key competitors on key success factors
When you look at how Ford is comparing with key competitors, they are at an impasse. As the company can be able, to take a significant portion of market share from competitors who are beginning to face considerable challenges. A good example of this can be seen with Toyota, where the company would have a major recall for faulty accelerators in 2009 and early 2010. This is important, because the problems at Toyota would allow Ford to be able to take market share from the company. As the negative press and positive reviews that Ford would receive about its products would help to revitalize the company. ("Toyota Facing Huge Quality Issue," 2010)
That being said, the largest potential threat that Ford will more than likely face is from Hyundai. The reason why is because the Sonata and Focus have similar features, which are designed to go after large segments of the consumers (who are demanding fuel efficient vehicles). The fact that Hyundai was able to see an increase in sales between 2008 and 2009 is evidence of: the company's ability to adapt to the various changes that they are facing in the future. ("Ford Fusion vs. Hyundai Sonata," 2010) the below picture illustrates how the strengths of Ford in comparison with their two rivals Toyota and Hyundai.
Ford vs. Toyota and Hyundai
Ford
Toyota
Hyundai
Reduced labor costs
Declining sales
Vehicle similarities
Competitive models
Competitive models
Lower costs
Improving image for quality
Quality control issues
Good quality / service
Margins
Margins
Margins
Increases profits / market share
Decreasing profits / market share
Increasing profits /
market share
When you put these two elements together, it is clear that Ford has a unique opportunity to regain market share from the large foreign automakers. However, Hyundai is aggressively targeting their key markets. As result, Ford must be able to continue to adapt to changes in demands from consumers, by offering high quality products. If the company can maintain this level of concentration, they can be able to regain a significant amount of market share and prevent other competitors from gaining a foothold.
What issue or issue(s) merit "front-burner" managerial attention?
The two biggest issues that company is facing are: the large amounts of debt (that it is continuing to reduce) and possible quality control issues. If the company can remain profitable and continue with the strategy of cost cutting, they could be able to reduce their cost structure and increase their earnings (as they will reduce the burden of the large debt load). However, management must remain focused on consistently reducing the overall levels of debt. Otherwise it is only a matter of time, until these levels will begin to consistently increase. The different quality control issues could have an impact on sales, as the negative publicity can create the impression of Ford products being inferior to competitors. Recently, the company did have an issue with the brakes on the 2010 Ford Focus. However, they were able to address this issue quickly by establishing the Customer Satisfaction Program. This offered to fix the problem in these models for free. This is significant, because it shows how the company will continue face quality control issues on a regular basis. The big challenge going forward is: addressing them promptly and preventing the situation from spiraling out of control. ("Ford Issue Prompt Fix," 2010)
How comfortable is the company going into another culture or market?
Ford is well positioned going forward to address the challenges that it will face in other markets around the world. This is because the change in focus of the company, has allowed various executives to address the underlying long-term challenges from its business model (legacy costs and the corporate culture of the organization itself). When you examine legacy costs, it is clear that the cost of labor and benefits for various employees would continue to play a major role in the company's long-term success. This is because the unions would force the Big Three to maintain the traditional labor agreements that were often used since the 1950's and the 1960's. A good example of this can be seen with the average hourly wage that...
Coach Situation Analysis Internal Environment Coach's mission statement is found on the company's website, a surprisingly good source for information about the company. The mission statement is: "Coach seeks to be the leading brand of quality lifestyle accessories offering classic, modern American styling." Coach does not elaborate on overall business objectives, but in a general sense it is safe to assume increasing revenue, increasing profit and increasing market share are all on the
Internal Controls Companies need to be aware of the varying influences that are acting upon their organization. One method of examining the current situation is to divide the perception into ideas and influences that are arriving from the external environment and those that are internally controlled. Internal controls are important because they rely on leadership, courage and skill for these actions to take hold. The purpose of this essay is to
Internal Analysis SWOT Analysis Resource-Based View (RBV) analysis in Kraft Foods Company Resources in Kraft Foods Company Physical resources Kraft Foods Company has an advance of physical resources. These resources are meant for production and creation of a sustainable environment of productivity. Within the notion of productivity, Kraft Foods Company benefits from the resources since they offer the company a positive strength or capability to perform in the market. Increase in the amounts of
INTERNAL ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSISUnited Airline Holdings: Internal Environmental AnalysisStrategic Role of Corporate Strengths/Weaknesses in the Internal Strategy Analysisa) Corporate-Level StrategiesIn basic terms, an enterprise�s corporate-level strategies refer to the approaches embraced by the top management in efforts to steer the entire organization towards success (Godfrey, 2015). Towards this end, they tend to have an impact on the entire organization. With this in mind, the corporate level strategies of United Airline Holdings
Glaxo SmithKline is a British pharmaceutical company based in London. The company was formed by the successive mergers of a number of pharma companies, the most recent being Glaxo Wellcome and SmithKline Beecham. The current company is jointly listed on the London and New York Stock Exchanges under the ticker symbol GSK. External Environment There are several components to the external environment of a business. These include the political/legal/regulatory environment, the economic
Analysis of California Pizza Kitchen Strengths and Weaknesses California Pizza Kitchen has been able to rise above the difficult economic conditions in their largest markets by concentrating on the most strategically important process areas first. At the center of their strengths, the chain has is the ability to support their global brand with a unique, branded dining experience (Fair Disclosure Wire, 2010). Creating the integration between a restaurant's global brand and
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now