforms that enforce case sensitivity PNG and png are not the same locations.

404 Errors After Clicking WordPress Links

When working with WordPress, 404 Page Not Found errors can often occur when a new theme has been activated or when the rewrite rules in the .htaccess file have been altered.

When you encounter a 404 error in WordPress, you have two options for correcting it.

Option 1: Correct the Permalinks

  1. Log in to WordPress.
  2. From the left-hand navigation menu in WordPress, click Settings > Permalinks(Note the current setting. If you are using a custom structure, copy or save the custom structure somewhere.)
  3. Select Default.
  4. Click Save Settings.
  5. Change the settings back to the previous configuration (before you selected Default). Put the custom structure back if you had one.
  6. Click Save Settings.

This will reset the permalinks and fix the issue in many cases. If this doesn't work, you may need to edit your .htaccess file directly.

Option 2: Modify the .htaccess File

Add the following snippet of code to the top of your .htaccess file:

# BEGIN WordPress

Rewrite Engine On
RewriteBase /
RewriteRule ^index.php$ - [L]
RewriteCond %(REQUEST_FILENAME) !-f
RewriteCond %(REQUEST_FILENAME) !-d
RewriteRule . /index.php [L]

# End WordPress

If your blog is showing the wrong domain name in links, redirecting to another site, or is missing images and style, these are all usually related to the same problem: you have the wrong domain name configured in your WordPress blog.

How to modify your .htaccess file

The .htaccess file contains directives (instructions) that tell the server how to behave in certain scenarios and directly affect how your website functions.

Redirects and rewriting URLs are two very common directives found in a .htaccess file, and many scripts such as WordPress, Drupal, Joomla and Magento add directives to the .htaccess so those scripts can function.

It is possible that you may need to edit the .htaccess file at some point, for various reasons.This section covers how to edit the file in cPanel, but not what may need to be changed.(You may need to consult other articles and resources for that information.)

There are Many Ways to Edit a .htaccess File

  • Edit the file on your computer and upload it to the server via FTP
  • Use an FTP program's Edit Mode
  • Use SSH and a text editor
  • Use the File Manager in cPanel

The easiest way to edit a .htaccess file for most people is through the File Manager in cPanel.

How to Edit .htaccess files in cPanel's File Manager

Before you do anything, it is suggested that you backup your website so that you can revert back to a previous version if something goes wrong.

Open the File Manager

  1. Log into cPanel.
  2. In the Files section, click on the file manager icon.
  3. Check the box for Document Root for and select the domain name you wish to access from the drop-down menu.
  4. Make sure Show Hidden Files (dotfiles)" is checked.
  5. Click go. The File Manager will open in a new tab or window.
  6. Look for the .htaccess file in the list of files. You may need to scroll to find it.

To Edit the .htaccess File

  1. right click on the .htaccess file and click Code Edit from the menu. Alternatively, you can click on the icon for the .htaccess file and then click on the code editor icon at the top of the page.
  2. A dialogue box may appear asking you about encoding. just click Edit to continue. The editor will open in a new window.
  3. Edit the file as needed.
  4. Click Save Changes in the upper right hand corner when done. The changes will be saved.
  5. Test your website to make sure your changes were successfully saved. If not, correct the error or revert back to the previous version until your site works again.
  6. Once completed, you can click close to close the File Manager window.

If earlier the term "consumption" was associated more with gastronomy, today it has become common for a financier. We often hear: “a drop or rise in household consumption, the consumer sentiment index has fallen…”, of course, realizing that this entails a change in our sales as well. With a limited amount of consumption, it is necessary to build your sales in such a way that they not only remain the same as in previous periods, but also grow, because the company's expenses are increasing, despite our efforts to optimize them. This means that we must also ensure sales growth in order to maintain profitability at least at the same level. This task should be solved by financiers together with other departments, in particular, commercial.

In order to maintain and, most importantly, expand our position in the market, our company carried out a large analytical work. First of all, we analyzed changes in the behavior of the buyer of our products. Of course, such work is done all the time, but this time the analysis was carried out taking into account today's changes. After all, a change in the situation of the buyer entails a change in our sales.

What we analyze

During the period of instability in the world markets, including the Ukrainian market, it is necessary to track changes online. The role of the CFO in this process is very important. For example, one of the consumers of our company's products are metallurgical plants. Accordingly, the change in the metal consumption market affects not only the manufacturers of these products, but also us as their suppliers. In this case financial director must warn the commercial divisions of a possible decline in sales and the need to look for alternative customers.

When there is a shortage of funds, it is necessary to minimize the inventory turnover period. We must clearly understand what kind of product the consumer wants to purchase. This requires detailed analysis products sold, as well as possible changes in market conditions. For this purpose, commodity balances are constantly analyzed, the safety stock of products is determined as accurately as possible, because it washes away the working capital of the company.

To optimize working capital, it is very important to have an ideal stock of goods in warehouses, that is, just enough to meet the needs of customers. The role of the financial director in this matter is to ensure that commercial departments do not increase the size of the safety stock. After all, any merchant is afraid of being left without goods, and the financier understands that the safety stock is practically a cost for the company, and not only for its storage and transportation.

For a more accurate understanding of the level of such a stock and the effective ordering of goods from suppliers, the turnover of products is constantly analyzed.

Turnover can show us how many days we sell a product and whether we have built a relationship with the supplier in terms of settlements for the supply of this product. For example, if Factory #1 gave us a 60-day grace period, and our turnover is 41 days, then leverage is 19 days. That is, having received money for the goods sold, we can pay off the factory. Reverse situation with factory #2. With a delay of 30 days, our turnover is 74 days. In other words, we need to look for additional funds to pay this factory, since we have not sold the goods to pay the supplier. Alternatively, it will be the money received from the sale of the goods of factory No. 1. Or we will be forced to negotiate with the supplier to increase the delay.

To understand the reasons for the shortage of funds, we made a calculation: the indicator of the difference between the debt at the beginning of the period plus the goods sold minus the money paid to the supplier (table 1).

As can be seen from Table 1, at factory No. 1, the debt at the beginning of the analyzed period was 100, the amount of goods sold from this supplier at purchase prices was 1900. At the same time, factory No. 1 was paid 2500 in this period. , sold goods and paid money was -500. This means that we paid 500 monetary units to this supplier, using our own working capital or proceeds from the sale of products from other suppliers. This indicator is calculated both at the cost of goods sold and taking into account marginal income. In this case, we can see if we are paying the supplier with our margin.

Expanding the Toolkit

Of course, in tables it looks simple and obvious. Determined that the turnover exceeds the grace period, agreed with the supplier on its longer term. In practice, everything is different. After all, now not everyone has free funds to make an advance payment or provide a deferment.

In the pre-crisis period, many companies began to forget about classic deferrals, factoring and other payment terms. Sales on advance payment or on the fact of shipment have become frequent. The boom in consumption increased the demand for products and in many cases the buyer was chasing the product. Today the situation has changed. To sell your product, you need to take a certain risk and offer the client various payment options. In this case, the financial department must offer a compromise settlement scheme that is minimally risky for the company and beneficial to the buyer.

What if we understand that in order to increase sales, we need to provide more delays, and the supplier is not ready to do this or provides an insufficient delay for us, often requires an advance payment to minimize their risks of rejecting the ordered products? Figure 1 shows that in order to manufacture products, we need to make an advance payment 60 days before receiving the goods.

The buyer is ready to purchase it with a delay of 30 days. As a result, the financial cycle is 90 days. In other words, we need working capital for 90 days. In this case, the finance department is forced to look for additional working capital to finance this transaction. But you can use various financial instruments to reduce the financial cycle and reduce the need for working capital. For example, when settling with a supplier, a letter of credit can be offered to reduce its risks. This makes it possible to receive goods without attracting working capital, to sell it to the buyer, even with a delay. To speed up settlements and attract additional capital, you can arrange factoring with the bank during a sale and purchase transaction. In this case, the goods will be sold, and the necessary funds will appear to pay the supplier or purchase a new product. As shown in Figure 2, the financial cycle can be reduced to zero.

Thus, after analyzing the situation on the market and determining what is happening with our customers, we came to the conclusion that we need to change, or rather, expand the format of sales.

We used to specialize in wholesale sales, that is, they had one format of buyers, received less marginal income, focusing on turnover.

Realizing that today some wholesale buyers are leaving the market or reducing the volume of purchases, we began to focus on another segment of buyers - retail and small wholesale. A comparative analysis of the data showed that the margin is lower for wholesale sales. With the expansion of the sales format, not only the margin increases, but also their volume. After all, we got the opportunity to offer our products to the end consumer.

To implement this idea, we needed to change the format of our warehouses, open Retail Stores, to reformat the branches into wholesale and retail warehouses-shops. Undoubtedly, this entailed an increase in distribution costs, required certain investment injections, but the profitability of sales at the same time increased anyway - due to a change in marginal income.

We managed to solve the issue of increasing costs. When changing the formats of our warehouse stores, we joined forces with related companies. So, now in our stores, as subtenants, there are operators selling accessories and home textiles. This not only helps us share costs among all operators, but also attracts additional buyers, because, when purchasing fabric, they will definitely go to the accessories department to buy, for example, buttons for future products.

Implementing this idea, we came to the conclusion that with a change in the economic situation, great opportunities for the development of the company may open up.

 

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