Business areas and organizational domains

Marketing Section a. Lincoln Electric evolved to become a premier manufacturer because of its overall philosophy of innovation, thinking outside of the box and embracing the art of possibility. The company stuck to the simplicity of its product. Lincoln went on the concept that a superior product will speak for itself. Still the company was not afraid to take risks in how it ran its company. A company's image and public perception in the market begins with its core values. Lincoln's core value began with customer and employee satisfaction. If these two groups' needs were met, then the company would profit. This is a simple concept really when thinking about marketing. If a company keeps its people happy, they will work harder to make a high-quality product and then the customer will continue to buy year after year. Respect is the key to both customer and employee retention. In this respect, the company had a relative advantage over the competition because it set a standard for doing business not only for their field but also for all businesses. Lincoln did not structure its organization at least not formally and this kept the employees in the loop of communication. The company uses the same method in which to market its product. Use of clear communication allows the company to display its integrity or stand behind the quality of its product as they telling the truth through and through.

Growth areas to consider for the company as it enters a global arena where communication and technology are at the speed of light. It is a good idea to invest the time and money in web site that is user friendly and had individual storefront type pages to allow the customer to access their own personal sales person. This will bring the customer closer to the sales force and offer the customer knowledge on the product before ordering. Customer education is key when marketing a product; an informed customer is better than one who is not because then their level of satisfaction is higher. It starts with customer care, going the extra mile brings people back over and over. Some people prefer doing everything online and this web site would fulfill this segment of the population and also reach more people globally. The exposure would be amazing and allow for further globalization and profits but also allows the company to continue growing and establishing the brand in unchartered areas. Exposure is key to marketing a product but presentation of the product. By focusing on a global market also allows the company to continue adding to its family of companies as their name becomes well respected on the international scale. More companies will want to do business with them and this can lead to product diversification. In this day and age, product diversification is very important to remain competitive as it leads to creation of innovative ideas. It keeps the company on the cutting edge, therefore, making it more desirable to customers, employees and stockholders.

2. a. (I did not see anything on new product development process).

If the firm decides to expand, rank in order the following product strategies from most likely to succeed to least likely to succeed: market development, product development, market penetration, product diversification and explain the rankings. Most likely to succeed would be market development with a close second being product diversification because these two feed off each other in the marketplace. By developing a market, a product is introduced but also the demographic is studied closely and a company learns what products would better serve that demographic. As a result, product diversification is born. The object of the game really is to continue keeping the customer happy. A company should not branch out into a market it does not understand or they will fail. Product diversification is a must for success because it allows risk to be reduced. By reducing risk, a company can focus on penetrating the market and preserve its image as being confident.

Therefore, product development is important but is less likely to succeed as a marketing ploy because the first two concepts are absolutely needed when expanding to a new market. Still without the product, there would not be a market to penetrate so these areas are equally important to the progress of the company. Development of products keeps the company on the cutting edge of technology and also allows the company to present an image of being innovative and flexible to change. Product development goes hand and hand with product diversification because by having the idea to start new product lines, one is already thinking of diversification into other product lines. Variety is the spice of life and it can be agreed, if a customer has more to choose from, their satisfaction levels go up. This reflects in profits as the more products available the more of a chance someone will buy them.

3. a. Lincoln Electric's market segmentation appears to be "unidimensional" which means the company is focusing one segment of the market using only a determined set of variables to pinpoint the demographic. This is very simplistic approach to segmentation and understanding the market. This segment is would the welding industry. It is only with a multidimensional segmentation approach that a company will be able to study multiple sets of variables to understand the market better. This allows for more detailed information about the demographic to be revealed to the company. This is the better method because of the information it provides to the company. It enables the company to make a better decision of whether to enter a market based on the details.

b. Segmentational variables would depend on the area of expertise. For example, managers of the product development function may want to have the market segmented on perceived values and benefits being sought. Conversely, the folks in marketing communications may want to see the market segmented into groups of buyers who have similar needs, desires or psychographic profiles. And, sales managers would like to see the market segmented on sales potential or profitability.

A segmentation scheme based on multiple bases, using separate segmentation schemes for each dimension is often more useful and more flexible for planning marketing strategy and for executing marketing tactics. Thus, one may consider several different segmentations on a sample of buyers using different bases, say, stated needs, benefits, and amount spent in the category.

In the past, such segmentation schemes were confusing and produced far too many segments for marketing managers to address effectively. Yet, as we approach the era of micro-niche marketing and as we leverage the emerging tools of direct marketing, market planners need to seriously consider market segmentation schemes that support far finer targeting efforts.

Strategy Section

Lincoln's attitude towards its different stakeholders as described in the case study and reflected in the recent mission statement is unusual and innovative for a company. It puts its stockholders last because they have minimal involvement with the running of the company and are only seen as people putting their money somewhere other than the bank. This approach has changed how modern business values its stock and the other elements that make the business strategy successful. Lincoln has put its customers and employees first as owners of the company. The organization has realized that customers and employees are the lifeblood and raison d'etre of the company. Without the customer and the employee there would be no product or company. It is clear the company strives to be the very best in its field. This evident in the powerful verbs and descriptive words used its mission statement. It conveys a serious attitude of their business process. It also reflects a positive image for the public to see and this inspired people on many levels. There is a tone of pride in the mission statement that is infectious. This serves to inspire employees to work harder and meet goals. The mission statement does not reflect any change in the company's approach to its stakeholders even though it focuses on the company's global presence and recent acquisitions. Under principles section, the mission statement outlines how it will better its employees and that the employees are of utmost value. Only this emphasis can explain why under stakeholders' section that shareholder is listed before employees. It is not that they are more important; the mission statement is just calling attention to them, as they have not been discussed prior.