Shimano Case Analysis Essay

Consumers are not limited to a single market, many of them will be purchasing multiple bikes, but all of them have specific preferences. Successful company will meet customer’s needs and maximize sales by growing the potential market size as well as taking sales from competitors.

Ducati has built an image of a race-focused company with a longstanding reputation dating back to 1950 when Ducati built their first bike. Ducati’s superior engine technology enabled them to build a name in the international bike racing community, winning multiple times throughout the sixties and seventies; they eventually succumbed to problems on the management end, after being sold by their parent company, IRI. After two troublesome decades in which Ducati was sold and acquired twice by different companies, in 1996 the ‘Texas Pacific Group’ purchased Ducati and assigned Federico Minoli as CEO, who transformed the company into the competitive Ducati we know today.

Marketing and Sales represents Ducati’s most significant growth opportunities because their brand management strategy advances the Ducati name into the consciousness of their markets. In addition to motorcycles, Ducati extends the brand by selling accessories and apparel. For sure, Ducati owners will buy these products but perhaps more importantly, the aspirational aspect of the brand drives people to buy Ducati-branded items even if they don’t own the bike. This behavior is seen with the Harley-Davidson brand: many people wear H-D clothing and

| * Only motorcycle company that dominated the World Superbike Championship in years preceding 2003 * Broad range of bikes (dual sport, sport touring, super sport) with leading edge technology * Its development in the U.S. in early 2000’s has supported Ducati steady growth

However in the markets they do serve they desire a relationship that evident in Harley riders. This is most evidenced by the participation in the Harley-Davidson Owners Group (H.O.G.). “The HOG worldwide membership had grown to 900,000 at the end of 2004 . . . in contrast Honda’s Gold Wing Road rides had 75,000 members” (Nolan & Kotha, 2007). The final part of the statement is just a reassurance to investors that profitability is a key concern.

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

"Automakers are seeking alternative materials to cut vehicle weight while maintaining strength and safety requirements. With investments in Asia, Europe and North America, Novelis has the global footprint, assets and expertise to meet the needs of automakers in every major auto-producing region."

YAMAHA MOTORCYCLES ­ IS INNOVATION THE MAIN DRIVER  FOR SUSTAINING COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE?  TABLE OF CONTENTS

Ducati had managed to successfully establish itself as a producer of high quality, reliable and stylish motorcycles. They did this through an aggressive outsourcing policy, using strict supplier criteria, using the platform approach to production and by leveraging the advantages of being located in the highly sophisticated Emilian mechanical district. Ducati outsourced around 87% of their production, which was the highest in the industry. By outsourcing to highly specialized components producers in the Emilian district Ducati could focus on the key value adders such as design, R&D, the production of strategic parts and quality control. Ducati was very selective and placed great emphasis on the quality of its suppliers, so its number of suppliers decreased from 200 to 130. It typically identified at least 2 suppliers for each component and signed only short term contracts with them. This provided Ducati with a pool of highly competitive and dedicated suppliers. A big factor in the efficiency of the production process was the platform approach to production. Ducati would divide motorcycles into a small number of large components which would consist of smaller subcomponents. A key supplier would then be made responsible for a component and managing the suppliers for the respective subcomponents. Heavy investment in R&D was made and an internal design division

The first example, they highlighted that the “advanced design, engineering, and technology” made a significant role on the past successes. Thus, they are sustaining on this approach for further successes by continuing investment on the up-to-date knowledge which will be implemented into the entire processes in order to enhancing their capabilities and experiences. Specifically, to produce specialized vehicles have highest performance, minimal impact on the environment, and crossing the limits of their customers’ expectations in term of unique design and competitive

Buoyed by SYM 's success, other foreign companies including Yamaha, Suzuki, Honda from Japan later jumped into the market.

Ducati entered into Sport-Touring segment, which enabled a complete presence in all categories of Sports segment. Strategic innovation: creating new customer segment [Grant p 213]

Over the next few years, Honda worked to expand its product line and expanded operations to numerous countries around the world. In a short amount of time Honda motor company was considered one of the leading companies in the automobile industry, and by volume it is currently marked as the biggest motorcycle manufacturer in the world.

Honda has continued to embrace the changes that happen around its operations to ensure sustainability and profitability. The current global motorcycle manufacturing sector is full of competition. It, therefore, becomes crucial for every manufacturer to evaluate their strengths and weaknesses and then identify the opportunities to exploit to gain competitive advantage. Honda is Japanese based automobile company; it has numerous subsidiaries in Asia, Europe, and North America. Due to the advancements in technology, Honda will be required to make use of the latest technological trends to stay competitive. The business level strategy at Honda is in line with its enterprise and corporate strategy. The corporation also conducts Research and

One of the key differentiators top design manufacturers leverage is their ability to have visibility and insight into all aspects of the supply chain, especially when manufacturing goes global. This visibility helps companies to understand their products demand, inventories, service parts management, and the products overall viability.