Distribution and Marketing of a Company's Products - Assignment Example

The paper "Distribution and Marketing of a Company’s Products" is a wonderful example of an assignment on business.
Why was Michael Dell the ideal person to change the corporate culture to become more competitive?
Business inception is usually guided by the vision, where the founder can only be the best interpreter of its direction. This is demonstrated by the loss of aggressive pursuit of vision at Dell, only after the founder had left. Culture is likely to be altered at the helm of management changes, to occasion desirable or undesirable results, at least in the short term. Business models and strategies act as the necessary channel for companies to establish themselves in the market. Business models determine the entire company’s culture, while business strategies are reviewed over time to adapt to market situations. Michael Dell acted as a pioneer for the business model that worked well through selling personal computers directly to the end-users. Dell was in a position to have an edge over their competitors. With the discovery of a better strategic management approach by the competitors, Dell lost ground to the rivals, by which time Michael Dell had left. A review of the company's approach found out that the partnership with Wal-Mart could assist in distribution, a move that brought in promising steps towards recovery (Magretta 8).

Why does changing the marketing and operations of a company require a new organizational culture?

The company’s profitability is largely dependent on the policies formulated for general management, particularly by the policies touching on marketing. This is due to the fact that the organization of the company resources, conspicuously dominated by the human resource, displays some culture that is adopted in the routines carried on a daily basis. The company culture determines the operation and success of the company. Marketing policies are at the forefront in the determination of the progress that the company attains. To implement meaningful changes in the operations that take some time to be effective needs an overhaul of the management of organizational culture. For instance, Dell needed to bring in new management in order to implement the outsourcing partnership deal that the earlier management found difficult (Armbruster, 1). It is a major observation that the development of a company can either be facilitated or hindered by the organizational culture, which needs to be strengthened or abolished during intervention according to performance (Whalley, 51). This is because corporate culture change appears a difficult activity, which can only be changed by the introduction of a new organizational team and culture.       

How will the information gained from retail partners such as Wal-Mart and Costco change the corporate culture at Dell?

Distribution and marketing of a company’s products into the market must be facilitated through extensive research and trials. Outsourcing could be just what companies need to reach the already established market without incurring extra costs. The fact that the deal between Wal-Mart and Dell does not bind the parties to a long duration of time makes the option flexible. Another element of the deal that is appealing to Dell is that Wal-Mart does not compel Dell to certain display requirements across its outlets. The level of involvement between the parties is therefore not a risky venture, which leaves the deal in open and pleasant terms. According to Armbruster (1), lack of retail infrastructure and logistics expose companies such as Dell to extra costs in distribution, but the outsourcing shields the company from unfavorable market realities of lack of infrastructure. Alternatively, it is evident that the partnership will tap the unexplored possibility of benefits of partnerships in marketing. Companies operating in different lines of business can enjoy some potential by joining hands in marketing and supply that could otherwise not be possible. For instance, market research can be performed jointly, with useful information shared for maximization of marketing potential.