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Strategic Alternatives There are many ways in which Harley-Davidson can improve its operations, all of which can be found through conducting a thorough analysis of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats the company is presently facing. The executives of Harley-Davidson considered the company’s internal strengths and weaknesses by completing an internal factor analysis summary (IFAS). Next, the external opportunities and threats were analyzed by completing an external factor analysis summary (EFAS). The analysis of these two summaries in turn produced the viable strategic alternatives outlined in the company’s strategic factor analysis summary (SFAS). The resources, capabilities and diverse leadership team of Harley-Davidson have provided the foundation for the company’s continuing ability to be both versatile in its product offerings as well as adaptive to consumer desires. The strategies of adjusting pricing, refocusing the company’s corporate culture and targeting a new consumer market will assist the company in fine tuning its operations over the next several years to ensure Harley-Davidson maintains its position as the leader in the motorcycle industry. The first strategic alternative for Harley-Davidson (HD) to address is that of adjusting pricing. Throughout the years HD has been known for its ability to provide high quality motorcycles to its customers, however this quality comes at a high price. To those customers who are willing and able to pay HD’s higher price for quality the present pricing schedule is acceptable. Unfortunately, to those unable to pay this higher price HD’s motorcycles are unattainable making competitor bike financially more appealing. In order to increase HD’s sales, and consequently in... ... middle of paper ... ...competitors in the motorcycle industry. These same sorts of systems could easily be added to, or modified as needed, to track the new motorcycle lines HD will produce to attract both women and young adults. These systems have been an invaluable means for HD to reevaluate itself in the past and thus are ‘tried and true’ making it a moot point to replace them. HD, however, needs to concentrate some effort on implementing a system to determine the most appropriate locations for future dealerships. This new evaluation system will aid HD in determining effective locations for new dealerships and assist in providing further market share penetration for the company in essentially ‘untapped’ consumer areas. Works Cited Wheelen, Thomas L. and J. David Hunger. Strategic Management and Business Policy, 13th Ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc., 2012. Print.
Harley-Davidson owns a twenty percent market share followed closely by Honda, Yamaha, and Kawasaki. One thing they have had to overcome in the marketplace is the stereotypical image associated with motorcycle owners. It seems the publ...
This case study is about “Specialized Bicycle Components Inc.” known as Ride the Red “S”. Specialized was founded in 1974 by Mike Sinyard. According to Chris Murphy, director of marketing for Red “S”, specialized is for serious riders. He says, “The customer is buying the ride from us, not just the bike.” The company began to produce its own bike parts by 1976, and introduced the first major production mountain bike in the world in 1980. Specialized now has an extensive global distribution network of 5000 retailers in 35 countries in Asia, North America, South America, and Australia. They maintained a reputation as the technological leader in the bike and bike accessories. The formal mission is still the same since they established the company “To give everyone the best ride of their life.”
"Harley-Davidson: At Last" as presented in Hartley's Marketing Mistakes and Successes presents the circumstances around HD's near collapse and since rinse to near mythic success. This case is a great example of marketing myopia; HD saw them-selves as full-size motorcycles' manufactures, not in the transportation, or even the entertainment industry. They believed no one bought motorcycles for transportation, but rather for leisure time use.
Fast Company,(139), 69-70,73,16. Retrieved from Research Library. Document ID: 1870795761. Wheelen, Thomas L. & Hunger, J. David, (2010). Strategic management and business policy.
During the 1970's, HD was facing a decline in market share due to increased competition with Japanese companies. By phasing out weak models, becoming more selective, and limiting sales and promotions, HD was able to carve out a niche in the marketplace which it enjoys today. Now again faced with a period of decline, HD is relying on its newly adopted marketing objectives. First, HD needs to expand its potential customer base to include enthusiasts and non-enthusiasts young males, and females into buying HD motorcycles over any other competitor. This thought is accomplished through the introduction of the VRSC’S, and the lower and narrow Sportsters, Dyna’s, Softail’s and positioning them in the market to a younger demographic. Secondly, HD needs to position the VRSC’S, Sporster, Dyna and Softail to also appeal to first time buyers of motorcycles. HD's strong brand identity can help pull in new clients.
Wheelen, T. L., & Hunger, J. D. (2012). Strategic Management and Business Policy: Towards Global Sustainability. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Italian manufacturer Piaggio ranks as one of the world’s top four players in its core business. It has consolidated leadership in the European 2-wheeler market. Piaggio should not miscalculate its competitors. Competition in the industry is very powerful, not only nationally but internationally as well. This is due to two well-established companies in this sector which are the Japanese Yamaha and Honda. Yamaha and Honda strengths are their long-run experience in the sector and the high quality image of products. Due to participations to the motorcycle championships, these two companies constantly receive positive feedbacks to their efforts in researching for first class products. In the future, other kinds of competitors are expected to arise: Chinese companies whose ability to imitate and create similar products at highly competitive prices is getting more and more dangerous (Piaggio, 2008)
Pearce, J. A., & Robinson, R. B. (2013). Strategic management: planning for domestic & global competition (13th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.
2. Thompson and Strickland (2002), Strategic Management: Concepts and Cases, 13th Edition, Chicago Irwin Publications.
James, W. B., & Graham, B. (2004). Strategic change in the face of success? Harley-Davidson, Inc. Strategic Change, 13(4), 205.
Porter, M. E. (2008). The five competitive forces that shape strategy. Harvard business review, 25-40.
The demand for Harley-Davidson is in excess; the company utilizes customer surveys along with motorcycle rallies while conducting market research. This research did lead Harley; it led the company to start manufacturing motorcycles designed for women. There has been a 10% increase in the number of women riding the motorcycles since 1987. On the company website, Harley does have a page set aside for riders who are women. Harley-Davidson appeals to its customers by way of brand identity. “The value of brands in today’s environment is phenomenal. Brands have the power of instant sales; they convey a message of confidence, quality and reliability to their target market” (Learn Marketing, n.d., p.2). Everybody recognizes a Harley-Davidson’s bar and shield symbol. Having ownership of a Harley motorcycle signifies American pride, a...
Harley-Davidson institutes a pull strategy in the promotion of the FXDS-CONV Dyna Convertible. Due to the limited number of dealerships (for example, there are only five in Nashville and the surrounding communities) customers must actively seek out a location to purchase this bike. Also, because so many customers decide to customize their Dyna Convertibles, they must place a special order with the dealer, who in turn must contact intermediaries along the distribution channel in order to satisfy the customer. Further, the fact that demand for Harley motorcycles far exceeds the supply indicates that a pull strategy is in place.
Women are seen as still being relatively new in the Harley Davidson world and they are working hard to cultivate these relationship. A common theme is that women are not taken seriously when it comes to the topic of motorcycles. Leslie Prevish, who previously worked for Harley Davidson, is a big promoter of women ridders and created the “garage party” to market to women (Zube, 2013). Harley Davidson understands the needs of women and is therefore marketing deeper to reach these needs and build loyalty with
Hitt, M., Ireland, and Hoskisson, R. (2009).Strategic management: Competitive and Globalization, Concepts and Cases. In M.Staudt & Stranz (Ed).