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2.3
Company Structure
Direct relationships exist with the retailers in the
Irish and UK markets but not in the US where the company
services a large distributor market. Another key element
to the John Hinde organisation is that they have retained
a design capability locally, which they believe to be
a critical success factor in responding to the needs
of the differing markets.
Diagram 2.3 John Hinde Group – Company Structure
2.4 PostcardXpress
In 2000 John Hinde identified an opening in the advertising
postcard market. In particular, they identified an attractive
niche in providing small and medium-sized businesses
with a service to mailshot their customers with postcards.
John Hinde possessed the core competencies to design
and produce the cards but they were not set up from
a production point of view for the small batches required
by this market. Also, they were not used to the quick
turnaround times required on orders from this market
niche having previously worked off stock items.
The challenge was to create a business model that would
allow them to meet the quality and speed demands of
this market niche. The management team saw e-commerce
as their entré into this proven business model.
It was also felt that there was additional benefit to
be had from building the skills to dovetail eBusiness
wider and deeper into the John Hinde Group. The team
also invested time in developing production capability
to support short-runs of 500-1000 as opposed to their
traditional minimum runs of 5000.
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