Dirt Bike U.S.A.

Florian Cela Jonathan Emerson

Tom Hobson Nicholas Wong

Table of Contents

Preparing a Management Overview of the Company ......................................................1-2 Expanding International Sales…………………………………………………………….3 Performing a Competitive Analysis…………………………………………………….4-5 Developing an E-Commerce Strategy…………………………………………………..6-7 Developing a Web Site Privacy Policy………………………………………………...8-13 Analyzing the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of Desktop Software Assets…………...14 Redesigning the Customer Database………………………………………………….....15 Using Telecommunications Technology to Reduce Corporate Travel Expenses………..16 Using Internet Tools to Increase Efficiency and Productivity…………………………...17 Identifying Supply Chain Management Solutions……………………………………18-19 Identifying Opportunities for Knowledge Management…………………………………20

Preparing a Management Overview of the Company

Dirt Bike is a small company which is located in Carbondale, Colorado. This

company produces and sells its own products. The company itself was founded in 1991

and it produces dirt bikes for racing. The goal of the company is to expand further than it

already has. The Dirt Bike U.S.A. was founded by Carl Schmidt and Steven McFadden.

These guys have pushed their skills to the limit by developing frames for dirt bikes that

were more suited to off-road handling and used these models to build their own dirt bikes

models using motorcycle engines manufactured by other companies. It is a privately

owned company with a large expansion.

As far as products and services go, the owner of this company decided to go with

foreign brands and wanted to capitalize on their proximity to the dirt bikes racing circuit

and market in the United States. These guys offer top of the line products for their

valuable customers. If somebody was to buy products from these guys, it would be worth

it to spend the money on these products. They like to offer bikes that would perform and

look better then the other competitors by using the best custom parts available. These dirt

bikes’ engines are one of a kind shipped from Austrian called Rotax. They offer tires

from Dunlop and the other parts of the bike like shocks absorbers are from the United

States. The most essential and vital part of the dirt bike is the engine and these guys have

top of the line engine on their bikes and this boosts up their annual sales of the bikes. The

company offers great services and also a variety of bikes depending on the customer’s

choice and on how much a customer is willing to pay. The company currently offers four

different models of dirt bikes. They are: the Enduro 250, the Enduro 550, the Moto 300

and the Moto 450. These bikes differ in price ranges. The large majority of these bikes

are sold in the United States and the price ranges from $3250 and $9000.

Well, one thing that this company has not changed for is its management. It is still

privately owned with Carl serving as CEO and Steven as President and Chief Operating

Officer. As far as the employees go, the company has hired well over 120 workers,

working in design, engineering and production of the dirt bikes. They also have hired

three full time product designers and three engineers. The Dirt Bike U.S.A., however,

maintains a ten-person service department to service warranties and customer problems

with parts and motorcycle performance. The company has a basic structure and its line of

work. It maintains a very friendly family atmosphere, encouraging teamwork, attention to

detail and quality, and continual learning and innovation.

In order for the company to become more successful, they have to ship their

products abroad where other places like this kind of sport. They can commercialize

through the internet and setting up websites for people to purchase them. As far as profits

go, the company has been very successfully so far. The sport is picking up in America

and as well as other countries. The prices of the bikes are fairly economical and effective.

With prices being this cost effective, they will likely attract more customers. They have

done very well annually. Their net sales are well over 60 thousands of dollars alone in the

United States. We can say that the company is doing well for now with potential to make

even more if the products are shipped abroad like Europe or Asia.

Expanding International Sales

Well, like any other companies, the dirt bike company should take its expansion

abroad and expand its wings in Europe like foreign countries like Germany and Italy and

France where these sports are likeable. The company should advertise in the powerful

countries where the dollar is strong and people are willing to spend any kind of money on

fun stuff like the dirt bikes. Europe is known for extreme sports and even though only a

small percentage is sold there, they should increase it more to make more sales and

money annually

For as long as the Internet has been around, it has served its purpose for

commercializing products online where everyone can see it and buy it. The internet can

very well boost up sales of the dirt bikes sold in the United States. Some of the features

that is should pose on the web should be the structure of the bike. People are more

interested at how the bike looks rather then what engine has. Majority likes to know what

they are getting for their money’s worth. It should also display its price range to let know

the customers what they have to pay before hand. Countries in Europe are fascinated with

good looking bikes and they will spend a lot of money to buy these products especially if

it has not been introduced over there.

Performing a Competitive Analysis

Well, the dirt bike has become famous for its great technology and services that

the Dirt Bike U.S.A. has to offer. Since these dirt bikes are top of the line, they should be

tested for its durability out in the open fields. Some activities that will create the most

value are plenty of trails, creeks gullies, washers, and hills. These activities should

increase the value for the customers by have them test their product on one of these

activities. If the customer is not satisfied then there should be improvement. Seeing how

these bikes are top of the line, there should not be any problem selling these items over

the internet or directly to the consumers.

Other companies that can compete with dirt bikes would be like the jet skis

companies. For the season of summer, people like to own a jet ski and also a dirt bike.

This might become a minor setback on the Dirt Bike Company because of what people

think is suitable for the season. Some of the competitive forces that can affect the

industry are the price range. Some people might find it expensive to purchase such

products. So prices could be the leading factor of the competitive forces that might affect

the company slightly.

Some of the competitive strategy that the company should imply to the customers

is longer warranty and price deduction. They should have sales once every four months,

this way people can buy more dirt bikes. They should also commercialize through the

Internet and through ads to better increase the popularity of the dirt bikes. They should

give some bonuses when you purchase a dirt bike and other kinds of deductions. This will

guarantee customer satisfactions and therefore will boost up the sales for the year.

Developing an E-Commerce Strategy

Dirt bikes can significantly benefit from e-commerce. E-commerce has helped

many companies throughout the world no matter how big or small. Since Dirt bikes

specialize in selling parts and motorcycles, on its website it should sell their products.

However since they usually sell their products through authorized dealers; they should

continue to do so on the site. There should be a whole section where to buy the products

and when you click on the product the customer wants to buy, they will be redirected to

authorized dealer’s site. This option will only occur if the dealer does not give Dirt bike

permission to sell their product directly from the Dirt bike site. Dirt bike should also

mainly be advertising the dealers and the products, but also include a news sections and

other various sections. Customer service should be included in the sites structure. Their

customer service should be set up that there is an email address to ask questions but also

give out a phone number, just in case the customer doesn’t want to wait for an email

response.

The web site would be of great value to Dirt bike. Instead of fans of the company

only hearing news about them in magazines, they can log on and check them out real

quick. For Dirt bike to create this site they would have to contact a web designer and hire

them to create one. This would run them between $25-$100 and depending if the designer

is a well known pro. Dirt bike could create a membership fee of low cost which would

include discounts and subscriptions to magazines.

The web site will include news sections and advertisements of the magazines that

support them. They will also have a section that will allow customers to buy the

motorcycles and /or parts. Examples: mixunit.com and King-mag.com.

Developing a Web Site Privacy Policy

Dirt Bike should only collect data on its users only if they are members to the site;

i.e. name, address, phone #, etc. They can find out what other websites they have been

going on, what products they have purchased online, and what files the person has

accessed. This would show whether or not the member is worthy of the Dirt Bike site.

Customers could cry foul and claim a violation of privacy. Dirt Bike should use cookies

on its website. The advantage of using cookies would be that the cookies from visiting

the site will allow the member to never have to keep on logging on. Their information

will be stored on the cookie, so when they visit the website again the cookie will log you

in automatically. The only problem could be that people could say, “What business is it

of theirs to see what other sites that I have been going on.”

Dirt Bike should definitely join an organization such as TRUSTe because they create

great private policies that benefit both the web site owner and its visitors. Dirt Bike

should also conform to P3P because when the visitor sees that the site gives them more

freedom, the site gains favor. Dirt Bike should adopt the “opt-in” model because it puts

the visitor in control.

What This Privacy Policy Covers

• This policy covers how Dirt Bike treats personal information that it collects and

receives, including information related to your past use of Dirt Bike products and

services. Personal information is information about you that is personally

identifiable like your name, address, email address, or phone number, and that is

not otherwise publicly available.

• This policy does not apply to the practices of companies that Dirt Bike does not

own or control or to people that Dirt Bike does not employ or manage. In

addition, some companies that Dirt Bike has acquired have their own, preexisting

privacy policies which may be viewed on our acquired company’s page.

• Dirt Bike participates in the Safe Harbor program developed by the U.S.

Department of Commerce and the European Union. To view our certification,

visit the U.S. Department of Commerce's Safe Harbor Web site. For more

information about Dirt Bike's participation in the Safe Harbor program, please

visit our Safe Harbor details page.

Information Collection and Use

General

• Dirt Bike collects personal information when you register with Dirt Bike, when

you use Dirt Bike products or services, when you visit Dirt Bike pages or the

pages of certain Dirt Bike partners, and when you enter promotions or

sweepstakes. Dirt Bike may combine information about you that we have with

information we obtain from business partners or other companies.

• When you register we ask for information such as your name, email address, birth

date, gender, ZIP code, occupation, industry, and personal interests. For some

financial products and services we might also ask for your address, Social

Security number, and information about your assets. When you register with Dirt

Bike and sign in to our services, you are not anonymous to us.

• Dirt Bike collects information about your transactions with us and with some of

our business partners, including information about your use of financial products

and services that we offer.

• Dirt Bike automatically receives and records information on our server logs from

your browser, including your IP address, Dirt Bike cookie information, and the

page you request.

• Dirt Bike uses information for the following general purposes: to customize the

advertising and content you see, fulfill your requests for products and services,

improve our services, contact you, conduct research, and provide anonymous

reporting for internal and external clients.

Information Sharing and Disclosure

• Dirt Bike does not rent, sell, or share personal information about you with other

people or non-affiliated companies except to provide products or services you've

requested, when we have your permission, or under the following circumstances:

o We provide the information to trusted partners who work on behalf of or

with Dirt Bike under confidentiality agreements. These companies may

use your personal information to help Dirt Bike communicate with you

about offers from Dirt Bike and our marketing partners. However, these

companies do not have any independent right to share this information.

o We respond to subpoenas, court orders, or legal process, or to establish or

exercise our legal rights or defend against legal claims.

o We believe it is necessary to share information in order to investigate,

prevent, or take action regarding illegal activities, suspected fraud,

situations involving potential threats to the physical safety of any person,

violations of Dirt Bike’s terms of use, or as otherwise required by law.

o We transfer information about you if Dirt Bike is acquired by or merged

with another company. In this event, Dirt Bike will notify you before

information about you are transferred and becomes subject to a different

privacy policy.

• Dirt Bike displays targeted advertisements based on personal information.

Advertisers (including ad serving companies) may assume that people who

interact with, view, or click targeted ads meet the targeting criteria—for example,

women ages 18-24 from a particular geographic area.

o Dirt Bike does not provide any personal information to the advertiser

when you interact with or view a targeted ad. However, by interacting

with or viewing an ad you are consenting to the possibility that the

advertiser will make the assumption that you meet the targeting criteria

used to display the ad.

o Dirt Bike advertisers include financial service providers (such as banks,

insurance agents, stock brokers and mortgage lenders) and non-financial

companies (such as stores, airlines, and software companies).

• Dirt Bike works with vendors, partners, advertisers, and other service providers in

different industries and categories of business. For more information regarding

providers of products or services that you've requested please read our detailed

reference links.

Cookies

• Dirt Bike may set and access Dirt Bike cookies on your computer.

• Dirt Bike lets other companies that show advertisements on some of our pages set

and access their cookies on your computer. Other companies' use of their cookies

is subject to their own privacy policies, not this one. Advertisers or other

companies do not have access to Dirt Bike's cookies.

• Dirt Bike uses web beacons to access Dirt Bike cookies inside and outside our

network of web sites and in connection with Dirt Bike products and services.

Your Ability to Edit and Delete Your Account Information and Preferences

General

• You can edit your Dirt Bike Account Information, including your marketing

preferences, at any time.

• New categories of marketing communications might be added to the Marketing

Preferences page from time to time. Users who visit this page can opt out of

receiving future marketing communications from these new categories or they can

unsubscribe by following instructions contained in the messages they receive.

• We reserve the right to send you certain communications relating to the Dirt Bike

service, such as service announcements, administrative messages and the Dirt

Bike Newsletter, that are considered part of your Dirt Bike account, without

offering you the opportunity to opt out of receiving them.

• You can delete your Dirt Bike account by visiting our Account Deletion page...

Confidentiality and Security

• We limit access to personal information about you to employees who we believe

reasonably need to come into contact with that information to provide products or

services to you or in order to do their jobs.

• We have physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards that comply with federal

regulations to protect personal information about you.

• To learn more about security, including the security steps we have taken and

security steps you can take, please read Security at Dirt Bike.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

• Dirt Bike may update this policy. We will notify you about significant changes in

the way we treat personal information by sending a notice to the primary email

address specified in your Yahoo! account or by placing a prominent notice on our

site.

Analyzing the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of Desktop Software Assets

The lowest priced system is the Sun Star Office. But the lowest priced system that

meets the Dirt Bikes USA requirements is the Microsoft Office 2003 suite. It includes e-

mail software tools, which the Star Office does not. Overall, for eight users the cost of

the system will be $1,071 per year. Over a three year period this ends up adding up to

$3213.

Redesigning the Customer Database Repeat Dirt Bike customers:

J.J. Emerson

Florian Cela

Joy Emerson

Cindy Stevens

Dirt Bike customers who attend events:

Joe Smith

Bob Brown

Cindy Stevens

Daniel Low

Samuel Glynn

Average Age of Dirt Bike customers:

The average of Dirt Bike customers are in the 20 year old range.

Using Telecommunications Technology to Reduce Corporate Travel Expenses

In understanding that the main problem is the time consumption with expenses,

the best solution to such a problem is quickening the pace. When we save time, money

can also be saved. Using the best possible telecommunication applications would be best

since the time save would earn money that would pay for it rather than saving money and

using a much slower application. Such applications would include WLAN, Bluetooth, T1

line, and smart phones. Each of these covers different distances with its own benefits or

convince. The WLAN can handle the shared internet network is running on for the entire

company to use. Bluetooth helps lessens the requirement of wires so workers are less

likely to trip or be within range of a machine. The T1 line helps the internet speed within

company run faster since it will be split into many different lines. Smart phones help any

worker who is traveling to receive e-mails or new letters that will help them during their

job. Nearly every employee within the building will benefit from every application. It

helps simple day to day jobs such as calling, printing, faxing, and data transferring. With

an increase in efficiency, people are more likely to save time and allocate themselves in

concentrating on completing their task at hand instead of wasting time figuring or waiting

for the printer to work.

Equipment for each access point for WLAN will cost roughly 250$ each, T1 line

for a business would cost about 350$ a month, and smart phones can range depending on

company or even plans from 200 and higher. Bluetooth itself is soon standard among

technology that is used in some businesses, so just updating some systems or software

will allow the application to accessed. So it can range form no cost to a few hundreds.

Using Internet Tools to Increase Efficiency and Productivity

Web Servers – Providing intranets, extranets, web sites

Hosting Web Pages

Web Content Management

Encryptions

Browsing – E-mail or accessing

accounts

Database Storage – Management logs

Security to personal/business

files

Human Resources can benefit from the intranet because it holds many tools that

are accessible. While there is less to worry about in security and handling of files, it is

also easy to use and access. With the simple tracking tools to help log and direct

customers, human resources and analyzing and identify the past problems to help any

customer in a similar situation. Allowing multiple people from clients to employees to

access the intranet allows both sides to benefit.

Identifying Supply Chain Management Solutions

Two suppliers of motorcycle fuel tanks are Motorcycle Accessory Warehouse and

Handy Industries LLC. I found that both suppliers sold the fuel tanks through

Amazon.com. Motorcycle Accessory Warehouse ships in 3-4 days compared to Handy

Industries LLC which would have a shipping period of 6-9 days. The tank from

Motorcycle Accessory Warehouse would cost about $51.00 and the tank from Handy

Industries LLC would sell for about $49.00. Motorcycle Accessory Warehouse is the

better choice because it would take less time to arrive for only $2 extra. Two supply

chain management software providers are Cadre Technologies and I2 Technologies.

I2’s software that would benefit Dirt Bike is their Master Data Management

program. Basically it is designed to create a single enterprise thesaurus that can ensure

data is consistently described, used, and stored within an organization. This approach can

provide two functions:

• Data management: can create a framework through which data is authored,

monitored, and maintained

• Data synchronization: can ensure the coordination of business systems that touch

the data

Cadre’s software specializes in the warehouse environment. Streamline warehouse

management with integrated software that brings orders and inventory together. Cadence

WMS is built for 3rd party logistics, fulfillment, and distribution operations. It’s ideal for

operations where multiple owners of inventory, multiple clients, multiple locations and

variable business models are required.

The supplier whose software would benefit Dirt Bike the best would be I2’s Master

Data Management program because it organizes everything. Cadre’s software is ideal for

a warehouse environment but Dirt Bike isn’t a warehouse environment.

Identifying Opportunities for Knowledge Management

The most knowledgeable assets at Dirt Bike are the knowledge of the makeup of all

kind of motorcycles, the knowledge of where to get a certain part for a customer, and

great management to keep the company a float. The company needs managers and

technicians to make sure those assets are fulfilled. These assets are explicit knowledge.

The knowledge that would be outside the company required by the organization would be

how to manage a distribution company.

In this company multiple groups can benefit from knowledge management.

Designers and engineers can gain special expertise in eliciting information. Product

development specialists can gain skills that allow them to become better at product

development. Marketing specialists can gain techniques that allow them to successfully

market Dirt Bike products. Employees in the sales department and the representatives can

gain better selling skills. Managers can learn to lead and direct the company in even more

successful ways. The internet can better Dirt Bike’s knowledge management. There are

many sites that can help Dirt Bike gain knowledge about what it is involved in

(motorcycles). Sites that can help include Bikersites.com and Motorcycle-

superstore.com. Both sites can give Dirt Bike an idea what they need to provide and sell

to its customers. A portal leading to the designer and engineer department would show

what their job description. Knowledge resources it would link to sites that have similar

jobs.