Company Overview
Dell is among the world's leading computer manufacturers that has transformed and diversified into variety of business segments over the years. Products range from Dell PowerEdge servers, Power Vault, Dell EMC storage systems as well as PowerConnect switches for corporate clients. For individuals and professional customers products range from Dell Precision workstations, OptiPlex desktops, Dimension desktops, Inspiron and Latitude notebooks. Apart from these core products, the company also offer products and services range including printers, projectors, Axim handhelds, and other accessories. More recently, the company has announced intentions to explore LCD television/computer monitors as well as digital music players (Annual Report 2004).
Spanning over 20 years, the company has always been associated with designing, manufacturing and customizing products and services to satisfy a diversified range of customers including individual customers to corporate and retailing businesses. The company's philosophy to deal with customers one-on-one has become a management model for other companies. Having gained the market leadership position in computer products and services, Dell's team have always been careful in sustaining its marketing strategy of providing standard-based computing solutions (Official Website 2004).
Today Dell is the third largest computer manufacturer in the world. On January 2004 Dell reports net revenue approximately $41,444 millions and 46000 employees (Annual report 2004).
Marketing Environment
Dell's strategy is global. It realizes that being closer to the customers is essential in carrying out its marketing strategies as well as in enabling it to build customer base. First by establishi...
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...ds IT products and services create a difficult need/requirement profile that would be challenging for Dell. As more and more consumers in developing regions like China, Brazil, France, and India grow to appreciate computerized environment, they also have complex needs. This way Dell would have a difficult time to incorporate a pervasive marketing strategy. Instead, it should maintain differential but integrative marketing strategy so that the company has a niche in each of the markets in which it manufactures products.
Furthermore, Dell has also to keep in mind that some of its marketing campaigns would be difficult to carry out due to government regulations and local industry close economy. For this reason, Dell need to re-evaluate its strategic locations that has these limitations by shifting to regions with more liberal trade policies (Kraemer and Dedrick 2004).
Michael Dell is the founder and CEO of Dell Computers Inc. one of the largest sellers of personal computers in the world. His contribution to the computer industry is the “one-to-one relationship between the company and the customer— there are no intermediaries, no middlemen” (Krames, 2003, p.59). Not only did he relinquish the middleman, he also perfected combination of the bottoms up strategy and the just-in-time (JIT) by waiting till he received orders from the customer to build computers. In doing this, Dell increased its return on investment (ROI) while reducing its inventory overhead cost.
Success started at a young age for Michael Dell, he was only 12 years old when his first product catalog called “Dell’s Stamps” advertised in the local trade journal. He learned early in life to develop a direct relationship with the customer which later would provide the key to his success (Krames, p. 58). Andy Grove had teamed up with Bob Noyce, and Gordon Moore in 1968 after discovering they could create chips with massive memory. Grove used a metaphor to describe his foundation of success – a three-legged stool; execution and strategy (Krames, p. 137). When one leg is off, it throws off the whole system. Dell’s major accomplishment came when he planned and sold personal computers out of his dormitory room which lead to the creation of Dell Computers Corporation. At the age of 27, Dell was the Top CEO of a Fortune 500 company. He had clear ideas about how-to-do business.
Dell’s main strength lies in their perfection of the Direct Model, which boasts a production process that lasts only a day and a half so the company is able to serve customers quickly and has the capacity to withstand very large orders. Dell built held no finished goods inventory on hand, which helps to reduce idle assets and risk. The company maintained excellent relations and communication with suppliers who were able to adhere to Dell’s just-in-time inventory management and allowed suppliers to send shipments direct to customers, reducing inefficiency. Dell encouraged suppliers to locate their facilities in close proximity to assembly operations. Additionally, Dell had very high customer service and support satisfaction and maintained some of the best performance metrics in the industry. Finally, their main source of revenue came from businesses and large government institutions and no single customer represented more than 2% of their sales, which lowers their risk of buyer power.
Dell inc. is mostly known for personal computers, storage devices and computer peripherals. The company is highly innovative and has been known for its excellent direct-sales and build-to-order model that have contributed highly to the growth and profitability of the company. Dell is known for best organizational practices and organizational culture. It promotes a positive culture that encourages team spirit and good relationship between all the stakeholders. Technology industry or sector is among the toughest industries which demand much effort, innovation and effective marketing and promotional strategy in order to compete favorably.
Dell Computer Company is known for its meteoric rise to industry dominance based on founder Michael Dell’s ability to transition a part-time business of building and upgrading personal computers into a multi-billion dollar enterprise (O’Rourke, 2010). Dell’s business model was producing low cost, high quality PC’s that were built-to-order called “Dell Direct”. The strategy of shipping direct to customers eliminated the need for middlemen and gave Dell a competitive advantage (O’Rourke, 2010). Company growth surged in the 1990’s with over 38,000 employees and a global platform. Dell and Chief Operating Officer, Kevin Rollins, created a fast-past, win-at-all-cost, highly competitive organizational culture whereby compensation and promotions were based on exceptional performance (O’Rourke, 2010). Finally, in 2000, Elizabeth Allen joined the company as vice president of corporate communications.
Michael Dell has had such an effect on the lives of many all around the world. The people are completely oblivious to where we would be in the technology world if it were not for Michael Dell. From his first job washing dishes at the age of twelve, to being a billionaire by the age of 35, Dell has been a hard worker all through his life. Dell can be called many things: business leader, entrepreneur, innovator, contributor, and let’s not forget… hero.
Headquartered in Austin, Texas, Dell is the number 1 PC Company in the world in terms of total sales. In addition to offering a full line of desktops and notebooks designed for consumers, Dell offers network servers, workstations and storage systems. The company also sells handheld computers and it markets third-party software and peripherals. Dell’s growing services unit provides systems integration, support and training.
Dell researched the cost of using this type of circulation methods as a fragment of its ABC system and determined direct sales is much more profitable. Today, Dell only uses direct sales. Launched in 1990s, Dell 's e-commerce business became the advertisement of how a company can reap the benefits from online sales. The original business to make a million dollars in online sales in 1997. Having direct contact with their customers is Dell’s competitive advantage. Dell.com gives potential buyers choices and control by allowing to customers to choose computer speed and the size of their hard drives based on how much they are willing to pay. Dell knows exactly what their customers are ordering and are able to get immediate feedback on how they are doing. As I mentioned earlier, Dell’s strategy was to eliminate the middleman by selling PC’s over the Internet, called the Direct Model. Dell became very efficient in build-to-order manufacturing and continued to target specific demographics. Dell enjoyed success until 1992, their troubles, Dell promptly uncovered, came in part from its efforts to sell its products through Staples, Sam 's Clubs and kiosks. While some pundits were questioning Dell 's future, the company acted authoritatively, exiting the retail channel and resolving to re-enter the laptop market only when that product 's quality matched or exceeded the quality of the Dell desktop. By 1997, the Latitude, Dell 's laptop, had won PC Computing Magazine’s Torture Test twice in three years in addition to winning Business Week 's Industrial Design Excellence Award (Rengan &
Customization -- Every Dell system is built to order. Customers get exactly what they want. Reliability, Service and Support -- Dell uses knowledge gained from direct customer contact before and after the sale to provide award-winning reliability and tailored customer service. Latest Technology -- Dell introduces the latest relevant technology much more quickly than companies with slow-moving indirect distribution channels. Dell turns over inventory every six days on average, keeping related costs low. Superior Shareholder Value -- During the last four quarters, the value of Dell common stock nearly doubled. From 1996 through 1998, Dell was the top-performing stock among the Standard & Poor's 500. Internet Leadership Sales via Dell's Web site surpassed $18 million per day during early 1999, accounting for 30 percent of overall revenue. The company's application of the Internet to other parts of the business --including procurement, customer support and relationship management -- is approaching the same 30-percent rate.
Dell is one of the renowned companies in the world. If someone is asked to name the companies, which sell computers, he/she will definitely include the name of Dell (Martin 2002). In fact, it is widely accepted brand in the world. However, with the arrival of rival companies, post 2007, for Dell, it was testing to stay alive in the race in the computer industry. Dell in effect is acknowledged by some experts as one of the vulnerable brands. Hence, it would be preemptive for the corporation to continue to exist in the contest, where big companies, such as Apple and Acer have dominated the market by this
Global companies play an important role in the business environment, because they connect their business together around the world. A good example of a global company is Dell Inc., an American computer-hardware company, headquartered in Austin Texas, which develops, manufactures, sells and supports a wide range of personal computers, servers, data storage devices, network switches, personal digital assistants (PDAs), software, computer peripherals, and more. They design, build and customize products and services to satisfy a range of customer requirements: from the server, storage and Premier Services needs of the largest global corporations, to those of consumers at home. According to the Fortune 500 2006 list, Dell ranks as the 25th-largest company in the United States by revenue.
How and why did the personal computer industry come to have such a low profitability?
Shah A, 2007, 'HP tops Dell as world's largest PC supplier', Infoworld, October 17, 2007, , accessed 31 Aug 2008.
In 1984, Michael Dell invested $1,000 in start-up capital to register his business as Dell Computer Corporation, which was known as PC's Limited. The company becomes the first in the industry to sell directly to end-users by passing the dominant system of using computers resellers to sell mass-produced computers. Dell Computer also pioneers the industry first thirty-day money back guarantee. It became the cornerstone of Dell's commitment to expand its service offerings, superior customer satisfaction, and the industries first on site service program. It also established its first international subsidiary in the United Kingdom, and raised $30 million in its initial public offering.
Dell’s initial competitive strategy, when it was founded in 1984 by Michael Dell, was to focus mainly on differentiation. Its strategy was to sell customised personal computer systems directly to customers, which was a rapidly emerging market at that time (1). This was done by targeting second-time customers, those that already understand computers and know what they wanted. Meanwhile other companies at the time was selling “’plain brown wrapper’ computers” (2). By offering customisations, Dell gained a better understanding of customers’ needs and wants. This helped the organisation position itself differently against the more popular brands, such as Compaq and IBM.