Product SS&C is primarily a software company which markets and sells its products/services into seven markets: Insurance entities and pension funds, Institutional asset mgmt, Hedge funds and family offices, Financial institutions (retail banks credit unions), Commercial Lending, Real Estate Property Mgmt, and Municipal Finance. In addition to software, SS&C also provides accounting outsourcing to outside firms. Industry Software industry as a whole is maturing and growth is slowing. Software/services one of the largest vertical markets with 62.3 predicted revenues in next year. Financial services industry typically invests more heavily in software since the IT departments in these companies often can't totally handle specialized asset classes and niches that this software is designed to handle. Financial services projected to spend $83 billion on IT in 2004 with $62 billion on software alone. Technology spending in financial services market driven by the growth in the underlying assets, transaction volumes and complexity of securities. Since financial assets are projected to grow annually at 8% (to 26$ trillion by 2007), financial software should grow at the same rate. According to Yahoo, area that is vulnerable is the best-of-breed that specialize in certain niches. No backup plan if growth stalls in that niche industry. SS&C operates in many niches, not just one. Industry Driving Forces There are a few driving forces in the software industry that directly affect SS&C. There is pressure to provide a web component to desktop software (to allow access from internet). Currently only a handful of the SS&C's products are web-based (BancMall). Another pressure comes from the increasing globalization in this industry. In 2003, international revenues accounted for 22-23% of total revenues, a work in progress from the company goal of 50%. SS&C already has a sales presence across Europe, a large office in Malaysia, and their US based clients have operations in Europe. Two of their close competitors (Princeton Financial and Advent Software) have not had much success in Europe. SS&C could also capitalize on the rapidly growing Hedge Fund market in Europe to increase this market. Product innovation and technological change are also constant pressures in software. Both technology and financial markets are constantly changing and new product introductions are key. There is a growing preference for differentiated products as certain niches (i.e. debt and derivatives) need products tailored to their market type. SS&C combats this using acquisitions to gain products to satisfy these niches. Rick factors As in every industry, uncertainty and business risk are driving forces.
I recommend a strong buy on Cisco’s stock with a target price of $32.50, a 50% upside from its current price. Cisco has a solid competitive advantage, because there are not many strong competitors in the market. The other firms show a higher P/E ratio than Cisco because they have a lower market share. The company shows a constant growth. Cisco markets its products globally with the highest market shares than its competitors. The main risks for Cisco are worsening of economic conditions or exchange rates. The company has a good growth in sales, which will lead higher profits. The company also gives out an annualized dividend to its shareholders every year.
Moreover, Ansoff suggested some main direction that companies should follow to develop market and product conditions. The market development and differentiation strategies suggest that in order to increase sales, WRSX have to offer their services in new developing markets such as China or India. The strategy for market development gives the opportunity to expand their service in order to attract competitors' clients and to expand in unreached markets (Barry, Witcher and Chau, 2010). Potential solution could be acquisition of UK agency competitor to assist WRSX to enter new market quicker and smoother go through the barriers of entry such as government regulations and different culture.
The ecommerce industry is growing faster than ever. TJ Maxx needs to start focusing more on ecommerce not only to keep up with competition, but also to make sure they do well during weak economic periods. ecommerce, overall, tends to do very well during lackluster economic times. TJ Maxx will be able to cut costs more easily the more they expand their ecommerce business. Our business idea will allow them to expand their ecommerce as we will take over their website and delivery. TJX Companies’ three ecommerce sites accounts for only about 1.0% of the company’s total sales. However, the online channel is a key growth driver and TJX is taking initiatives to improve its online business. The ecommerce sales
"Smith & Hawken is the premier authority in outdoor living, dedicated to providing products distinguished by authenticity, style and above all, fine craftsmanship" (Smith & Hawken, 2007). The channels used by Smith & Hawken include catalog, retail, and the internet. Dave Smith and Paul Hawken started in 1979 as a mail order company, providing a means for the consumer to obtain high-quality garden tools. In 1982, Smith & Hawken's first retail location opened in Mill Valley, California. Today their products are sold at 61 retail stores located in 23 states and through its catalog, Internet site and select high-end independent garden centers (Lee, 2006).
The soft factors can make or break a successful change process, since new structures and strategies are difficult to build upon inappropriate cultures and values. These problems often come up in the dissatisfying results of spectacular mega-mergers. The lack of success and synergies in such mergers is often based in a clash of completely different cultures, values, and styles, which make it difficult to establish effective common systems and structuresBased on the case study, extensive research and annual reports of AT&T the writer has mapped AT&T in the different domains. AT&T should strive to attain a perfect circle as close to the centre as possible, which indicates total synergy, order and equilibrium. Where the circle is skewed drastic change is needed as it moves closer to the outer ring of chaos:
At the same time to expand their services to be competitor in the payment industry. One of the main reason behind their success having excellent strategy in their external environment. In the external environment they have the extensive network throughout the world and they are still maintaining that standard in their
The defense of our nation and its allies across the globe is essential to the success of the world we live in. The methods in which this defense takes place varies in many different ways, in air, on land, and at sea. Within our nation lies some of the largest defense organizations on the face of the planet, most, if not all, of which strive to protect the United States of America in all arenas. One of these organizations is Northrop Grumman. Northrop Grumman is one of the largest global aerospace and defense technology companies in the world. The company employs over 68,000 employees worldwide, and was named as the fourth-largest defense contractor in the world in 2016 (Forbes, 2016). It grossed over $23.526 billion in 2015. Northrop Grumman
For many years, IBM succeeded in holding a very good market position. In fact, the company achieved a very high market share and huge profits. However, this situation did not last forever. In 1990, IBM experienced its first quarterly loss of $2billion due to some unexpected accounting charges. However, revenues increased from $62.7 billion in the previous year to $96 billion. In 1991, the c...
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd is a Taiwan-based manufacturer and distributor of electronic products. Hon Hai Precision is also known as Foxconn, which is a trade name registered under the company. Terry Gou is the CEO of the company and he believes that Hon Hai Precision can produce their electronic product as part of the daily life of every mankind in the world. Hon Hai Precision is one of the primary players within the global computer, communication, and consumer-electronics (3C) product industry. Hon Hai has two primary product categories which are connecter and cable, and PC components.
The software industry is one of the great catalysts of economic growth and job creation.
In the last few decades, America’s automotive industry has been losing revenue, decline of market share, and employment reduction but international business in the auto industry has been the opposite. For instance, General Motors (GM) have been doing poor in the automotive business while Honda, a Japanese manufacture have been increasing their sales, market shares and employment.
The changing business environment- highly competitive "global" product markets, an increasingly rapid advancements in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and increasing capital intensity of production.
Unilever’s steady underlying improvement in Europe has continued, with 2.8% growth in the year. The fourth quarter was particularly strong, at 5.5%, against a weaker comparator. The Americas were up by 4.1% in the year, with Brazil and Mexico improving through the year, while the US grew solidly at 3.2%. Asia Africa has shown consistent, broad-based growth across countries and categories throughout the year, up by 11.1%. This demonstrates that merging with globalised technologically advanced companies such as SAS, and using their expertise, is paying dividends for Unilever. (Unilever’s Annual Report, 2007) (Drinks Business Review, “Unilever selects SAP as standard for global IT Strategy”, May 2007)
Car Industry Analysis Since the beginning of the car there has been history of used car sales and since World War II boom in auto sales there has been an increasingly large amount of used autos being sold. Immediately following World War II, there were roughly nine buyers for every new car produced. Sales personnel merely had to find out who could afford a new car. The "afford" is defined as paying cash. This condition existed until the early 1950s when supply began to discover that some new terms were creeping into the retail salesperson's vocabulary.
...ware and Software developers and Web designers are just some of the many new employment opportunities created with the help of IT. Probably new more jobs to come in more years.