An analysis of the Athlete 's Warehouse case study will gather the inputs needed to plan a strategy. According to Carpenter, Bauer and Erdogan (2009), "At the most basic level, you will need to gather information and conduct analysis about the internal characteristics of the organization and the external market conditions." (p. 227) To accomplish this, the SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis tool can be used. To begin, the internal identification of strengths and weaknesses yields: STRENGTHS 1.) Product Knowledge - According to Bill Howse, Colin Power 's background included supplying Schools with athletic supplies in the Central Newfoundland area and opening a fitness business. Colin 's brother, Ed is an …show more content…
My overall evaluation of the organization is that the business would be a worthwhile investment, but not from just one of the owners. If they secured capital from a bank loan or the sale of the "Fitness Factory" ("Athlete 's Warehouse", 2012), then the risks and rewards would be equitably divided between both brothers. Based on their two chosen locations, the Great Eastern Building would have been the better location because they could set their own hours (which reduces the amount of labor costs vs. adhering to the preset hours of the Exploits Valley Mall location), the rent is cheaper for over twice the floor space, and it is easy to get overlooked in a mall when you are selling higher priced, quality goods. Their key advantage of selling quality goods by a knowledgeable staff ("Athlete 's Warehouse", 2012) would serve them well, and perhaps Colin Power could have merged his business of supplying local schools with athletic equipment ("Athlete 's Warehouse", 2012) into the Athlete 's Warehouse organization, and as such his time servicing these contracts would be an asset to the organization rather than taking his time away from it. Having both of the key stakeholders at the same enthusiasm level would most likely result in a higher chance of success