1. Build a profile of the copper wire industry, and pinpoint Fisk Alloy Wire, Inc.’s distinct position within the industry. What tools did the company use to shape its strategic perspective?

2. Describe the company’s acquisition of Strandflex and how it fits into Fisk Alloy Wire, Inc.’s overall strategic plans. 

3. Given Fisk Alloy Wire, Inc.’s current market position, outline the market opportunities available to the company, and explore their strategic potential.

4. Identify the leading strategic priorities that are supported by the analysis. Explain your recommendations, and conclude with a statement of the key strategic issues facing the company.

Fisk Alloy Wire was a privately-owned specialty wire mill with facilities in Hawthorne, NJ and Oriskany, NY. The business focused on the development and manufacture of copper alloy wire for electronic components and conductors. Fisk Alloy had developed a copper alloy wire that was cadmium free (cadmium was a known carcinogen affecting both processing and disposal), but also met the characteristics of strength, conductivity, and elongation that defined a high performance wire. The product family, called Percon, was introduced into the market about the time the European Union passed the Restriction of Hazardous Substances ('RoHS') and the related Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment ('WEEE') directives. The total market potential for Percon was not really known, since it could potentially be used in a broad variety of applications. Fisk Alloy was determined to be the best in its niche of the industry, but not necessarily the biggest. Management recognized that determining how to grow, slowly and opportunistically or more aggressively, would require balancing the market opportunities with the realities of capacity and related production issues.