Team project on U-Haul
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3. Based on the SWOT analysis, recommend a few strategies that will help the company create or maintain a sustainable competitive advantage. You need to justify your recommendations.
You can look up your group members by going to “Communication” > “Groups” in the course D2L website. Once you’re there, under the column titled “Members” you will see the number of members in your group. Click on that number to see who is in your group. Once you have identified your group members, reach out to them ASAP either through the group discussion board (by clicking on the “Group Discussions” link on the same table), or by emailing them through CSU email or D2L email. I encourage CSU email since most may not check D2L email often. To find the email addresses of your teammates, open a new email from your CSU email account, click the “TO” button, select “Global Address List” from the “Address Book” drop down, then type the name of the student in the “Search” field. I also highly recommend using Microsoft teams for group collaboration. This is a tool that is available to all CSU students. You can set up a team in MS Teams to exchange files, phone conferences, etc. Please contact the HUB if you need help setting up MS Teams.
Team Project Instructions
As a business professional, it is important that you are able to conduct a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) Analysis of an organization.
Step 1:
Select any company that you are familiar with. In order for you to obtain the necessary information for the SWOT analysis, it will need to be a company that has information about the firm available on the internet and/or through library resources. Post the name of the company you select in the discussion forum “Team Project Company Names” by the due date listed in the course schedule. Be sure to list your; (1) group number and (2) the company name in the subject line. The company selections are on a first-come first-serve basis. You cannot list a company that has already been taken by another team. So, the sooner you pick a company, the better chance you will get to keep it.
Step 2:
The team project report should include the
four sections listed below. Please separate each section with a section header and include headings for subsections as well.
1.
Description of the organization (including information on the CEO, mission statement, vision statement, etc.)
2. SWOT Analysis
This is where you analyze the firm’s internal and external environment. The internal environment is analyzed by identifying the firm’s strengths and weaknesses. The external environment is analyzed by identifying the opportunities and threats to the firm due to conditions beyond the firm’s control (e.g., economic conditions, political instability, etc.)
1.
a. Strengths – What is the firm really good at and what resources does the firm have that sets them apart from their competition
b. Weaknesses – What are the weaknesses of the firm
c. Opportunities – What conditions/developments outside the firm provides an opportunity for the firm to capitalize on
d. Threats – What outside conditions/developments pose a threat to the firm
2. Based on your analysis, identify and describe the main issues and challenges the company is facing.
3. Based on the SWOT analysis, recommend a few strategies that will help the company create or maintain a sustainable competitive advantage. You need to justify your recommendations.
**NOTE: The report must be submitted as a word document typed in Times New Roman, font size = 12, double spaced, and 1 inch margins on top/bottom/sides of page. 7 pages maximum (5 pages minimum) NOT including cover page and reference pages. Points will be deducted for not adhering to formatting guidelines and page restrictions. Group number and all group member names should be listed on the cover page. File name should start with group number and company analyzed (e.g., Group 1_Amazon).
Step 3:
One person from the group must upload the team project report to the assignment folder on the class D2L page by the due date listed in the course schedule. The team project report must be one collective report from the entire team.
NOTE:
· Your grade on the team project is a ‘team grade’ that will be assigned equally to all members of the team unless otherwise determined by differences in peer-evaluations by team members. Grades for group work may be adjusted based on peer evaluations.
· Team members have the option to vote out a team-mate (with my permission) if that individual is not doing their part in terms of quality of work, participation, and overall professionalism. A student who is voted out will get a ZERO for the team project. The student will be given one warning from me. If the behavior continues, the student will be removed from the group and will not have an opportunity to participate in the team project. A student who is removed from a group will not be allowed to submit the paper individually.
Opportunities- what conditions/developments outside the firm provides an opportunity for the firm to capitalize on
An increase in online shopping is one outside condition that U-Haul capitalizes on. When there are major increases in shipping (usually during the holidays), delivery companies, such as Fed-Ex and UPS, will rent extra trucks instead of investing in purchasing trucks they only need a few months out of the year. This saves the delivery company money on equipment and it allows U-Haul to profit during a usually slow time. U-Haul’s busy season is usually the summer months so when that slows down, they can capitalize on the increase in shipping to continue keeping profits up.
U-Haul offers a propane tank service. This allows them to capitalize on changes in weather conditions. When it gets cold outside, many people need propane tanks for heating houses and campers. This would be especially profitable in states that have longer, colder winters.
An outside condition that brings large amounts of business to U-Haul every year is college. The students move into and out of dorms and apartments over the summer. This creates a need for moving trucks, trailers, trailer hitches for people who have their own trailers, storage units, and boxes/packing supplies.
Natural disasters and pandemics, such as the one we have experienced this year, are also outside conditions U-Haul can capitalize on. During natural disasters, U-Haul rents out trucks, trailers, U-Box containers, propane tanks, and storage units to people being displaced and people transporting equipment and supplies to help affected areas.
At times U-Haul has even been able to capitalize on other businesses going out of business or shutting down locations. They can purchase these empty buildings at a lower cost than building their own and repurpose them. It not only helps U-Haul but also helps the economy in the cities they do this in. It brings jobs and income to places where many people lost their jobs and large amounts of income when other larger business have shut down. One example of this was in 2012 when U-Haul purchased the former Nabisco building that was shut down due to the recession. They reinvested in Detroit and turned that building into a self-storage facility. This would bring jobs and income to the still hurting economy while allowing U-Haul to profit from lower costs of opening a new facility. (
https://www.insideselfstorage.com/companies-and-products/u-haul-opens-detroit-self-storage-facility-converted-nabisco-building
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U-Haul has an opportunity to capitalize in a recession because of the high rates of foreclosures and evictions. They might have to lower their prices to stay competitive and affordable in a declining economy but they would still be profiting because people have to have a means to move and possibly store their things while they get back on their feet.
U-Haul
Strengths and Weakness
Large businesses which have been operating for nearly a hundred years have shown their strengths and weaknesses over time.
The large moving and storage business U Haul, have shown weakness by competing with other similar business and as well as exhibiting its strengths. U-Haul was involved in a dispute with the business, POD’s for four years. U haul had to settle a 60.7 million dollars payment to POD’s by using the word “POD”S”, POD”S trade mark name, during a website advertisement. U-Haul used the words, “pod” and “pods” in order to divert business sales from POD”S to U Haul.
POD’s sued over the use of its trademark name. The company (POD”S), sued U Haul for corrective action in using its name. U Haul infringed on its name knowingly, in order to make bigger sales.
The 75 year old company, U haul, exhibited its strengths a business. This company made a unique investment in the community of Mansfield, Michigan. They invested in a 9.35 acre property, which was blight within the city. U Haul invested in a large building left over from a Big Lots Store and a Value Furniture store. A large state of the art U Box business was created. A state of the art self-storage warehouse and moving business was built. Local people within the community were hired to work in the newly established warehouse. A cleaning technological program was instituted to help stop the Covid-19 virus. The sales and renting propane equipment was an eco-friendly operation. There also was a take a box and leave a box program making, less human contact. Through the adaptive use of an abandoned buildings, creating community jobs, help clean up the city, create employment, and get rid of blight.
U-Haul is an American moving and storage, based in Arizona, Phoenix. The company was started in 1945 by Leonard Shoen, who started the company in the garage owned by his wife’s family. Mr. Shoen came up with the idea for a national system of one-way moving trailers at age 29, after serving in the Navy during World War II. He recognized the need for an inexpensive means of moving increasingly migratory American families. The company rents trucks and trailers. The company also have many locations that provides storage units both indoor and drive up, moving boxes, packing supplies and also is the world’s largest installer of permanent hitches. Everything wasn’t as good as it is now though, In 1986 his sons, Mark and Joe forced their father into retirement and pushed for control of the parent company. This led to a very bitter family feud, it was said that there were physical altercations at business meetings between family members. A jury awarded Mr. Shoen and other outsiders $1.5 million after a lawsuit which was later reduced to $461 million. On October 4,1999 Mr. Shoen was pronounced dead after the car he was travelling in collided with a pole, his death was ruled as a suicide. The current CEO is Joe Shoen. The vision statement for U-Haul is sustainability through environmental protection, social responsibility and economic efficiency, to embrace the responsibility to act as a good corporate citizen by continually improving the sustainable performance of our products, services and activities and work to meet the needs of the people today without diminishing the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Today the company has 14,000 independent dealers and 1,100 company-owned moving centers.
Threats
The biggest threats to U-Haul are companies that offer the same services. The top three competitors for moving equipment are: Budget, Penske and Enterprise Truck Rental. Both Budget and Penske makes a real effort to be the most affordable truck rental company out there, offering low base rates and a discount program that offers more savings for AARP members, military members, students, Motor Club members, and more. The only type of discount that U-Haul offers is for employees and also their prices aren’t as flexible as Budget. Another positive of Budget is that they offer unlimited miles for long distance moves, U-Haul only offer a certain amount of miles and if you go over those miles there will be a $.40 per mile extra charge. Penske offers newer trucks with the average age for their trucks is just two years, so customers would be more confident driving Penske trucks. It wouldn’t be unlikely to get a 1999 GMC with over a 150,000 miles. Enterprise offers a lot of different types of trucks, from pickup trucks to cargo vans to 26-foot box trucks. There are 14 truck sizes to choose from, more than what’s offered by any other moving company.