Dell : A Successful Entrepreneur

Chapter two (Krames, 2003) depicts the values, journey and leadership style of Michael Dell. Michael Dell is the founder and CEO of Dell, Inc. According to the author, Michael had an entrepreneurial gene in him since the childhood. He started his first business Dell Stamps when he was 12. Michael started his revolutionary journey of Dell Computer Corporation when he was 19 year old. He was the youngest CEO of a Fortune 500 company at the age of 27.

Dell is a leading computer technology organization. Dell constantly keeps up with changes in their market to stay competitive. Dell is focusing on cost from issues of storage to transportation of products.

Founded in 1984 by Michael Dell with the aim of building relationships directly with customers. Dell is a premier provider of PC products and services sought by customers worldwide to build their information technology and internet infrastructures. Through its direct business model it designs, manufactures and customises products and services to customer requirements and offers an extensive selection of software and peripherals.

Dell Computer Corporation was founded in 1984 by Michael Dell. From the early 1990s until the mid-2000s, Dell was ranked as a PC market leader relying on their distinctive marketing pattern “Direct Model” which undertook direct communication with customers and provided customized products. Recently, the PC industry is facing inconceivable worldwide competition, and Dell is gradually losing their competitive advantages by using its direct model in critical business segments. The company is facing shrinkage of growth, increasing competition, declining quality of customer service, and limitation of expansion. These issues have an enormous impact on Dell’s position as a technological giant in the PC industry.

So in conclusion while it is a “wait and see” time for Dell, its founder, Michael Dell is “convinced he can prove the skeptics wrong. He understands that only a handful of former chiefs have returned to lead their companies to brighter futures.” (Edwards, 2009).

Dell Company has a successful business strategy. As it is following cost leadership strategy. Its success story is hidden in cost proposition, delivery, and unique customization. In response to the high performance and better chances for growth Dell is applying two way strategy parallel to one another.

Dell Inc. is a multinational technology corporation that develops, manufactures, sells, and supports personal computers and other computer-related products. Based in Round Rock, Texas, Dell employs more than 76,500 people worldwide as of 2009[update].

Because of these measures followed by Dell it still remains to be the top. The success of Dell lays in large part with market segmentation and specialization strategies that Michael Dell has used.

Dell’s main contribution to the business world would be his approach to how is a business is conducted – keeping the consumer in the center of thought and giving them only what they want. Grove’s main contribution was keeping the company slightly paranoid and keeping the employees on their toes. This meant that the company could never become complacent.

The PC industry has seen many changes in the past decade, such that there was a time when Dell was considered as one of the beloved brands of the internet era and now due to competitive and consumer behavioural changes, sales is not as prominent as it once was.

Imagine a world without computers or smart phones. What would society do? Where would modern technology be? All it took was one man with an innovative vision to revolutionize modern day society as we know it. The late and great Steve Jobs was one of those visionary leaders that pushed ethical boundaries to their limits. According to an article by Forbes (Gallo, 2013), Jobs stated “how does somebody know what they want if they haven’t even seen it?”. Jobs paved the way for the products we know and use today such as the iPod and iPad and it started with the establishment of Apple. Jobs unorthodox methods and drive for success drove many business partners to the brink just as he did with his Apple Mobile Me project team. Jobs may have been deemed a bit eccentric, but his visionary influence inspired me to become a visionary leader. I try to emulate his passion and vision in such a way to motivate and stimulate our Airmen to think outside the box. I truly believe this is paramount for young Airmen in becoming better leaders for the future and sustainment of our Air Force. While Steve Jobs vision was merely a dream any entrepreneur would desire to achieve, he managed to transform several industries forever.

Dell, a direct-sales pioneer, grew exponentially in the 1990s and emerged as the worldwide market leader in 2001. During 2001-2002 it was the most profitable among the market leaders. Compaq came up with a full range of PCs ranging between $1,000 and $10,000. Whereas, IBM, which at once had a market share of 30%, was at this time going through a dramatic restructuring to stop its market share and profits from deteriorating further. Whereas, HP maintained a comparatively smaller share in PC sales. Besides

At the time, Sam Nunn, presiding director of the Dell Board, said: “Dell’s Board reaffirms its unanimous support for Michael Dell’s continued leadership.”

In order to meet all our stakeholder needs, Dell aims at been the most successful organization in the world by offering the highest possible quality of products and services which will be competitively prices and produced and delivered by application of the latest technologies.

Dell incorporation is a well known name in households and organizations everywhere. This is because Dell is the largest mail order computer vendor in the world due to their high reputation or providing quality PCs to the public at affordable and competitive prices. However, this innovation of PCs would not habe been possible without Mr. Michael Dell, the genius behind this prominent and successful company (Anonymous, 2015). From its inception, Dell has managed to gain and maintain a competitive advantage in the industry of computers. The question then is how does Dell gain and retain this competitive advantage?