Church & Dwight Time to Rethink the Portfolio

I. INTRODUCTION

A. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1. Summary statement of the problem: Church & Dwight Co. Inc. is a company that has been around for 160 sixty years but not under the brand name of Church & Dwight Co. Inc. Instead they are better known as the brand “ARM & HAMMER.” Even though not to many household know the name you will still find Church & Dwight Co. Inc. products in 95% of the households in the U.S. making them the leader in the sodium bicarbonate market. Church & Dwight is growing at a rapid rate because of the acquisitions made in the past decade. With the new acquisitions they’re facing new challenges that now their portfolio consist of 80 brands and still are looking for new opportunities for growth. Another challenge will be, how will they be able to compete against its larger competitors globally with being smaller in size?

2. Summary statement of the recommended solution: The challenges that the board and management face at Church & Dwight will not be easy. With the added products the company will continue to see steady growth and by holding their current product line more revenue will be generated. Expanding into more of the international market and reducing or removing cost like transportation will help with achieving a competitive edge over the larger competitors in the market

B. THE SITUATION

Church & Dwight Co. Inc. was founded 160 years ago and during the 160 years became the world’s largest producer of sodium bicarbonate based products in the United States. Even with Church & Dwight not being a recognizable name their products can be found in 95% of households in the United States, with the core product being ARM & HAMMER (Wheelen & Hunger, pp.35-2). Most see ARM & HAMMER as a baking soda but has and can be used in many other areas like, absorbing odors, blast media, swimming pool pH stabilizer, and a pollution-control agent (Wheelen & Hunger, pp.35-2). With steady growth Church & Dwight was able to expand the...