Dyson Ltd - Current Position, SWOT and Competitor Analysis - Essay Example

Dyson - analyse the current position of the organisation in relation to its environment and competitors, evaluate the strategic options now availableto the organisation and recommend the strategic route forward and the methods for implementation of your Table of Contents Overview 3 Brief description of Dyson Limited 3 Discussion 3 Analyse the current position of the organisation in relation to its environment and competitors 3 Evaluate the strategic options now available to the organisation 8 Recommend the strategic route forward and the methods for implementation of the chosen options 10 References 12 Overview Brief description of Dyson Limited Dyson Ltd is recognised as a reputed concern operating in the segment of vacuum cleaners, hand dryers, heaters and bladeless fans, since 1991. The company is founded by James Dyson and developed almost 5127 types of vacuum cleaners and hand dryers as prototypes. Being headquartered in the country of England of United Kingdom, it offers its machines in more than 50 countries in the entire globe. Due to which, the profit margin of the company of Dyson Ltd reached €100million in the year 2005 as compared to its biggest competitor Hoover. This is the prime cause of its distinctiveness and uniqueness in the competitive markets of China, United States of America and Japan (The Guardian, 2010). Apart from this, Mr. Dyson always tried to make use of inventive technologies and bright colours within its products so as to improve its image and market share. This idea of robustness proved extremely effective for the company that amplified its revenue and profit by GB £1 billion and GB £306 million in the year 2011. Moreover, the latest invention of space –saving kitchen appliance or whole kitchen improved the portfolio and dominance in the market of United States, Japan and China. Discussion Analyse the current position of the organisation in relation to its environment and competitors Dyson Ltd is one of world famous inventive technology manufacturing company of United Kingdom. In order to analyse its current position, both internal as well as external environment of the company need to be analysed. However, in order to evaluate the internal environment of the company, one of the most popular analytical tools is used, named SWOT analysis (Porter, 2008, pp. 656-678). Strengths: Skilled workforce: one of the biggest strengths of the company of Dyson Ltd is extremely skilled work forces. Due to the presence of these talented and expert workforces, the company became successful to offer varied types of inventive machines in the segment of hand dyers, vacuum cleaners etc. Moreover, due to the presence of introduction of these inventive products, the profitability and reputation of the company is enhancing at a rapid pace as compared to its competitors such as Hoover, Panasonic and Electrolux in the market of UK. As a result of introduction of highly inventive products, the market share and equity of the company has enhanced by 45 percent in the markets of United States, China and Japan. Implementation of advanced technologies and techniques: the chairman of the company, Mr. Julian Cooper always tried to implement the advanced technologies and techniques so as to improve the manufacturing methods of high-performance machines. As a result, the company became able to offer a wide range of high-tech product utilised in various applications in a very small period of time. This helped the company to satisfy the needs and requirements of the customers and other organization in an effective way that amplified its image and value by a significant rate (Meyer, 2004, pp. 421-434). Multiple high-end markets- as the company of Dyson Ltd operate in numerous high-end markets such as China, Japan and United States, its rat of total sale and profit margin is extremely high. Moreover, due to its strong presence in these above mentioned markets, its range of customer base is also quite high as compared to its competitors. This also acts as one of the prime causes for the development and expansion of the company of Dyson Ltd. Excellent distribution and sales network: the distribution and sales network of the company of Dyson Ltd is also extremely high as compared to other competitors. Due to which, the rate of availability of various inventive products is quite high in the markets of China, Japan and United States. This helped the company to improve the satisfaction rate of the customers that enhanced its reliability and loyalty. Thus, proper distribution and sales network of Dyson Ltd acts as one of its prime strengths. Weaknesses- High investment in research and development departments: in order to develop high-ended products, the company of Dyson Ltd invested huge amount of revenue. As a result, the profit margin and net income of the company gets significantly hindered. High salaries for the employees: the company of Dyson Ltd offers high salaries to its experienced and skilled staffs in order to retain them for longer period of time. This also acts one of the prime weaknesses of the company of Dyson Ltd (Mathews, 2002, pp. 878-889). Opportunities- Improvement of the demand of high-tech products: in this competitive world, the demand for high-tech products is increasing with a rapid pace. This is mainly to the change of preference and thinking behaviour of the customers. This may prove extremely advantageous for the company of Dyson Ltd that might increase its sustainability and competitive advantage (Marsh, 2014, pp. 331-342). Emergence of global markets: due to the emergence of numerous developing markets such as Italy, Russia, Asia etc, the chances of improvement of these high-tech products might get enhanced. This might help the company of Dyson Ltd to increase its brand image and popularity in the market among others. Threats- Extreme competition: in this global age, the rate of competition in increasing at a rapid pace in this segment of technology as compared to others. As a result, it might prove extremely problematic for the company of Dyson Ltd. Therefore, in order to improve or retain its dominance in the market, it is extremely essential to develop inventive products (Luo & Tung, 2007, pp. 256-267) Apart from micro environment, the macro environment also needs to be evaluated. It is evaluated with the help of PESTEL analysis. Political- the demand of these high-ended products is quite high in saturated markets like China, Japan and United States. This is mainly due to lower traffic rates and tax policies that proved extremely effective for these companies, operating in the segment of technology to amplify its demand and profitability in the market among others (Pride & Ferrell, 2004, pp. 879-889) Economic- as the per capita income of the citizens of the saturated or developed markets like United, China and Japan increased, the demand of these products increased. This helped the company of Dyson Ltd to enhance its brand image and equity in the market by a considerable extent (Shepherd & Fraser, 2011, pp. 767-778). Social- as the age-groups of the senior population of the saturated markets are quite high as compared to others, so the willingness to work has also reduced significantly. The populations of these age-groups desire to utilise the high-tech products such as hand dyers or vacuum cleaners to clean their residences (Rajagopal, 2000, pp. 256-267). Only then, they might get rid from varied types of chronic disorders. This enhanced the demand of the products of Dyson Ltd by almost 67 percent as compared to many other rival players (Kotler & Keller, 2012, pp. 767-789). Technological- as the company always desires to offer, high-end technological products, so its level of preference is extremely high in the market of United States and China. This is also another important cause of success of this company (Keegan, 2002, pp. 656-665). Environmental- the products of Dyson Ltd do not offer any sort of harmful gases that may hinder the environment. As a result, the products of Dyson Ltd are highly preferred by the health and environment conscious citizens (Kazmi, 2007, pp. 221-234). Legal- the company of Dyson Ltd operates as per the rules and regulations of health and safety laws of different countries and so its demand enhances at a rapid pace in global markets (Johansson, 1997, pp. 434-454). Thus, it might be analysed from both internal and external analysis that the company of Dyson Ltd holds a dominant position in the developed markets such as China, Japan and United States. Moreover, due to inventive product lines, the level of reliability and loyalty of the company of Dyson Ltd is also quite high within the minds of the customers. This helped the company to improve its sustainability and competitive advantage among its rival players (Li, 2007, pp. 296-318). Dyson and its competitor analysis In the market of UK, the most important competitors of Dyson Ltd are Hoover, Panasonic and Electrolux. Among them, the company of Hoover infringed market of UK by offering inventive bag less vacuum cleaners (Kotler, 1998, pp. 189-210). So, its profit margin enhanced from $ 169.99 to $ 189.99 that improved its market share and dominance by a significant amount. Apart from this, Panasonic is another leading competitor of Dyson Ltd, A Japanese Manufacturer created a distinct image and revenue of $ 50 billion in the market of UK by offering inventive products. This became possible mainly due to its objective to offer inventive products at competitive price (Hill, 2010, pp. 112-123). On the other hand, Electrolux tried to create its position by promoting the products with the slogan, ‘make daily life easy and comfortable’. From this analysis, it might be revealed that Dyson Ltd hols the most respectable position among others mainly due to its high-tech products (Kolb, 2008, pp. 224-234). Evaluate the strategic options now available to the organisation The strategic options of the company of Dyson Ltd might be evaluated with the help of service mix marketing, i.e. 7 P’s. Product: the products offered by the company of Dyson Ltd, comprised of high-end technology, safe, and energy efficient in nature. Moreover, all the products of Dyson Ltd are extremely easy to clean and so the level of preference of the customers is quite high. These advantages help the company of Dyson to improve its image and position in the market among others (The Times 100, 2014). Price: the company of Dyson Ltd used different pricing methods for different product lines. For vacuum cleaners, it utilised product line pricing. This is because; different products of vacuum cleaners comprised of different features and so it priced diversely. However, in case of all other products, the company used premium pricing strategies (Shepherd & Fraser, 2011, pp.123-134) Place: the products of Dyson Ltd might be purchased both from online sites such as eBay or Amazon as well as from supermarkets (Gupta, 2004, pp. 678-689). Promotion: although Dyson Ltd offered high concentration over promotional campaigns on television and print media’s. Other than this, the company tried to improve its popularity and dominance in the market by offering varied types of discounts such as festive discounts, online coupon code discounts and many others. This proved extremely effective for the organization that improved its total sale and profit margin. People: the company tried to recruit extremely experienced and talented staffs in the customer care teams. So that, the employees might easily resolve any sort of doubts of the customers thereby amplifying their reliability and loyalty over the brand. Process: the company of Dyson Ltd also tried to offer the products to its customers by testing rigorously within the outlets. By doing so, the satisfaction level of the customers enhanced significantly (Gray, 2013). Physical evidence: all the shops and outlets presented the similar characteristic features and culture so as to present a unique shopping experience to its customers. This proved extremely effective for the company of Dyson Ltd among others (The Guardian, 2010). Therefore, from the above mentioned points, it might be analysed that the most important strategic option available with the company is extension of the features of core product and augmented products. Among the core product features, use of root cyclone and ball technology in vacuum cleaners helps in enhancement of the performance of the machines. This proved extremely beneficial for the company of Dyson Ltd thereby amplifying its customer base and loyalty in the market (Guillén & García-Canal, 2012, pp. 456-467). Similarly, improvement of the features of augmented product such as 7 years of warranty in the parts of the machine also enhanced the demand of the products of Dyson Ltd in the market of UK among others (Grant, 2005, pp. 567-576). Recommend the strategic route forward and the methods for implementation of the chosen options In order to improve the sustainability and competitive advantage of the company, the management of Dyson Ltd might try to follow competitive pricing policy (Johnson & et.al. 2011, pp.768-778). By following this strategy, the company might offer its products to all customers of varying lifestyles and income ranges. This might increase the range of portfolio and total revenue of the company in the market in long run. Moreover, due to improvement of the profit margin, the rate of competitive advantage and sustainability might get enhanced in long run among other new entrants. Apart from this, due to improvement in sustainability, the rate of business threats and upcoming challenges might also get reduced. Other than this, the organization might try to offer varied types on the discounts to the loyal customers so as to enhance its consistency and market share (ESOMAR. 2008, pp. 355-378). The strategic route is presented below: If the above mentioned route is followed then, the organization might surely amplify its portfolio and reliability within the minds of the customers that may increase its strengths and opportunities (Drummond & Ensor, 2006, pp. 256-278) Apart from this, such types of strategic moves might prove effective for the company of Dyson Ltd to enhance its demand and market value (Bradley, 2007, pp. 232-243) Other than this, the rate of total sale and net income of the company of Dyson Ltd might also get improved that may enhance its portfolio and reputation in the market among others. Moreover, in order to increase the level of awareness of the customers towards the product lines, the company might try to offer more concentration over promotional activities. So that, the customers might become aware about the available discount facilities over the product lines and make their purchasing decisions. Only then, the supremacy and popularity of the company might get enhanced in long run among other new entrants or existing rival players of the market (Beall, 2010, pp. 145-156). Therefore, it might be stated that, implementation of such a strategic route might prove effective for the company of Dyson ltd in future era among others. References Beall, A, E. 2010. Strategic Market Research: A Guide to Conducting Research to solve problems. Boston: Harvard Business School Press. Bradley, N. 2007. Marketing Research: Tools & Techniques. New York: McGraw-Hill. Drummond, G. & Ensor, J. 2006. Introduction to Marketing Concepts. New York: Cengage Learning. ESOMAR. 2008. 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