In this sense, the company should be attempting a strategy of aggressive growth, but not the kind of growth it has traditionally sought.
In the past, Harley-Davidson has sought to maintain a kind of brand purity that has managed to develop a loyal and committed fan-base while reducing the company's market share over all. Put simply, it does not matter how loyal these fans are if they cannot afford the company's products, and maintaining the brand at the expense of the organization is foolish. Thus, while in the past Harley-Davidson could claim to be attempting a growth strategy, in reality this strategy could be characterized as growth by way of brand stability, a contradiction whose negative effects made itself clear in the company's recent declines. By locating its potential for success in the successful development of a core brand and a group of loyal customers, Harley-Davidson has effectively made itself unable to adapt to new markets and shifts, because it simply lacks the organizational capability to respond quickly and efficiently. While a committed group of core customers might be enough to keep the company afloat, it is certainly not what is need to expand and grow, something that Harley-Davidson is clearly interested in.
This is why (in the context of Ansoff's corporate strategies), the company should seek out a strategy of market development and diversification, instead of penetration and development, because it seems to be the case that for the time being Harley-Davidson has penetrated the American market as deeply as it can, and it would not be profitable to continue developing its existing, iconic products. Similarly in the context of Porter's generic strategies, the company should seek a segmentation strategy in its narrow segment in order to bring in customers looking for alternative motorcycles that still bear the Harley-Davidson brand and cost leadership strategy in emerging markets where the company has the potential to become to social standard for motorcycles. In either case, this means a strategy of growth by way of retrenchment, because the company needs to cut down on its least profitable areas (meaning its traditional product line) in order to exploit the opportunities offered by new technologies and markets.
The best opportunities for the company going forward lie in emerging markets like India as well as the cost savings offered by the exploitation of new technologies. However, successfully capitalizing on these external opportunities means being willing to be internally...
Harley Feasibility Study -- Harley Davidson 1957 Harley Davidson Harley Davidson Company has a long history of building motorcycles that have worked to actually shape culture. Its product positioning is admired by companies in most industry and most strive to develop the levels of brand loyalty that Harley has achieved. However, the company has also been negatively impacted by the recent economic downturn and is working through a rebuilding phase as market conditions
Harley Davidson AMF took over Harley Davidson in 1969 (Motorcycle.com, 2012), a few decades before Treacy and Wiersma developed their theory about value disciplines (1992), so Harley management clearly did not have these theories in mind when setting strategies in those days. The three value disciplines are operational excellence, product leadership and customer intimacy. Arguably, Harley excelled at all three in those days. The company had a very high degree of
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