Question Tag: Categorical Imperative

a. You have just been contracted by UBC Plc to prepare a business plan on the company’s intended investment in the manufacture of GSM phones in the country. The following is a summary of the brief given to you and your own research:

• UBC Plc is a multinational conglomerate involved in the manufacture and distribution of computer hardware accessories, networking hardware and allied products. With experience spanning four decades in the industry, the company’s products enjoy a lion’s share of the market. As part of its diversification strategy aimed at sustaining its competitive advantage, the company intends to start the production of GSM phones, targeting the mass market in the country.
• The company plans to control at least 40% of the low-end GSM phone market in the country in the next five years.
• UBC Plc possesses the requisite human resources and physical facilities necessary for the successful takeoff and growth of the new venture. The company also intends to leverage its extensive distribution network for its IT products covering major cities within the West African sub-region to distribute its new GSM phones.
• The company also has modern equipment which can easily be converted into the production of GSM phones at little cost without significantly affecting the current production levels of other products. When this is done, the equipment will be able to produce more than 5 million GSM phones per annum.
• While the company intends to expand its production capacity radically within the first few years of manufacturing GSM phones, it is still struggling to cope with the country’s incessant electric power failure which has made the company rely almost exclusively on the use of generators to power its equipment. This constitutes the bulk of its overhead costs.
• The firm has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with a group of reputable firms abroad, which guarantees a steady supply of all required components and inputs.
• The current value of the annual GSM phone demand in the country is estimated at N520 billion. Estimated demand growth rate is put at 5%. There is currently no local producer, as all of the GSM phones in the market are imported. However, there is currently a large number of local firms that act as distributors to foreign producers.
• Except for regulations aimed at ensuring that only high-quality products are manufactured, there are currently no legal restrictions on local production of GSM phones. Furthermore, to encourage manufacturing, the government offers tax holidays to all manufacturers in the first five years of operation.
• The estimated cost per unit of GSM phones designed for the mass market in the country is put at N8,000 while the current average price stands at N10,000.

Required:
a.
(i) A business environment analysis using SWOT and PESTEL analyses. (10 Marks)
(ii) A competitive analysis using the Porter’s Five Forces Model. (15 Marks)

b. Advise on Kant’s categorical imperative. (5 Marks)