TITLE OF THE CASE: NATASHA

I. POINT OF VIEW: GABBY FERNANDO, Management Consultant working for Baby Bloomers.

II. OBJECTVE: 1. To come up with a new policy of expansion for the Baby Bloomers.

2. To come up with a solution for the financial difficulties the company suffered.

III. PROBLEM: What are the factors that the executive committee of Natasha will take into

account to decide whether to expand its operations within Metro Manila only, or to put up

new branches in four other regions of the country, in order to increase market share and

eventually profits?

IV. AREAS OF CONSIDERATION:

Baby Bloomers is a family enterprise specializing in floral arrangements. It has

established itself as a high quality flourist and has been widely known to the market.

The company was founded in the year 1977 by Mrs. Felisa Picache who was also the

daughter of Mrs. Paula Romero, founder of the Three Flowers Flourists, one of the

leading suppliers of flower arrangements during Mrs. Romero’s time. With this, Mrs.

Picache was deemed to have sufficient experience in the flourist trade.

Baby Bloomers was also viewed as one company who offers imported materials

to ensure that they maintain the best quality they can have for their arrangements.

Because of this, the company was able to set higher markups and prices compared to

other companies in the industry.

The Baby Bloomers Commercial Corporation (BBCC) was then created to

undertake Baby Bloomers’ expansion. This was established together with the couple’s

friends, Mr. and Mrs. Tolentino. For the expansion projects, the BBCC was granted

loans from nearby development banks, and the Picache’s personal and real estate

holdings served as the collateral. These projects however were not necessarily related

to the usual operations of the company. The Picaches opened up a restaurant,

featuring the company’s lush floral arrangements wine importation business, jewelry
shop, European sporting goods, distributorship of British-made audio equipment and

a store for remote-controlled toys.

With various enterprises of Mr. Picache, the available funds were eventually used

up. Unfortunately, some of those enterprises were not doing good. The auto

dealership business faced a great competition with other well established companies,

dollar exchange rates had direct effect on their imported oriented businesses. Lastly,

the disappearance of Mr. Picache led to other major problems that left Mrs. Picache

become overwhelmed that she let all the businesses to run on its own for a while.

The troubled businesses of the Picaches was soon closed leaving the flower shops and

restaurant to continue.
 V. TOWS MATRIX

STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES

1. Comfortable credit terms for 1. Natasha is a family-owned

customers. (payable by company.
installment up to three
months)
2. Affordable prices of 2.. The company only started in
products. 1994.
3. Fashionable styles and good 3.. Limited number of branches
quality of materials especially in several capital
comparable to other provinces.
competitors.
4. Products are readily 4.. The cost of putting up new
available in the entire branches is costly (roughly 10
country due to large number million pesos depending on the
of dealers nationwide. size of the store).
OPPORTUNITIES Opportunity-Strengths Opportunity-Weakness

1. Plan for additional branches 1. Maintain affordable prices 1.. Attract more dealers since there
outside Metro Manila. without sacrificing the is a limited number of branches
quality of products. (O4,S2) especially in remote and provincial
areas.
2. Customers find it 2.. Also, delivery costs will add 2.. The company may put up small
convenient for their orders up to overall costs of the branches within provincial capitals.
to be delivered to them. company or for a dealer, This would create them an edge over
therefore, encourage customers other local competitors who are just
that if they reach a certain starting since they will be the first
amount for their purchases, they ones to introduce their products in
can avail of the free delivery those areas.
charges. (O2,S2)
3. The name of the company 3.. Conduct various research to
was known even on remote forecast or to predict the size of
areas because dealers are the market in a certain remote
area. This will be the basis
 located almost anywhere in whether to put up a small or a
the country. large branch. (O3, S3)
4. Prices of competitors are
usually higher than that of
Natasha’s products.
THREATS Threats-Strengths Threats-Weakness

1. Emergence of local 1. Offer promos that will 2. With new competitors,

competitors within Metro encourage customers to buy Natasha may consider
Manila despite emerging local putting up branches outside
competitors. (T1, S1) Metro Manila. Considering a
high cost for building new
branches it may select a
branch that generates the
least profit within Metro
Manila, to be closed
(whether temporarily or
permanently)
3. Multinational competitors 2.. Invest in suppliers that
operating in the country for produces quality products. Soon
more than a decade. enough, customers will choose
quality products at a lower price,
than those with the same
quality but with higher prices as
for international competitors.
(T2,S2)
4. Customers’ preferences for 3.. Constantly invest on
international over local updating styles of products with
brands. the current trends. (T3,S3)
5. Other competitors have well
defined organizational
structure that has different
functions to enhance the
companies operations.
6. Other companies offer a
wide range of products.

VI. Alternative Courses of Action

The following are the possible solutions for the problems that can be considered by Natasha:

1. Natasha should attract more dealers by increasing the benefits of becoming their members.

Adding more perks and advantages will encourage and keep them motivated. The company
 can have one main branch for every provincial capital because dealers are already properly

distributed within that area.

2. The company should consider putting up small branches in provincial areas since there are

more local branches which are quickly putting up branches in almost every location. The

company should however conduct a research first to determine what areas badly needed a

branch to be prioritized first, to maximize the benefits that it could offer.

3. The constant research for new styles and trends will also create a competitive advantage over

local and international brands. Customers will eventually choose Natasha’s products for its

quality, affordable prices and latest fashion designs.

4. The company may opt to eliminate other branches or at least, reduced in size that are

operating in Metro Manila which are causing more costs than profits. The extra funds may be

used to put up a branch in areas (considering a careful and reliable research) where financial

gains are promising. The closed branches in Metro Manila may be reopened again when there

is enough funds since it is where business usually is. The company cannot simply allow

competitors on those areas to be monopolized, and so the company must (in case of

temporary closure of branch) reclaim the area by implementing strategies that can give them

an edge over the others.

5. Natasha is a family-owned company in which the top management are all family members.

The company should have additional employees to aid the top management if it is considering

to branch outside Metro Manila. It is also said in the case that there is no clear delineation of

authority among the three family members which holds three important duties within the

company. It can be assumed that these three may interfere with the work of the other, their

duties and responsibilities may not be clearly defined.

6. Diversify with other products that are on the same industry to maintain good competition

with others.

VII. Conclusion
 Alternative courses of action numbers 4, 5 and 6 should be prioritized by the company.

VIII. Recommendation

It is therefore recommended that Natasha, can open up branches in provincial capitals like

Rizal, Cebu, Davao, Iloilo and Dagupan, provided that there is a careful research (survey) of the

area. It is necessary to identify first whether to put up a bigger or a smaller branch based on the

said research to maximize benefits and reduce future unnecessary costs, considering the amount

needed to build a new branch. Also, these five provincial capitals are fast developing which means

products can easily be marketed in these places. Competition in remote areas are usually low,

especially when the company is a pioneer in that area. It will be an advantage to the company to

be the first to introduce their products and establish trust (in terms of quality) to their customers

on those remote areas.

Increasing the number of dealers in provincial capitals may not only make the product well

known, but it will eliminate the need to put up a new branches (considering setting up branches

is too costly) especially in remote areas.

Following and keeping up with the current trends for each group of markets are always

beneficial. Competitive prices, fashionable styles and high quality are three of the most important

attributes of the products that when combined and maintained is a powerful means of retaining

customer loyalty and satisfaction.

It is also recommended that Natasha should diversify with other products. This means that

Natasha should not only stick to one product alone but to be safe, the new products that should

be introduced are not out of the industry to maintain the company’s identity. It is very risky to

invest on new products that the company is still new to and have limited idea. It may cause waste

of time, funds and effort if the company is not careful in choosing new products to be offered.

Lastly, before starting anything new for the company, Natasha should first consider to change

their organizational structure. This organizational structure may cause future problems since
different tasks may not be properly delegated. Duties and responsibilities should be clearly

outlined. Top management should have delegates that would help them. As shown in the present

organizational chart, only the operations and general manager has a direct authority of the Branch

Managers. Which means that the other two divisions (finance and merchandising) may find it

difficult to carry out their tasks on their own if they are planning to expand. They may interfere

the operations department incase they needed help.