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RESPONDING TO CHANGE.
Colours is a company specialising in the production of crockery for hotels and restaurants. Founded in 1980 in Stoke-on-Trent when the pottery industry was booming, it experienced 15 years of growth where exports to international markets were buoyant and business in the local area was increasing.
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The company directors took on more staff, bought a larger premises and invested in machinery to cope with the demand. In addition they evaluated the businesses outgoings and noticed the cost of boxes to pack the crockery meant the profit margin was smaller than they would have liked. After six months of research the company purchased a piece of machinery to cut and glue boxes and they began to make their own boxes to pack the crockery.
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In the mid 1990s the pottery industry began to suffer as businesses moved production to Asia and companies began buying their goods from cheaper international markets.
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In 2000 the Directors made a decision to cease production of pottery and focus on production of cardboard boxes. They were able to retrain all their staff, sell their pottery machinery and purchase more cutting machines. The company has now grown further and went from strength to strength in 2010.
Why do you think Colours was able to adapt and survive the crash in their industry when so many other companies (including many large organisations) closed down?
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