Steinway's Strategic Orientation - Assignment Example

Application 5 Steinway’s Strategic Orientation Introduction Steinway & Sons, is a company that has specialized in the making of different pianos. It specializes in two major brands which have enabled the company make gross sales and profits. Steinway and the Boston form the major brands that the company produced and they have been able to generate substantive amounts of profits. The Steinway brand is highly priced than the Boston brand. Using New York and Germany as the main centers of operation for handcrafting the grand pianos, the company uses a cumulative amount of more than 200 dealers who are independent of the company to conduct the sales services.

With an approximate percentage of 85, the Northern and Southern American based dealers facilitate the sales using the created network (Cummings, Thomas and Worley 100). The company has expanded its operations by acquiring several retail outlets located in Berlin, New York, London, Hamburg, Munich and New Jersey.The concert bank program is the main company’s strategy that incorporates the use of local and international based dealers to distribute their products. It allows local and international artists who have hit their mark in their professions to assess different pianos in the outlets and pick one that best suits their needs.

With the concert banks stocked with more than 300 pianos located in more than 160 different cities, the company greatly benefits from its engagement with these successful artists (Cummings, Thomas and Worley 101). It is able to market some of its brands using the name of the performer who is publicly known.Numerous artistic skills are consolidated in order to come up with a grand Steinway concert piano. Different methods have been formulated however the process has maintained is basic initial processes since they have always produced definable results.

More than 12000 parts of the grand piano have to be handcrafted before they are perfectly fit to each other to complete the whole puzzle. The uniqueness of these pieces arise from the different types of tones, sound and touch incorporated in each of the pieces (Cummings, Thomas and Worley 101).Numerous activities are incorporated during the making of the piano such as wood drying, parts-making and finally the piano-making operations. Before the piano is set to be displayed and sold, the makers go through a final stage which is tone regulation.

They are tuned to voice the Steinway sound as a unique form of identity (Cummings, Thomas and Worley 101).Analysis Steinway has proved its superiority in the grand piano market by acquiring superb market shares existing in the high quality segment. The resultant effect of the specialization has brought to the company greater financial benefits. It has also been able to acquire a larger customer base which assures the company of the greater financial booms. There have been recent twists on the employee satisfaction levels.

Majority of the employees in the company are opting to quit their jobs to look for other well-paying jobs. The financial improvements when compared to the industry’s averages seem not to tally with a deficit occurring making the company have a low trading index (Cummings, Thomas and Worley 102).Input assessmentThe general EnvironmentThe company plays a core value in the country’s defined artistic culture with specific reference to the fine arts sector. In the political perspective, the company has enhanced its sales and distribution network to cover varies international boundaries thereby observing the rules and regulations enforced in the regions.

Technologically, various technologies exist that have enhanced the piano designs, construction and creation of various dignified materials. There is a moderate uncertainty level created by these factors (Cummings, Thomas and Worley 102).Task EnvironmentFive key forces guarantee profits for the company. First, the low threat of entity, moderate threat of substitute, high bargaining supplier power, low threat of substitute products and finally low buyer bargaining power (Cummings, Thomas and Worley 102).

Strategic orientationThe company aims at providing unique high quality products to sophisticated artists, a contrary to the strategic focus (Cummings, Thomas and Worley 103).EvaluationWith a total number of 430 employees, only a dedicated 100 work in the production department. The workers have enrolled to a union called United Furniture Worker’s Union that represents their rights. The company has found challenges in keeping their employees with competitor firms coveting most of them while others starting their own businesses (Cummings, Thomas and Worley 102).

The main crisis therefore remains on the salaries and payment structure of the company.Works CitedCummings, Thomas, and Christopher Worley. Organization development and change. Cengage learning, 2014.