Page 12 - CIMA MCS Workbook November 2018 - Day 1 Tasks

CIMA NOVEMBER 2018 – MANAGEMENT CASE STUDY

pressure groups regarding the reduction of sugar content in soft drinks and the associated health
issues. This clearly indicates a resultant need for new product development, refinement of
packaging and therefore protection of the Grapple brand. These challenges are generating serious
risks to the future success of players within the industry and require immediate innovation and
action to mitigate the risk.

With revenue derived entirely form Zedland is it also essential that Grapple has up to date and
accurate information from the market places to facilitate crucial decisions surrounding its product
range, distribution channels and market presence. For example, Grapple currently has only 1% of
its revenue from airline sales in the central region of Zedland and as a result may consider
developing a further presence in this marketplace. This will also be applicable to other overseas
expansion opportunities, which is the essence of the original Grapple vision statement.

All opportunities are fuelled by external pressures and are further complicated by changes in
consumer taste, market demand and technological advancement. This requires the need for
greater awareness of changes in consumer taste, improvements in technology and social and
economic pressures affecting disposable income. This makes for a complex trading environment
and a need to understand more about the industry, new production technology and how sales
channels are progressing to facilitate decisions concerning Grapple’s strategy if growing market
share by innovation and product quality and reputation is to be achieved.

Grapple continues to be managed by the original family, currently by Roger Grapple (the son of
the founder) who has worked for the business for his entire adult life. Change for Grapple does
however seem inevitable as the CEO has expressed a desire to retire in the next five years and
none of the descendants seem interested in becoming part of the business.

In addition further change may be necessary as, despite production processes and quality control
being strictly monitored, the industry is constantly striving for ways to make its manufacturing
processes more efficient and effective due to the pressure on margins. This change may be
extremely challenging for Grapple given the longevity of the current leadership.

8 KAPLAN PUBLISHING