In which one of the following circumstances should a company's managers seriously consider modifying their strategy to strongly differentiate the company's branded footwear from the offerings of rival companies and achieve a competitive advantage based on a wide selection of 450-500 models/styles and "high" S/Q ratings? a) When one or more rivals produce and market branded footwear with the same (or higher) number of models/styles that the company is offering to the buyers of athletic footwear and also have below-average retail prices in the Internet segment and below-average wholesale prices in the Wholesale segment
b) When many rival companies are spending heavily on retailer support and search engine advertising
c) When one or more rivals also produce and market branded footwear having much the same (or higher) S/Q ratings and these rivals are offering higher mail-in rebates and delivering orders for branded footwear to footwear retailers in 1-2 weeks
d) When the company is struggling to achieve the sales volumes needed to meet or beat the five investor-expected performance targets because the global marketplace for branded footwear is overcrowded with companies locked in a fierce competitive battle to sell 450- 500 models of branded footwear with high S/Q ratings at premium prices to the same comparatively narrow high-end buyer segment
e) When the company's cost per branded pair sold is above the industry average in all four geographic regions