Don’t Shine on You Crazy Diamond? Jewelers Slump Critical Analysis Exercises Please read the paper requirements carefully which I attach. There is a paper

Don’t Shine on You Crazy Diamond? Jewelers Slump Critical Analysis Exercises Please read the paper requirements carefully which I attach. There is a paper template in it. A few photos are notes. Please use simple words. There is a article that needs to be read.

If there is any doubt, you can write according to the template. The article is subject to the template???????????

First, read the article first.

Second, three individual critical analyses of a problem or opportunity described in an article or case posted

Third, no more than three pages

Fourth, must include the focal reading plus at least three references in addition to the company’s website or Wikipedia.

the format for the paper is as follows:

1. Background

2. Problem Statement (one sentence)

3. Alternate Solutions (need 3)

4. Recommendation (be detailed on why this will solve your problem)

5. Measures (3 that will show if your recommendation was successful)

6. What I Learned

The above should be used as headings on your paper and the paper cannot exceed 3 pages. Don’t shine on you crazy diamond? Jewelers slump
by Paul R. La Monica
He didn’t go to Jared! Or Kay. Or Zales. Or even Piercing Pagoda apparently.
Signet Jewelers (SIG), the company that owns these four shopping mall based brands, reported
disappointing sales Thursday and a tepid outlook. The stock fell 10% on the news.
The poor results come one day after high-end jeweler Tiffany (TIF) also reported sluggish
quarterly earnings.
Shares of Signet and Tiffany have each plunged nearly 20% this year. An analyst who follows
Signet and Tiffany thinks investors may be overreacting to the latest earnings reports as well.
“People are worried about the short-term. It may be overdone though. These are solid
businesses,” said Paul Swinand, an analyst with Morningstar.
But Tiffany and Signet are not the only ones in the business of bling that are struggling.
Richemont (CFRUY), the parent company of Cartier, is also down almost 20%. Online jewelry
retailer Blue Nile (NILE) is down 30% as well.
The lone exception is Danish jeweler Pandora A/S (PNDZY) — not to be confused with
the online radio company. Pandora A/S is up 20% this year and the company reported strong
sales and a solid outlook earlier this month.
All of the jewelry retailers could be in trouble if precious metal prices continue to rally. Gold,
silver and platinum prices are up substantially year-to-date. It may be tough passing on those
costs to consumers. Many may be tapped out. At the very least, they are being more cautious -both in the U.S. and around the world.
“We attribute the overall lower sales to softness in domestic customer spending in many U.S.
markets as well as lower spending by foreign tourists of many nationalities in New York,” said
Tiffany vice president Mark Aaron on a recorded call for investors.
To be sure, shoppers are still spending to spruce up their homes, as evidenced by strong earnings
from Lowe’s (LOW) and Home Depot (HD).
Deep discounters Dollar General (DG) and Dollar Tree (DLTR) also wowed Wall Street with
their latest earnings. Their stocks surged on the news. That could be a sign of how nervous
consumers are though.
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Many apparel retailers, many of whom are mall tenants just like Signet’s big brands, are also
struggling. Gap (GPS), Macy’s (M), Nordstrom (JWN), J.C. Penney (JCP) and Target (TGT) are
among the many big retailers to post lousy numbers recently. Sears (SHLD) and teen clothing
retailer Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) also reported weak results on Thursday.
Many experts think that the rise of online retail — specifically the dominance
of Amazon (AMZN) — is to blame for many of the troubling sales reports from brick-and-mortar
stores.
But for what it’s worth, Signet CEO Mark Light isn’t buying that argument. “Signet is
relatively Amazon-proof as consumers have consistently shown a desire to touch jewelry and get
educated by trusted and trained professionals before making a highly emotional purchase,” he
said during a conference call with analysts.
A stock can be a highly emotional purchase too though. And right now many investors seem
to be showing more fear than greed when it comes to Signet, Tiffany and other jewelers.
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John Barrymore
BA 3103 –XXX
T&R, 11:00 AM – 12:20 PM
Feb. 24, 2015
Big Tobacco and the Advent of E-Cigarettes
Background
The U.S. tobacco industry is among the most heavily regulated and heavily taxed industries in the United
States (The Economist, 2014). Medical evidence of the adverse effects of smoking continues to grow, and the
share of American adults who smoke has declined markedly during the past fifty years, from 42% in 1965 to less
than 18% in 2013 (CDC, 2013). But in spite of ever-increasing regulation and public wariness of the U.S. tobacco
industry, tobacco companies continue to thrive. This oligopoly industry, dominated by big tobacco companies
Altria, Reynolds American, and Lorillard, serves a shrinking but remarkably loyal customer base. Critics are quick
to point out that, despite extensive regulation of the marketing practices in the industry, tobacco products
remain highly lucrative, with sales of over $66 billion in 2014 (Hargreaves, 2014).
This beleaguered but very profitable industry must now deal with another, potentially very disruptive
innovation in the form of e-cigarettes. This new product category, the modern version of which dates from
2007, generated U.S. sales of $2.5 billion in 2014 (Richtel, 2014). Although the e-cigarette sector is still
relatively small, it clearly has the potential to disrupt tobacco sales in the coming years. E-cig use is generally
perceived to be less unhealthful than cigarette smoking, and the e-cig habit is substantially less costly than
consuming tobacco cigarettes (Richtel, 2014). Moreover, e-cigarettes are far less regulated than tobacco
products, without many of the marketing constraints.
The early success of e-cigarettes has not gone unnoticed by the big tobacco companies. Lorillard was the
first to enter this sector with the acquisition in 2012 of the Blu eCig brand (Esterl, 2012). Since then, Altria and
Reynolds American have indicated their intention to introduce e-cig product lines (Richtel, 2014).
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Problem Statement
Tobacco companies must address the advent of e-cigarettes in order to defend their tobacco business and
to identify business opportunities in the growing e-cigarette product sector.
Alternative Solutions
In order to limit the impact of e-cigarettes on the sales of tobacco cigarettes, tobacco companies can lobby
for additional regulation of this new product category. Increased regulation will help to “level the playing field”
and reduce the advantages enjoyed by e-cigs as a consequence of their largely unrestricted marketing. Among
the areas for increased regulation of e-cigarettes, the tobacco companies can lobby federal, state, and local
governments to ban television and radio broadcasting of e-cig advertising, prohibit online sales of this product
category, and proscribe e-cig use in public places. These changes will reduce some of the advantages of e-cigs
over tobacco products, thereby presumably slowing the market acceptance of this product category.
The tobacco companies can also lobby the federal government to regulate e-cigarettes as an over-thecounter pharmaceutical. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) would then regulate product approvals and
monitor the distribution of e-cigs across the United States. Compliance, in the form of application submissions,
clinical testing, and pre-market approvals, will be costly for applicants. This will likely limit the number of new
entrants in this market, and will therefore help to reduce the intensity of market competition.
In order to further blunt the effect of new entrants in the marketplace, tobacco companies can acquire any
promising e-cig brands in order to manage the marketing communications and distribution of these products –
or perhaps to simply discontinue these lines. Lorillard acquired Blue eCigs and is seeking to grow this product
without cannibalizing the sales of its tobacco cigarettes. Similarly, Altria and Reynolds American could acquire
existing product lines in order to manage competition in the tobacco industry.
Recommendations
The best solution for dealing with the threat posed by e-cigs is to seek new legislation to regulate this
growing product category. By lobbying for new product clinical trials and pre-market approvals, the tobacco
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companies will raise the cost of entry for new competitors. Similarly, bans on broadcast advertising and online
sales will reduce the advantages currently enjoyed by e-cig marketers over tobacco marketers. The advantage
of these solutions to the tobacco companies stem from their substantial existing capabilities for lobbying
federal, state, and local governments. The tobacco companies would only need to shift their lobbying emphasis
from their tobacco products to the new e-cigarettes.
Program Performance Metrics
An intermediate metric to determine the effectiveness of any new regulatory legislation is the number of
new entrants in the e-cigarette product category. If the newly erected entry barriers reduce the number of
entrants, this would provide an early indication of success. Also on an intermediate basis, it will be possible to
determine the success of newly implemented marketing regulation of e-cigs by tracking current and potential
customers’ awareness of e-cigarette brands prior to and following the enactment of such regulations. There
should be a statistically significant decline in awareness levels following the enforcement of regulations.
A conclusive metric of the success of tobacco companies’ lobbying programs is the goodwill premium
associated with the market capitalization of e-cigarette companies. If the entry barriers and marketing
regulations are successful, the goodwill premium of these firms should decline. The resulting higher cost of
capital will presumably reduce their ability to compete in the market and thereby to take market share from the
tobacco companies.
What I Have Learned from This Critical Analysis Exercise
The e-cigarette product category is a disruptive innovation because of its potential to reduce demand for
tobacco products. There are clear indications that tobacco companies are taking the necessary steps to defend
their very lucrative market, but these efforts are still at an early stage. We can expect further efforts by the
tobacco companies to protect their positions, perhaps by lobbying more intensively for the regulation of ecigarettes.
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Bibliography
Anon. (2014, January 5) “Running out of puff: Big tobacco firms are maintaining their poise, but quietly
wheezing” The Economist
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (November 2013) “Cigarette smoking among adults—United
States, 2013”
Esterl, Mike, (2012, April 25) “Got a Light – er, Charger: Big Tobacco’s latest Buzz”, The Wall Street Journal
Hargreaves, Rupert (2014, April 18) “Tobacco is Still an Extremely Profitable Business, and This Won’t Change
Soon” The Motley Fool , http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2014/04/08/tobacco-is-still-an-extremelyprofitable-busines-2.aspx
Richtel, Matt (June 17, 2014) “Why big tobacco companies are betting on e-cigarettes” The New York Times
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Critical Analysis Exercises
You will be responsible for submitting three individual critical analyses of a problem
or opportunity described in an article or case posted on Blackboard. Critical
analyses must be a maximum of three pages in length; only the first three pages will
be read and evaluated by the instructor. You will identify the problem or
opportunity and discuss a viable solution based on your analysis of the case. The
general structure of all critical analyses:
1.
Describe the business situation, including the macro-environmental and
micro-environmental conditions facing the organization.
2.
Develop the problem statement: the opportunity or threat facing the
organization.
3.
What alternative strategies and programs would you consider to deal with
the opportunity or threat to the organization? Present each alternative in sufficient
detail to give the reader an idea of why it may be beneficial.
4.
Recommend one or more of the alternatives you have identified. Inform the
reader of your reasons for these recommendations.
5.
Describe tracking metrics to determine whether your recommended
strategies and programs are effective. Be sure to include both intermediate metrics
and conclusive metrics to guide management’s redirection of ineffective strategies.
6.
Summarize what you have learned from your critical analysis.
You are encouraged to do external research on the industry or the company as a
context for your analysis. In-text source citations and a comprehensive
bibliography are required. Your report must include the focal reading plus at least
three references in addition to the company’s website or Wikipedia.
For anyone who was still confused after last night’s class, the format for the paper is
as follows:
1. Background
2. Problem Statement (one sentence)
3. Alternate Solutions (need 3)
4. Recommendation (be detailed on why this will solve your problem)
5. Measures (3 that will show if your recommendation was successful)
6. What I Learned
The above should be used as headings on your paper and the paper cannot exceed 3
pages.
You also need a bibliography page with at least two outside sources and the case. I
do not care what format you use. Wikipedia is not a source. I did a quick search for
Taco Bell, London, Beer and got over 1,000 hits.
The keys will be:
1. Is your problem statement succinct and clear?
2. Do your solutions solve your problem?
3. Does your recommendation solve your problem?
4. Do you justify your recommendation?
5. Are you providing measures or tactics?
6. Do your measures support your recommendation?
7. Did you follow these really clear directions?
Prosun
Solutions
-Personalized Jewelry
Background
Jewelry sales RV
– Jewelry needs a B seen
– Malls
– Stock $
Measures
– Ang. Trans
– Visits
-Out of favor
– Commodiny In
– ? Competition
economy Shakeys
Loyalty Plogr.
A Tat. Anda
Igt. Mktg.
-Corp. Programs
– Virtual Reality
3D Printers
Better Sales People
Bonuses
consolidation of Companies
Consolidation of brands
Differentiate
Mixed Materials
– Discontinue Lines
– Consumers Spending to on jewelry
– Jo Tourist Spending
Bargain Shopping
Unique Jewelry
-Costume Jeaelry
Nesting
P1
(ANDORA
– Consumer Exp. D’d
-Dwell Time
– Reviews
– Stk. holder Inv. Rel.
Signet Stock Il
eCommerce
– Online
Differentiation
-Singh longer
– Stock was emotional
– Branding
– Natural Cycle
– Close stores
– Lower $
– Mktg
– Tgt Mkt. Match Data
– Income v. fra
P
Recycle Bin PowerPoint
2016
Access
Measures
Proown
Personalised Jewelry
– Ang. Trans
Background
– Stock $
Jewelry Sales RV
-OUT of Favor
Loyalty Progr.
??
redo a B seen
– Jewelry
– Commediaya?
– Pancora
– Malls
– Consumers Spending to on jewelry
to Tourist Spending
Borgain Shopping
Unique Jewelry
– ? Competition
economy Shakay
Solutions
A .
A Tat. And,
Consolidation of Companies
Igt. Mktg
-Consolidation of Brands
al – Corp. Programs
Differentiate
Virtual Reality
Mixed Materials
– Discontinue Lines 3D Printers
Better Sales people
Bonuses
– lower $
Dwell Time
– Reviews
– Stk. Holder Iww. Rel.
– Consumer Exp. D’d
-ecommerce
-Signet Stock il
– Differentiation
– Single longer
– Costume Jemely
– Nesting
– Close stores
– Tgt. Mkt. Match Data
– Online
Stock was emotional
– Branding
– Natural Cycle
– Mktg
1
-Income v.
fra.
D

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