Chapter Two--It can be argued that Volkswagen did not fulfill its roles in corporate governance. This is highlighted in Capsule 2.4. What concerns or issues did you notice with the Board of Directors at Volkswagen and its obligations?
According to our textbook (Thompson, Peteraf, Gamble, & Strickland, 2022)
, the board of directors must fulfill four obligations: -
Supervise the company’s financial accounting and reporting
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Critically assess the company’s direction, strategy, and business methods
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Assess the quality of senior executives’ strategic leadership skills
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Implement a compensation plan for top executives that incentivizes actions and outcomes that are beneficial to stakeholders and particularly shareholders. It is vital for a board to be strong and independent, so that it can run effectively within corporate governance. Though Volkswagen’s board faces criticism due to the lack of independent leadership. Ignoring the laws that were established regarding board composition by selecting previous members over new ones, regardless of past issues and/or scandals. Then there is the fact that a singular family controls over 50% of the voting shares. Allowing them to influence the boards decisions to flow into their favor. In the end, undermining the board’s ability to be unbiased and raise doubts about Volkswagen’s compliance to governance standards. Chapter Three--Using Capsule 3.2 in the text, explain and justify Hungry Howie’s position in the pizza corporate chain restaurants. How does Hungry Howie’s economic position in the industry compare with others like Pizza Hut, Dominos, and others that are larger and possibly more well-known?
Capsule 3.2 is an example of a Pizza Chain industry that has been grouped by strategic mapping. Stating that the map reveals what companies are closer in competition to one another compared to others who are not considered competition. The map illustrates Hungry Howie’s beginnings in around 1973 in Taylor, Michigan and now has opened 530 stores across 21 states.
(Howie's, 2023)
Though they are not considered a huge chain like Pizza Hut or Papa Johns, they are considerably big for a regional chain. With operations in states like Michigan with 198 stores and Florida with 193. Since there are other
areas that are limited or have no locations, the ability for the company to reach as many people as possible is very limited. Their performance in Pizza Sales Revenue is lower due to their focus not being on offering quality pizza and dining experience. They instead focus on proving decent pizza that is reasonably priced. Similar companies would be Little CiCi’s or Sbarro’s, which are considered
to be Howie’s direct competition. Other companies like Pizza Hut, Papa Johns, and Domino’s,
who are not exactly excelling in the Pizza Sales Revenue but have the advantage because they pose a wider presence geographically. Making those three less direct competitors though they are popular. References
