The Vermont Teddy Bear Company
...affected the company the most; I chose the following points from the case study and I have also provided my reasoning of why as well. I have also filled in a chart from http://thatcher.cc/TIU/tiu%20stratman/ifas.htm and I also have included it. The list is as follows:
| Confusion with the Company¡¦s tagline
| Two different CEO¡¦s in a short time period/ different views of operation
| Changes in retail locations
| Changes in the competing marketplaces
As for the chart, please review it below:
The company changed their name from the ¡§Vermont Teddy Bear Company¡¨ to ¡§The Great American Bear Company.¡¨ (Wheelen, 22-4, 22-16) The confusion doubled when similar products were offered by a competitor. (Wheelen, 22-4) This caused a great decrease in the sales of the Bear-Gram.
The original intent for the name change was to increase sales and ¡§to broaden appeal and to take advantage of the national and international distribution opportunities.¡¨ (Wheelen, 22-4) The company had intitally thought the name ¡§Vermont Teddy Bear Company¡¨ wasn¡¦t as recognized out West; so therefore it would not make that much of a difference. They were wrong on this account as well; when they realized the mistake, they quickly returned to their original tagline: ¡§The Vermont Teddy Bear Company¡¨ instead of ¡§The Great American Bear Company.¡¨ (Wheelen, 22-4, 22-16)
Other Internal changes included having the CEO change twice in only a matter of a few years. The CEO¡¦s were R. Patrick Burns and Elisabeth Robert. R. Patrick Burns and along with a newly format management team, they decided that they wanted to spread and develop growth for the company. They decided the Bear-Gram business should have less emphasis, and focus it more on other distribution channels. (Wheelen, 22-4) The management team had also came up with a new plan for the next five years. This...
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