Concept of Corporate Strategy - Essay Example

Submitted by: XXXXXXXXX Number: XXXXXXX XXXXXXXX XXXXXXX XXXXXXX of XXXXXXXX Strategic ReviewCase Management – Case of Palm Co Introduction: Palm Inc. is a company that was recognized for the hand held computers and has now grown to become major players in the internet enabled mobile phones, also referred to as smart phones. The product line focuses on pre and pixi wireless devices. These devices use Palm’s webOS for the operating systems for the mobiles. WebOS is meant for phones which wirelessly access the web and are most useful to get the best from the touch screen phones. This paper aims at discussing the current situation of the company and also focusing on the competitive analysis of the company. A thorough analysis of the external elements of the business as well as the current strategies has also been made, based on which a strong set of recommendations have been set down for the company. The next section will deal with the current situation of the company. Here we discuss the mission and vision of the company followed by the strategies that the company currently adopts. Current Situation: Mission and Vision: The company’s main objective is to grow to become the leaders in mobile computing. The company’s mission statement is “Our objective is to be the leader in mobile computing” (Palms Annual Report). The company’s vision statement has been noted to include a number of different areas, like, “a) Develop market-defining products that deliver a great user experience, b) Provide a choice of industry standard platforms, c) Differentiate our products through software and applications, d) Expand global presence and e) Build a brand synonymous with delightful mobile computing” (Palms Annual Report). It is evident that the company is focusing on becoming the world leaders and has taken all possible steps to ensure that they read their mission. Current Strategy Goals And Objectives: As explained earlier, the company’s goal and objective is to become the world leaders in mobile computing. The company focuses on the providing the industry with a wide range of industry standard platforms (Palm Inc.). The company also focuses on ensuring that products and services provide a great customer experience and allow the customers gain the best of the industry. Major Strengths Of Company That Are Basis Of G&O: Based on the goals and objectives of the company, Palm Inc has been able to effectively develop a brand image, which has been consistent with one which provides high quality and excellent customer experience. The company has also been able to use the highest and best level of software and applications. The company’s main strength is the differentiation that the company has been able to achieve in the markets and the high choice of standard platforms that the company provides for the customers. On the whole, the company’s main strengths revolve around the fact that the company has been able to efficiently and effectively provide the customers with excellent overall services and products. These form the main strengths of the company. Also the recent takeover of the company by HP has formed to be the biggest strength of the company (Shane, Mangalindan and Tyler). Major Weaknesses That Are Planned For Improvement or To Compensate: The main weakness of the company has been the main accusation that the company was faced with in 2001, where the hand – held were found not to be compatible with the personal computers. The company has been able to successfully use its strengths to work and improve the overall performance of the company and the brand image of the company. The company’s excellent technology and overall performance, led the company to be acquired by the top global computer makers, i.e. Hewlett Packard, and this has helped the company improve and grow (Shane, Mangalindan and Tyler). Palm’s already existent technology and excellent brand image has helped the company grow and still make positive returns. As clearly explained in the website, “At Palm, we’re focused on creating instinctive yet powerful mobile products that enable people to better manage extraordinary lives on the go. Our goal is to deliver products that implement technology in a truly useful way. We innovate. We create and define categories. Expect not just more, but better. Not just faster, but more useful” (Palm Inc.). This clearly has been the positive aspect of the company and has assisted the company in reducing the weaknesses based on these values. Competitive Analysis Current major competitors: The top three competitors of the company include: a) Apple Inc., b) Nokia Corporation, and c) Research In Motion Limited. These companies form the main competition for Palm. Each of these companies has been in the industry for years and they have been able to equally well develop their brand name and image. It is essential to note that the demand of a product is dependent on the income of the consumers and also the profitability of business customers. All these companies deal with high levels of technology which in turn simply implies more expensive products. As explained by Hoovers, “Large companies often have advantages in access to capital and marketing. Small companies can compete successfully if they have expertise in a particular field of knowledge. The industry is capital-intensive: average annual revenue per worker is more than $300,000” (Hoovers). Product lines: The three companies deal with a variety of products and services which include various technologies and applications. Apple, Nokia and Research In Motion Limited have all been known for the excellent phones and technology that they provide. The three companies are relatively much larger than Palm and these companies have a higher number of products in the markets. Competitive Strategy: The competitive strategy that the company can adopt here based on Porter’s Generic strategy, is a Focus Strategy (Johnson, Scholes and Whittington). The company can focus on a narrow market segment and provide the advantage of low costs to the customers. This will allow the company to gain a large part of the markets and will also permit a chance to build a completely new era of mobiles. It is essential to note that companies like Nokia and Apple, provide customers with high technology and features however these come at a high price. Hence Palm can take a leap into the markets and provide the customers with a high technology, and product uniqueness, however at lower prices (Andrew). This can form a strong competitive advantage for the company. Major Strengths and Weaknesses As has been explained earlier as well, “Small companies can compete successfully if they have expertise in a particular field of knowledge” (Hoovers), hence here in the case of Palm these form the strengths of the company. It is essential to note that the company has the strength of adopting and using the expertise in the field which will prove to help in development of new innovative products. However the only weakness that the company has is the lack of capital and marketing. Hence it is for Palm to make complete use of the strengths and compete against the companies (Johnson, Scholes and Whittington). Opportunities and Threats: Palm although has been able to include high level of technology and newer mobile applications, the company clearly lacks a deep insight and hold of the markets. This leads the company to be faced with higher competition and also leads to the competitors gaining a higher hand. General Opportunities and Threats The Company has a number of opportunities that it can capitalize upon and develop the name and brand of the company. With the high technology that the company currently posses, Palm can easily enter into the mobile production easily. This will help the company gain and make higher revenues as well as give swift competition to the three companies as well. The company presently can use the opportunity to enter into the mobile markets as well as the mobiles accessories markets which has a high potential at present. In terms of the threats of the company, it is to be noted that the external factors like competition will prove to be very high (Johnson, Scholes and Whittington). Also, the production costs will prove to be high for the company. However these will help the company benefit to a great extent and will permit high growth with the backing of HP. Recommendations: Based on the overall study of the company and considering the fact that the company has been acquired by Hewlett Packard, the best option for the company will be to adopt change. As seen the Palm by itself is faced with competition from major companies like Apple, Nokia and Research In Motion Limited, which are all globally renowned, with high levels of revenues from across world. Hence Palm can capitalize on its strength, i.e. the backing from HP and use this as a mode to meet the competition from the other companies (Shane, Mangalindan and Tyler). It is essential to note that the company clearly has the needed technology, and expertise, however lacks the brand image and customer database to capitalize upon. Hence it would prove to be most beneficial for the company to adopt change and to follow the already successful HP’s culture and strategies. In short, the one strength of the company can prove to be the backing of the improvements of the opportunities as well to provide an improvement to the weaknesses (Andrew). This will allow an overall re thinking of strategy, but will prove to be very beneficial for the company. Works Cited Andrew, K. The concept of Corporate Strategy. Dow – Jones Irwin, 1980. Hoovers. Palm, Inc. · Sunnyvale, CA United States. 2010. 18 October 2010 . Johnson, G, K Scholes and R Whittington. Exploring Corporate Strategy. Essex: Prentice Hall, 2006. Palm Inc. About Palm. 2010. 13 October 2010 . Palms Annual Report. Palm, Inc. . 1 June 2007. 15 October 2010 . Shane, David, et al. HP to Acquire Palm for $1.2 Billion. 28 April 2010. 18 October 2010 . Read More