Mountain Equipment Co-op: The Private Label Strategy Case Solution And Analysis, HBR Case Study Solution & Analysis of Harvard Case Studies

Mountain Equipment Co-op: The Private Label Strategy Case Solution

Critical issues:

Mountain EC exists in a highly saturated and mature market, where there is fierce competition between competitors for gaining more market share. There are many critical issues related to Mountain EC Corp relating to private labels as follows:

Lack of Originality:

There was a perception in the market that there is lack of originality in the products of MEC. The company hasa history of copying and bringing minor changes to the product to sell at lower price and to get the market share however, the company denies that it has made new design department and that all products would be designed there. The company should solve this issue to giver better public perception about the company and if it fails to do so, then there will be loss of major customers.

Selling other suppliers products at higher price:

It is an unethical practice to sell the competitors’ product at a higher price therefore. MEC should refrain from unethical principles, which would create a bad reputation for the company as well as it would lead towards law suits as well.

Outsourcing of Production:

The company manufactures its products in Canada, however this is difficult for the company now because of technology issue and high cost of wages, therefore this issue needs to be resolved properly and the objective of the company should be monitored. Moreover, MEC should try to reduce its production cost and create opportunities for local workers.

Ethical issues:

There is bad public perception in the market about the company that it does not follow ethical guidelines and that the company operates just like other multinational brands.Furthermore,its customers have a strong ethical base therefore,the company should remain ethical in all ways.

Overstepping of competition:

MEC is overstepping the competition like all big brands, which has created a bad reputation for the company because of the company, a local manufacturer stopped its operations and shifted from Canada, which led towards redundancy of employees. Moreover, since people do not have jobs therefore,the company should compete globally but not against local competitors.

Situation Analysis:

The company’s main focus is on wilderness oriented recreational activities, cooperative corporate structure, and economic, social, environmental stability. The company recruits those individuals as category managers. In addition, the brand manager was by profession of law or other fields, after which he got hired and got trained.This is the biggest flaw in the marketing department as they are not used to this field. Furthermore, the company will face serious consequences regarding that in future because the managers are not aware of marketing or brand management of the company.

The perception that has been made on the minds of the public is that there is lack of originality in the company’s products as complained by many individuals as they copy other competitors’products and sell those products in cheaper price to gain market share of the industry, therefore this public perception has had a negative impact on the revenues as the company aims to launch bikes in the market. Moreover, the company denies that it has copied, rather it has its own design department which designs its products as such, therefore it could be said that this is a cause of concern for the company that the design department is not performing well.Moreover, it was complained by many that the company alters the products of other companies and sells at less price so as to gain more market share.It is suggested to the designing team that it should focus on new designs and ensure that no design will be copied in the future to gain confidence of the consumers and to change the perception about the company........................