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philips vs. matsushita
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Philips versus Matsushita Case Synopsis Two major competitors in the global consumer electronics industry, Philips of the Netherlands and Matsushita of Japan, both have extensive histories that can be traced back more than a century. They have each followed different strategies and have had significant capabilities and downfalls along the way. In general, Philips built its tenured success on a portfolio of responsive national organizations. On the other hand, Matsushita based its global strategy on a centralized and efficient operation through Japan. As they developed and reorganized their international strategies, each company was forced to undertake its strategic posture and restructuring as its competition position fell. During the 1990s, each company experienced specific difficulties to their market share. Both companies struggled to reestablish themselves in the global consumer electronics world. As the year 2000 came around, new CEOs at both companies came up with even more complicated initiatives and reorganizations. Outsiders wondered how each company’s internal changes would affect their endless competitive battle in the industry. The case illustrates how global competitiveness depends on the organizational capability, the difficulty of overcoming deeply rooted administrative heritage, and the limitations of both classic multinational and global models. Study Questions 1. How did Philips become the most successful company in its business during an era when scores of electrical engineering companies were being formed? What impediments and disabilities did Philips' strategic and organizational capabilities bring with them? Philips made a strong push to developing new technologies starting in the 1950s and 1960s. Upon doing so, the company also wanted to translate these technologies into products while adapting, producing, and selling these products within individual national markets. During this time period, most of the companies in the electrical products market were bring formed and racing to diversify. However, Philips decided to stick with what they knew best. They made only light-bulbs. In doing so, their strong focus enabled the company to create significant innovations. Continuing on, Philips also became a leader in industrial research by creating physics and chemistry labs to address both production and scientific problems. The labs developed a tungsten metal filament bulb that brought great commercial success. Philips simple structure and significant innovations gave them the financial support they needed to compete in a time period where competitors were seeking major growth.
The strength of Northwest and Americans’ global culture can be compared by evaluating how well they “facilitate performance”(2,546). Both of the corporation’s employees, it may be argued, have the common goal of wanting their company to expand and continue to grow in the global market. It could also be argued that the companies differ, in significant ways, when it comes to the motivating effect this common goal has. Northwest seems to be better motivated in obtaining this goal. Examples of this motivated corporate culture are illustrated by the fact that they were “pioneers in global alliances”(3) and in the fact that they have committed major investments, in the form of hub cities, in both Tokyo and Amsterdam. American, on the other hand, does not seem to be as motivated by the goal of expansion in the global market. Although they have alliances with several international carriers, the number of alliances is not as large as Northwest’s. The recent acquisition of TWA, by American (4), may help to expand their global culture, due to the greater foothold this acquired asset has in the global market. In addition the financial investment that Northwest has shown in the global market is lacking in American. The only hub, questionably, outside of the U.S. is in San Juan, Puerto Rico (4). American seems to concentrate its strength inside the U.S., which may have a stifling effect on globaliza...
Becoming more global was also one of Immelt’s strategic focuses. To achieve that, GE gave priority to long-term investment that required new resources. Lastly, as GE wanted to become more socially and environmentally responsible, they needed more capital and resources. As GE could be...
Q1. How did the competitive environment change for John Deere Company between the 1970 and 1980?
Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands began as a small light-bulb factory in Holland, and by the turn of the century, was one of the largest producers in Europe. One-product focus made Philips a leader in industrial research which stimulated product innovation. Consequently, product line was broadened significantly and the flow of exciting new products and ideas continued through the years. Limited domestic market soon forced Philips to grow internationally. The foundations for what was to become one of the world's biggest electronics companies were laid.
Philips’ success during the post-war era is mainly attributed to the NO’s autonomy, the culture, and the corporate accommodation. NOs had an autonomous capability to develop product specific to the local demand. Because Philips employed a worldwide geographic structure, each NO unit acted as an independent company. Because of its autonomy, NOs had the majority control over the product development, the sales, and the operating budget. This enabled NOs to respond quickly to meet the specific changes in local demands and to develop their own products.
1) How would you describe the key characteristics of Electrolux and Zanussi in 1983, in terms of strategy, organization, capabilities, and performance?
In order for Matsushita to succeed in displacing Philips in the consumer electronics company, the company also had to engage in becoming a multinational enterprise, and this was achieved in 1960 when Matsushita “opened their first overseas brand in America,” (Bartlett, 2009). This coincided with the birth and rise of the VCR which Matsushita began producing in plants, and as other companies, including Philips outsourced to them, which in turn, boosted their popularity. Strategies that Matsushita executed to differentiate themselves from their competition included a broad product portfolio, a centralised structure, and human resource management.
...&D capability was not supported by their ability to efficiently produce and market the innovation. Since the R&D is separated from production and sales, it was not market-oriented enough. The limitation of sharing local market knowledge also leads Philips to its inability sell the excellent innovation that R&D has developed. Seeing this as opportunity, Japanese companies able to combine Philips invention with their mass-market production ability and successfully became the leader in the market.
- Volberda, H. Morgan, R. Et al. 2011, “Strategic Management: Competitiveness and Globalization”, Cengage Learning EMEA ,Pg 244-258
Firstly, while Philips autonomous subsidiaries lowered their speed of reaction, the Matsushita ability to adopt the innovation supported by its centralised structure was providing significant productivity. As argued by Daft (2009), during the internationalisation companies usually still want to achieve ”common organizational goals”. However, it is difficult for them to choose between focusing on global standardisation or national responsiveness. Philips structure was geographic/product matrix with emphasis on the national responsiveness while Matsushita adapt the product matrix structure with power delegation to the subsidiaries. As illustrated in F During the period where forces for global integration are high and national responsiveness is low, Matsushita structure and mass production capabilities provides them advantages in delivering standardised low price product during that period.
Stringer aimed to unite cutting-edge technology with entertainment content while reviving Sony’s electronic business. To combat the price drops of rivals Stringer streamlined Sony, unveiling a sweeping restructuring plan that cut 10,000 jobs, shed a number of unprofitable divisions and products and attempted to centralize decision-making (Palmer, 2006).
In recent decades, the process of globalization has accelerated and the world economy has become increasingly interdependent. The rise in the number of businesses that extensively operate in more than one foreign country, which is known as multinational corporations, plays an important role in the ongoing procedure of globalization. The United Nations has reported that multinational corporations hold one-third of world’s productive assets and control 70 percent of world trade (Schermerhorn et al., 2014). As there is a considerable growth in international businesses, worldwide economy is becoming more highly competitive. The global economy not only offers great opportunities for multinational enterprises but also on the other hand, creates many difficulties for them. Therefore, success in the large-scale economy requires a number of elements. One of the major determinants is dependent on global managers. In the operation of organizations, managers may encounter different international management challenges that restrict their business development. These challenges often include issues associated with the host countries, the global workforce diversity management, management across cultures, difficulties in competitive global business environment as well as in the process of global planning and controlling. This essay is going to discuss the above international management challenges in a broad sense and giving illustration in aspects of each challenge.
...e in which larger companies joined together in order to be able to introduce a new technology into society after the failure of the gas refrigerator, this case highlights the difficulty of introducing a new technology to society, something that still exists in contemporary societies (Schwartz Cowan, 1985, p.212). “If for no other reason, it is important for us to achieve a clearer view of these matters then has been our habit so far” (Winner, 1986, p.39).
In Japan, there are more makers of civilian industrial products than there are anywhere int his world. Hence, the competition in domestic is fierce and makes consumer the king. Akio points out that due to the competition in local markets, these companies develop the ability to compete in international markets. These companies engage in all kinds of electronics, automobiles, cameras, home appliances and the
Currently in the global environment, there is a strong sense of competition that must be achieved through better performance, almost all firms are competing in international markets due to the reduction in barriers for capital and tariffs. With the new changes in both communication and technology, the consequences faced are that production processes are no longer within national boundaries but spread across (Debrah & Smith, 2002).