Lucas@WongTzeChiew 2013 Strategic Fit @ Sticky INTRODUCTION Strategic Fit According to Chopra and Meindl (1970), they stated

that strategic fit is consistency between the customer priorities of competitive strategy, and the supply chain capabilities specified by the supply chain strategy. They also mention that the competitive and supply chain strategies have the same goals. Competitive Strategy

Competitive strategy can be define as the set of customer needs a firm seeks to satisfy through its products and services (Chopra and Meindl,1970). Supply Chain Strategy

Supply chain strategy determines the nature of material procurement, transportation of materials, manufacture of product or creation of service, and the distribution of product. It also support between supply chain strategy, competitive strategy, and other functional strategies that is important (Chopra and Meindl,1970).

A company may fail because of a lack of strategic fit or because its processes and resources do not provide the capabilities to execute the desired strategy (Chopra and Meindl,1970). BACKGROUD STUDY This study is about the strategic fit in Sticky hand-made candy shop. It is the finest hand-crafts rock candy artisans in the world with the combination of craftsman, entertainer, laborer, sculptor and the chef. Sticky had the most Australian concept exquisite and unique confectionery products anywhere. Sticky is a traditional handmade candy introduced by the Angel Candies Sdn Bhd in 7th of November 2009. Stickys target audience are those age from 8 to 45 because according to them these young people are the one who are more likely to try new things and is at a age of having fun. Sticky originated from Australia and they are called rock candy because candies they produced are crystallize and hard. With variety of flavors and design, sales of Sticky have been growing every each day. The driving ethos at Sticky hand-made candy shop is, and will always be, quality. The hand-made candy making process is fascinating to watch, and, when mastered by a skilled confectioner, can lead to beautiful and highly intricate designs. Sticky producing beautiful and delicious candy creations, and also can customize candy for just about any purpose such as weddings, corporate promotions, events, birthdays, seasons celebrations and more. The confectioners are some of the most experienced, well trained and professional candy makers working anywhere in the world today. They are proud

of what they create, and the entire hand-made candy process is a show. A sensual delight and fascinating exhibition of skill, watching candies being made is the only way to truly appreciate what they do. They attract the eye of the customers by the process they how they made the candies right in front of the customers and giving away samples for the customers to try. Many customers find Sticky interesting as we can actually tried the hot fresh candies right after the baking process. With Sticky unique ideas and positioning, they will have made a hit in Malaysias confectionery industry in future years. PROBLEM STATEMENT This study is to discuss and identify the strategic fit and how it makes Sticky hand-made candy shop so special so different than others. OBJECTIVE The objective of this study is to discuss the strategic fit that adopted in Sticky hand-made candy shop. SIGNIFICANT At the end of this discussion, this study actually can benefits the customers and maybe also Sticky's competitors to know the strategic fit in their company which makes them a well-known candy brand around the world.

LIMITATION This study is to discuss the strategic fit only in Sticky candy shop. OPERATIONAL DEFINITION Strategic Fit can defined through several perspectives that from both a target and an acquiring firms point of view (Oxelman, Scott, and Stohm, 2008). According to Shelton (1988), he mentions that a strategic fit is present or occur when two firms have resulted value that would not otherwise have been reached if they were trying to achieve a goal separately. He argues that it is the combination of the firms brought-together assets that creates this extra value. Further so called synergistic gains, as mentioned above, can be reached. There are another definition that defines strategic fit as a partnerships potential, such as the operational and relational matching questions that arise from a partnership (Ireland, Hitt, and Vaidyanath, 2002). The two firms have an operational potential as an example, in other words they can, if collaborating successfully, achieve greater potential aims when they match each other. Strategic Fit is the need of highly matching goals between the merging or target, and acquiring firms (Das and Teng, 2000). This might be a more explicit clarification of the term; it indicates that the firms need to have things in common in order for the merger or acquisition to work in the first place but also a great matching of aims.

BODY SWOT Analysis (Ying, 2008) Strengths Variety of choices, Variety choices apart from regular supermarket sweets. Colorful Customizing is available for special events. Unique designs or wording on the candies or in the centre of each sweets. The first rock candy in Malaysia. The only candies that are made live in front customers. They are freshly made on the spot. Handmade candies, can be customizing according to the customers need.

Weaknesses Still very new in Malaysia confectionery market. Lack of outlets. Workers are not friendly. Restricted choices on packaging. Lack of promotions and advertising campaign. Less media coverage

Opportunities Consumers are more likely to discover new stuff. Strategic location in famous shopping mall. Development of different types of packaging for customers.

Has been features in many famous blog.

Threats Price of sugar is not stable and sometimes there are rumours that the market is lack of sugar. Heath conscious consumers might find them too sweet. Competition from other more popular confectionery like chocolates.

Achieving Strategic Fit In order to achieve the strategic fit, they actually understand the customer and supply chain uncertainty. Sticky identify the needs of their customer segment that being served. Sticky have the customer segmentation from a kid, to a teenager, to an adult, and also old people. Their customers are majority the children. However, the one who paid is their parents, the adults. Sticky knows that the response time that their customers will tolerate. Although the making process of the candy require some time, but Sticky actually transform the making process into a very enjoyable show and presented to their customers. The customers actually enjoy the show that watching the selection of their own candy been made and perform in the show. Sticky prepared a variety of candy design that needed for its customers in order to suit their customers' taste.

Sticky's supply chain responsiveness is the best to describe their supply chain Competitive Strategy MTO - Make-to-Order If the customer wanted a particular or custom design candy, they will need to order it. Once Sticky received the order, they would just start to design and finished by a period of time. ATO - Assemble-to-Order If the customer wanted a their product, they need to order it. Sticky will make the candy due to the customer's order that based on the design by Sticky. USP - Unique Selling Proposition According to Ying (2008), Sticky's design is unique and to be more different from other brand, customer can see how it actually made. This draws the customers nearer as if they are taking part in this interesting candy making. The customers can customize their own rock candy for events, gifts for friends and even weddings. Supply Chain Strategy CRM - Customer Relationship Management CRM is an information industry term for methodologies, software, and usually Internet capabilities that help an enterprise manage customer relationships in an

organized way (Rouse, 2006). For example, an enterprise might build a database about its customers that described relationships in sufficient detail so that management, salespeople, people providing service, and perhaps the customer directly could access information, match customer needs with product plans and offerings, remind customers of service requirements, know what other products a customer had purchased, and so forth. In Sticky case, they actually increasing their relationship with customer by allowing their customers to order their product online. SRM - Supplier Relationship Management Supplier relationship management is a comprehensive approach to managing an enterprise's interactions with the organizations that supply the goods and services it uses. The goal of supplier relationship management is to streamline and make more effective the processes between an enterprise and its suppliers just as customer relationship management is intended to streamline and make more effective the processes between an enterprise and its customers (Rouse, 2005). SRM includes both business practices and software and is part of the information flow component of supply chain management. SRM practices create a common frame of reference to enable effective communication between an enterprise and suppliers who may use quite different business practices and terminology. As a result, SRM increases the efficiency of processes associated with acquiring goods and services, managing inventory, and processing materials.

In Sticky, they actually build up their relationship with suppliers by allowing them to make order of Sticky's product such as wedding candies for the suppliers' customers. CONCLUSION Finding the importance of strategic fit within the organization relationship in order to improve sales performance has emerged as an important issue within supply chain management. In this study, Sticky has shown how they improve their performance implications of the strategic fit. It shows us the importance of customer needs; we should target most of the customer likes, such as price and services.