Market Survey
Water Industry
We are here to discuss on this matter by using Good Drinks Solution (GDS), one of the player in water industry. GDS is in the water industry that supplied Reverse Osmosis (RO) vending machine and produced Reverse Osmosis (RO) Drinking Water. They are competitive in terms of low price thus gains groups of consumers in the water industry.
Accordingly to Kotler, P & Armstrong, G (2000), competitive advantage is an advantage over their competitors ahead by offering greater value, either through lower price or providing more benefits. Before the company can achieve its mission, SWOT analysis can be used to answer some important questions. Bartol & Martin (2003) said that SWOT analysis is a method of analyzing an organization competitive situation that includes strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
D'Aveni (1995) mentioned that because of the competitors are becoming increasingly savvy; most of company need use numerous SWOT analyses as a routine way to predict their competitors' behaviors. GDS use strengths to improve the situation of products or services to the consumer. Strengths of the company are to produce a clean and healthy RO drinking water to the consumer by removing several water impurities and contaminants from tap water.
Clean Water for Healthy Life
As we know that, clean water is important for health; the company is trying to improve to produce further cleanest RO drinking water to consumers. The brand image for the company is 'Good Drinks'. This is very important because 'Good Drinks' is good to drinks.
GDS also came out with a slogan call 'just 10cents for healthy life'. The slogan was published on the RO drinking water vending machine, catalogues and company profile. Other than this, GDS also advertises through newspaper to establish a communication link to the public in mentioned they are the lowest price in the market thus to attractive more people to buy water.
GDS needs to waste large amount of water while producing RO drinking water. 5-gallon of RO drinking water have to waste about 15-gallon of water. It's taking about 3 to 4 hours to produce one gallon of RO drinking water.
Environmental Friendly
Everybody knows that to protect the world's flora, fauna and water resources on our planet requires everyone's effort. However, we should try on how to utilise the waste water and save the environment through Environment Management Systems (EMS) where to manage the impact on the environment. (symbiosis, Feb 2005).
The external environment calls as PESTEL. Johnson & Scholes (2002) mentioned that the PESTEL can categories environmental influences into political, economic, social, technological, environment and legal. GDS has opportunities to increase the consumer demand in RO drinking water because most of the people have distrusted the quality from the tap water that failed to meet the basic health standard. Other than this, most of the people in every household are willing to use their income to buy a clean RO drinking water for a healthy life.
GDS is facing threat problems with the environment due to toxic industrial pollutants, pesticides, fertilizers that would be affecting the quality of water. It is the consumer concern. Besides this, water legislation is required and needs to face lots of government rules like existing government regulations to ensure the safety of public water such as Safe Drinking Water Act or Sirim approval. Second, theft can easily steal money from the vending machine because it is installed outside the shop lot corridor. It is easily to break because it is made from fiber.
Exploited a Good and Growth Strategic Plan
GDS need to look ahead to be developed and exploited a good and growth strategic planning to expand the businesses. According to Kotler P. & Armstrong G. (1999) a strategic planning is an important process of developing and exploiting to fit between the company goal's and capabilities and the changing marketing opportunities. GDS needs to know and understanding the weaknesses and how to solve the problem, identifying and responding to consumer requirements, need to do more welding gauge on the vending machine to protect from theft. GDS needs to have a strong revolution in upgrading and retrofitting a new model vending machine and nice looks to replace an old model vending machine, which have outdated equipment. As we know, to generate more profit, the company have to continue to transformed by high technology, to develop more new products to replace old products on changes in consumers taste or Douglas (1995) mentioned that the firm will need to incorporate the latest technology into their production department.
Porter (1980) argues that the world famous 5 competitive forces where discusses the structure analysis of industries, determine the profitability of an industry, 3 generic competitive strategies, where including cost leadership, differentiation and focus. GDS has used this framework to obtain and establishing itself as a market leader in the water industry.
GDS used Michael Porter cost leadership strategy to sell the RO vending machine at an average industry price to customer and gain the profit. GDS can sell at the lowest price because it acquire cost advantages of low cost from supplier, may sustain an excellent competitive based on cost leadership in the market and hit a high sales volumes, which lead to increase profits.
A company can differentiate itself by providing a wider range of products and services to pursuit variety of customer's need
According to Michael Porter's model, a company can differentiate itself by providing a wider range of products and services to pursuit variety of customer's need. GDS is targeting for Porter 3 generic - differentiation and focus on it customer and sales services. RO vending machine which installed outside the shop lot corridor will be take care by the shop lot owner. The owner will be able to communicate with the consumers who came near to buy the RO drinking water from the vending machine. It can be successful because it can pay attention and focus to a small area consumers near to the shop lots. The consumer will always let the owner know the non-satisfy or any problem they're facing.
The five forces principle model of Porter is an outside-in paradigm to design and need develop to sustainable an excellent competitive company. Steiner, Miner & Gray (1986) said the greatest importance in the strategy is the strongest competitive forces where can determine the profitability of an industry. GDS has used this strategy tools or market-influence strategies to make an analysis into company to understanding the surrounding competition or rivals in the market today. If the RO vending machine is lack of differentiation such in customer sales and after sales service, GDS may face problem on customer relationship.
Porter Five Forces Model
GDS used Porter five forces model of competition, bargaining power of buyers to reduce the prices and giving some special discount on the RO vending machine and at the same time, provided customer a better quality on the products and good services to attract buyers. Even though, the customers is a low profit earner to GDS, but that entire customers has a lots of market information from the other competitors and may tell to change the problems, beside this, it's hopes to gain more feedback from their customers and don't be afraid to ask customers in genuine, what needs to be improved. This wills indirectly telling the customer that wants to give them the best. Bargaining power of suppliers in Porter's model can be effect the ability by increasing the prices or reduce the service and quality on the products if GDS can makes an excellent competitive company and there are no other competitors in the market. As we known, buyers and suppliers can appropriate industry profits.
At the same time, the threat of new entrants to the industry with high quality and service on the same products will highly affect GDS. New competitors sometimes enter into market with higher quality or add value on the products. For example, some of Water Company which produces the water with contents of orange, apple or others fruits taste inside the water, this may affect the sales of GDS. The threat of substitute products or services which produced by another firms with similar functions on product to satisfy the same customer needs also is a threat to the company and will be difficult to position in consumers' mind. For example, a company who are selling mineral water is another substitute product to GDS where they are selling RO drinking water in the market.
Rivalry among existing competitors in the market is usually the most powerful within the Porter's five competitive forces. GDS are facing the advertising battles and the sales promotion campaigns by the competitors. The competitors came out new products and adding features on their products. For examples, mineral water will have a good mineral inside the water and high in sodium rather than only a clean RO drinking water.
Hamel Core Competences
GDS used Hamel core competences to built continuous improvement, add customer benefits and satisfied customer needs and perform certain activities and cost benefits better than the other competitors and gain an excellent competitive. Sometime the sales people will do some extra promotion on their vending machine which has sold to customer free of charge. Accordingly to Prahalad and Hamel (1990) where an organization can service and emotion in this turbulent time is nurture their core competence.
Professor Hamel mentioned that to regain the excellent competitive is mean the executives and company has to rethinking many basic concepts of strategy, focusing the organizations attention for all levels of employees, motivating people and production skills. Industry foresight also one of the core competence that's help GDS to get the employees into feel a sense of urgency about the future in the company. Train the sales manager to maintain an edge in the market, to exploitation new ideas, creativity, and brainstorming and rethink more deeply into business innovation and meet the customer needs. It does help the company to create the future and develop more dramatically strategies. Industry revolution is the product of strategy innovation. Therefore, it's the company totally change the product into a new and value added to its product. Macridis & Hulliung (1996) said "Revolution, therefore, is necessary and unavoidable".
Product Development
Product development is a strategy to a company that enable to creation of new products and services. With this development, it can be successful to enter a new product into market if the company can understand the market and the customer needs. GDS has designed a new product and has entered into market with a cold RO drinking water vending machine. This machine was suitable in the hot country like Malaysia because this machine can produces cold water to consumers if compare with other competitors who just can produces normal water.
EVR Congruence
EVR congruence is a matching on environment, values and resources which include of business environment where opportunities and threats in the organization, organization values where management the organization culture and organization resources where skills is useable in the internal company. If all the EVR congruence is fully strong usage in the company, the company will become excellent competitive.
Politic, Social and Technology
The business environment is influenced by politically, socially and technologically.
GDS cannot avoid the environment agency sets the limits to ensure that the water resources are not over exploited. The company has re-think to use the waste water to do some ice tube and supplied to market requirements. Socially is a way to significant impact on customer. The company has to involve the public together with the R.O. water vending machine and liaising with the local groups and may affect them. According to Slack at el (2004), GDS have a further responsible to understand the implication of technologies change to improve working practices.
Business to Fit in Culture
Organization culture is important to a company. A company cannot success with a good management team or a new implementation on their product if it can not fit to the culture. (www.refresher.com) GDS provides Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to take care of their employee. An ethic has a direct impact on organization profit. Ethics and moral of persons are very important for running the society, good ethics and moral will need to guide harder to achieve the set out schedule (Management, Oct-Dec 2005). 
Other than this, GDS also very careful and not to offend ethics groups, racial must minorities or special interest groups while published the products.
GDS use organization resources where skills is useable method to employed some management team with a good track record in many years of working experience on supply-and-demand forecasting, legal knowledge, negotiating skills and environmental plan to success the company business. (www.vidlerwater.com) The company tries to produce the vending machine in good quality, provide guarantee to customer and want to be the best in the world.
Total Quality Management
To perform a good operation activity and management, GDS used Porter's value chain to analysis the company. A successful company need to have a strong belief in management team, continuing improvement in quality of their products, increasingly employee's efficiency by provided more training for them with the concept of Total Quality Management, further strengthening the brand of "Good Drinks" to public, overwhelming response to public and try to provide a first class customer service to all the relevant consumers.
A balanced scorecard is to perform measuring in order to compare some results from different competitors in financial perspectives, quality, service, company image and internal process efficiency. (www.systemdynamics.org) GDS use this model to measure the supply on quality whether the water is the cleanness in the market and to check the capacity of water produce is in correct measurement, meet the demand and fit the trusty. Besides this, the balanced scorecard also could motivate the employee to make the company's achieve it vision by analysis their behaviors.
Conclusion
As a conclusion, it is to believe that to be an excellent competitive company in today's market, the company need to know how to predict the company situation by using SWOT analysis and must developed a good company strategy to plan for future. Customer relationship is important because as we know service is everything, customer knowledge more important than demographics. New product development can always leap forward other competitors because competitors will take years to catch on. Others management such as Porter value chain, EVR congruence or balanced scorecard will help the company run more smoothly.