WidgeCorp became the market leader in snack foods after acquiring a rival company, Company W. Their management style and business decision-making differed.

Employees at WidgeCorp collected relevant data and through statistical analysis used this information to draw conclusions and make appropriate recommendations. Company W tended to rely on the experience and judgment of its managers. For the time being, both companies are being managed separately, but within the next twelve months they will merge all management, processes, and accounting.

Explain to upper management the chosen multivariate technique, factor analysis for the company, WidgeCorp to branch into the cold beverage industry. How is it different than the other 2 techniques – multi-dimensional scaling, and cluster analysis? How has at least one other real-life company used the factor analysis technique to address a business problem and how might that technique be used at WidgeCorp?