Romanian Stringed Instrument Manufacturing Company Startup Strategy

[pic 1][pic 2]

[pic 3]

Romanian Stringed Instrument Manufacturing Company Startup Strategy

The city of Reghin, called the city of violins, is synonymous with musical instruments production in Romania (Lazaroiu, 2015).  And with Romania and Carpathian Mountains situated on the 45º North Parallel and due to the North to South orientation to sun; the spruce and maple wood used for making musical instruments is far superior to the wood around the world for the production of string instruments (Lazaroiu, 2015). The durability of my company’s competitive advantage over its competitors depends on barriers to imitation, capability of competitors and industry dynamism. The long-standing history of handcrafted stringed instruments and superior construction materials are well known in this region of the world (Lazaroiu, 2015). These are the barriers to imitation. The capabilities of competitors such as the Chinese are highly based on prior strategic commitments and absorptive capacities (McKeough, 2003). However, the qualities of stringed instruments produced by these manufacturers are inferior (McKeough, 2003). There is potential growth of orchestra programs in the United States. 4,269 school districts had orchestral programs out of a total of 14,556 in the United States in 2009 (National String Project Consortium, 2009). Studies show that 38.7% of schools indicated there was potential to develop new string programs in their school districts. (National String Project Consortium, 2009).The number of students playing stringed instruments in schools has steadily increased since the early 1980s at all levels – elementary, middle school, and high school (National String Project Consortium, 2009).

         My mission is to share our business philosophy and traditions with the U.S. market and provide superior quality products at a competitive price by giving our customers a unique sound experience. The market scope will concentrate on Public Elementary and Secondary School students from grades 4 through 6 and grades 7 through 12. The choice of products that has the most important impact for this market is the student models of stringed instruments. The plan is to focus on the superior construction materials and the long history of producing stringed instrument in this region of the world. The key to success for my company to succeed in this market is to focus on its core competencies, which are highly durable. Using a grassroots campaign to market to students and introduce these beautiful, quality instruments into public elementary and secondary schools to build brand recognition Promotions should begin with the teachers in each string and orchestra program since 46% of students learn their instruments from teachers (The Music Trades, 2009). More than half of the students pick their instrument from teachers’ recommendations (The Music Trades, 2009).