Bottoni Case

1. Bottoni is a Milan based family-run company that makes buttons, snaps, zippers, and other fasteners that supply Italian clothing companies. Susie Gordon and Antonio Barile are the co-owners of the company and married with two daughters. For the past three years, Antonio has been the CEO while Susie has stayed home with the girls.

Under Antonio, Bottoni has hired new managers, built a large customer base, and secured several huge accounts in the past year, while also paying off some bank debt. However, globalization poses a risk to Bottoni as South Korean manufacturers are entering the high end fashion market and beginning to cut prices of buttons, snaps, zippers and other fasteners. Advances in technology and 3D printing also pose a risk to Bottoni’s traditional manufacturing processes and current economic model.

Bottoni must make changes to their economic model in order to utilize improved technology and compete with emerging manufacturers, while also staying current with the fashion trends in Italian clothing in both new and current markets.

Firstly, I recommend that Bottoni define its future market. According to Mirza Tihic, an entrepreneurship professor at Syracuse University, defining the current and future market is the initial step in consulting and implementing change. Before any investment is made Bottoni needs to do market research on consumer trends and emerging markets outside of Europe. Secondly, assuming demand is steady or increasing based on market research, I recommend Bottoni streamlines its manufacturing process. Susie is an operations engineer who can bring new manufacturing processes to Bottoni to improve both quality and cut prices by making Bottoni more efficient. Bottoni should invest in research and development in order to find the most effective way to improve its current manufacturing process. Through this research and development Bottoni will reveal the most cost effective way to innovate and compete with the South Korean...