Alternative Approaches to Meeting Peugeot Objectives
Are Peugeot using the best methods for the line of work they are
involved in? Is there a way of improving their efficiency, quality and
productivity? We should be able to tell if there is by looking at the
theory known as benchmarking.
Benchmarking can be defined as imitating the standards of an
established leader in quality and attempting to be better them.
Benchmarking is a technique used by some businesses to help them
discover the 'best' methods of production available and then adopt
them. Benchmarking involves: -
ü Finding out what makes the difference, in the customer's eyes,
between an ordinary supplier and an excellent supplier.
ü Setting standards for business operations based on the best practice
that can be found.
ü Finding out how these best companies meeting those standards.
ü Applying both competitors' standards and, if possible, exceed them.
What should be benchmarked?
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Who should the company benchmark against?
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How is the information obtained?
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How should the information be analysed?
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How should the information be used?
These are the five main steps in Benchmarking. The first step is to
identify exactly what the company intends to benchmark. Benchmarks
that are important for customer satisfaction might include consistency
of product, correct invoices, shorter delivery times, shorter lead
times and improved after sales service.
Peugeot could decide to benchmark better sales figures. What better
company to benchmark against than 'Ford', the leading company in
market penetration. If Peugeot were to i...
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...ompanies meet those
standards. Then Peugeot could apply both standards and their own to
meet the new standard and possibly exceed that excellent customer
service standard.
Due to Peugeot previous innovations, they were very successful in
winning awards for the company, such as the 'car of the year' award;
the 206 won the 'best used car' award. Also Peugeot were able to
produce a world record, producing half a million 206s in three years.
As we can see from Peugeot's previous success they are very innovative
and progressive in the car industry. Using every new technological
advantage possible to create that competitive advantage over their
rivals. And with policies like "eight airbags as standard" Peugeot are
a tough act to follow. Especially with such high regards to recycling
and safety to the environment.
Benchmarking should not be considered simply a tool of management, but rather an integral part of the business strategy of a firm. When implementing benchmarking, management must consider the overall issues of performance and process re-engineering.
In order for a company to push its improvement and create a balanced plant, it is necessary to increase the throughput, while reducing inventory an operating expense. But, what is most important is to identify the bottlenecks to be able to focus on them. After focusing and solving the constraints, everything else is going to be less powerful but important at the same time.
The world of technology is ever changing and advancing. With the automotive industry in play technology is constantly surpassing what is available today with what can be done for tomorrow. Technology and the automotive industry go hand in hand with constant improvement to components of cars. Due to technology advancement there is competition within the car industry, especially between American car companies and European car companies. European car companies provide their buyers with innovative variety and revolutionary luxuries. European car technology is superior to American car technology due to their safety, entertainment, and luxury features.
It is a step of defining the goals of the projects and the results are aimed at reaching certain levels of productivity of customer satisfaction. The second stage is measure, and it is the stage of collecting data and facts and evaluating current operational performance. The third stage is analyze with the purpose of developing methods and theories that will best suit the solving of the problem; it is also a stage of detecting cause-and-effect ties of the processes. The fourth stage is improve, it is aimed at generating ideas for reaching the desired process improvement. Finally, there is the control stage that is about monitoring the operations to find out whether the process of improvement is smooth and the problems were solved (Meredith & Shafer,
A good specific indicator can the companies use to measure progress and performance is by having a list of questions to be answered from both companies and see how satisfied are they.
Audi, one of Germany’s first automobile producers, has been designing and building cars since August Horch, its founder, completed his first car in 1901. Over the years following, a series of innovations and mergers have led Audi to the position it is in today. Audi’s subsidiaries include companies to facilitate international operations, part manufacturers, a vehicle customization company, a technology research company, and Lamborghini Corp, a successful sports car manufacturer. Audi’s current developments include its holding the EU Seal of Environmental Protection, and a number of technological advancements, including new car designs and a “seeing car” technology that has been nominated for the German Future award for Technology and Innovation.
So the discussion on internal and external analysis clearly defines that where the competitive advantage of Ford Motors is and where it is lacking. People who have durability as their first priority will go for Ford but they lack in some of their strategies which the management should consider and work on it. We also came to know that Ford is an innovative company from the very first and also serves local demands with the help of related and supporting industry. But in some points they have taken wrong decisions which compel them to sell some of their brands to others. The good news is they are doing hard job to maintain their performance regarding their star and cash cow products to remain in the competition.
Another strategy used by BMW to differentiate itself from other automakers in the market is the proactive usage of technology and innovativeness in the development of products. From the early 1990’s, BMW has been on the forefront of incorporating technology in its designs in line with the technological advances of the modern world. This has led to the creation of inventive products. The uniqueness of these auto products put BMW in a position of advantage. The development of the hydrogen car as early as 2000 was an indicator of the company’s innovative strategy. In addition, the company also presents itself as environment friendly creating a whole range of vehicles in this category. This is a differentiation strategy meant to boost the company’s image and reputation amongst customers. In addition, this gives the environment conscious customers a variety of products to choose from giving BMW an upper hand in the industry.
As a result of the increased demand of cars, the competition among car companies is becoming intense. Although the market of car is the biggest growing market in the world, there are still some companies who make cars failing year after year. However, there are some outstanding car companies such as The BMW Group performing distinctly.
America is a country run by big business, from the clothing we wear to the pens we use. You can no longer live a comfortable life and not support a big business or two. But with so many companies out there, its impossible to know if the company you are buying from is a good company to support. A company like Vans though is a company that can be trusted. Vans are an American founded company that believes strongly in giving back to customers and the community.
BMW having high market share in European and U.S luxury car markets, started facing issues with launch product qualities and also facing a fierce competition from Japanese producers. Currently the market share was still stable but the rigorous growth of Japanese producers would affect BMW in future. These Japanese competitors had set higher standards of conformance.
The three alternative strategies are: cooperative strategy: strategy alliance (focus on joint venture), international strategy: transnational strategy, and differentiation strategy: integration cost leadership and differentiation strategy. After we have finished on doing those three alternative strategies’ evaluation and selection, we agreed on using the differentiation strategy: integrated cost leadership and differentiation strategy (hybrid strategy) as the strategic alternative for Harley Davidson. In the next couple paragraphs we are going to discuss in detail how to implement the integrated cost leadership and differentiation strategy and action planning for Harley Davidson. The integrated cost leadership strategy and differentiation strategy is the business level strategy that most of managerial people consider as the hybrid strategy (www.ccsenet.org). The hybrid strategy has become the most important and successful strategy that attracted many organizations to choose and implement this particular strategy. As global competition keeps on increases, it is crucial for each organization starts to think about building its own economic of scale, lower production costs while developing on its innovative products or services for
"An article by Beecroft (1999) entitled "The role of quality in strategic management" discusses the significance of quality considerations in the development of effective strategic plan. One primary concern the author saw was the relationship between quality, short and long-term objectives, and bottom line profits. According to the author, "Conformance to design and customer requirements translates to quality, therefore higher conformance is higher quality. Higher quality results in lower costs and increases competitiveness, leading to an increase in sales and market share, more jobs and improved profitability" (p.
Porsche came out with the models of 914 and 944 because they take the consumers with lower income into account during the recession of 1970s. They redesign, reposition and reprice the vehicles so that it is allow the consumers to purchase the product for the purpose of social class, family needs or status. With this, Porsche still able to create loyal customers even if the economic situation did affected their business when they have considered their customers’ personal income, savings and interest
BMW- differentiation strategy, high price, breadth of product line is moderate, known for their cars being in the shop constantly and high maintenance bills.