Dell Computer is a leader in the e-commerce computer hardware market. It is an established brand that leads personal computer manufacturers both in U.S. sales and overall online sales. Its trademark method of selling products to customers, corporate and individual consumers, originates from the Dell Direct model, a Web-enabled infrastructure that allows customers to customize their PCs and order other products they need or desire. This virtual integration structure eliminates the need to manufacture everything, and instead uses the power of the Internet to share and exchange information with suppliers and vendors to build a truly superior supply chain that keeps inventory turnover low and costs to a minimum. The primary method Dell uses in order to achieve and sustain their competitive advantage is a unique, direct to customer business model. The model is known as Dell Direct, referring to the relationship between the company and its customers as being Continue reading
Business Analysis Case
Case study: Tata Motor’s Acquisition of Jaguar and Land Rover
Tata Motors is the largest multi-holding automobile company in India and it is the fourth largest truck producer in the world. In addition, Tata Motors is also the second largest bus producer in the world, with the revenues of US$ 8.8 billion in the financial year 2008. Since its establishment in 1945, Tata Motors has grown significantly in the past 60years with the strategies of joint venture, acquisition and launched new products in different market segments (i.e. passenger cars, commercial vehicles and utility vehicles). A significant breakthrough for Tata was the development and commercialization of the truly Indian cars and they are Tata Indica (1998) and Tata Indigo (2002). Tata Motors has experienced many joint ventures with Daimler Benz, Cummis Engine Co. Inc., and Fiat. In the year 2008, there were two most significant events which have had a momentous impact on the scale of the Company’s operations and its Continue reading
Case Study: Ryanair Business Strategy Analysis
Ryanair is an Irish low cost airline headquartered in Dublin founded in 1985. It operates 181 aircrafts over 729 routes across Europe and North Africa from 31 bases. Ryanair has seen large success over the recent years due to its low-cost business model and has become the world’s largest airline in terms of international passenger numbers. Taking Porter’s generic business strategies into consideration, Ryanair operates a cost-leadership strategy to drive itself into achieving its mission of being the leading European low-cost carrier (LCC). Throughout this essay the business strategy of Ryanair will be analysed and the sustainability of their model evaluated. Ryanair’s objective is to firmly establish itself as Europe’s leading low-fares scheduled passenger airline through continued improvements and expanded offerings of its low-fares service. Considering their objectives and mission, Ryanair’s decision on their cost-leadership strategy was based on a few main factors which are discussed below. A major influence Continue reading
Case Study: Turbulent History of Chrysler Corporation
In 1920, the president of Buick and Vice President of General Motors (GM) resigned his positions in the GM Corporation following political differences with founder and then-president of General Motors William Durant. This former automotive Vice President was promptly approached by a group of investors to focus his business acumen in the fledgling automotive industry on a small, financially troubled New York company called Maxwell Motor Corporation. The one-time automotive vice president was installed as president of Maxwell Motor Company. The man’s name was Walter Percy Chrysler. In short order, Walter Chrysler brought the Maxwell Motor Corporation out of bankruptcy. The financial improvement was due in large part to Mr. Chrysler introducing a new Maxwell model- the Chrysler Six. This car was very well received by the automobile buying public and went on to sell 32,000 units in its first year, generating a profit of over $4 million for the Continue reading
Case Study: The Rise and Fall of Nintendo Wii
Nintendo was founded in Kyoto, Japan, in 1889 under the name of Nintendo Koppai by Fusajiro Yamauchi. They made decks of playing cards, known as Hanafuda, in Japan. The cards were made by hand originally and became very popular. As demand soared, Yamauchi hired assistants to mass-produce his cards and he opened up a second shop in Osaka. Nintendo took off as one of the largest card makers in the world and maintained that status until the 1950’s. In 1963, Nintendo Playing Card Co. became, simply, Nintendo Co. Hiroshi Yamauchi, unimpressed with the limitations of the playing card industry, began to seek out other ventures. Their line of Disney themed cards had given the company a large cash injection, and risks could be taken. In the short period between 1963 and 1968, Nintendo opened and shut down unsuccessful ventures ranging from love hotels to taxi services to a TV network. Continue reading
Case Study: Business Innovation Lessons from Salesforce.com
Salesforce.com was founded in 1999 by Marc Benioff. A former executive at Oracle, he dreamed up the concept while on sabbatical in Hawaii and India. After noticing the success of consumer websites like Amazon.com, he saw the potential for the Internet to be a goldmine for business consumers and set out on his plan to create his own startup business. After considering a human resources endeavor, his first venture was Customer Relationship Management (CRM), with an idea that his software would be easy to use and inexpensive, a vast improvement over similar items already on the market. Salesforce.com has become a platform for business owners and managers to buy subscriptions for software that has many business applications, like service and support, marketing and, of course, sales. Competitors like Oracle, SAP, Microsoft, etc. that dominated the enterprise software market, locked in almost all the large companies in the world with their Continue reading