1. The situation facing the organization

By the mid-1990s, Quiksilver was collecting more than 30 percent of its total annual revenues from its European operation, a definite contribution to the company's economic resurgence by the middle part of the decade. Help also came from elsewhere, including the company's entrance in the market for snowboard clothing women's sportswear.

2010 - European net revenues decreased 10% during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2010 to $190.7 million from $211.4 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2009.

4th quarter 2010 - European net revenues decreased 7% compared to the prior year.

They were previously a niche company but is now developing into a mass market company

A key element in the growth of the Quiksilver brand was to expand its presence in Europe

“We have to be careful, now that we are big, to keep true to the original idea. We don’t want to make profit with music. We make profit with T-shirts. These actions just underline our brand positioning.” – Nicolas Foulet

The latest solution to expand and be relevant to the 12-20 year old target group was to focus on the music scene. “Music is a huge part of our target audience’s, culture,” Nicolas Foulet

Internal: Acquisition/sale of Rossignol 2005/2008 had great economic disvantage for Quiksilver Inc. Debt and financial problems was a reality

External:Financial crisis - Consumer spendings are still low as a concequence of the global financial crisis

2. Background for the situation

The situation regarding Quiksilver previously being a niche company developing into a mass market company is very important, when taking into consideration the consequences of this situation. Producing items for a narrow market often limits the segment of customers and can hereby influence sales or lack thereof.

The situation can have somewhat control over the company’s future and it is therefore essential for the organization to pay attention to its situation. Quiksilver manage to do this through their mission statement. Here they state that Quiksilver strive to be the leading global youth apparel company.

3. Importance of the situation

They stress that they developed from producing boardshorts to being a multinational apparel and accessory company for surf, snow and skate as well as fashion in general. However, Quiksilver as well emphasize that it is a key challenge to keep the company true to its roots while becoming a mass market company.

There exists some community related predictions that can affect Quiksilver’s situation. For instance, the changes in trends among teenagers, who are set to be trendsetters, are important for the organization to predict. With the past decade’s technological advancements Playstations and iPods have somewhat replaced outdoor games. This can be a future obstacle for Quiksilver who will loose customers if costumers lose interest in outdoor sports.

The company faces some obstacles growing from being a niche manufacturer to a mass market company. However, Quiksilver managed to turn the obstacle into an opportunity, for instance by being able to cooperate with handpicked board riders to represent the company outwards.

The organization seems to pay attention to the situation that surrounds it with the consistency between the situation and the mission statement and the reward is loads of opportunities.

For further reading check out the interview with Quiksilver’s CEO Nicolas Foulet at: http://coolbrandsstories.wordpress.com