Ford v. Honda Ford's SWOT Analysis: Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats Brand recognition Low quality scores (LeBeau, 2011) Chinese market (Forbes, 2011) Competitors Distribution Management retirements (Muller, 2012) Hybrids/fuel efficiency Weak economic conditions New Products Pensions/legacy costs US recovery? Rising costs Renewed consumer interest Distributor issues? Other BRICS High gas prices Mulally is a good leader No global mfg platform Smaller vehicles US competitors are backed by gov't In order for Ford to address these issues, the following strategic concepts should be implemented
Ford v. Honda Ford's SWOT Analysis: Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats Brand recognition Low quality scores (LeBeau, 2011) Chinese market (Forbes, 2011) Competitors Distribution Management retirements (Muller, 2012) Hybrids/fuel efficiency Weak economic conditions New Products Pensions/legacy costs US recovery? Rising costs Renewed consumer interest Distributor issues? Other BRICS High gas prices Mulally is a good leader No global mfg platform Smaller vehicles US competitors are backed by gov't In order for Ford to address these issues, the following strategic concepts should be implemented
New product introductions is another one that should be utilized as well, since that is part of the company's recover strategy. The SWOT for Honda is as follows: Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats Brand recognition Mature/stagnant? High growth BRICs, especially China (Yan
In this order of ideas, they have set the basis of a strategic partnership with Rover. "The alliance between Rover and Honda has been a very long-lasting one that led to the resurrection pf Rover as a quality-car maker, and the effective entry of Honda into the European market" (Faulkner and de Ron, 2000)
stands for Honda. "NH circles allow members to bring up any problem and provide a venue for discussing a wide range of subjects" (Mito, 1990)
The same international business theory argues that as companies increase their knowledge about foreign markets, they switch from joint ventures or acquisitions to greenfield investments. This can be explained from the perceived market risk perspective, which decreases as firms learn more about how to handle international operations or as they improve their multinationality (Kogut and Singh, 1988)
Larger companies are able to better exploit the advantages of global operations. Empirical evidence suggests that globalization has a positive effect on a company's activity measured in terms of productivity and growth rates (Lewis & Richardson, 2001)
The economies of scale are increased because the company can sell to more people and thus increases its production to a larger scale and its negotiation power in its relationship with suppliers by increasing its size. Generally speaking, for diversification to be successful, the company's capabilities, both resources and what the company can do with them should evolve in the same rhythm (Penrose, 1959)
Generally speaking, for diversification to be successful, the company's capabilities, both resources and what the company can do with them should evolve in the same rhythm (Penrose, 1959). Thus, depending on the relationship between what a company knows and what the company is able to do the situations of under and over diversification can be noticed (Prahalad & Hamel, 1990), neither of which is desired
The company has over 1,100 discount stores, 1,900 supercenters, 95 neighborhood markets and 575 Sam's club locations in USA and it has strategic presence in 13 foreign markets with 2,750 retail units, reaching over 175 million consumers. According to a PBS study (Smith, 2004), Wal-Mart is responsible for imports worth of $15bn from China alone, where the company has roughly 80% of its 6,000 international suppliers
Vertical integration is one of the ways of minimizing transaction costs - by internalizing activities, companies reduce third party-related costs. The theory has also suggested that this type of diversification is meant to minimize risk induced by environment-related factors: uncertainty and small-numbers exchange relations - relations developed by the organization and a number of autonomous contractors that is considered to be small (Williamson, 1975)
Those enterprises that have little knowledge about foreign territories may be better off by adopting a shared governance form by teaming with a local partner. The purpose for this measure would be for the partner's knowledge of the local market and institutions to reduce the entrant's "liability of foreignness" (Zaheer, 1995)
Honda Motor Corporation entails all the four mentioned features of brand equity. Its long time client base is brand loyalty: Honda has a strong consumer base that buys autos because Honda makes them (Gelder, 2009)
Soon, Honda realized that when local auto manufacturers started to struggle, it could benefit by capitalizing on the opportunity and aligning itself with the Japanese consumer. This enabled Honda to educate consumers on the company's economic contributions and thus, advance its presence across the United States (Heneric, Licht & Sofka, 2009)
Honda is popular in the auto industry and across global consumers for manufacturing well made and reliable products. The element of perceived value refers to the preconceived notion held by the customer base about the company (Kay, 2011)
The company seeks to reach out to Japanese consumers. An innovative technique used by the company as to open plants across Japan and in foreign nations (Roll, 2010)
But that need not disturb me. The law will work just as the law of gravitation works whether we accept it or not" (Byrne 2010)
2). Japanese style alliances" and strategies have also been heralded as "a critical source of competitive advantage for large Japanese assemblers" (Dyer, et
2). Japanese style alliances" and strategies have also been heralded as "a critical source of competitive advantage for large Japanese assemblers" (Dyer, et
503). In particular these companies have set the pace with a 'follow-the-leader' type of pattern where most automobiles are crafted to follow similar size classes among other features (Hanssens & Johansson, 1991: p