HND大综合1GU1答案

Section1
Question 1:
Part A
Given the competitive nature of the mobile telecommunications market analyse the likely advantages and disadvantages to Opal of establishing a partnership agreement with another company.12
Advantages:
Firstly, the partnership agreements can provide Opal with technology assistance. It allows Opal for the joint development of new products and the sharing of technology. Secondly, a Chinese partnership not only gives Opal access to local knowledge but also provides an air of acceptability that is important when conducting business in China. Thirdly, local firms’ well-reputation and wealth of experience will also help Opal to ensure that product development and customer service is specifically targeted at meeting the local needs and demands of the local market. Fourthly, companies in partnership can share the costs and reduce the risk.
Disadvantages:
As for the disadvantages, firstly, the own technology of Opal might be leaked because of the sharing of technology which may result in the loss of Opal’s competitive advantages. Secondly, in a partnership with others, the control power of Opal’s own company might be distributed because of the consideration of other partners’ benefits. Thirdly, firms need to share the profits and there might be conflicts since those companies are profitable organizations.
PART B
Identify and justify possible options the senior management may have which will enable Opal to maintain its current levels of success and profitability. 8
Firstly, since Chinese market has enormous potential, Opal needs continue to invest in
Chinese market to gain more market shares for its expansion.
Secondly, Opal can sign the partnership agreements with more companies, to gain more comprehensive market information and share the technology and develop new products.
Thirdly, in order to maintain the characteristics and good reputation, Opal needs to keep the strong stance in relation to the environment, use more green and environmental materials to produce ‘environmentally friendly’ products and services, and keep offering a comprehensive mobile phone recycling scheme.
Fourthly, it is necessary to deepen the agreement with Huawei, since Huawei is a long established and well-respected player in the Chinese telecoms market. By doing so, Opal can achieve the further expansion.
Question 2
PART A
Assess the strengths and weaknesses of Opal as they seek to expanding in the coming years. 12
Strengths
Firstly, the further deregulation of the telecommunications markets enabled Opal to capitalize on a number of opportunities.
Secondly, Opal has its core markets, and the recent ‘opening-up’ of the Chinese market is currently providing Opal with opportunities for further expansion. Thirdly, the mobile devices division has allowed Opal to sell their phones to competing networks allowing access to a much larger market.
Fourthly, as their characteristic, Opal has adopted a strong stance in relation to the environment, and they were one of the first phone manufacturers in the world to offer a comprehensive mobile phone recycling scheme and offers environmentally friendly products and services.
W eaknesses
Firstly, the first hand-held phones were high priced because of the high research and development costs and the need for highly specialized production facilities. And this may cause the needs of a large amount of investment capital and the decrease in sales. Secondly, Opal is a medium sized producer of handsets, which means it owns limited produce resources and investment capital resources. It may not be able to meet the needs of cooperation with other companies.
Thirdly, the regulatory complexities of operating within the Chinese market may hinder the development and expansion of Opal.
Lastly, the regulatory complexities of operating within the Chinese market and the fierce competition may hinder the expansion of Opal and increase a certain level of risk.
PART B
Choose two Key values highlighted in Appendix 3 and for each, explain how it has impacted upon the company’s activities. 8
Firstly, the customer deserves service excellence.
Opal is a customer- focused organization. Enterprise's core value is to focus on customer service and its quality. By doing so, the customer satisfaction and loyalty can be established and then the growth of sales and profits can be achieved. According to the case, in order to enhance the quality and satisfaction of customer services, the Opal has established the Service Development Section and Customer Care Department. With the rapid development of technology, the Service Development Section is tasked to enhance the customer experience of the mobile and web-based services. And the Customer Care section is tasked to ensure that customer expectations are consistently met. Both of them are aim to provide customers with excellent services.
Secondly, we accept that while we are driven by technology we will always aspire to drive technology.
The development of technology can provide Opal with higher tech-competitiveness, and help it to develop new products and expand to larger market. As for Opal, they continue invest in other innovative products and market research, and has been very successful in identifying market trends and then using the latest technological developments to satisfy customer needs. And, there is a Special projects section in Opalwhich requires significant investment and provides the leading-edge technology required for mobile and others.
Section 2
Question1
PART A
Evaluate possible sources of finance that Gold could access as it seeks to expand its business operations.
Firstly, issuing shares are a financing way that Opal can access. It can meet a part of the Opal’s capital needs during its expansion, even though the amount of share capital issued will be limited to the authorized share capital amount.
Secondly, issuing debentures are a useful way too. Debentures are loans made to companies that carry a fixed rate of interest. However, the debenture holders need to repay the principles on time and they do not participate in the running of the company like shareholders do.
Thirdly, even though both issuing shares and dividends are appropriate for Opal, there still some differences between them. The shareholders have the control right of the company, but the dividend holders do not. And, the dividends holders need to repay the principle on time, while it won’t be necessary for shareholders. Lastly, the shareholders can get benefits from the dividends while the debenture holders can get them from the interests.
PART B
找到一类可以同时满足Opal 公司股东和Opal 在中国市场合作伙伴用来检验企业效率的财务数据信息. 请解释这类数据是如何满足这些利益相关者要求的。

Identify ONE item of information which both a shareholder and any of the organisations Gold works with within the Chinese market, could use as a measure to monitor the effectiveness of the organisation.
The turnover, profit, costs, dividend and earnings per share could reflect the effectiveness of a company. As for Opal, it has invested a lot in the high research and development and the need for highly specialized production facilities costs a lot too. Meanwhile, the downward pressure on prices has led to lower profit margins and a reduced rate of growth in turnover. Except for that, the dividends directly affect on the shareholders’ benefits, it determines the repayments of in vestment and whether the investors are willing continue to invest or not. The dividend and earnings per share of Opal is increasing which means it is attracting more potential shareholders to invest in Opal and the existing shareholders to invest more, and it is essential for the finance and the expansion of Opal.
PART C
Explain the possible effects that the expansion into the Chinese market could have upon the profitability of the business.
Firstly, in the long run, the profitability of Diamond would increase. Because China is potentially the largest global telecommunications market, and it provides Diamond with an unrivalled opportunity to generate growth. The size of China’s population is huge, and there are room remains for massive expansion.
Secondly, in the short-term, the profitability of Diamond would not grow rapidly. China is an emerging market, the competition is likely to be severe with 43 foreign national manufacturers and network providers already having a presence in China and a further 25 medium to large firms set to enter the market over the coming 3 years. Diamond needs to invest a number of money in to the new market, and the costs cannot be taken back in the short-term.
Thirdly, the profitability of Diamond would not grow rapidly in the short-term because in order to enter the new market, Diamond may facing the big funding gap, and it would cost a lot to finance the needed capital.
Fourthly, the profitability would not grow rapidly in the short-term because of the low-price competition. In order to gain a larger market share and coverage, and survive in the intense competition, Diamond may choose to lower the price at the beginning of entering the Chinese market.
Question 2
PART A
Explain any changes to the policies of governments that may support the market progression and expansion of Opal. 8
As the ‘night-watch man’, the government should not directly intervene the market
operation, so it should provide further deregulation for companies.
Except for this, government should supervise the market and regulate the economic activities to provide companies like Opal with a stable and peaceful environment. Besides, government can provide Opal with more financial sources or support and implement some reward investment to facilitate the expansion of Opal. And Opal needs to make more trade agreements with other countries’ government.
PART B
Analyse the main factors that will affect demand for the products of Opal.6 Firstly, the price has an inverse relationship with demand, the higher the price, the less people will choose the product. The downward pressure on prices might lead to more demand of Opal’s products.
Secondly, the technology is of great importance, and Opal identified the market trends and then uses the latest technological developments to satisfy customer needs, by doing so, more customers will be attracted and the demand will increase.
Thirdly, the purchasing power of people will directly affect the demand, since Opal is cutting the prices, more people will be able to afford the costs of Opal’s products, the demand will increase.
PART C
Describe actions that Opal could take to stimulate demand for their products within the Chinese market. 6
Firstly, cutting prices can attract more subscribers and make Opal more competitive. Secondly, cooperate with the local well-known firms can establish the recognition of the brand.
Thirdly, demand can be improved by advertising and other promotional activities. Fourthly, Opal can share the resources with other companies to enhance the competitiveness of the whole industry.
Fifthly, cooperate with the international companies, such as Nokia and Siemens, can attract and share their loyal customers and enhance the international reputation.
Last but not least, Opal needs to develop the technology and provide consumers with
the new and up-date products with more functions.
Question 3
PART A
Analyse possible opportunities the marketing department may have, to develop each of the four elements of the marketing mix. 12
Product, price, promotion and price are the four elements of the marketing mix.
As for products, firstly, Opal can concentrate on the development of environment friendly mobile phones, devices and relevant mobile phone applications since it is the characteristic of its products. Secondly, Opal may be able to continue invest in ‘Smartphone’ or intelligent technology. It currently produces over 120 models within its portfolio, including devices that use state of the art smart phone stly, Opal can develop 4G technology. Opal is working with a number of electronics companies and network operators. Based on 3G technology, Opal can develop the 4G technology under their technological assistances.
As for the price, firstly, Opal has the unit cost advantage for low-price based strategy. Opal can cut prices of products since the costs are lowerthe new plant of the art production facility can produce handsets for the global market at significantly lower unit costs. Secondly, Opal can charge their network customers for the WAP usage, texting and calling since the value for money services have been provided. In addition, Opal can use targeted pricing for the emerging markets. The cooperation with Huawei helps Opal to ensure its pricing method can be specifically targeted at meeting the local needs and demands of the Chinese market.
As for promotion, targeted promotional activities, Push and Pull Strategy, the word of mouth promotion and on-line and off-line promotion can be used by Opal. Cutting price is an effective way for sales promotion since the costs are lower. Opal can choose personal selling to specifically introduce their products and services one by one. The word of mouth promotion is also suitable for Opal, given its strong stance in relation to the environment and its good reputation for their sense of responsibility and the quality of goods and services. On-line or off-line advertise and support for programs for public goods can help Opal to improve its recognition and reputation among consumers.
Fourthly, after the reorganization, Opal has established a marketing section to regulate the distribution activities and supply chain operations. The development and management of the supply chain enable Opal to manufacture in developing country
and sell in developed country which can help to generate more profits. And with the development of E-commerce, Opal may be able to enter into partnership agreements with E-commerce retailers to achieve direct sales to final users.
PART B
Assess different market research techniques that Gold could utilise in order to mai ntain its customer focus.
Gold might use quantitative and qualitative research to get the market information and use them to identify and maintainits customer focus.
Qualitative research concerns the gathering of information which can be interpreted in a number of ways; it can be used to analyze opinion, beliefs and attitudes of individuals. The main qualitative research techniques used are: focus group interviews, depth interviews, observational research and projective research.
However, the quantitative research on the other hand seeks to establish statistical information about the subject matter. This type of research tends to require a larger amount of research to be under taken in order to be deemed as valid. The main research techniques include: experimental research, telephone surveys, internet surveys, postal surveys and so on.
In this case study, the qualitative research that the Gold can use is focus group interviews. Gold can select a set of people who are brought together to test and evaluate its concept, product or service. It can produce a great deal of information. In view of the Gold has a constant flow of new product development, these can be used into new product development and problems settlement. It can let Gold know whether customers like the new products is convenient or not, what new function do they like, what should be focused on, or what can be improved.
In the early, the quantitative research that the Gold might use is postal surveys, and now may be the internet surveys or questionnaire. Internet surveys offers Gold an approach to sample a broader audience at a lower cost, as Gold is planning for an expansion, they can use internet surveys to know what kind of services and products customers prefer. Besides, the questionnaire is a quick, cheap and reasonably effective means of collecting statistical information or of gauging attitudes or opinions, Gold can use them to get more suggestions or statistical information about their products or services to anticipate and meet customers’ needs and maintain the customer focus.
Question 4
PART A
Identify the main stakeholders of Opal and discuss their interests and influence.
12
Firstly, the employees may interest in the payments, the working conditions and the expansion plan and rewards and punish regulation of the company. And their working efficiency and performance directly affect the company performance and development, and then the sales and finance.
Secondly, the shareholders are the owners of the company, and they focus on the dividends and profits. And their investment is the basis of the establishment and development of the company, so they have the voting right which means they have the decision making right and that will influence the direction and development of the company.
Thirdly, the government will pay attention to the company’s economic activities and whether they have abided by the laws and regulations. Meanwhile, the government’s policies and regulations would encourage or restrain the development or expansion of Opal. Like the deregulation enabled Opal to capitalize on a number of opportunities, and the reduction of taxes rate may reduce the costs and increase the profits of Opal. Most importantly, the consumers concern the quality, price and value of the products and services. As the center of the operation of Opal, consumers’ choices and feedback may have great impacts on the sales, decision-making, and even the survival of Opal. In this case, Opal has pay attention to the customer experience, and the service development section and customer care department were established to enhance the customer experience and to ensure that customer expectations are consistently met. Lastly, the cooperators like Siemens, Nokia a nd Huawei may pay attention to Opal’s sales, market share and technology development, because those factors can provide them with the sharing of information and technology and stronger competitiveness against other companies. Meanwhile, those cooperators not only gives access to local knowledge but also provides an air of acceptability to Opal, and their wealth of experience will also help to ensure that product development and customer services is specifically targeted at meeting the local needs and demands.
PART B
Given the challenging environment in which Opal operates, explain how the effectiveness of managerial performance could be measured and assess the value of each measure.8
Firstly, the primary goals and objects are of great importance to Opal, because it can directly shows the management performance and efficiency of the company, and it would affect the investor’s confidence. Opal can compare the actual conditions with the original goals to evaluate the operation performance.
Secondly, the cust omer feedbacks are valuable. They are on behalf of the customers’ loyalty and attitudes towards the products and services. As a result of word of mouth, their positive feedback can create new demand and determine the new market direction. Opal can know the advantages and defects of their products and services according to customers’ feedback, and figure out the direction of its expansion.
Thirdly, the productivity is important to Opal because it determines its capability of satisfying the market demand. Opal can evaluate its productivity by comparing its actual production number with the planned goals to see whether the goals are met. Fourthly, the profitability can stand for the efficiency and it directly affects the investor’s confidence, because it represents the company’s value and prospect in the market. As the Appendix 4 shows, the dividend is increasing which means the operation performance of Opal is well and more potential and existing shareholders might be attracted.
Lastly, the market share shows the market coverage of Opal. It represents the competitiveness of the company in the whole market. The larger the market share, the stronger the Opal is. So it can be used to evaluate Opal’s operation performance.。