Dell Company was founded in 1984 by Michael Dell. It is the world’s largest direct-sale computer vendor; Dell Inc. is now also the leading seller of computer systems in the world, capturing a global market share of more than 15 percent. Dell markets desktop personal computers, notebook computers, network servers, workstations, handheld computers, monitors, printers, high-end storage products, and a variety of computer peripherals and software. In this article we will use Porter’s Five Forces to analysis Dell’s great success in the industry. Force 1: The Degree of Rivalry The PC industry consists of a number of companies; hence the threat from industry competitors is high. Due to the product being highly standardized and shifting costs between brands is low, there is fierce competition which leads to lower margins and profitability in the market. The PC industry can be described as a high competitive industry. For Dell the main competitors Continue reading
Strategic Management Tools
Innovation in Large versus Small Firms
In 1940s, Austrian economist Joseph Schumpeter argued that large firms would be more effective innovators and he point out that better able to obtain financing for R&D projects and better able to spread costs of R&D over large volume. Large size firms may also enable for greater economies of scale and learning effect and taking on large scale or risky projects. However, large firms might also be disadvantaged at innovation because; R&D efficiency might decrease due to loss of managerial control Large firms have more bureaucratic inertia More strategic commitments tie firm to current technologies Small firms often considered more flexible and entrepreneurial. Many big firms have found ways of “feeling small” because break overall firm into several sub-units and can utilize different culture and controls in different units. A large firm gains experience in choosing and developing innovation projects, it may learn to make better selections of projects that Continue reading
Analysis of Competitive Position Using Porter’s Five Forces Model
Michael Porter’s Five-Forces Model of competitive analysis is a widely used approach for developing strategies in many industries as the intensity of competition among firms varies widely across industries. According to Porter, the nature of competitiveness in an industry can be viewed as a composite of five forces: rivalry among competing firms, potential entry of new competitors, potential development of substitute products, bargaining power of suppliers and bargaining power of consumers. There are 3 steps to use Porter’s Five Forces Model can reveal whether competition in a given industry is such that the firm can make an acceptable profit. Firstly, identify key aspects or elements of each competitive force that impact the firm. Secondly, evaluate how strong and important each element is for the firm. Lastly, decide whether the collective strength of the elements is worth the firm entering or staying in the industry. Rivalry among the competing firms is Continue reading
Altman Z-Score Formula – Corporate Bankruptcy Prediction Model
The financial failure of a company can have a devastating effect on the all seven users of financial statements e.g. present and potential investors, customers, creditors, employees, lenders, general public etc. As a result, users of financial statements as indicated previously are interested in predicting not only whether a company will fail, but also when it will fail e.g. to avoid high profile corporate failures at Enron, Arthur Anderson, and WorldCom etc. Business failure is defined as the unfortunate circumstance of a firm’s inability to stay in the business. Business failure occurs when the total liabilities exceeds the total assets of a company, as total assets is consider a measure of productivity of a company assets. The main reasons for business failure are high interest rates, recession squeezed profits, heavy debt burdens, government regulations and the nature of operations can contribute to a firm’s financial distress. The traditional analysis of Continue reading
The SCP Framework – Structure Conduct Performance Framework
The origin of the SCP (Structure-Conduct-Performance) paradigm can be traced to the work of the Harvard economist Edward Mason in the 1930s. It was popularized during 1930-60 with its empirical work involving the identification of correlations between industry structure and performance. This is a paradigm that is foundational to industrial organization economics, consistent with the positional view of strategy, as opposed to the resource-based view of strategy. There are two competing hypotheses in the SCP paradigm: the traditional “structure performance hypothesis” and “efficient structure hypothesis”. The structure performance hypothesis states that the degree of market concentration is inversely related to the degree of competition. This is because market concentration encourages firms to collude. The efficiency structure hypothesis states that performance of the firm is positively related to its efficiency. This is because market concentration emerges from competition where firms with low cost structure increase profits by reducing prices and expanding Continue reading
Shell’s Directional Policy Matrix (DPM)
The Shell Directional Policy Matrix (DPM) is another refinement upon the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) Matrix. Along the horizontal axis are prospects for business sector profitability, and along the vertical axis is a company’s competitive capability. Business sector profitability includes the size of the market, expected growth, lack of competition, profit margins within the market and other favorable political and socio-economic conditions. On the other hand company’s competitive capability is determined by the sales volume, the products reputation, reliability of service and competitive pricing. As with the GE Business Screen the location of a Strategic Business Unit (SBU) in any cell of the matrix implies different strategic decisions. However decisions often span options and in practice the zones are an irregular shape and do not tend to be accommodated by box shapes. Instead they blend into each other. Each of the zones in Shell’s Directional Policy Matrix is described as Continue reading