Sam the Record Man Goes Broke

Question

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The Answer is Political context: You might suggest that the government' reduction in trade barriers (eg. NAFTA) has paved the way for more competition in Canada. As a result, SRM faced fierce price competition from U.S. retailers and other distributors, which it did not face in periods prior to the advent of free trade when Canadian industries were protected by tariff barriers.
Economic context: You might argue that businesses like SRM are very much influenced by the health of the economy. For example, any economic slowdown could have led to an overall drop in spending for discretionary goods such as music products and CDs.
Global context:: Similar to the political forces above, maybe you could refer to free trade agreements such as NAFTA which have opened the door to new sources of global competition for Canadian firms. This could impact businesses like Sam' by creating more (global) competitors. As the case points out, SRM faced stiff price competition from Wal-mart, an American-based retailer.
Technological context: You could comment on how technology, specifically, the internet has impact the retail music industry. For example, the introduction of internet websites offering users the opportunity to download music shifted the nature of music sales (eg. Napster). This technological shift in the industry cut into the revenues of every participant in the retail music industry.
Competitive context: The market for retail music sales in Canada appears to be filled with many competitors. For example, in addition to specialty music stores like SRM, there are retailers such Wal-mart, and specialty retailers such as Starbucks. And of course the internet (as above) and the internet download sites has attracted much more competition and made it increasingly difficult for SRM to survive...
Societal context: Perhaps you could argue that changing consumer tastes can affect SRM. For example, perhaps one could argue that as Canada's population has become larger, more diverse and more multicultural, consumers' preferences may have shifted towards more recognized international talent. SRM's business model appears to have been unresponsive to these societal forces.
Labour context: again, you would need to make assumptions. Maybe Sam did not take advantage of changes in the labour force. How demographically diverse was Sam' staff? Not suggesting any actual problems here but simply trying to address questions using assumptions...

Sam the Record Man Goes Broke

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