Business Strategy

Five Forces Analysis (Ryan McKenna)

Force	Example/Description	Force Strength	Benchmark Scientific Response
Bargaining Power of Customers	Customers determine whether a business is successful. Customers possess a great deal of power as they can switch to a competitor if they are unhappy	Strong	Benchmark Scientific response includes delivering high quality customer service experience by way of quickly responding to client's needs; They also continue to search for innovative ways to develop high quality products that are cost effective
Threat of Substitutes	Clients can opt to purchase different/alternative products	Medium	Benchmark Scientific continues to expand their current product lines. They could also continue developing partnerships with vendors to obtain cost savings that can be past to the customer. They also can implement a marketing strategy to increase brand loyalty
Bargaining Power of Suppliers	As a manufacturer, suppliers are extremely important since they provide the materials and supplies used to develop the finish products	Strong	Developing a diversified supplier network will diminish this force. In the event, if a supplier threatens to increase their price or end their business relationship, Benchmark Scientific could easily replace that supplier if their network is diversified. The Long-term relationships that Benchmark has kept with their suppliers is what keeps them at the top of the list in this industry. This gives their current supplier a strong bargaining power
Threat of New Entrants	New competitors entering the scientific equipment market with innovative technology and lower prices.	Medium	Benchmark Scientific has established brand recognition and a loyal customer base, but new entrants can still pose a threat. The company invests in research and development to maintain technological leadership and builds strong relationships with customers to enhance loyalty.
Competitive Rivalry	The biotech manufacturing industry is highly competitive	High	The scientific equipment industry is characterized by intense competition. Benchmark Scientific focuses on innovation, quality, and customer service to differentiate its offerings and maintain a competitive edge. Regular market analysis and rapid adaptation to market trends help mitigate rivalry.

    The medical equipment industry is extremely profitable due to the consistent demand for tools and devices that are used across various healthcare settings, research institutions, and scientific organizations. Benchmark Scientific has a wide range of equipment from basic instruments like hot plates more to complex devices like centrifuges and thermal cylinders. Despite them being a relatively small business, they generate more than $5 million per year. Because of the ongoing need for medical equipment there is going to be a steady customer base, making the industry inherently profitable for manufacturers.
     A key factor for a company to remain profitable is to establish strong relationships with reliable suppliers. Having access to high-quality materials and components is essential for producing reliable medical equipment. By forging strong ties with suppliers, manufacturers can secure favorable pricing and reliable supply chains, thereby controlling production costs and enhancing profitability.
     Effective cost management is another critical aspect of profitability in this industry. Manufacturing medical equipment entails significant expenses, including raw materials, labor, research and development, regulatory compliance, and marketing. The goal is to get costs as low as possible without it resulting in diminished quality. Companies that can efficiently manage these costs are going to maximize their profit margins.

Competitive Strategy (Amanda Dixon)

    In order to be successful, organizations must select a competitive strategy, which is the method and approach of structuring their business to compete within their respective industries. Selecting a strategy is a direct response to the Porter’s Five Force Model.  Selecting the right strategy is essential as the competitive strategy determines the organizational goals and objectives in addition to shaping the structure, value chain and business processes (Kroenke & Boyle, 2022). 

    According to our textbook, there are four main competitive strategies: Cost Leadership, Differentiation, Cost Focus and Differentiation Focus. Cost Leadership is the competitive strategy where organizations strive to have the lowest cost of goods or services industry wide. Differentiation is the competitive strategy where organizations strive to separate and distinguish themselves from the competition by highlighting the uniqueness of their products and services industry wide. Cost Focus is application of the cost leadership strategy within a specific segment or targeted market. Differentiation Focus is the application of the differentiation strategy within a specific segment of the market. Some believe a fifth competitive strategy can be found within Porter’s Model: Cost and Differentiation Focus (Ormanidhi & Stringa, 2008). This strategy combines the objectives of developing products and/or services that are unique and different at the lowest cost possible.

    Benchmark Scientific’s competitive strategy is the Cost and Differentiation Focus strategy. They strive to offer clients products that are both cost effective and high quality. Benchmark Scientific continuously focuses on how they can refine their current operational structure to reduce expense and generate cost savings. They also invest in technology to develop innovative products to meet their customers’ needs. To further enhance the experience of their customers, they also offer products that are fully customizable and tailored to each client.

Primary Value Chain and Business Processes (Margareth Espinal)

    Benchmark’s value Chain framework encompasses around the five primary activities; Inbound Operations, Operations, inbound logistics, marketing and sales and services. However, their inventory processes it’s what maximize their operation efficiency, optimized cash flow and meeting customer demand promptly. They craft their sales strategy to produce additional value. They feel that having a valuable product available and shipping within 1-3 business days it’s what separates them from the competition by achieving sustainable growth and profitability.
 
    Benchmark buys finished goods and also manufactures its products. Their operations of manufacturing consist of creating a quality, customizing, and private label their product to deliver satisfaction to its customers. The way inventory management process works is based on a 12 month’s planning and forecast.  The purchasing manager evaluates the sales history based on so many variables like, promotions, private labels sales, regular sales and special projects. This forecast includes the supplier's lead time and transit time from overseas. Once the inventory arrives it goes to several processes to ensure it passes quality control. It gets sorted out depending on finished goods and raw material categories. Once it's sorted out it gets allocated to customers open orders and stock inventory. The customers’ orders get filled based on FIFO, first comes in-first goes out. Because Benchmark does not have a serial number process it is difficult to track inventory and keep up with warranties. However, they have a strong team and system in place to make sure that their inventory is rotated on a daily basis. This system requires a cycle count every year to help the accuracy of the inventory level reflected in their inventory management system. An inventory value report is run on a monthly basis to track down the cash flow and that there is not too much capital tied up to the inventory. The purchase manager also runs a turnaround report which tracks all sales orders invoice within a 30 days period. This report shows how many days it takes from the minute that the customer orders placed the order to the day it gets ships out. As a result,  the sales and product management team takes pride in telling their customer that benchmark’s ships their order within one to three business days!  

Information Systems for Structure Process: Inventory (Ashley Amigon Garcia)

       Benchmark Scientific’s Information System for Inventory Management is QuickBooks. QuickBooks is one of the most popular accounting software for businesses. It offers a range of accounting and finance solutions including payroll, expenses, invoices, sales, and inventory (Forbes, 2024). This software is super flexible, you can use this app with one feature at a time instead of all together and as the business grows you can expand. As it was mentioned, Benchmark doesn’t have a serial number basis and that’s the reason why they chose QuickBooks. This software is available both as a desktop application and an online software service model. Benchmark uses QuickBooks mainly to monitor inventory. The way it works is as you accept payment for any item in the inventory, the right expense account is updated and reflected automatically (Forbes, 2024). It brings all your orders and inventory onto a central dashboard giving you the real-time status of every order. Tracks what’s on hand, alerts when it’s time to restock, and sees insights on what you buy and sell (Intuit QuickBooks, 2024) There are two ways to track what you sell: Creating an invoice if getting paid later or add a sales receipt if the customer paid on the spot (Intuit QuickBooks, 2024). 

Information Systems for Dynamic Process: Marketing (Anna Paulovkin)

   

Benchmark Scientific's marketing process is seen as dynamic rather than structured because it is constantly flexible and sensitive to shifting circumstances. In comparison to structured processes that follow standardized and rigid procedures, LinkedIn marketing initiatives require ongoing modification, adjustments, and enhancement in order to maintain performance.

                   

     With LinkedIn, a social media information system used by Benchmark Scientific, the company is able to analyze and improve its campaigns in real-time, while also doing marketing in a flexible manner. This marketing tool offers tools for planning content calendars, posting at the best times to get interaction, and being active on the network. For its LinkedIn postings and ads, Benchmark Scientific is able to monitor important data including reach, engagement from potential clients and recruits, and clicks. This way the company can evaluate the effectiveness of its content, see trends, and make changes based on these evaluations to maximize the results of its LinkedIn marketing campaigns, thanks to the real-time monitoring. Because of this, Benchmark Scientific can react quickly to changes in industry trends, and audience preferences, which helps to keep its marketing campaigns effective and current. 

    The dynamic character of the process essentially reflects the necessity of ongoing improvement and modification to accomplish desired results. Nevertheless rather we talk of dynamic or structured processes, “both contribute towards the management of the activities, even if they are different forms and levels of importance, because an office is an open and cooperative system”(Panti & Cucchiarelli, 1990).

Competitive Advantage from Product/Process Implementation (Nick Luongo)

    Benchmark Scientific is able to gain a competitive edge by its customization focus, strict quality control, efficient inventory management and active marketing campaigns that are adjusted online through LinkedIn. Enhancing customer retention and customization can be achieved by Benchmark Scientific through the introduction of an app with customer loyalty and rewards. These demand predictions could also be improved by an advanced inventory and sales forecasting system which may include a component of artificial intelligence in the future as we refine our supply chain optimization process. Despite current product tracking challenges, use of blockchain to enhance transparency on product quality tracing could help increase brand trust and improve warranty processes. Furthermore, customers would become even more engaged if they were provided with an online tool for configuring customized products that would enable them to get immediate pricing estimates as well as delivery schedules. These would include things such as creating interactive customer interfaces, improving operational efficiencies, and adopting an innovative approach towards product quality enhancement across its market space for Benchmark Scientifics information systems advancements.