Vector Fitness Inc. Case Study

1. Prior to going to Munich, what should Vector do to prepare for the trade show?(10 marks)

By helping employees change their behavior patterns and choose more healthy lifestyles, Corporate Fitness will lower companies' health care expenditures, while raising worker productivity. Health care expenditures will decrease due to reduced medical insurance premiums, reduced absenteeism, reduced turnover rates, reduced worker's compensation claims, reduced tardiness, shorter hospital stays, etc.

This plan outlines the activities to develop a market for Vector's product line in Europe. Vector's desire to export to Europe reflects their desire to improve their growth and revenues through increased sales of their product. By expanding sales internationally, Vector wants to deliver greater value to their customers by enabling them to produce the product more efficiently through improved resource utilization and economies of scale.

Vector wants to be known as a world-class designer, engineer, and manufacturer of the finest cardiovascular fitness equipment in the market. Vector intends to become the quality and innovation leader in the marketplace for consumer treadmill equipment. They want to help their customers reach the highest levels of human performance, and will design high quality products to reflect this goal.

2. What market information would Vector need in order to evaluate the market potential?(10 marks)

Most importantly, the growth has been fueled by the increased employment in the city's high-tech companies. This has attracted a type of professional that is the target customer for the Only Fitness. The women we are targeting are looking for a different type of fitness club experience. At Only Fitness, they will be the total focus of our staff.

The market for treadmill products is highly competitive with a fair number of companies manufacturing, selling or distributing treadmill equipment. The key distinction among competitors is the nature of its product line. Vector's competitors include companies with greater name recognition and more extensive financial and other resources than the company. The import market for fitness equipment in Europe is led by products from Taiwan which offer lower costs, comprise 20% to 30% of imports, and are the leading non-European importing source; however, they are widely considered to be of lower quality and compete in the budget ends of the market. The majority of countries in Europe have one key manufacturer of fitness products who is the domestic market leader. The exception is Germany, which is the European leader in fitness equipment products, including cardiovascular fitness machines. Germany has a strong and developed domestic market that is the most similar to North America. Germany's domestic industry is also strong and enjoys strong domestic support. Products from North America have the reputation of being the highest quality and the most technically innovative. North American products tend to demand the highest price premium and sell in higher end segments due to this reputation.

3. What human resources and/or /capabilities would Vector need if they decided to export to Europe? How or where would they acquire these resources/capabilities. Explain your rationale. (10 marks)

The European Union ...