Going Global
Going global for an organization is not as easy as it echoes. International marketing is an important factor in helping organizations to become global and becoming globally competitive. According to Cateora, Gilly, and Graham (2013), “international marketing is the performance of business activities designed to plan, price, promote, and direct flow of the companies goods and services to consumers of users in more than one nation for profit” (p. 10). International marketing strategies and its efficiency assists in the expansion of an organization. Moreover, the major goals of a marketing manager are to reduce risk and capitalize on returns in profit. Global expansion has developed a tactical imperative for nearly all large organizations and marketing managers have a great deal on their hands in developing, monitoring and changing these strategies. Harley Davidson has been no stranger when it comes to crossing into international sales.
Global Recession
With the emergence of the subprime meltdown, the United States economy was beginning to spiral into a recession in 2007. A downturn in the U.S. housing market turned into a global financial crisis. The downturn appeared in the middle of 2007 and the effects were felt in September of 2008. As indicated by Sharma (2009), “the months of August and September 2008 will be long remembered as the economic tsunami on Wall Street” (p.171). The mortgage finance industry collapsed and several government backed enterprises were in over their heads with massive amounts of defaulted loans. The subprime mortgage issue turned into an economic nightmare for the entire globe. Many backed mortgages were with overseas investor hoping to capitalize on the fast growing mortgage indu...
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... two wheels: Cars. Bloomberg News. Retrieved from http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-18/harley-davidson-finds-milwaukee-beats-china-as-leisure-motorcycle-market.html
Miller, m. (2013). Harley-Davidson slims down and shapes up for global expansion. Brand Cannel. Retrieved from http://www.brandchannel.com/home/post/2013/11/05/Harley-Davidson-International-110513.aspx
Miller, P. (2012). Harley-Davidson in China. China Business Review. Retrieved from http://www.chinabusinessreview.com/harley-davidson-in-china/
Sharma, S.D. (2009). A political-economy of the U.S. subprime meltdown. Economic Analysis & Policy, 39(2), 171-190. Retrieved from http://www.eap-journal.com/archive/v39_i2_00-sharma.pdf
Winegar, D. (n.d.). Customers and competition. Retrieved from https://stonybrook.digication.com/dillon_raymond_winegar/Customers_and_Competitors_Executive_Summary1
...ties across Europe. The advertising would more than pay for itself by increasing Harley’s sales volume. The new motorcycle developed with the European rider in mind would better compete with the other major producers in Europe.
The Sub-Prime Mortgage Crisis of 2008 has been the largest financial crisis to take place since the end of the Great Depression. It was the actions of individuals and companies that caused this crisis. For although it could have been adverted, too much money was being made by too many people in place of authority to think deeply on the situation. As such, by the time actions were taken to attempt to rectify the situation, it was already too late. Trillions of dollar of tax payers’ money was spent trying to repair the situation that was caused by the breakdown of ethics and accountability in the private sector. And despite the government’s actions to attempt to contain the crisis, hundreds of thousands lives were negatively affected before, during, and after this crisis.
It’s just one year till Harley-Davidson’s 100th Birthday! But what is Harley-Davidson, you may ask? Well I’m here to tell you .Get comfortable we’ve got a lot of ground to cover.
Mortgage crisis can evidently be associated with excessive borrowing from the financial institutions without proper considerations of the terms and conditions of the deal. The prospects that surround business in real estate are always promising and this presumption got into the mind of all stakeholders involved in the subprime mortgage lending business. This is because in 2000, the mortgage rates were low and everybody would afford a mortgage. Unfortunately, the financial models were flawed as the rate was adjustable. After many people were nested in the mortgage bracket, greed propelled the rates to levels subprime cannot afford thus leading to foreclosures. It can be concluded that greed, lack of sufficient knowledge and flawed financial models led to the emergency of subprime mortgage crisis.
In the early 2000’s the housing market boomed, real estate was a hot investment and everyone was looking to buy a home. However not everyone can afford a home and a majority of people were forced to take out a mortgage to purchase real estate. During the housing boom banks were supplying subprime loans and upping the risk in the real estate market. These loans were not only risky but irresponsible on the part of the banks’ lending them, and although individuals receiving the loans thought they were being helped at the time, these loans were a major reason why so many people their homes, almost crippling toe U.S economy as a whole.
The "subprime crises" was one of the most significant financial events since the Great Depression and definitely left a mark upon the country as we remain upon a steady path towards recovering fully. The financial crisis of 2008, became a defining moment within the infrastructure of the US financial system and its need for restructuring. One of the main moments that alerted the global economy of our declining state was the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers on Sunday, September 14, 2008 and after this the economy began spreading as companies and individuals were struggling to find a way around this crisis. (Murphy, 2008) The US banking sector was first hit with a crisis amongst liquidity and declining world stock markets as well. The subprime mortgage crisis was characterized by a decrease within the housing market due to excessive individuals and corporate debt along with risky lending and borrowing practices. Over time, the market apparently began displaying more weaknesses as the global financial system was being affected. With this being said, this brings into question about who is actually to assume blame for this financial fiasco. It is extremely hard to just assign blame to one individual party as there were many different factors at work here. This paper will analyze how the stakeholders created a financial disaster and did nothing to prevent it as the credit rating agencies created an amount of turmoil due to their unethical decisions and costly mistakes.
The subprime mortgage crisis is an ongoing event that is affecting buyers who purchased homes in the early 2000s. The term subprime mortgage refers to the many home loans taken out during a housing bubble occurring on the US coast, from 2000-2005. The home loans were given at a subprime rate, and have now lead to extensive foreclosures on home loans, and people having to leave their homes because they can not afford the payments. (Chote) The cause and effect of this crisis can be broken down into five major reasons.
.... The company has also altered its marketing efforts in a bid to appeal to the young people and women. Previously, the company market initiatives targeted middle-aged men only. The company has also outsourced its manufacturing processes to reduce the cost of production enabling the company to offer its products at better prices. In addition, the company is planning to introduce low cc motorcycles that are relatively cheaper as it endeavors to diversify.
After the first 15 years, Harley-Davidson had established themselves as a fore-runner in the motorcycle market. The other prominent companies were Indian, Thor, and Excelsior. At the beginning of WWI, they were overwhelmed with orders from governments around the globe for bikes for the war effort. This allowed Harley-Davidson to almost triple the size of their manufacturing plant, which is still located in the same place in Milwaukee. These orders brought greater economic prosperity to all the motorcycle companies of the time but especially Harley-Davidson.
Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE: HOG, HDI formerly) is one among the top heavyweight motorcycle manufacturers worldwide. It manufactures heavy motorcycles and is US-based (Milwaukee, Wisconsin to be exact). Harley-Davidson is a parent company of a group of companies – inclusive of the Harley-Davidson Motor Company (HDMC) and Harley-Davidson Financial Services (HDFS). The company makes sales of over 750cc class motorcycles made for cruising on highways; it offers over 30 models of motorcycles for touring alongside custom-made Harleys via a network spread across the world comprising over 1,600 dealers across 6 continents. The company’s motorcycles are uniquely designed – their designs along with exhaust notes are distinct. More so, they are noted for their being heavily customized; the customization brought about the chopper motorcycle style. Harley-Davidson as a brand has been and still does attract a loyal (brand) community, with the Harley-Davidson’s logo licensing accounting for approximately 5% of the net revenue of the company (41 million US Dollars in 2004). Its range of products in the United States is priced between 8,100 and 31,000 US Dollars. Annual sales for 2012 in total were 5.6 billion US Dollars, with net income at 624 million US Dollars, or 11% of the sales. The US is its major market (68% of the sales) with the rest predominantly done across western countries. It is dominant in the US, with a 60% market share. There are limited sales in the developing countries. Worldwide, Harley-Davidson has a market share of 35% for the heavy motorcycles with an engine displacement of over 651 cubic centimeters (cc), whereas BMW, the second largest maker, has a 20% market share, approximately. Besides the design, manufac...
After the buyout by Beals, Harley Davidson improved in terms of its productivity after gaining production lessons from the Japanese firm. Furthermore, the company changed part of its marketing move which helped in the improvement in the overall performance of the company. Most people used the logo of the company’s bikes freely and this resulted in bad image for the company. As part of making up and restoring its image, the company decided to license all its logos and any other items that was relating to the company. This helped the company to obtain new customers a part from its already existing customer base. The demand of the products of the company also increased over time after the licensing of the products and the logo of the company. This meant that the company could not satisfy the demand hence this became a problem of its success. The company had also the potential of expanding in terms of exporting ...
Harley-Davidson, Inc. has a long-standing culture of relationship nurturing with its customers – of association with its customers on personal levels. Owing to this, customers look at Harley-Davidson as not only a company, but as also a family to whom they owe their loyalty. Harley-Davidson is an example of a company which has a loyal (brand) following and its customers aid in future sales via marketing based on the consumer. The company has been doing business since 1903; according to its website, “Four young men experimented with internal combustion in a tiny wooden shed. Not only did the shed not burn, but the motorcycle they built went on to serve over 100,000 miles” (Harley Davidson, n.d., p.1). William S. Harley in 1901 came up with a blueprint of a motor for fitting a bicycle. Arthur Davidson later joined him, and they then built the 1st Harley-Davidson motorcycle.
Harley-Davidson has survived through many decades and is an American business icon. Rivals have often successfully imitated motorcycles , but never duplicating them. It is often seen as those who are experiencing a "mid life crisis", are a part of a motorcycle gang, or an investment bankers that are attracted to these particular motorcycles. It is believed that Harley-Davidson is successfully selling the freedom within the American Dream through their motorcycles.
The recent Global Financial Crisis (GFC) initially began with the collapse of credits and financial markets, which caused by the sub-prime mortgage crisis in the US in 2007. The sub-prime mortgages were given to high-risk lenders (with bad credit history) who were in danger of defaulting, which eventually caused a global credit crunch, where the banks were unwilling to lend to each other. In October 2008, the collapse of the major financial institutions and the crash of stock markets marked the peak of this global economic slowdown (Euromonitor International, 2008).
In week five we learn about the importance of globalization and how it can help your company’s profits grow. There are many things to look at when selling globally as different cultures need to be looked at differently when making a marketing strategy. If you understand how to market your products to different cultures in different countries you can take advantage of the profits that can be made through globalization.