Strategic Management Business Cases and Management Concepts E-Book

Patrick Siegfried

• Herausgeber: Books on Demand
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2021

Seitenzahl: 323

Beschreibung

Strategic Management Business Cases for Practitioners and Management students

Leseprobe

These Case Studies were written from students at the Cooperative State University (DHBW) Mannheim. The students have visited the lecture “Research studies”. In this book Case studies from different companies will be presented. The development of their enterprises, the position in the market and their strategies.

Prof. Dr. Patrick Siegfried Ph.D. has worked with the students. He has the professorship for International Management at the International School of Management in Frankfurt.

I Contents

Analysis of the development of the company PHONESOAP, following a core competence analysis and recommendation for future actions

(Gramlich, L.)

Core competence analysis of the company Grace and Lace subsequent recommendations for action with the aim of company growth

(Neiss, A.K.)

Trade 4.0 – Analysis, comparison and benchmark of cashierless stores as a new way of shopping in Germany

(Brandt, L.V.)

Analysis and development of a sales concept for the European market by DROP STOP

(Schröter, S.)

Buggybeds in Germany - Expansion of the company into the German Market

(Collet, N.)

Analysis of the marketing of a new fitness bar with the help of influencer marketing at Plantbreak

(Maiwald, F.)

Satisfaction Analysis of Ring products at BAUHAUS Rhein-Main-Neckar and recommendations to expand in the German market

(Miltner, J.)

Economic success analysis for the start-up kuchentratsch and their future prognosis

(Baitinger, J.)

Comparing Squatty Potty with its competitors and developing target group recommendations for the German market

(Edmundson, C.)

1 Analysis of the development of the company PHONESOAP, following a core competence analysis and recommendation for future actions

Gramlich, L.

Contents

Introduction

1.1 Relevance of the subject

1.2 Target of the project

1.3 Construction of the paper

Theoretical Concept of the core competence Analysis

Presentation of the company PHONESOAP

3.1 Products of the Company PHONESOAP

Core Competence Analysis

4.1 Analysis of past successes

4.2 Expandability of the core competencies

4.3 Countercheck by negation

4.4 Management of identified core competencies

Recommendations for the company PHONESOAP

Conclusion and outlook

Research questions

Appendix

Catalog of measures

List of abbreviations

List of Sourcing

Web sources

1 Introduction

1.1 Relevance of the subject

People touch dirty things multiple times every day. For example, handrails, money, gym equipment and the list goes on. The problem is bacteria gets passed from the hands to the things that get touched. It is easy to wash your hands, but phones do not get washed and because of that, the average smartphone shows 18 times more bacteria than a public restroom. The problem is that bacteria thrive and can pass diseases.1 PhoneSoap is a company that competed in the series Shark Tank as a start-up in the year 2015, which wants to put an end to this problem. The relevance of this topic is the current situation of the Covid-19 Virus. On March eleventh of 2020 the Covid-19 epidemy was officially declared as a worldwide pandemic in China by the general director of the World Health Organization Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. This is due to the rapidly rising number of infections worldwide.

State October of 2020, there are already 40,5 Mio. cases of infection around the globe including over 1,1 Mio. deaths as a result of the disease.2 PhoneSoap is a manufacturer and supplier of portable devices for disinfection of mobile devices like smartphones or tablets. Years before the Covid-19 pandemic, the company entered the market of these sanitizers. The products of PhoneSoap can also be used in medical terrain like in hospitals or at a doctor´s place. The community hospital of Bonn for example, takes the next step in digitalization. It passes the conventional patient records in paper form for their new digital support tools. The German TELEKOM installed a whole digital information system in the hospital in the form of 200 iPad minis. All in all, this project cost about half a mio. €. The whole staff of around 150 doctors and 450 nurses are now working with tablets, so they can access for example findings of patients, diagnoses or even x-ray photographs in an instant and at the same time be more sustainable than before.

Timotheus Höttges, the CEO of Telekom Germany, explains in an interview for the hospital´s website that the new System raises the quality standards of the medical supply care drastically. It facilitates doctor´s and nurse´s work and especially the patients are glad about this change. The technical support elevates the care for patients on a new level, so they can be supervised better. Höttges also reveals that the medical branch lacks behind for years in comparison to other branches concerning technical standards, so it has to catch up a lot, even though the technical support may help to optimize the medical care.3 So even though, the company was founded in the year 2009, another really important use case for their products came through in 2020 with the outbreak of the Corona virus and their products are maybe more useful and interesting as ever before. Even non-portable versions of the PHONESOAP products are now being offered. These are intended for stationary use in your own home. Due to the fact that they are larger than the previous PHONESOAP products, they allow the user to sanitize even bigger devices than smartphones and tablets.4 However, the home station can also just be used for sanitizing multiple objects simultaneously.

1.2 Target of the project

The target of this project is going to be able to give the company PHONESOAP useful recommendations to optimize their distribution of products on different distribution channels. Based on the analysis of the distribution by PHONESOAP and a comparison to other competitors, solutions will be found to keep a strong position in the market of sanitizers and possibly discover new markets.

1.3 Construction of the paper

At the beginning of this paper, the problem is defined as well as the objective of this research work. After that, some theoretical conceptual foundations are explained. Especially the core competence analysis, which is the used style of analysis in this essay, will be presented and the most relevant terms will be explained. The third point is the introduction of the company PHONESOAP with their products and their situation. The analysis will be performed in four steps. With the core competence analysis, the author is able to give out recommendations to the company, which it may can use for future processes. The ending will sustain of a conclusion and an outlook for the future of the company PHONESOAP.

2 Theoretical Concept of the core competence Analysis

A core competence is a permanent and transferable source of the competitive advantage of a company, which is based on resources and abilities.5

Core competencies are efficient processes and services that are essential for the customer added value and are difficult for competitors to imitate or substitute. For the core competency analysis, purchasing criteria are (e.g., price, safety, durability and final speed) determined and weighted as far as possible by market analyses. As a second step, technical and economical product properties (e.g., strength, surface quality and manufacturing costs). These characteristics, which are critical to the purchase, represent increased customer benefit and are linked to the product specification. The result of the modified product specification or specification values classifies the processes and competencies of value creation (e.g., development, production or assembly). For this purpose, a competence portfolio with the dimension’s customer value and relative strength of competence is established. Depending on the location of competence in the portfolio, a strategic recommendation for action will follow. 6

The basic idea is that the root of sustainable competitive advantages in organizational capacity, production processes, technologies and raw materials optimally combined.7

A core competence is only useful, if it is suitable as a base of development for new products and the development of new markets with new customer groups.8

Core competencies can be split up by definition in multiple categories. Core competencies in the strictest sense are the innermost layer of a multi-layered business competence system. The outermost layer includes a company's skills and resources that are developed and combined to make a company competitive (first-order competencies). The middle layer describes the totality of a company's specific skills and resources that lead to competitive advantages (second-order competencies). The innermost layer of corporate competence describes the core competence. This term is limited to those resources and skills of a company that can be used to build new products and enter new markets. The transferability of resources and capabilities to new products and markets is the specificity of the core competencies.9

The primary objective of the core competency analysis is to identify the specific resources and capabilities that ultimately determine the company's success. By actively leveraging its core competencies and their continuous development, the company can efficiently improve its´ own competitive position by offering its´ products and services in a way that unmistakably meets the specific customer needs.10

The other main goals of the core competence analysis are:

The identification of the most important and or strongest competitors for the purpose of controlling the construction and maintaining of the own core competencies

The identification of weaknesses of the competitors (non-existent core competencies), as they are promising targets for own offensive competitive strategies

Protection of one's own weaknesses from competitive attacks (defensive strategies to fend off these potential attacks)

The typical procedure for reaching one´s goals of the core competence analysis is as followed:

Based on a value chain analysis based on technology and product analyses as well as night marking projects or customer surveys, the core competencies of the competitors are identified. in the course of this, a list of internal capabilities is usually developed, which is then analyzed relative to competitors with regard to customer benefit.

From this, the strengths and weaknesses, as well as the potential points of attack of the competitor are derived.

Following this, a future forecast of the competitor's core competencies for the future is prepared. This depends on possible future success factors. An example of this is a possible scenario of technology progress in the future.

Finally, the future competitiveness and the resulting impact on the company are derived.11

Another implementation approach to core competence analysis, as described by Klaus Kerth and Heiko Heiko Asum in 2008, can be divided into four steps.

Figure 1: Procedure of a core competence analysis12

The first step of the analysis is divided into several parts. First, the successes of the past are analyzed. For this purpose, a qualitative and a quantitative analysis are carried out. The qualitative analysis is carried out by calculating, how often the competencies of the company are combined to create a product. To perform the quantitative part of the analysis, Kerth and Asum provide a checklist that can be processed.

Figure 2: Leading questions core competence analysis13

After that, the customer benefit and the special importance of the products are analyzed for this purpose, for example, the already mentioned factors serve. The third part of the first step consists of an analysis of business activities. This includes competencies, such as expertise, techniques, know-how or the process of product creation. In this analysis step, it is examined what similarities the company has with its main competitors and also, where the company differs from the competition. The second step in the core competence analysis is to examine the expandability of one's own competencies, which have already been identified. It is necessary to examine the potential of existing products and to find out, to what extent this potential can be transferred to new products or new markets. As already described in theory at the beginning, the company should concentrate on competencies, which can also be transferred, in order to be able to use them for new products. The third step is the countercheck through negation. This means that the results of the first two analytical steps are collected and then, the biggest failures of the company are considered. In particular, the disadvantages compared to the competition companies should be carefully understood and analyzed in this step. According to Kerth and Asum, the final step in the core competence analysis is the management of identified core competencies. Here, the identified core competencies are integrated into competence management. In this way, the resources should be directed towards the core components in order to maintain and expand them in a targeted manner in the long term.14

3 Presentation of the company PHONESOAP

In 2009, the idea of PHONESOAP comes to life. The two founders Wes LaPorte and Dan Barnes are attending the Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. While LaPorte is studying Life Science, Barnes studies Business Marketing. This year the two students watch a TV report about cell phones, which are contaminated with fecal matter. Because LaPorte does cancer research in university and has the possibility to access science labs on the campus, he and Barnes decide to test for themselves to see, if the results would be the same, as in the TV report, they saw. The outcome of their test is that they recognize, the results are just the same as seen on TV. After their discovery, LaPorte and Barnes realize, they have to strategize a solution.

One year later, in 2010, with Barnes´ scientific background and LaPorte´s knowledge in Business Marketing, the two begin to enter competitions at their university with success. They enter many competitions and eventually win the title as Student Innovators of the Year with their idea. Shortly after winning the competition, they are invited to take part in the Rice Business Plan Competition at Rice University in Houston, Texas, again being successful. They win the prize for best marketing. They use the earned money from each competition to build the first real prototype of their disinfection tool.

After winning several competitions LaPorte and Barnes know that people are interested in their product, so they start to raise money utilizing the crowd-funding platform Kickstarter to raise money for the production of their first PHONESOAP units. The initial goal of raising 18.000 $ is way surpassed, with the two inventors raising about 63.000 $ in 2012.

In the year 2013, the first big batch of PHONESOAP V1 is manufactured in China and in 2014 the company PHONESOAP officially goes to market. In this year alone, a total of 22.349 units are sold.

The year after, LaPorte and Barnes feature on the TV show Shark Tank with their newly launched product, which leads to receiving three offers from the investors, ultimately choosing Lori Greiner as their business partner. Greiner believes in the success of PHONESOAP through marketing on the television shopping network QVC. With growing success, the team grows, and more products are created. In fall 2015 LaPorte and Barnes fund another kick starter, the PhoneSoap XL. A UV sanitizer, just like the PhoneSoap V1 but this time for tablets. Again, they surpass their goal of 30.000 $ and raise over 65.000 $

Since then, the company grows steadily with a number of new sanitizing products on their display, not only in the area of portable devices anymore.15

3.1 Products of the Company PHONESOAP

All PHONESOAP products function the same in principle. The user has to put the device into the PHONESOAP product and then close the lid. One cleaning cycle lasts 10 minutes, in which the device is cleaned by a powerful UV-C light, which kills 99,9 % of germs. When the external blue indicator turns off, the device is completely clean.16

UV light can be broken up into three categories: UV-A, UV-B and UV-C. The UV-C light, which is used in the PHONESOAP products, is a short wavelength, ultraviolet light that breaks apart germ DNA, leaving it unable to function or reproduce. In contrast to UVA and UV-B light, UV-C is germicidal. It can even neutralize so called superbugs that have developed a resistance to antibiotics. This germicidal effect is very rare on earth, because it gets blocked off by the atmosphere. This light is very harmful to a human´s eyes, so it is necessary to only use it in PHONESOAP´s safe environment. Thanks to the products´ construction, the user will never see the UV-C light. An external blue indicator shows the user, when the device is being cleaned and when the cleaning cycle is finished. This powerful UV-C light has a deadly effect on microorganisms like pathogens, bacteria’s and, most important for this essay, viruses. The warm batterie of the phone causes bacteria to spread and thrive. Also, pockets and purses are breeding grounds for bacteria.17 But the UV-C light penetrates the bacteria’s´ cells and disrupts its´ DNA, killing it off. During the cleaning cycle, the device will not be damaged by heat, because the UV-C light will not get hot. Using UV-C light for disinfection is not a new practice, as it gets used since the 20th century for example to fight tuberculosis or nowadays in hospitals and laboratories to keep the facility sterile.18

The following figure shows two Petri dishes. One before and one after the use of PHONESOAP. As explained in the introduction, the average smartphone carries about 18 times more bacteria, than a public restroom. This means the risk of catching a disease from your phone is way higher, than from grabbing a handrail in a public restroom. And with the battery of the phone keeping, it warm and it being carried in dark places like pockets or purses, the bacteria multiplies even more.19

Figure 1: Petri dishes before and after the use of PHONESOAP20

In the past, there were products listed like the PHONESOAP V1 and V2. But due to being outdated with the third generation of the sanitizer, the older generation products were taken off the shop.

Figure 2: PHONESOAP products21

Starting in the same order, as the products are listed on the web shop, in the following part every product is highlighted and explained shortly.

Figure 3: HOMESOAP22

Starting with the HOMESOAP, it possesses the same disinfection power as the original PHONESOAP sanitizer but its´ bigger layout allows the user to sanitize bigger products like tablets, toys and more.23

Figure 4: PHONESOAP 324

Next up is the PHONESOAP 3. It is the third implementation optimized on the base of the original PHONESOAP sterilizer. It sterilizes phones like no other phone sanitizer, because of its ‘patented construction. The user is able to clean a device in 10 minutes while even charging the phone.25

Figure 5: PHONESOAP Pro26

The Pro version of the PHONESOAP sanitizer comes with twice the UV-C bulbs, allowing the user to sanitize a device in half of the time as the original PHONESOAP. Also bearing a larger sanitizing bay than other models, it allows to fit in large phones more comfortably.27

Figure 6: PHONESOAP Go28

The PHONESOAP Go is the most flexible of the sanitizers. Due to its rechargeability, the user can sanitize and charge his or her device everywhere and on the go.29

Figure 7: PHONESOAP Wireless30

The PHONESOAP Wireless is the company´s first sanitizer being able to sanitize a phone and charge it, while not having to use a charging cable for the phone.31

Figure 8: AIRSOAP32

And at last, AIRSOAP is the newest product of the company and a complete change-up to the previous sanitizers. Up until now every sanitizer built by PHONESOAP is used to sanitize phones, tablets or basically every object that fits in it. With AIRSOAP, the company released an air purifier that kills and captures even the smallest of viruses. This air purifier is also able to reduce allergens like pet dander or to purify polluted air.33

1 Cf. PHONE SOAP, How Dirty is My Phone?, n.d.

2 Cf. Haas, J. G., COVID-19 und Psychologie, 2021, P. XI.

3 Cf. Gemeinschaftskrankenhaus Bonn, Klinik-Tablet im Gemeinschaftskrankenhaus, 2015.

4 Vgl. PHONESOAP, HOMESOAP.

5 Cf. Krüger, W./Homp, C., Kernkompetenz-Management, 1997, P. 27.

6 Cf. Dickmann, P., Schlanker Materialfluss, 2009, P. 365 f.

7 Cf. Hölzner, H./Koller, H., Die Fähigkeit des Fortschritts im Strategischen Management, 2009, P. 32.

8 Cf. Kerth, K./Asum, H./Stich, V., Die besten Strategietools in der Praxis, 2011, P. 54.

9 Cf. Buchholz, L., Strategisches Controlling, 2019, P. 66.

10 Cf. Buchholz, L., Strategisches Controlling, 2019, P. 67.

11 Cf. Michaeli, R., Competitive Intelligence, 2006, P. 317.

12 Cf. Kerth, K./Asum, H., Die besten Strategietools in der Praxis, 2008, o.P.

13 Cf. Kerth, K./Asum, H., Die besten Strategietools in der Praxis, 2008, o.P.

14 Cf. Kerth, K./Asum, H./Stich, V., Die besten Strategietools in der Praxis, 2011, P. 51–55.

15 Cf. PHONE SOAP, How was PhoneSoap Started?, 2020.

16 Cf. PHONE SOAP, How Does PhoneSoap work?, n.d.

17 Cf. PHONE SOAP, A cell phone has 18x more bacteria than a public restroom., n.d.

18 Cf. PHONE SOAP, How does UV light sanitize?, n.d.

19 Cf. PHONE SOAP, How Dirty is My Phone?, n.d.

20 Cf. PHONE SOAP, How Dirty is My Phone?, n.d.

21 Cf. PHONESOAP, PHONESOAP Collection., n.d.

22 Cf. PHONESOAP, HOMESOAP., n.d.

23 Cf. PHONESOAP, HOMESOAP., n.d.

24 Cf. PHONESOAP, PHONESOAP 3., n.d.

25 Cf. PHONESOAP, PHONESOAP 3., n.d.

26 Cf. PHONESOAP, PHONESOAP PRO., n.d.

27 Cf. PHONESOAP, PHONESOAP PRO., n.d.

28 Cf. PHONESOAP, PHONESOAP GO., n.d.

29 Cf. PHONESOAP, PHONESOAP GO., n.d.

30 Cf. PHONESOAP, PHONESOAP WIRELES., n.d.

31 Cf. PHONESOAP, PHONESOAP WIRELES., n.d.

32 Cf. PHONESOAP, AIRSOAP., n.d.

33 Cf. PHONESOAP, AIRSOAP., n.d.

4 Core Competence Analysis

4.1 Analysis of past successes

The first step in the core competence analysis is the analysis of the successes achieved so far. First, a quantitative and a qualitative analysis are carried out. Currently, PHONESOAP offers six products on the market, all based on a combination of the same resources. Therefore, an exact quantitative analysis can be dispensed with, since the resources of these products are equally combined. The qualitative analysis can be carried out on the basis of a checklist, as already described in the theoretical part of the essay. For this analysis, the checklist according to Kerth and Asum is used.

PHONESOAP has developed a disinfection tool, for which there was no market at that time. Due to the current situation with the COVID-19 pandemic, the relevance of the PHONESOAP products is higher than ever. Over the years, several tools for different applications have been added. For example, for mobile use without electricity, for larger devices, for medical use or for room disinfection.

The most successful product of recent years is the standard PHONESOAP sanitizer, which has since been released in the third optimized version.

The original use case of PHONESOAP products has developed particularly successful in recent years, namely private use for smartphones. However, with other models such as PHONESOAP Pro, the company also offers an attractive alternative for larger products than smartphones. PHONESOAP was initiated by the two founders Wes LaPorte and Dan Barnes, as already mentioned in the introduction. The successful entry into a completely new market was secured by the appearance on the TV show Shark Tank and the use of the investor Lori Greiner.

Apart from the innovation of disinfection by UV-C light, the company PHONESOAP has not really relied on new innovations in recent years. The products were supplemented rather horizontally. The only product that expands the product range innovatively is the new PHONESOAP Air device, which is designed to ensure clean air. As already explained in the product presentation and the introduction of this essay, PHONESOAP primarily takes care of a problem that was not previously known to the popular customers, namely the cleaning of their devices. Especially through Corona, PHONESOAP gained a whole new relevance, as the products not only eliminate 99.9% of all bacteria but also actively fight viruses. Thus, a solution has been found to what is probably the biggest problem in society at the moment, without intending to do so beforehand. Since the company has only been operating on the market for a few years, it is not possible to look further, but the basic idea behind the products to protect the user from diseases has still not changed.

The second part of the first step of the analysis deals with the special customer benefit that it bears through the use of the PHONESOAP products. The characteristic that stands out here is above all the safety. On the one hand due to the good construction and on the other hand by the high quality of the products, which promises the customer a safe use, which may not be the case with cheaper products. And also, the safety against diseases due to the disinfection of the largest bacterial and virus carrier, which the average person carries with him every day. Thus, the customer can assume to get a very efficient cleaning of his devices and at the same time to provide his own safety, whereas with poorer quality this may not be the case. This then affects either the disinfection of the device or even the physical health. The third step of part one consists of the analysis of business processes. The emphasis here lies especially on the original competencies of the founders LaPorte and Barnes. LaPorte with his Life science background and the working experience in laboratories brings in the technical know-how for the construction of the products, while Barnes brings in his knowledge in Business Marketing to commercialize their products. In the beginning, the start-up is financed by fundraising, while today being able to finance itself. The ultimate push in marketing came through with the feature on Shark Tank. The fourth part of the first step analyses the relationship with the main competitors. This should highlight how PHONESOAP is positioned in the market compared to the competition.

Due to the rocket-like upstart of PHONESOAP and the rapid success, there were also quickly many imitations, partly in the premium segment like PHONESOAP, but also much cheaper alternatives. On test and product comparison sites, PHONESOAP scores as a top product. On the Thereviewleader page, PHONESOAP not only takes first place with one of its sanitizers but also directly takes second place.34 This ranking also includes the competitor in the premium segment called 59s.

Figure 1: 59s sanitizer35

The sterilizer by 59s also got very good feedback. Positive aspects of the 59s are the good durability, the modern design and the opportunity, to clean more than one object simultaneously. This is due to the relatively big size, which also means it is not as handy. The base price of this sterilizer lies at 89,99 $. In comparison to the PHONESOAP sanitizers, the price to performance relation is seen as a negative point.36

Another competitor, which is rather in the lower-priced bracket is Hoidokly, with a sanitizer listed at a base price of 29,99 $. The is much cheaper, than in the premium segment but the customer has to pay in the usability. The cleaning cycle is very long for example.37

Figure 3: Hoidokly sanitizer38

In the review about PHONESOAP, the main positive aspect described, is the very effective cleaning of the devices. The reason why this point is highlighted is, that PHONESOAP has got a patented design, which makes it the only sanitizer, which fully disinfects the devices. Further positives are the compatibility with most phone models for cleaning and disinfecting. It has two charging ports, and it is possible, to sanitize and charge at the same time. 39 Also, there are no negative points in the review and the PHONESOAP 3 is even cheaper in comparison to the 59s with 79,99 $

This leaves PHONESOAP in a very good place. It is not only cheaper, than other sanitizers in the premium segment but due to the patent, PHONESOAP products are the only ones, which can guarantee a completely sterile cleaning through their build. So even though, there are many imitators on the market, the original product is still the best and with a reasonable price tag.

4.2 Expandability of the core competencies

As described in the introduction, PHONESOAP products can also be used in medical terrain. This was also stated in Barnes´ and LaPorte´s feature on Shark Tank and with the actual situation in the Covid-19 pandemic, it will probably be a long time, until everyone, who really wants to get an anti-vaccine will get one. So, the PHONESOAP products would be really helpful in this situation in hospitals or at doctor´s places. But not only for this time, the products carry a solution, because medical facilities always have to be sterile, so other bacteria and viruses cannot be spread around, and patients will not suffer from infections or diseases. Especially with the rising use of technical devices like explained with the example of the community hospital of Bonn, it is very important to have suiting sanitizing possibilities. With PHONESOAP being able to erase bacteria, viruses and even superbugs, there is no better possibility to keep devices sterile. Also in the long term, PHONESOAP products are cheaper than using liquid sanitizer, because the products only have to be recharged with energy, so there is no need to waste other resources like sanitizing liquid. But the problem is as followed. Core competencies have to be able to enable the entrance into a wide spectrum of new markets. 40 And with no other sanitizing tool being as effective as PHONESOAP, which is mandatory for medical use, the company probably has a whole market to serve for itself. But apart from a small text in the FAQ fraction on the website and the statement live on Shark Tank, it is not really mentioned that the company is able to fill this potential need in medical facilities. Due to this lack of information, the result is that PHONESOAP is mostly known for providing a solution for personal and not for professional usage. With Barnes Business Marketing background, it should really be possible, to communicate better that their products can provide a highly professional use. This is a possibility to take an already existing core competence to the next level, so it is probably the first and most important expandability of PHONESOAPS core competencies. On the basis of this expandability, there is another core competence which is not regarded enough. With PHONESOAP being the only company producing a complete sterile sanitizer, it possesses a unique selling point on the market. The problem with this is that it is not mentioned anywhere on PHONESOAP´s website, so it has to be looked up on the internet. And if a company has such a strong core competence as a selling argument, it should really use it better.

4.3 Countercheck by negation

The first two analysis steps show that the company has been very successful in the past. It has created a unique technology leading to a unique selling point, and automatically, therefore, securing a safe place on the Sanitizer market as long as this exists. The company combines its own know-how with the qualitative unique selling point in order to secure its´ safe and strong position on the market. The special customer benefit, therefore, lies in the high-quality workmanship and in the fact, to be the only sanitizer that is completely sterile. When the PHONESOAP sanitizers are compared with the competitors, it becomes clear that there are no products with the same top quality, with competitors even charging higher prices, despite of selling worse quality products. The range of products is also slightly wider compared to the competitors, because they usually only 2 versions (one standard and one XL version) Offer. Here, PHONESOAP offers articles such as the HOMESOAP and the AIRSOAP articles that did not exist in any form like this before. The company's range of products is therefore also a unique selling point in itself. The company's main weaknesses are that, despite the marketing by Shark Tank not yet advertised intensively enough in the right places. By Shark Tank as a springboard, the company gained notoriety for the individual consumers, but large groups in the medical field, which once again could generate a massive increase in sales are hardly appealed to. Marketing as a quality leader is not yet being done enough, which has certainly influenced some purchasing decisions in the past but will continue to influence them in the future if it is properly operated.

4.4 Management of identified core competencies

The final step of the analysis depends on the extent to which PHONESOAP aligns its´ resources with its´ core competencies, in order to maintain or even intensify them. In any case, the company should use its patented product assembly to bring further innovative products to the market to continue not only to remain a quality leader but also to be the broadest in the product pallet. This horizontal extension should include both, products for private use and new solutions for the medical field. Due to the longevity of the products and the high quality, the demand for standing PHONESOAP articles is saturated over time. With the existing know-how, they need to bring an innovation that can survive just as well on the market as the original PHONESOAP sanitizer or, for example, the HOMESOAP.

5 Recommendations for the company PHONESOAP

As already stated in the core competence analysis, the company PHONESOAP concentrates very strongly on the marketing of its´ products in the retail sector. Here, their products should continue to be well marketed, and their quality leadership will ensure that they maintain a strong place in the sanitizer market. However, marketing in the professional sector should be greatly intensified. Especially in the medical industry, there could be a large increase in demand. But despite the support of Shark Tank and the advertising on the permanent advertising channel QVC, this has not yet happened. As a newly entered investor, the author would definitely prioritize this point. However, the PHONESOAP products could not only be popular in the medical field but in general, marketing in the B2B sector should be intensified. There is already an extra page on the website, which means, the company already knows about this market. Nevertheless, this would be the second priority as a new investor. Research and development should also be pursued definitively, because without innovations, such as the newly published AIRSOAP, the market is rapidly saturated. An example of this as the new investor would be a sanitizer for vehicles, i.e. similar to the AIRSOAP only intended for mobile use. This could then be battery-powered or get its´ required electricity from the cigarette lighter and ensure, for example that a company's pool vehicles, some of which are driven by several different people on a daily basis, become a little safer during the Covid-19 pandemic. Another example could be a sanitizer especially for clothes that do not need to be washed yet. This way, the user can be sure to wear clean clothes, without having washed them beforehand. Another point that is likely to deter many potential customers and be remedied through research and development, is the duration of a cooling-off cycle. Nowadays, people are impatient and want everything to be as fast and effective as possible. Presumably, for many potential customers, the cycle of ten minutes for the basic variant and five minutes for the pro version of the sanitizer is too much time without their smartphone. Since the cleaning time in the Pro variant is only half as long due to an additional lamp, the cycle can probably be shortened by another lamp. For example, an attempt can be made to design a basic variant with two luminaires and a pro variant with three luminaires for the PHONESOAP V4. Here, research and development are necessary to optimize the power consumption or battery of the mobile sanitizer. From a purely technical point of view, there is theoretically no major danger for the product during being cleaned, since the radiation does not generate heat that pollutes the battery. However, it is important not to increase the price too much, as this could further deter new customers.

34 Cf. Thereviewleader, Top 7 Best Smartphone UV Sterilizer in 2021 & Buying Guide, 2021.

35 Cf. 59s, 59s UV Sterilizer Box For Household Equipment (S2)., n.d.

36 Cf. Thereviewleader, Top 7 Best Smartphone UV Sterilizer in 2021 & Buying Guide, 2021.

37 Cf. Amazon, Hoidokly UV Sterilisator., n.d.

38 Cf. Amazon, Hoidokly UV Sterilisator., n.d.

39 Cf. Thereviewleader, Top 7 Best Smartphone UV Sterilizer in 2021 & Buying Guide, 2021.

40 Cf. Herrmann, A./Huber, F., Produktmanagement, 2009, P. 66.

6 Conclusion and outlook

The company PHONESOAP has experienced a vertical start and could hardly save itself from success in the first years. With a fully integrated innovative product, it was possible to convince at the TV show Shark Tank with a very interesting pitch and to steer this success to the consumer market. Thus, it was possible to create a new market and to implement itself in this non-defusing way as a quality leader through patent rights. This success, which will certainly continue to exist in this market, makes it possible to enter new markets as explained in the action recommendations and to assess them, just as quickly, since here too the supremacy as a quality leader would be guaranteed. If it is still possible to conceive more novel and interesting products, this could be an opportunity to move into completely new spheres. For the vast majority of companies, Covid-19 is a strong dampener, but for PHONESOAP, it is a great opportunity to become even more successful, because sanitation has never been more important, than it is today. A full catalog of measures based on the recommendations to help fulfil the goal of growing further during Covid-19 is attached in the appendix.

Looking ahead, PHONESOAP, if some of the action recommendations are taken into account, could be a huge company and longterm successful business, increasing the number of employees, and today's figures probably quadrupled. But the course for the coming years will be set in the company's implementation and activity in the coming months, as long as Covid-19 is a persistent and pervasive problem. If the company now manages to draw attention to itself and its´ virus-destroying products, the customer base could grow rapidly in all directions and in all regions of the world, paving the way for the next big step in the fledgling business history.

7 Research questions

1. What is the current problem with the marketing situation of the company PHONESOAP?