The Zale Corporation is the American retailer in jewelry, incorporated in 1993 in Delaware. The main executive offices are situated in Texas. It grew gradually and in the span of 90 years, it grew from the single retailing store of jewelry to the retailers of cameras and appliances and become the international jewelry corporation and brand. It has expanded in more than 700 stores worldwide. It is now one of the biggest fine jewelers in the Puerto Rico and North America (Zale, 2018). The BCG matrix is the tool that help the company with long term strategic planning so that business can consider the growth opportunities and its weaknesses by reviewing the product or service portfolio for deciding where to invest more and where to discontinue the products. It has four quadrants; cash cow, Star, dogs and question marks. Here is the detailed BCG matrix analysis of Zale Corporation;
Cash Cows
Cash cow products are known as the market leader and are able to generate more revenue than the investment they consume. The business units, services or products, which have high share of market but low growth level. The cash cows also provide cash which needs to turn the question marks in the market leader, and covers the operational and management cost, dividends, R&D, debts, and other expenses. Companies are required to invest the cash cows for maintaining the present level of the productivity and milk the gains. The jewelry of the Zale Corporation is the cash cow for the company, as it started its business with this segment, and grew rapidly across the globe (Prezi, 2013).
Stars
The items in this quadrant are not the prime generator of revenue like cash cow but still earn the good amount of cash. The items in this category have the high market growth and high market share, which means the company can use the cash for further investment in the same quadrant. The items needs to be invested properly and maintain the position so that it could turn into cash cow items. These must be well managed and operate accurately. Diamonds of Zale are the star product for the company, as many people know the Zale because of its designs and jewelry especially diamonds (Zale, 2018).
Question Marks
The products in this quadrant are also known as problem child, which have the potential to grow more in terms of cash because of low market share but high market growth rate. The question marks needs heavy investment so that it could turn into cash cow or stars. It needs to be managed and operated properly for the benefits of the company or businesses. Electric appliances are the question mark, as the Zale can grow more in this category and possess the potential but needs lots of efforts and investment (Prezi, 2013).
Dogs
Dogs are the pets which are referred as the burden for the companies. The products or units which have low growth rate or low market share. They mostly rely on the breakeven level, nether consuming the cash nor providing the return. These are mainly considered as the cash traps due to businesses which have finance tied up, even in return they are not bringing back anything. They are the main candidates for the divestiture. Cameras are the dogs for Zale, as the tough competitors are selling the best feature cameras and actively responding in the market (Business, 2018).
References
Business, 2018. Zale Corporation – Company Profile, Information, Business Description, History, Background Information on Zale Corporation. [Online], Available at: https://www.referenceforbusiness.com/history2/92/Zale-Corporation.html, [Accessed on: 7th October, 2018].
Prezi, 2013. Zale Corporation. [Online], Available at: https://prezi.com/vymvz3_hmomy/zale-corporation-analysis/, [Accessed on: 7th October, 2918].
Zale, 2018. About us. [Online], Available at: https://www.zales.com/about-zales, [Accessed on: 7th October, 2018].