Corporate Strategy Industry Analysis Beroe Inc

Course Facilitator: Ms B. Uma Maheswari

Submitted By Team 8 (MBA A Batch) Akhil Murali (11AA03) Jesse Sebastian (11AA17) Mohan Rajesh M (11AA21) Manoj Kumar (11AA23) Subin S B (11AA40)

Industry Overview The entire research industry has about 7000+ firms distributed throughout the world. Though the number is pretty high, each firm specialize in few of the various industry sectors only. This limits the competition between various firms under the same category of Research Firms because of difference in specialization. However the limitation is not permanent as the research firms always train to support more sectors and use expert connections throughout the world to improve on their verticals. Market Intelligence is about providing a company with a view of a market using existing sources of information to understand what is happening in a market place, what the issues are and what the likely market potential is. Market Intelligence can be divided into two spheres Market Intelligence based on external data Market Intelligence based on internal data

Often Market Intelligence relies purely on external data such as analyst reports, but there is often a great deal of untapped information internally that would give you an insight into your market, from sources such as databases and prospect lists, and an holistic view can prove very insightful. Also the development in technology and analytics software and the advent of cloud computing have all liberalised the use of data for market analysis at any part of the world. The prospect in developing nations is high for research firms because the industries in those areas are still in budding stage of adapting the support of research institutes/firms this has left the door open for Research firms. Also among the n number of industries in India only very few that too in the top tier alone employ the support of research firms to increase their market. Most of the SMEs do not employ this option; this is also a huge prospect for being the research business in India. Most of the consultancy available in the field is working on a small scale and not well-versed in providing a global analysis. There are many research MNCs who have a local operation in India to support clients globally to increase their market share in India, but they mostly do not have many Indian client to support with.

Beroe Inc Company Profile Beroe Inc is a leading Market Intelligence based service found on 2002 firm headquartered in the Research Triangle, North Carolina with a Research & Analysis Headquarters in Chennai, India. Beroe acts as a comprehensive decision support partner by providing a dedicated Market Intelligence Research team that is supporting client's global Market Intelligence needs. Beroes client base is mostly global inclusive of more than 60 Fortune 500 companies. They have a team of 201-500 full time resources in addition to a network of 650+ experts around the world. They also manages spend worth approximately 12 billion dollars in a wide variety of commodities and services. Their expertise is distributed among the following verticals: Base metals Crude oil Derivatives Products and Services Specialty Chemicals Agricultural Products Pharmaceutical Services Paper and Paper products Low cost country sourcing Beroe Green Beroe Risk ( risk mitigation ) Steel

Beroes services include: Providing accurate long/short term price forecast Input cost models for commodities Identifying suppliers in low-cost/high-quality sourcing destinations Risk evaluation of a supply base Study of new technologies and trends Product lifecycle analysis Providing trade statistics Identifying alternate materials/products etc. Track global markets for various commodities and scan for risks and opportunities.

Beroe also specializes in Value Chain news Translation a service where they can track the entire supply chain of commodities/products and forewarn on any supply disruptions.

Products (New Initiatives) Sourcing database of Green suppliers Carbon tax calculator Scenario Planning tools for commodities, etc.

Locations Beroe is headquartered in Raleigh, NC (USA) and has offices in: Chennai India Shenzhen- China Moscow- Russia Hanoi- Vietnam Rosario City-Argentina Istanbul-Turkey Bucharest-Romani

Porters five force analysis of Research/Market Intelligence Industry Michael Porter provided a framework for industry analysis based on five forces. We have used the model to analyse the attractiveness of Research Services industry with relevance to Indian industry. We have used a 5-point scale to rate the attractiveness of the industry based on several influencing sub-factors. Table 1: Rivalry among competitors Attractiveness Low 1 No. of competitor Industry growth Fixed cost Differentiation Switching cost Openness of terms of sales Excess capacity Strategic stakes Large Slow High Low Low Secret Large High * Total: 21/ 8= 2.625 Interpretation As per the above values we can infer that the attractiveness of industry is less than average which means that threat of rivalry in this industry is not that high because of the low differentiation among product/service and due to slow growth of industry. This could also be because of high switching cost and inability to cater to the large industry population due to lack of quality experts in various sectors. Table 2: Barriers to exit Attractiveness Low 1 Asset specialization Cost of exit Government restriction High High High Total: 12/3 =4 2 3 * * 4 * High 5 Small Small Small Remark 2 * * * * * * 3 4 High 5 Small Fast Low High High Open Small Low Remarks

Interpretation The attractiveness of the industry is high based on barrier of exit. This is mainly because of the low cost of exit and less government restriction in the business. Only negative would be the high cost incurred in asset specialization- mostly training HR and softwares procured for analysis. Table 3: Barriers to entry Attractiveness Low 1 * 2 * * * * * * * * Total: 24/9= 2.667 3 4 High 5 Large High High High Limited Large Restricted Restricted Substantial Remark

Economies of scale Product differentiation Brand identity Switching cost Access to channels of distribution Capital requirement Access to technology Access to raw material Government protection

Small Low Low Low Easy Small Easy Easy None

Interpretation Analysing barriers to entry helps in understanding that the attractiveness of industry is again less than average due to some of the factors such as high requirement of brand recognition and high switching cost because of the investment already made with another firm. Also there is some difficulty in accessing the raw materials (in this case talented employees), capital investment and access to technology is closely related, but that alone wont work as bright mind are required to make intuitive analysis of the market.

Table 4: Threat from substitutes Attractiveness Low 1 Availability of close substitutes Switching cost Substitutes price-value Profitability of the producers of substitutes High Low Better High Total: 16/4 = 4 Interpretation Attractiveness towards industry is high based on substitute analysis. This is mainly because there is no substitute for the service that is being provided by firms in this industry and only competitors. Table 5: Bargaining power of buyers Attractiveness Low 1 Small * Many Low High Low Low High Low * * * * * Total: 24/8= 3 * 2 3 4 High 5 Large * Few High Low High High Low High Remark * * * 2 3 4 High 5 * Low High Worse Low Remark

Number of buyers Availability of substitutes Switching cost Buyers threat of backward integration Industrys threat of forward integration Contribution to quality Contribution to cost Buyers profitability

Interpretation Industry attractiveness is exactly at an average value with respect to analysis carried out on the basis of customers bargaining power. This is due to reasons such as high contribution to quality and close to medium profitability of buyer, this is also due to reason profitability does not come just from analysis. It depends completely on buyer as to which strategy they might adapt among the suggested strategies. Table 6: Bargaining power of suppliers Attractiveness Low 1 Number of suppliers Availability of substitutes Switching cost Suppliers threat of forward integration Industrys threat of backward integration Contribution to quality Contribution to cost Industrys importance to supplier Small Few High High Low High High Low * * * * Total: 16/8= 2 Interpretation Industry attractiveness is very low as per the analysis carried out on bargaining power of suppliers. Many reasons contributing to the cause are less power of supplier/firm, limited pool of talented managers & engineers (those well versed in latest technologies), and large number of suppliers. * * * 2 3 * 4 High 5 Large Many Low Low High Low Low High Remark

Table 7: Government actions Attractiveness Low 1 * * * Total: 7/3= 2.333 Interpretation The attractiveness of the industry is low again on the basis of analysis done with regards to government actions. This is due to no regulative body to oversee the functions of the industry and not much initiative from government side to promote by making data availability to be high for the improvement of economy of the nation itself. Table 8: Overall assessment Attractiveness Low 1 Barriers to entry Rivalry among competitors Barriers to exit Power of buyers Power of suppliers Threat of substitutes Government action Overall attractiveness 2 3 4 High 5 Remark 2.625 4 2.667 4 3 2 2.333 2.946 2 3 4 High 5 High Low Low Remark

Industry protection Industry regulation (pollution, etc.) Customs and tariff restrictions abroad

Low High High

On analysing the attractiveness of the Research/Market Intelligence industry using Porters five force model, we can say that the attractiveness of the industry is close to average. The existing players who have made a name for themselves will always be first preference by any tier 1 industry because of the huge cost investment required and the dependency of the analysis, so if a new firm wants to make a mark and reap revenue, they should find means to cater to the needs of tier 2, 3 industries and grow their reputation and slowly proceed towards the cream.
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Step 1: Beroes existing Vision, Mission, Objectives and Strategies Vision: The future of procurement intelligence Mission: We aspire to strategically partner with our clients as an extension of their procurement function. Our focus is on where the procurement industry is heading. Each day we work to provide the necessary intelligence for businesses to stay ahead of their competitors and anticipate the needs of their customers. By thinking several steps ahead, by proactively developing category knowledge and continuing to scale our capabilities, were able to deliver unprecedented value. Our collaborative approach shows in the way our people take it upon themselves to deliver what we promise. . Objectives: To be market leader in Procurement Intelligence. Provide Best-Cost Sourcing Strategies. Beroe Green wants to help its clients recognize their requirement for sustainable practices to their operations via green procurement. Provide client with proactive measures to handle risk.

Strategies: Product/Service Development o Beroe is unique in its emphasis on domain expertise and multiple, impartial sources of information. With 52 different domains, they have expanded to cover over 95% of their clients spend categories. Unrelated Diversification o Beroe Inc has also launched new products in the market like Sourcing database of Green suppliers, Carbon tax calculator, Scenario Planning tools for commodities.

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Step 2: Revised Ideal Vision and Mission Statements Revised Vision: The future of procurement intelligence summarizes the vision for Beroe and the goal for their clients. Revised Mission We provide quality market and procurement Intelligence for our clients on global markets with focus on sustainability practices and risk analysis. Our leaders with immense potential and proven knowledge lead our employees to be successful analysts who contribute to organisational growth. Step 3: Identifying Beroes External Opportunities and Threats Opportunities 1. They have yet to venture into many verticals apart from the 11 industry sectors they are supporting till date. Some of the vertical to which they can contribute could be related to clinical research, Information Technology, Mobile field etc., 2. They have a huge opportunity in untapped business categories of small scale enterprises. 3. They are yet to realise customers in developing nations like India, China etc., Most of their customer though have global operation it is closely related U.S market. 4. Upgrading their technology to support latest analytical capability such us using business analytics software of world class quality and also leveraging on technologies such as Cloud Computing Threats 1. They are facing threat from well-established research firms when they are trying to get a chunk of top companies in business. 2. Poor review or feedback by industries could be a threat to their growth.
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3. Too many companies to choose from in each vertical result in difficulty to get customers. 4. Government restriction on using data for using the same against local manufacturers etc., 5. Lack of expert to use technology as well as analysis. 6. Employee Retention. Step 4: Constructing a Competitive Profile Matrix (CPM) Beroe Critical Success Factors Advertising/Promotions Quality of Analysis Differentiation Technology/knowledge Market share/Customer Base Expert Analyst Experts Network Customer loyalty Weight 0.1 0.15 0.1 0.15 0.1 0.15 0.15 0.1 1 Rating 1 3 3 3 2 3 4 3 WS 0.1 0.45 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.45 0.6 0.3 2.7 US-Analytics Rating 2 4 3 3 3 3 2 3 WS 0.2 0.6 0.3 0.45 0.3 0.45 0.3 0.3 2.9 Frost & Sullivan Rating 3 4 3 4 4 3 2 3 WS 0.3 0.6 0.3 0.6 0.4 0.45 0.3 0.3 3.25

The competitive profile matrix is analysed between Beroe, US-Analytics and Frost & Sullivan. The firm choice was mainly made on the basis of close relation to the vertical they cater and also the customer base they serve and the recognition they enjoy in the corporate world. The total overall weighed score shows that Frost & Sullivan has an edge over USanalytics and Beroe with a score of 3.25 followed by US-Analytics with 2.9 and Beroe with 2.7. From the CPM it is clear that Beroe need to improve its Promotional activities to reach the customers (here industries), increase their market presence by expanding to new verticals and geographical market and not to just be focused on U.S Clients alone...

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Step 5: Constructing an External Factor Evaluation Matrix Sl No 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 5 6 Key External Factors Opportunities Market availability in new verticals Untapped Business Categories of SMEs Unrealised business sectors of developing nations New Technology updates to improve competence Threats Well established/favoured competitors Wrong feedback/review by customers Restriction on data usage by government Too many competitors in each vertical Lack of Talent in market to use technology and analyse the result Employee Retention TOTAL Weight 0.15 0.15 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.05 0.05 0.1 0.1 0.1 1 Rating 3 4 3 2 3 1 1 3 3 3 Weighted Score 0.45 0.6 0.3 0.2 0.3 0.05 0.05 0.3 0.3 0.3 2.85

The External Factor Evaluation Matrix is done with taking external factors into consideration and weights are assigned according to their relative importance to be successful in the industry. The factors considered are the opportunities and threats for the company. The weighted score of Beroe is at 2.85 which are above the average score of 2.5 this helps us in determining that they are currently operating at a better state towards growth. They could improve on their performance further by exploiting opportunities such as checking out for new verticals increase their customer base towards small and medium scale industries and developing countries... The highest rated threat of Competitive market and competitors can be worked on only by increasing their presence in the industry by successful endeavours and have a well-structured training phase to develop their own talent pool.

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Step 6: Identifying Beroes internal strength and weakness Strength 1. Organizational Resources Human resource. 2. Employee Morale Is termed to be high as there is always a challenging environment with enough perks to retain them in the firm. 3. Technological resources the analytical softwares which are being used enterprise wide to carry forward with the surveys and various proactive risk analysis. 4. Management framework and a well-defined organizational structure with clarity in role and reporting throughout the firm and for each vertical. 5. The Expert Network which they have developed with more than 1000+ experts all over the world to share details and for valuable inputs. 6. Diversifying to manufacture products to cater the industries apart from only analysis. 7. Proactive analysis of market to provide additional details to customers. Weakness 1. Fewer employees to cater the needs of the market. 2. Too much focus is still for U.S clients, despite having physical offices located in multiple geographical areas. 3. Prime focus is only on fortune companies. Companies with lower profile are neglected. 4. Employee over utilization has been mentioned time and again due to overcommitment.

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Step 7: Constructing an Internal Factor Evaluation Matrix Sl No 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4

Key Internal Factors Strength Human Resource Challenging Environment for employees with incentives based on performance Technological Resources Organization Structure and Management Framework Expert network of more than 1000 analyst all over the world Innovative step to manufacture products to cater their clients. Proactive analysis of market Weakness Few employee to support client Too much focus on U.S client only Prime focus on Fortune companies and neglecting other firms Employee over utilization because of management over commitment TOTAL

Weight 0.15 0.1 0.05 0.05 0.2 0.05 0.05 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.05 1

Rating 4 3 3 3 4 3 3 1 1 1 2

Weighted Score 0.6 0.3 0.15 0.15 0.8 0.15 0.15 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 2.7

The Internal Evaluation Factor Matrix is done by taking the internal factors of the Company. The analysis of Beroes strengths and weakness the overall weighted score comes to 2.7 which are above the average of 2.5. The major reason which has contributed to this success is their employee base and the innovative strategy of creating an expert network to tap the expert knowledge of many more from the world. Also they have taken steps towards unrelated diversification of creating products for many sustainable practises which is also contributing as one of their major strength. Their weakness is more towards the misplaced focus of client base and market.

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Step 8: Preparing a Matrixes Strength-Weakness-Opportunity-Threats (SWOT) Matrix Beroe Helpful Strength 1. Human resource. 2. Employee Morale Is termed to be high as there is always a challenging environment with enough perks to retain them in the firm. 3. Technological resources the analytical softwares which are being used enterprise wide to carry forward with the surveys and risk analysis. 4. Management framework and a well-defined organizational structure with clarity in role and reporting throughout the firm and for each vertical. 5. The Expert Network which they have developed with more than 1000+ experts all over the world to share details and for valuable inputs. 6. Diversifying to manufacture products to cater the industries apart from only analysis. 7. Proactive analysis of market to provide additional details to customers. SO - Strategy
1. Penetrate untapped markets (S4, S5, O2) 2. Adapt to trend to provide more innovative product/service (S6, S7, O1, O3) 3. Use Expert network to improve market presence (S5,O1,O2,O3) 16

Internal Origin

Harmful Weakness 1. Fewer employees to cater the needs of the market. 2. Too much focus is still for U.S clients, despite having physical offices located in multiple geographical areas. 3. Prime focus is only on fortune companies. 4. Companies with lower profile are neglected. 5. Employee over utilization has been mentioned time and again due to over-commitment.

Opportunities
1. They have yet to venture into many verticals apart from the 11 industry sectors they are supporting till date. 2. They have a huge opportunity in untapped business categories of small scale enterprises. 3. They are yet to realise

External Origin

WO- Strategy 1. Improve IT support to ease work load on employee (W1, O4) 2. Expand to other international market (W2,W3,W4,O2,O3)

customers in developing nations like India, China etc., 4. Upgrading their technologybusiness analytics software, Cloud Computing

Threats
1. They are facing threat from well-established research firms when they are trying to get a chunk of top companies in business. 2. Poor review or feedback by industries could be a threat to their growth. 3. Too many companies to choose from in each vertical result in difficulty to get customers. 4. Government restriction on using data for using the same against local manufacturers etc., 5. Lack of expert to use technology as well as analysis. 6. Employee Retention.

ST- Strategy
1. Improve Human Resource capability to match market competition (S 1, S2, T1, T5, T6) 2. Use expert network to overcome competition by differentiation and quality of service (S5,T3,T1)

WT-Strategy
1. Expand to untapped market (W2, W3, T1, T3) 2. Provide enough training to employee to become experts ( W5,T5,T6)

The SWOT matrix can be used to develop strategies by making a match of the various external and internal factors. The four possible strategies are : Strength Opportunity strategy , Weakness Opportunity strategy, Strength Threat strategy and Weakness Threat strategy .The strategy developed through by making a SWOT analysis for Beroe are given below :Strength Opportunity strategy Penetrate untapped markets (S4, S5, O2) Beroe has always limited their client base to U.S alone this has resulted in slow growth and less presence in the market. They should do more ground work in customizing their service to cater the needs of developing nations to increase their revenue as well as their reputation which follows their success in analysis and end result.

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Adapt to trend to provide more innovative product/service (S6, S7, O1,O3) Apart from analysing the market and providing analysis reports they have ventured into manufacturing products/software to improve activities of clients and also to promote sustainable practices. This would also help them in making a mark in the industry sectors and recognition will be followed with more projects.

Use Expert network to improve market presence (S5,O1,O2,O3) They have a well-established expert network which taps into the knowledge base available in the entire world. This network is still growing if they can apply this network effectively, they could improve current market, penetrate new markets as well as create a niche in untapped markets.

Weakness Opportunity strategy Improve IT support to ease work load on employee (W1,O4)

This is mainly related to procurement of software/technologies to improve/reduce work load of employee which would invariably result in improved quality of service and employee satisfaction.

Expand to other international market (W2,W3,W4,O2,O3)

This is to improve their presence on a geographical scale, improve revenue flow and also to reduce the risk of too much dependence on U.S client alone. Strength Threat strategy Improve Human Resource capability to match market competition (S 1, S2, T1, T5,T6) This includes providing expert training to existing employee pool and make them expert to handle task which would result in reduction of loss of business due to lack of expert knowledge also it reduces burden of employees. Use expert network to overcome competition by differentiation and quality of service (S5,T3,T1)
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This is mainly related to exploiting the expert network more effectively to be one step ahead of the fellow competitors. This requires close supervision of Management too. Weakness Threat strategy Expand to untapped market (W2,W3, T1, T3)

Beroe has always limited their client base to U.S alone this has resulted in slow growth and less presence in the market. They should do more ground work in customizing their service to cater the needs of developing nations to increase their revenue as well as their reputation which follows their success in analysis and end result. Also they could concentrate more on other industries too rather than focusing on only fortune 500 companies. . Provide enough training to employee to become experts ( W5,T5,T6)

This includes providing expert training to existing employee pool and make them expert to handle task which would result in reduction of loss of business due to lack of expert knowledge also it reduces burden of employees. This result in improved customer loyalty and reduce attrition due to over work.

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Strategic Position and Action Evaluation (SPACE) Matrix

Financial Strength (FS) ROI Liquidity Working Capital Cash Flow Total Competitive Advantage (CA) Expert Analyst Market Share Quality of Service Technological Skills Differentiation Total

worst(+1) to best(+6 ) 2 5 2 5 14 worst(-6) to best(-1 ) -1 -5 -2 -2 -3 -13

Environmental Sustainability (ES) Technology Changes Inflation Rate Demand Competitive Pressure Total Industry Strength (IS) Growth Possibility Profit Potential Technology/Knowledge Entry Barriers Total

worst(-6) to best(-1 ) -2 -4 -3 -1 -10 worst(+1) to best(+6 ) 6 4 5 2 17

X axis FS + ES = 14- 10 = 4

Y axis CA + IS = -13+17 = 4

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Financial Strength Financial strength has been calculated on an assumed basis adapted from Forrester Research Inc, due to the lack of sufficient details on Beroe. Only substantial data we have is that they have revenue of $30 million on 27 December, 2012. Environmental strength Most of the factors in this field are close to average value because of less influence or stable factors involved in the quadrant. Apart from Risk involved with inflation. Competitive Strength Beroe has good internal strength which acts as their competitive advantage. They only need to work on market share to start with to make a difference among other competitors... Industry Strength Research Services Industry has lot of prospect but still it is in budding stage with fewer customers employing its service for their benefit. The potential market is a huge attractor for new players which will remain same for a long term because of the awareness problem. From the SPACE matrix it can be seen that Beroe can take an aggressive stance.

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Boston Consulting Group (BCG) Matrix We have developed BCG Matrix to portray the various position the products of Beroe holds in the Indian market. Green Procurement Tools it falls under Question mark. This is a part of initiative that Beroe has recently started based on the customer drive in recent years towards sustainable practices. They have come with carbon emission calculator, GHG emission issues etc., these products are still in budding stage so it has been put under Question Mark. Procurement Intelligence and Best-Cost Country Sourcing comes under star division because these are the fore-runner among all its service provided to customer and it has been welcomed with open hands because of the scale to which it has helped the clients to reduce cost and increase opportunities in their business operation. Market Intelligence comes under cash cow as it has become a default input for the clients and the work done on this has also saturated this brings in a constant inflow of revenue, another reason for market intelligence to be a cash cow is because Beroe is now concentrating more on its Star category to increase market share.

Proprietary Dashboard and Internet Portal falls under the category of dog. Because most of the client do not depend much on internet portal for their market intelligence report and also the proprietary dashboard does not serve its purpose now as the technology is drastically changing to new angle every now and then.

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Internal External (IE) Matrix The IE matrix belongs to the group of strategic portfolio management tools. In a similar manner like the BCG matrix, the IE matrix positions an organization into a nine cell matrix. The IE matrix is based on the following two criteria: Score from the EFE matrix -- this score is plotted on the y-axis Score from the IFE matrix -- plotted on the x-axis

The above graph shows that Beroe can go for a Hold and Maintain strategy. This means tactical strategies should focus on market penetration and product development.

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Grand Strategy Matrix Beroe have a good competitive advantage over its rivals with respect to innovative strategy such as Expert Network and they have exploited the market demand well to understand the customer requirement to venture into producing customised products. Still they are lagging behind other competitors due to their lack of focus on customer base which is limited only to U.S clients. From these we can determine that they could be placed in the 2nd quadrant. This is related to a weak competitive position in a rapid growing market.

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Quantitative Strategic Planning Matrix (QSPM)

Market Development AS TAS 3 3 4 2 0.45 0.45 0.4 0.2 Market Penetration AS TAS 4 4 1 3 0.6 0.6 0.1 0.3

KEY FACTOR

WEIGHT

Opportunities Market availability in new verticals Untapped Business Categories of SMEs Unrealised business sectors of developing nations New Technology updates to improve competence Threats Well established/favoured competitors Wrong feedback/review by customers Restriction on data usage by government Too many competitors in each vertical Lack of Talent in market to use technology and analyse the result Employee Retention Strength Human Resource Challenging Environment for employees with incentives based on performance Technological Resources Organization Structure and Management Framework Expert network of more than 1000 analyst all over the world Innovative step to manufacture products to cater their clients. Proactive analysis of market Weakness Few employee to support client Too much focus on U.S client only Prime focus on Fortune companies and neglecting other firms Employee over utilization because of management over commitment Total

0.15 0.15 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.05 0.05 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.15 0.1 0.05 0.05 0.2 0.05 0.05 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.05

2 1 2 3 2 1 3 4 3 3 3 3 4 2 1 2 2

0.2 0.05 0.1 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.45 0.4 0.15 0.15 0.6 0.15 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.2 0.1 5.15

3 3 1 4 4 3 4 3 4 4 4 4 3 1 2 1 1 <

0.3 0.15 0.05 0.4 0.4 0.3 0.6 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.8 0.2 0.15 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.05 6.1

(Attractiveness Score: 1 = not acceptable; 2 = possibly acceptable; 3 = probably acceptable; 4 = most acceptable; 0 = not relevant)
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The QSPM helps in comparing the attractiveness of various strategies and useful for management to determine which of the strategy is more apt for implementation based on the internal strength, weakness and external opportunities and threat. In this QSPM we evaluate the strategies chosen with respect to Beroe. The key factors identified in IFE and EFE matrix are the major input for the QSPM Matrix along with their weights. The Attractiveness Score (AS) ranges from 1 to 4 depending on how important each factor is to the strategy. The Total Attractiveness Score (TAS) of each strategy is obtained by multiplying AS of each strategy with the weights. The attractiveness of the market is determined by the value of TAS. As per the scores we can determine Market Penetration Strategy is better than Market development Strategy and contains more scope for future aspect for Beroe.

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Step 9: Preparing a projected financial statement for the strategies recommended

Profit-Revenue (Beroe)
60000 50000 40000 30000 20000 10000 0 Sum of Profit Sum of Revenue 2012 4500 30000 2013 5175 32670 2014 5951.25 35577.63 2015 6843.94 38744.04 2016 7870.53 42192.26

Year

Revenue Growth Rate

Revenue (Thousand dollars)

30000.00 32670.00 35577.63 38744.04 42192.26

Profit Growth Rate

15.00% 15.00% 15.00% 15.00%

Profit (in Thousand dollars)

4500.00 5175.00 5951.25 6843.94 7870.53

2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 8.90% 8.90% 8.90% 8.90%

All the above details are calculated from industry analysis of U.S market for private industries to have 8.9% revenue growth and profit is calculated on the basis of expected profit margin to remain dominant in market (adapted from Forrester Research Inc.). The initial value of 30 million dollar was the only financial detail available for Beroe for analysis. Keeping the assumption from the above stats we could infer that there will be a steady growth in revenue for Beroe for the next five years.

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Step 10: Recommending annual objectives and strategy review and evaluation There are multiple objectives on the agenda of Beroe which they are working parallel and providing the same to all their clients. Those objectives are not restricted to a time frame as it is one of their main service component as well, so these objective could be reworked at the advent of some drastic changes in consumer perspective regarding sustainable practices, so applying the current strategy with some promotional marketing to penetrate the existing market base and reviewing the growth and re-assessing their strategy would be able to guide them in the right path. This could be done on a half-yearly basis owing to the stability involved with the objectives. Also a dedicated team would serve the purpose of reviewing and evaluating the growth in a timely fashion.

CONCLUSION From the above analysis and comparative study with competitors we could identify that the best suitable strategy for Beroe would be Market Penetration with genuine promotional activities to reach the consumer and to create awareness. They also have their focus on sustainability in their Market/procurement Intelligence Research with respect to their practices and future product, which is also a good initiative if we consider how the consumer mind-set has transcended and lot of government policies backing the same. Beroe could also divert their attention to less fortunate industries and developing markets to improve their service presence and at the end of day their net profit.

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References
Books
Kotler, P, Armstrong, G, Wong, V & Saunders, J, 2008, Marketing Defined. Principles of marketing (5th ed.), Prentice Hall

Websites
James MacAonghus, (Apr 16, 2012) ,Building a list of competitive intelligence companies, Retrieved December 27,2012, from http://www.aqute.com/blog/bid/81718/Building-a-list-of-competitive-intelligencecompanies Beroe Inc. Employee Review, (Feb 13,2011), Retrieved January 2,2013, from http://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Employee-Review-Beroe-Inc-RVW810711.htm Jason Busch, Learning / Research, (June 17,2010), Beroe: Rising to Meet Category and Market Intelligence Needs, Retrieved January 3,2013 from http://www.spendmatters.com/index.cfm/2010/6/17/Beroe-Rising-to-Meet-Categoryand-Market-Intelligence-Needs-Part-1 Frost & Sullivan, Retrieved January 1, 2013, from http://www.frost.com/prod/servlet/frost-home.pag Top 10 Market Research Companies Perceived to be Innovative (GRIT 2010 Sneak Peek), Leonard Murphy, Retrieved December 31, 2012,From http://www.greenbookblog.org/2011/02/15/top-10-companies-perceived-to-beinnovative-grit-2010-sneak-peek/ http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/about-us.html http://www.market-intelligence.com.au/ http://www.beroe-inc.com/ http://bbmarketingplus.com/articles/article_02_01_10.html

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