Aspires Continued Development - Essay Example

and Section # of A Case Analysis on Acer When Stan Shih founded the Acer group of companies in 1976 it was more than obvious that the firm was bound to take some huge strides with this celebrated founder who made news worldwide by commercialising Taiwan's initial desktop calculator. Today Acer boasts of commendable rankings in the industry by being No. 4 in the Personal Computer market, No. 3 in the market for notebooks and No. 3 as a computer manufacturer in the face of huge competitors like Sony and others. Stan is about to retire in three years and Acer has suffered a loss of $29 million in the PC industry so Stan has diverted his expertise and attention towards making the company even more competitive in order to give it a strong foundation of support after he retires. Aspire is a large brand for Acer under which they have produced a number of technological products in the world. Aspire has had problems during the development stage whereas if these problems were dealt with proficiently then this brand would have had a truly aspiring brand image. Acer and Stan need to focus on the leverage points namely; efficiency (economies of scale and comparative advantage globally), knowledge leverage (strategic use of human resources and ideas on a global platform) and responsiveness (to embrace local consumer demands) (Bartlett & Ghoshal; 1989). Should Stan approve Aspire's continued development Stan must disapprove Aspire's continued development because it is important to a put a halt to further developments in order to study the current problems it's facing. The existing discrepancies must be removed in order to develop further otherwise the problems might become deep rooted and also fatal. It is important to climb the first few steps of a ladder efficiently without being in danger of falling down and getting hurt before reaching the top. Acer faced problems during the development of Aspire and these problems still exist. Acer is a large multinational operating in Asia, Europe, and America etc. Obviously, the company has regional departments in these countries and in order to maintain a strong brand image in the market a common goal, strategy and communication strategy are required. Acer lacks these and due this they faced problems in positioning themselves as a strong brand when it comes to Aspire. It is important for all regional offices around the world to share a similar spirit of growth, values, standards, communication strategies etc in order to take mutual decisions as a company on the whole and not just as a regional office. Aspire has a number of brand extensions and product types being sold under one brand name and the company has not been able to position each extension with a common goal or insight in mind. Aspire is known to be a very adaptable brand since it has been changed to suit the consumer demands for every different region in a different way. This has caused major brand identity problems for Acer and Aspire. The same brand under Aspire has been positioned to be a luxurious and elite brand in Singapore and the opposite in Europe. But it also shows that Aspire is doing a good job when it comes to responsiveness in the leverage points. This has weakened the brand equity for Aspire and has resulted in brand dilution. This shows that a strong corporate culture is absent in Acer and this results in a weak brand image and positioning for any company or brand because then customers do not know how to relate with the brand. All the regional departments and offices are working on their own values and standards to fit the culture, demand or society of the region. Due to the lack of a strong organisational culture it is evident that synergism is absent and the company is leaving loopholes for failures. All these problems must be looked into and it is important for Stan and Acer to come up with a solution before approving any further developments for Aspire. Should Stan allow AAC to continue to lead the project Stan should not allow AAC to continue to lead the project anymore because this way the production had been concentrated in just one region and the other regional offices and even the home office lacked synergy, effective communication and a strong sense of corporate culture. While working on Aspire AAC and the product managers for various SBU's in charge of the brand lacked synergy and credibility between themselves. This affected the brand, its products and also the image of the company. The product design was concealed by AAC and this increased doubt in the minds of the product managers of various SBU"s. The Taiwan office had sent four engineers to assist but since the design was kept discreet the engineers were reluctant to participate and also took it as an insult to them. This shows lack of shared values amongst the SBU's of Acer in the world. Synergism is absent once again. All the SBU's and departments must be integrated and have a shared vision for the company as a whole. AAC's behaviour resulted in further disintegration of the different units of the multinational. As a result of all this the end product was faulty and deficient. Thus, due to delays in delivery and deficiencies Acer had to bear a $3-5 million loss. This just shoes that Acer was weak in knowledge leverage when it comes to Aspire. These problems have also resulted in low efficiency when it comes to Aspire. Acer needs to solve these problems since according to the leverage points the company is strong in responsiveness alone and that also at the cost of its brand image and positioning in the market. Should Aspire become a global product If so, who should lead the roll out Aspire should become a global product and especially when it has received the "red dot" award for 2007. This shows that the brand is pacing towards being a successful brand. Since it is important for a company to capitalise on the leverage points explained above but it is essential to study the capabilities of the brand in order to support the recommendation that Aspire should be a global product. According to one of the studies by Porter on coordination and configuration it is important for a brand to be studied on the aspects in this study in order to decide whether the product should be made global or not (Porter;1987). This study is based on a diagram focusing on four aspects. It is important for a company to have a good market spread that is the sales of the brand worldwide. Aspire has a considerably good market spread since it responds well to the demands of the local market but at the cost of its brand image. The sales of Aspire are good globally so the market spread is good enough for the brand to become a global product. Configuration of core activities is about the places and regions where the product is manufactured and sold. A company can produce in the home country or anywhere else around the world. But the purpose of going global should be improved means of production and manufacture of the product in order to improve quality and prices. In the case of Aspire the products under this brand can be produced and manufactured in a better way in America or Europe rather than in Taiwan because those areas are developed and also that they help to set and achieve international standards. Connectedness is essential for going global in order to promote the right brand image. Acer lacks this since we have seen the company lacks a strong culture and synergism amongst its units around the world. But this problem can be solved. Localisation is important for going global and this is a major strength of Aspire since it is known to be changed in order to meet consumer needs in every region. Responsiveness is a major strength for Aspire. Therefore, Aspire should become a global product and it meets all the requirements as well. Since I have recommended not allowing AAC to lead the project anymore, according to me I shall recommend Acer EMEA to lead the roll out for Aspire since change is needed and also that this time the old mistakes can be avoided. The positioning of Aspire as a low-class brand in Europe can also be changed. These regions are lucrative and also developed. Starting fresh can open up new avenues for the brand and the company on the whole. Works Cited Bartlet, Christopher and Sumantra Ghoshal. "Managing across borders: New Organisational Responses," Sloan management Review (fall). (1987). Reprinted in Gupta and Westney (2003). Porter, Michael "Changing Patterns of International Competition." In the Competitive challenge. Edited by D.J Teece. Cambridge: Ballinger. (1987). About Acer 17 February 17, 2008 About Stan Shih 17 February 17, 2008 Aspire's red dot award 17 February 17, 2008 Stan Shih and the current position of Acer as a company in the world 17 February 17, 2008 Read More