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. The company needs to improve its innovation pipeline, but it also needs to improve its production practices so that quality is restored. The customers want Ford to succeed, but poor quality reviews are going to hurt the company's turnaround. High gas prices and rising costs elsewhere may wipe out the benefits of a U.S. recovery, so Ford needs to shift its focus to emerging market growth. That said, if it can adapt to new technologies like hybrids, there is room for success. The company's brand, however, does remain strong, especially for market-leading products like the F-150.
Mulally is a good leader for Ford, but in order to ensure that these strategies are implemented effectively, he needs to replace the retiring talent with people just...
More money needs to go to innovation and less to pensions and other legacy costs, something that will challenge the company's financial management and its union relations. These strategies are broad-based, so market share, revenue and profit are all good measures. 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 & Durfee, 2012)
Competition
High quality
Japanese supply chain (earthquakes, tsunamis)
New models (Yan & Durfee, 2012)
Global growth is weak (Forbes, 2011)
Good product lineup
Locked into traditional management style
Toyota has faltered
Rising costs (Forbes, 2011)
Efficient production
Low sales
Luxury cars (Acura) in emerging markets (Yan & Durfee, 2012)
Weak home market
Good global distribution
Stagnant equity growth
US recovery?
Tsunamis and earthquakes disrupt supply chain
For Honda to succeed it needs to focus on growth markets, since the U.S. market is uncertain and the Japanese market is weak. The company needs to diversify its production as well, given how much damage the earthquake/tsunami did to its supply chain. Despite reduced sales and stagnant equity growth, Honda is…
