Self Reflection Journal – R&R, Article Review Example

The first lesson from R&R case is the importance of paying close attention to the external environment to look for opportunities as well as monitor the competitors’ behavior. Bob Reiss knew Trivia games will be hit in the U.S. after his observation of the Canadian market because both markets had similar characteristics and trends over time. He also knew that the competition will soon jump in and flood the market with similar items. He used these insights to achieve as much differentiation from the competition as possible and come up with an effective distribution and pricing strategy. This is why R&R didn’t have to discount their products like other competitors because they did their homework and got everything right the first time.

Another lesson from the R&R case is the importance of aligning all stakeholders’ interests with the organization’s interests to motivate them to do their best. Rob Reiss didn’t try to keep all the potential benefits of a successful venture to himself and generously shared it with those he believed would help him succeed. He offered half the stake to his partner Sam Kaplan, made timely payments to suppliers, paid attractive commissions to sales representatives, and offered attractive terms to retailers and other distributors. Rob Reiss understood that he could not do it alone so he joined hands with various stakeholders who each had different strengths and made it a win-win situation for everyone. Since everyone knew they would benefit from the success of TV Guide Trivia game, they did their respective jobs to the best of their abilities.