Title: The case of CMP North America, Inc.: using innovation to compete against low cost

Authors: Andrea Cardoni; George H. Tompson; Holly B. Tompson

Addresses: Department of Economics, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy ' Sykes College of Business, The University of Tampa, Tampa, FL, USA ' The Doerr Institute for New Leaders, Rice University, Houston, TX, USA

Abstract: This paper is a teaching case focused on the strategy of a company in a slow growth industry. Robert Jones was the VP of Sales at CMP North America, Inc., which was the North American subsidiary of a company headquartered in Pescara, Italy. The company manufactured concrete mixing machinery. In early 2014, Jones was a little surprised that corporate headquarters in Italy had set such ambitious goals: grow revenue from $2.2 million annually to $5 million within five years. Jones truly believed that CMP was the most innovative company in the North American market and manufactured the highest-quality equipment. However, the industry was fragmented, mature, highly competitive, global and dependent on the construction industry. The case is intended to help students understand the concept of differentiation as a business-level strategy.

Keywords: differentiation; innovation; commodity; manufacturing; concrete industry; international.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTCS.2019.101501

International Journal of Teaching and Case Studies, 2019 Vol.10 No.2, pp.103 - 124

Received: 19 Jul 2018
Accepted: 05 Oct 2018
Published online: 11 Aug 2019 *

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