In our modern market economy, given the dynamic nature of the environment, where competition reaches outstanding levels and variables such as consumer demand are increasingly more difficult to analyze and predict, it all comes to the abilities of managers to keep their companies successful. CEO’s, marketing and operations managers, they all play a vital role in the profitability of their companies, no matter if they are small regional companies or large multinational corporations.
Since the start of the economic crisis in 2008, all national economies face difficulties, both in the goods and the financial markets. This is also the case of Romania, which started as one of the most promising emerging economies in the Eastern European area. Now the country is struggling to meet budget deficit targets and pay back IMF loans.
Even in these rough conditions, S.C. Marinaden S.R.L. (Limited Liability - the equivalent of the British Ltd.) remains one of the largest furniture manufacturers and retailers in the country’s Northern region. Ever since this company was started 50 years ago, it succeeded in being one of the top players in the field. The company has two manufactory facilities located at the outskirts of Iasi and Suceava (two of the largest cities in the region), which work around the clock to make sure all demand is met. As points of sale, the company uses more than 10 rented spaces in major cities at the moment, each of them being located in central areas, such as malls or commercial areas. The company uses only two warehouses to store the stock. Even though the stock is very large, the stock turnover is well below the industry’s average; therefore the company has little need for storage space and reduces costs.
The company focuses on offering its customers a unique combination of great value-for-money products with high dependability of services. It all starts with the production process. The company has several contractors in China which
References: Slack, N., Chambers, S. & Johnston, R. (2010), Operations Management, 6th Edition, Financial Times – Prentice Hall. Hill, A. and Hill, T. (2011), Essential Operations Management, Palgrave Macmillan. Bettley, A., Mayle, D. and Tantoush, T. (2005) Operations Management: A Strategic Approach, Open University/Sage. Slack, N., Chambers, S., Johnston, R. & Betts, A. (2009), Operations and Process Management: Principles and Practice for Strategic Impact, 2nd edition, Financial Times – Prentice Hall. Schroeder, R. G., Goldstein, S. N., Rungtusanatham, M. J. (2011) Operations Management: Contemporary Concepts and Cases (fifth edition). McGraw-Hill International Edition, pp. 492-503.