Toshiba Overview and Global Presence - Research Paper Example

Toshiba Overview and Global Presence Toshiba Corporation was founded in 1985, and its headquarters is in Tokyo Japan. Theproducts for the company include computers and their accessories, consumer electronics and home appliances. Toshiba American foundation, recycling and trade in programs together with other environmental initiatives are the list of social responsibilities that the company undertakes (Derdak 102). The company has a total of 210, 0000 employees and has branches in North and South America, Africa, and other states such as Middle-East (“Toshiba”). This gives the company a global feel and as a result a competitive edge for its products. Toshiba is also listed in the stock exchange markets in London. The number of shareholders is approximately 457,467 holding a total of 423,760,000 shares (“Toshiba”). With an asset base of 69,893 million US dollars the company is led by Norio Sasaki together with the other company’s executives and together they have steered the company to success. With the wide range of products and outlets the company has established itself as one of the leading companies in the electronic business providing a wide variety of products. The global presence is an advantage that the competitors have been unable to penetrate successfully. A. Marketing Mix a) Product The company’s products and services are classified under three categories: computers and accessories, home appliances and consumer electronics. The company has a wide variety of innovative laptops, televisions, projectors, laptop accessories and external hard drives. Business products include copiers, printers, scanners, semi-conductors, hard disk drives, surveillance equipment among others. Industrial products include automation systems, UPS, power systems, LED Display systems and industrial video products. Looking at the wide variety of products each targets a different niche of customers. The products are displayed in variety of showrooms in the various branches. The array of products is geared towards establishment and maintenance of a competitive edge against the competitors. Their worldwide presence together with the wide range of advertisements is going a long way in ensuring the company holds footage of its customers (Perreault, William and McCarthy 45). The company comes up with new products that provide a wide range of solutions to businesses, industries and individuals as well. The company takes advantage of internet connectivity to conduct E-Commerce where they have come up with their own website. The website has comprehensive details about the company ranging from its products, sales, and policies in short anything you would want to know about a company. i. Cultural Factors Toshiba prides itself in having a strong safety and corporate culture which has been adhered to throughout the business operations. The company provides a plat form of sharing important information and the employees are aware of acceptable code of behavior. The company adopts the culture of employing people who are knowledgeable on current information about technical issues (Whittaker 15). In addition these people are also aware of the environmental issues which enable the company develop safe products. Their culture is flexible to suit the ever changing market conditions, with safety attitude being the most important. When taking risks the company’s employees are advised to follow strict guidelines when making risk decisions that affect products safety (Cutts 35). The success of the company has been largely attributed to safety decisions and products. ii. Customization vs. Standardization The choice of customization or standardization depends largely on the product. Toshiba has adopted a method where the customer specifies the features they want in a laptop. The customer will log into their website and choose want they want from wide variety of choices which include internal memory, size of the screen, and speed of the processor at an affordable price. They have also developed a list of software’s and hardware applications to help the customer get what he or she wants. The company has not faced out standardized products and you will find some products which are already built and these are available in the different outlets (Subramaniam and Hewett 40). Services such as warranty, user interface have been already designed. b) Pricing The company’s products are updated regularly with the latest technological advancement at friendly prices depending on the products (Kerin, Hartley, and Rudelius 65). Comparing the product prices with other players in the electronics industry such as Samsung and Sony the company’s products are relatively cheaper. The Company has recently launched an environmental cost approach where the company seeks to develop products that will be environmental friendly; this approach looks at the economic benefits realized as a result of reduced emissions. The company’s products are designed to increase consumer benefits with appliances having reduced power consumption. c) Promotional Strategy The company incorporates an integrated marketing strategy for its products; this has managed to achieve the company’s digital presence in the social channels available in its markets. Marketing moves such as the National No Print day will popularize its business solutions products (Johnson and Turner 15). The campaign is geared towards educating people on the use of printing products in our planet and impacts on the environment. The strategy is interesting since to some extent it does not encourage the consumer to buy the products. Though controversial the marketing strategy for the company has managed to keep the business afloat for years. The international presence and the official website are some of the avenues the company has used. Toshiba also uses it pop up advertisements to advertise its wide range of products. The different retailers for its products are also responsible for marketing and advertising its products. d) Approach to distribution The company’s worldwide presence as mentioned above is base to the company’s distribution outlets. The sales and distribution depends on Oracle E-Business Suite 11 it involves integration of the processes which include receivables, purchasing, order management and cost management (Roger, Hartley, and Rudelius 40). The system has been rolled out successfully in Europe and the subsidiary companies. Benefits such as restocking the subsidiaries and it have also standardized the businesses in the subsidiaries. Oracle E-business helps monitor the business schedules, handles a change in the management systems and set realistic expectations for all the stakeholders. Opinion on Brand Management and Global Marketing A company’s brand plays a major role in establishing a consistent market which is the most important thing for a business. A strong brand reflects the culture of the business and customers will associate themselves with the culture and this in turn generates customer loyalty when purchasing the company’s products (Whitelaw 55). A brand will act as a shortcut for the customers and they will decide to buy the product because of the emotional appeal. Another aspect that makes branding a self selling point of the company it is the fact that the brands are borderless thus it does not limit the number of people that it reaches. This makes the customer base bigger and this will reflect in the sales. A brand will sell a business in ways that marketing and advertising cannot achieve. A brand commands a price premium, through differentiating the product and people will buy the product just to appear cool and belong to the class. A brand will make growth easier when penetrating in new markets, there will be results if the company has established a brand already (Fruin 280). Recommendation The company needs to establish itself well enough; currently the brand has not rooted itself in the different countries. Clearly you cannot compare Toshiba’s brand with that of Apple. Another reason for its failure in branding is the wide range of its products; diversification is a great way of expending and ensuring the company has a good profit base but on the other hand markets that have specialized and branded themselves the brand effect is more successful. This does not mean that the company is not successful it only means there is need to do more than is currently being done. The overall performance is good but there is need to improve on its branding. Conclusion The establishment of a company requires effort and finances and Toshiba has emerged as a successful business venture. The range of products the company offers serves the clientele and it has provided jobs. Profit making is one of the company’s objectives and this is the primary objective, giving back to the society or rather the social responsibility is an important aspect that will enable the company become acceptable to the general public. Toshiba has proved to be an environment minded company producing environmental friendly products. Overall company’s performance is a great and it will improve in the coming years. Works Cited "Toshiba." Toshiba : Global Top Page. Web. 18 Apr. 2013. . Derdak, Thomas. International directory of company histories. Chicago: St. James press, 2007. Print. Fruin, Mark. Knowledge works managing intellectual capital at Toshiba. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997. Print. Johnson, Debra, and Colin Turner. International Business: Themes and Issues in the Modern Global Economy. London: Routledge, 2003. Print Kerin, Roger A., Steven William Hartley, and William Rudelius. Marketing. 9th ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill/Irwin, 2009. Print. Perreault, William David, and McCarthy Jack. Basic Marketing: A Global-Managerial Approach. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2002. Print. Subramaniam, Mohan, and Kelly Hewett. "Balancing Standardization and Adaptation for Product Performance in International Markets: Journal of Management International Review. (2004). 35-55. Cutts Robert. Toshiba: Defining a New Tomorrow. New York: Penguin Group. 2004. Print Whitelaw, Ken. Environmental systems handbook. 2nd ed. Amsterdam: Elsevier/Butterworth Heinemann, 2004. Print. Whittaker, David. Corporate governance and managerial reform in Japan. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009. Print. Read More