Case Study: Little Tikes Commercial Play Systems

Problem Statement

Little Tikes Commercial Play Systems Case (Dwyer and Tanner 2009) demonstrates a company that leverages and grows a trusted brand name in a commercial market. This case examines the commercial playground market opportunities and what happens when another company purchases several other companies. In the commercial playground market, it centers around distribution and the accounting and manufacturing software. This also is important for knowing your market when your purchase other companies around the world. It makes sure you know how to strategically put a plan together that will work for each company because each one is its own separate entity.

The primary concern is determining whether buying many different and unique companies

Rubbermaid quickly started to grow by acquiring four different companies including: Iron Mountain Forge, Ausplay, Paris Playgrounds, and Los Angeles- based Omni. Little Tikes Commercial Play Systems, was to allow the units to operate independently while Little Tikes analyzed the strengths and weaknesses of the newly acquired companies as well as the opportunities for consolidation. This would have prevented the mistake that Nick Smyth had made with Ausplay and Omni. Both companies focused on highly customized products, while Little Tikes software, SAP, was very traditional. Another incident happened when Smyth and the management team in Farmington set out to standardize the product line and it ultimately became a disaster. This was caused by the lack of understanding of international markets and how they

This could be changed by optimizing the different manufacturers in each location rather than using the same one for every location. This is very important too for Little Tikes to understand that a product that might sell in Forge might not sell in Ausplay. It is important to make time to learn about the employees and hear their suggestions on how to make the company better because they are seeing it first-hand everyday.

Recommendations

Regarding the problem statement, it shows that the customer should be involved in the marketing plan process. Overall, they are the one who you are marketing to and that are going to purchase the product. Little Tikes should carefully plan out their marketing plan and how they are going to benefit their consumer in the different markets. They also should research more into entering a market to make sure it is a good fit for the brand and there is opportunity for growth and success there. Even with Little Tikes being a success, it was also a learning experience to listen to the employees because they know the area and the consumers. Overall, Little Tikes needs to create a SWOT analysis internally between companies and also set different attainable goals for each entity to