only answer question 2 and 3

Discussion Topic

Matthew's Commercial Engraving THE QUESTION OF SUSTAINABILITY

Steve Matthew, the CEO of Matthew's Commercial Engraving, calls you into his office. You got high praise for your critique of the Matthews Commercial Engraving Strategic Plan a few weeks ago, and youre wondering what Steve Matthew wants to speak to you about today. As youre walking toward Steves office, you think about the company that youve worked for over seven years.

Matthew's Commercial Engraving is a family-owned printing company that has been in business for over 50 years. The founder of the company, William Matthew, started the company as a small printing and engraving shop. Now Williams grandson, Steve Matthew runs the company, and they have grown to $20 million in annual revenues. Today, Matthew's Commercial Engraving specializes in signage for retail stores.

Take a seat, Steve Matthew tells you as you enter his office.

Then Steve says, We have a problem. Our competitor (Donovan's Printing) just came out with a statement on their website about being a Lean and Green manufacturer! He pulls up the website and you read it.

Lean and Green Manufacturing at Donovans Printing

Donovans is a Lean Manufacturer. The core idea of Lean Manufacturing is to maximize customer value while minimizing waste. Simply, lean means creating more value for customers with fewer resources.

A lean organization understands customer value and focuses its key processes to continuously increase it. The ultimate goal is to provide value to the customer through a value creation process that has zero waste.

• Donovans is FSC certified and promotes responsible management of the worlds forest.
• Donovans employs both waterless offset printing and UV offset printing. These printing methods are a major advantage in the elimination of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from the printing process.
• Donovans maintains state-of-the-art press dryers and cooling systems that reduce energy consumption and minimize heat generation. In addition, the use of automatic ink dispensers and blanket washers aid in the reduction of ink waste and solvent usage.
• Donavans recycles over 1600 tons of paper and plastic in 2019.

Im freaking out, Steve Matthew confides in you, we dont have anything about green manufacturing in our strategic plan.

But Steve, you reply as you continue to scroll through the website page, Matthew's Commercial Engraving has almost all of these features! We use waterless offset printing and UV offset printing. We have new press dryers and cooling systems that save energy. We dont have automatic ink dispensers, but we can easily get them I think theyre even included in next years budget. Whats the problem here?

Its just that now that Donovans has made it public, I feel we have to respond. Im not sure I even believe in all this stuff, but our operations manager insists on these processes. I just think it all cuts into our bottom line.

Answer these questions about this scenario:

1. How could Steve's attitude toward social responsibility impact Matthew's Commercial Engraving strategy? Justify your rationale with support from course materials.
2. Should Matthew's Commercial Engraving respond to this new strategic plan published by their competitor? Why or why not? Justify your opinion with support from course materials.
3. Porter identified one of the most commonly accepted definitions of strategy as "choosing a unique and valuable position, rooted in systems of activities that are difficult to match". In other words, differentiation is the key to strategy. If all competitors are choosing sustainability as part of their processes, can sustainability really be a strategy? Support your opinion with course materials.