Case Scenario 3: Barracuda Inc

question 9

Essay

Case Scenario 3: Barracuda Inc.
Barracuda Inc. is a lamp-fixture manufacturer that is considering an entry strategy into the U.S. home-furnishings manufacturing industry. The existing landscape consists of many players but none with a controlling share. There are currently 2,500 home furnishings firms, and only 600 of those have more than 15 employees. Average net profit after tax is between 4 and 5 percent. While the industry still primarily comprises single-business, family-run firms that manufacture furniture domestically, imports are increasing at a fairly rapid rate. Some of the European imports are leaders in contemporary design. Relatively large established firms are also diversifying into the home- furnishings industry via acquisition. Supplier firms to the home-furnishings industry are in relatively concentrated industries (such as lumber, steel, and textiles). Retailers, the intermediate customer of the home-furnishings
industry, have been traditionally very fragmented. Customers have many products to choose from, at many different price points, and few home-furnishing products have strong brands. Also, customers can switch easily among high- and low-priced furniture and other discretionary expenditures (spanning big-screen TVs to the choice of postponing any furniture purchase entirely).
-(Refer to Case Scenario 3). Is the furniture industry described above attractive?

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Definitions:

Direct Proportion

A relationship between two quantities where they increase or decrease at the same rate.

Relevant Range

The range of activity within which the assumptions about variable and fixed cost behaviors hold true.

Total Fixed Costs

Financial obligations that do not fluctuate with the amount of goods made or sold, for instance, rent, salaries, and insurance coverage.

Unit Fixed Costs

Unit Fixed Costs are the costs that do not change with the volume of production and are allocated per unit based on the total production quantity.