Harley Davidson Strategic Analysis

A long standing business practice at Harley-Davidson is “Excellent Corporate Governance” (Harley-Davidson, 2010b ). Last year (May 2009), Harley-Davidson welcomed its new President and Chief Executive Officer, Keith E. Wandell. Working with Mr. Wandell, is the Board of Directors,

Currently H-D is the leading seller of heavy weight motorcycles across the entire world. Because they are at the pinnacle they are the target for the competition. Some of Harley Davidson 's advantages are name recognition, brand loyalty, brand quality and customer loyalty (Hitt, Ireland & Hoskisson, 2013, p. 81). The company benefits by having “the made in America” image attached to its products. The image of a Harley rider and owner is one of a tough, independent, free spirit, ready and willing to take on the world type of man. The sound of a H-D motorcycle in idle or being ridden is unique and very identifiable.

The fight amongst the major players in this industry is not over price, but over capturing the market share. Since, there is no one definitive leader in the motorcycle industry on the global level, the companies tend to steal each other’s business, this makes the industry rivalry cut throat. One of the crucial factors that make this industry extremely attractive is the constant drive for innovation. Since different industry participants have different approach towards the same segment of the industry, there is a very high

The three statics of Harley-Davidson’s is; revenue, growth rate, and number of units that are sold. The manufacturer of the United States heavyweight motorcycle division has obtained, arrested, and achieved approximately fifty-four percent of the broad United States motorcycle exchange. Harley-Davidson has fifty-two percent share of the broad motorcycle exchange in which IBISWorld INC. has estimated that it will generate six point nine billion dollars in revenue this year, (Forbes, (2014).

Good relationships, continuous improvement, employee and management involvement, team building or employee training and empowerment are not just words out of a management book for Harley-Davidson. Only by adopting those management techniques and building a solid base between the management and the Unions/employees made it possible for Harley-Davidson to improve its management processes. While management 's responsibility is to build

The overall intensity of rivalry in the motorcycle industry is strong, key players in this industry include the Harley Davidson, Winnebago, Polaris, Thor, Artic Cat and Marine Products. These top performers hold a high percentage of

One weakness they have is the high prices of their models when compared to their Japanese counterparts. It seems that they could increase their market share if they could produce a less expensive model without compromising the quality of the model. A major strength they have is their name recognition and the activities available for Harley owners to interact with each other. Groups such as the Harley Owner’s Group (HOG), and the Buell Riders Adventures Group (BRAG) often sponsor rallies for their members.

Historically Harley-Davidson to be a Niche Marketer, which is they had focused in on one particular aspect of the market. Kotler and Keller identified the following characteristics of niche marketing; customers have a distinct set of needs, they are willing to pay more to the firm that best suits their needs, it is not likely to attract competitors, gains economies through specialized products and it has a size, profit and to grow. Almost all of these hold true for the “heavyweight” segment of motor cycles that Harley-Davidson produced.

Harley-Davidson has managed to dominate the U.S. market by investing in research and development, experimenting with its designs and

The strength of Harley Davidson can be seen in its logo and product brand. In the United States, the Harley Davidson is like a cult since it has so many followers, as depicted in the case study whereby in all the rallies, hard core fans of the company, for example the Harley Owners Group was present. This gives the company a competitive advantage since it has a market that is readily available and willing to purchase its products no matter the cost. The other strength of the company as seen in the case study was in the protection by the government since it was a United States company. This helped Harley to recover when the company placed an increase on the tariffs charged on the

Since Harley Davison Motor Company started in 1903, they have been successfully “taking the work out of bicycling” better than any other motorcycle manufacturing company. They have experienced great success recently with growing numbers in their percentage of motorcycles shipped, up 14 percent from 1997, and their target market size, up 13.8 percent from 1997. Their brand has also grown so strong over the years that customers are willing to wait up to two years for a motorcycle. The problems that Harley Davison is faced with are how to improve their existing purchasing process, how to integrate their existing procurement methods together, and how to develop longer term

The success of Harley Davidson (HD) is due to the American motorcycle icon’s effective Strategic Management. HD’s vision, mission, goals and objectives strive to exceed the requirements of its main stakeholders. Although these needs are not always met, the company has unique relationships with is stakeholders. The company stays on course with its strategic plan, despite the economy and the decline of American manufacturing and what might be considered its dwindling U.S. consumer base.

After an investigation by the US International Trade Commission, in 1983 President Reagan imposed a 45% tariff on imported bikes and bikes over 700 cc engine capacity. The new management deliberately exploited the past appeal of their big machines, building motorcycles that purposely adopted the look and feel of their earlier models. Quality increased, technical improvements were made, and buyers returned. Harley-Davidson once again became the sales leader in the heavyweight (over 750 cc) market.

Rivalry Competition: Harley Davidson has a High Rivalry Competition. HD deals with a huge amount of competition in the Motorcycles industry from other motorcycle manufacturers from around the world. These include Honda, Yamaha , Suzuki from Japan; Ducati, Aprilia, BMW and Triumph from Europe; and the Indian as its main rival from the US. The major problem HD faces here is that most of its major competitors are very diversified and have larger financial and marketing resources. For example, Yamaha generates only half of its revenue from motorcycles. The growth rate of this particular industry is forecasted to be 3.4%.

a. Is the decision-making authority centralized around one group or decentralized to many units? Authority is decentralized around both foreign and domestic operations.