...Summary: Komatsu Ltd is a Japanese company established in 1921 as a specialized producer of mining equipment that expanded into different types of heavy machinery but would ultimately become associated with construction equipment. Through their journey to become the world’s leading premier construction equipment manufacturer I examine how changes in the industry, domestic markets, and foreign exchange affected the company. I analyze the different strategies, leadership styles, and policies implemented by each leader throughout the years to confirm if their actions supported the overall goal of the company. In my summation I’ve concluded that of the following critical issues the strategy of each president had a major influence on the company’s growth. Critical Issues: Strategic Problem – Nogawa Era focused more on cutting costs and aggressive sales. Management Problem – Nogawa was an autocratic micro-manager whose resistance to change affected the company. Tanaka seemed unsure of himself and needed to have the input of other managers to discuss the company’s future. Operational Problem – Under the Tanaka Era he responded to the competitive crisis before focusing on the larger strategic goal of product diversification and internationalization. Product Problem – Komatsu held a market share of 50% despite the low quality. Product diversification. Financial Problem – Net income dropped 55% in 1987 from 1985. Strategic Problem – Although, he didn’t want to...
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...Komatsu Ltd.: Project Gs Globalization EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Komatsu Ltd. is operating in challenging market conditions that are made more complicated by the centralized production and operations strategy and the variability of the currency markets, particularly the value of the Japanese Yen. To combat these challenges, Komatsu has replaced CEOs, changed their corporate focus from “Beat Cat” to the three “G”s – “Growth, Global, Groupwide”. Key issues identified in the case are Komatsu’s approach to international expansion, organizational structure and localizing management, and product diversification. Komatsu was at crossroads on how to most efficiently and effectively leverage cost savings and expertise in local markets, from production to sales & marketing, and still maintain their reputation of product quality. They were in need of an organizational restructuring that would support this new international business model, which also included ensuring key management would be heavily involved in this new expansion. At the center of all of this, Komatsu was also diversifying its product lines and growing revenue from non-construction/mining businesses. How can Komatsu achieve its Three “G”s focus given these challenges? Our proposal covers three possible strategies that Komatsu could leverage to improve operations and business performance, in light of the aforementioned challenges. First, to better control its international expansion, Komatsu can shift its...
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...Caterpillar – Economic Evaluation January 10, 2012 Caterpillar – An Economic Analysis Caterpillar Inc. (formerly Caterpillar Tractor Company) is a leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, and industrial gas turbines. Currently, the world headquarters is in Peoria, Illinois. The average number of employees for the last five years is over 100,000. In 2011 sales were 57 billion, 70 percent of which were sales outside of the United States. There is a vast array of product groups and industries served which include, but are not limited to, power systems, construction industries, and financial products. Stock is currently valued at $92.47 per share. While they are an extremely well ran, profitable company, they also strive to be seen as a socially responsible organization as well. Support of the United Way exceeded $10.6 million in 2011 in contributions from the corporation as well as from the employees. In addition, they have made over $50 million in philanthropic investments worldwide. Caterpillar Inc. – Supply Caterpillar Incorporated (CAT) has a distinct advantage as a large company as its supply of products is in high demand around the world. According to their home page on their website (2012), “For more than 85 years Caterpillar Inc. has been making sustainable progress possible and driving positive change on every continent. With 2011 sales and revenues of $60.138 billion, Caterpillar is the world's leading...
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...h.11.40 January 25 , h.12.20 January 25th, h.12.40 January 25 , h.13.00 January 25 , h.13.20 th th th th th th th th th th th th th th Name SALICE Valentina MARRONE Emanuela SPAMPINATO Giulia REITANO Boris D’ARRIGO Roberto ARDITA Giuseppe CARIOLA Elena FILIPPELLO Gloria FILOCAMO Andrea ALI’ Andrea RIZZO Emanuele ARENA Annamaria AIELLO Sebastiano SPORTARO Prospero CONTI Maria Cristina LUISI Paola FAILLA Stefania ALAIMO Massimo Maria AYARI Neila CALVAGNA Giorgia CRUCITTI Alessia Case study Cola Wars continue: Coke and Pepsi in 2006 Google Inc. Nucor at Crossroad Caterpillar Tractor Co Komatsu Ltd. Crown Cork and Seal Apple Inc. in 2010 Cola Wars continue: Coke and Pepsi in 2006 Google Inc. Nucor at Crossroad Caterpillar Tractor Co Komatsu Ltd. Crown Cork and Seal Apple Inc. in 2010 Cola Wars continue: Coke and Pepsi in 2006 Google Inc. Nucor at Crossroad Caterpillar Tractor Co Komatsu Ltd. Crown Cork and Seal Apple Inc. in 2010 Seminar guidelines 1. Each student has 20 minutes for presentation. You are required to provide a Powerpoint presentation (please download your Powerpoint file before presentations start) 2. Presentation must be organized as follows: - first, a summary of the case must be given; then - answer to each question (see below) must be provided. The answer must make explicit reference to the relevant parts of the theory and of the data provided by the case study. 1 QUESTIONS: 1. Coca Wars...
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...outcomes. Caterpillar Inc. is a $30 billion global company which is known as a manufacturer of large earth-moving equipment and large construction (Neilson & Pasternack 2005). Caterpillar survived from very difficult times in 1980s, mainly because its product reached maturity level, where customers were no longer interested in it and also the CEO of that company did not take into account very important factor – external environment. In 1980s a lot of companies lost their sales because global recession hit the economy and inflation rates grew very quickly. Therefore, Caterpillar’s structure couldn’t handle the pressure and had to be reorganised. Moreover, Caterpillar also survived from the big levels of competition from Japanese firm Komatsu, which was one of the factors of necessity to reorganise organisational structure. In this essay I am going to cover the maturity stage and cyclical mature of infrastructure spending, strategies that CEO implemented to restructure the organisation and how it affected market, productive and financial performance....
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...management of the Komatsu Company decided to dismantle its bulldozer icon which symbolized the company's aim to become world's premier construction equipment manufacturer, many people did not understand what this meant. The "Committee for the 1990's" had carefully timed the removal of this symbol to mark the numerous changes that were about to be brought into the management and running of the company. They gave up the traditional aim of the company which was "to catch up with and surpass Caterpillar(Cat)" and adopted a new slogan "growth, global, group wide" which was a more abstract challenge than one focused on catching up and beating Cat. The main problems and ways in which these challenges could be overcome is the main focus of this study. Between 1964-1982 in the Kuwai era, he introduced a new policy which he called "management by policy" which could enable the company to overcome its challenge, and to focus management on his strategic priorities. In his first policy he sought to raise the quality of Komatsu's middle-sized bulldozers to Cat's level. This project was successful and Kuwai's new management enabled the company to double its warranty period within two years while cutting claim rates by two-thirds. Another success in the company was due to Cat's entry into Japan which triggered increased in sales that raised Komatsu's market from 50% to 65% by 1970. This contrasted with the experts’ prediction of an early demise. A challenge that faced Komatsu was the economic...
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...Samantha Bacon Case Analysis Questions Define the problem: * Evaluation case, to evaluate the status of the company and the issues that proceeded with changing management styles. * Issues to focus on * Constant leadership change * Sales strategies * Changing from construction based to a total technology enterprise * Transition from top-down approach to a more “free discussion” approach * Globalization and regionalizing production List any outside concepts that can be applied: * Allocating resources properly * Knowing what would drive disruptive innovation * Filtering good and bad capital * Systems theory: a collection of parts brought together to accomplish some end goal or objective. * Chaos theory: change is inevitable and is rarely controlled List relevant qualitative data: * Change in leadership styles * autocratic, diplomatic, and participatory * Change in slogan * “growth, global, groupwide” to “total technology enterprise” * Strategy changes * Project A, restoring domestic marketplaces, Project G * Attempts at internationalization * Regionalizing in Europe and USA * Demand fluctuation in market * Have electronics, robotics, and plastics account for 50% sales (Tanaka) * % of sales outside of Japan reflects List relevant quantitative data: * Currency fluctuation (value of Yen) * Market share values * Increase from 50% to...
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...1. How was Komatsu able to evolve from a $169 million company with low-quality products to become a real challenge to Caterpillar by the early 1980s? How would you evaluate Mr. Kawai's performance? When Ryoichi Kawai assumed the presidency of Komatsu from his father in 1964, he built on the Total Quality Control (TQC) program that his father had started in 1961. Ryoichi Kawai’s strategy was straight to the point when he became President and that was to acquire and develop advanced technology, to raise quality and to increase efficiency to the level necessary to catch up and surpass Cat its main competitor. He decided to galvanize the company around this challenge and to focus management on his strategic priorities. He introduced a style of management called “management by policy” which he said was to clarify to all his staff members that there are value and policy target he wants to achieve and the company was aiming for a specific time period. Komatsu focused his priorities on raising the quality of Komatsu's middle size bulldozers to Cats level. He instituted a new system of control called the “Plan, Do, Check, Act” (PDCA) cycle to ensure that constant progress was made toward those objectives of awareness and many different dimensions of quality and that constant progress was made that Kawai established at all levels of the organization. Once Kawai announced the projects and priorities at the beginning of the year, the continues PDCA cycle concentrated efforts and made sure...
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...Semilir musim semi pada tahun 1991, Perusahaan Komatsu dan Sejarah Manajemen Berdiri pada tahun 1921 sebagai speaslis produksi peralatan tambang, komatsu memperluas usahanya di bidang mesin pertanian pada tahun 1930, dan pada perang dunia ke dua, berkecimpung ke dalam produksi peralatan militer. Peralatan berat menjadikan perusahaan mendapatkan posisi yang baik untuk rekonstruksi pascaperang di bumi ini. Setelah itu penjualan komatsu di bidang peralatan konstruksi melebihi dua bisnis di bidang mesin-mesin indrusti dan peralatan pertahanan. Di lingkungan jepang, dalam kondisi permintaan yang tinggi dan modal dibatasi. Komatsu membagikan saham perusahaan lebih dari 50%, meskipun rendahnya kualitas peralatan pada waktu itu. Situasi nyaman berubah di tahun 1963 ketika, setelah pemerintah memutuskan untuk membuka industri ke investor luar negri, CAT mengumumkan akan memasuki pasar bekerjasama dengan Mitsubishi. Pada saat ini komatsu memilki penjualan sebesar $168 juta dan lini produk ini di bawah standar dunia. Analis local memprediksi tiga tahun perjuangan sebelum CAT mengalami kebangrutan, sehingga menjadi perusahaan lokal. Munculnya dan ekspansi: Era Kawai (1964-1982) Di dalam konteks ini Ryoichi Kawai diasumsikan sebagai presiden komatsu dari ayahnya pada tahun 1964. Ayahnya telah mempersiapkan perusahaan dengan memulai program Total Quality Control (TQC) di tahun 1961. Dengan dasar inilah strategi Ryoichi Kawai untuk perusahaan adalah lurus kedepan untuk...
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...International Journal of Marketing Studies www.ccsenet.org/ijms On Komatsu’s Strategy of Distribution Channels in China ——Take Komatsu Excavators as an Example Sufang Zhang School of Economics and Management, Northern China Electric Power University #2 Beinong Road Deshengmenwai, Beijing 100022, China E-mail: zsf69826313@sina.com.cn Chenwei Fu School of Economics and Management, Northern China Electric Power University #2 Beinong Road Deshengmenwai, Beijing 100022, China E-mail: chin_hans@yahoo.com.cn Abstract Selection and management of distribution channels are not only part of management functions and daily operation of multinational corporations (MNCs), but also important compositions of core capability and competitive advantages. This paper first analyzes Komatsu, a well-known Japanese company’s strategy of distribution channel of excavators in China from the perspective of distribution channel intensity, then it discusses market function positioning of Komatsu’s distributors and Komatsu’s control of its distribution channels. Thirdly the paper summarizes characteristics of Komatsu’s distribution channels and conduct theoretical thinking on the strategy of distribution channels of MNCs. Finally it suggests that Chinese enterprises learn from the successful experience of Komatsu. Keywords: MNCs, Komatsu, Excavators, Distribution Channel 1. Introduction Nowadays, the competition of MNCs in the global market focuses on two areas: one is the field of product research and...
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...FROM INTERNATIONAL TO GLOBAL: HOW KOMATSU USED STRATEGY TO TRANSFORM ITS COMMUNICATIONS “Verizon demonstrated a strong understanding of our business, and was able to offer strategic advice that will make a real difference as we work to achieve our overall business goals. The team offers the combination of industry experience, technical expertise and worldwide presence we were looking for, and we are confident the company is the right partner for our evolving communications needs.” Dirk Fieremans European Infrastructure Manager, Komatsu Let’s say you’ve been maintaining a workout routine for a while. One day you reach the end of your workout session and realise that you haven’t achieved your desired results. Or maybe you’ve hit a plateau. You have a vision of how you should look and feel by now, but you’re just not there. Something needs to change. You realise that a new strategy is in order, one that will help you obtain maximum results. Maybe you may need to hire a personal trainer to ramp up your workouts to reach optimal results in a reasonable period of time. A CHANGE IN STRATEGY IMPROVES COMMUNICATION Similar to your workout session, Komatsu revamped its communications strategy in order to become a leading player in the global construction and mining machinery industry. Long established as a paragon of Japanese heavy manufacturing, and operating 164 subsidiary organisations and 42 associated companies across more than 15 countries, Komatsu recognised that it needed to take...
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...the value is more than Perceived Wealth. So they command a high share ($50,000 for Caterpillar & $20,000 for Buyers). Then Price = $30000 + $50000 = $80,000. * Caterpillar thinks Customers Contribution in perceived wealth creation is bigger. So pass the customers a major chunk and they take a smaller piece of the cake ($50,000 for Buyers & $20,000 for Caterpillar). Then Price= $50,000. * CASE SITUATIONS: 1) First Situation: When Technology is Low and Komatsu is expected to Copy the Product within 1 Week after launch. And, Komatsu’s Cost to Make & Market is $20,000. Minimum Selling Price that can be offered by Caterpillar = $30,000. But within 1 week Komatsu will launch the product at $20,000. So, Caterpillar will suffer losses if product is launched. Here, the Focus must be on following points: * Initially Concentrate on Market Penetration * CDV should be very High. In this case as soon as Komatsu launches the product the market will go towards it and CATERPILLAR will lose the market share. The...
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...Welcome to the Case Analysis Coach This tutorial is designed to start you down the road toward becoming an expert at analyzing business cases. You'll learn how to identify and define the business concepts raised by a case, as well as to develop analysis-based solutions, recommendations, and action plans. These skills will prepare you for class discussions and exams. You will have access to a complete real case, called Komatsu Ltd. and Project G., so that you can apply what you learn to a concrete example. You will also get other helpful resources, such as a Case Analysis Worksheet and samples of classdiscussion notes on the Komatsu case that were prepared by real students like you. In addition, smaller excerpts from other real cases are used to illustrate some of the steps in case analysis. 1 Introduction to Case Analysis Types of Cases The "case method" is an approach to learning that encourages students to extract useful lessons from the experiences of others ("cases"). Students study accounts of specific events in order to discover general principles that they can apply in other situations. Cases tend to fall into one of three categories that sometimes overlap: • • • Decision Cases describe a decision faced by the case protagonist. The student ultimately must choose among a finite set of distinct decision alternatives. Problem Cases require a student to diagnose a problem in a business case and to formulate possible solutions. Evaluation Cases illustrate a...
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...meet the production requirements of an open pit mine. The method of analysis was first to determine the cycle time for each truck which led to calculating the amount of each dump truck necessary to meet the waste removal requirement of 70 Mt/pa. Secondly, an expected cost for ten years was conducted on each Komatsu dump truck and cross analysed to determine the most cost efficient option. It was found that the Komatsu 930E-4 had the least expected cost over the ten years. Then cross analysing, each loader with the Komatsu 930E-4 truck, it was determined that the Hitachi EX8000-6 was the most efficient loader for a fleet of Komatsu 930E-4 trucks. Once these were completed, a full haul truck cycle time and expected cost analysis for each year was calculated. It revealed that thirty four Komatsu 930E-4 dump trucks were needed for a single Hitachi EX8000-6 loader. However, the above analysis was limited by the fact that it didn’t account for truck and loader break downs. By taking into account a 10% threshold on the number of trucks and loaders needed it gave some costs accounting for time where not all trucks are operational. This analysis yielded that a fleet of thirty seven Komatsu 930E-4 dump trucks and two Hitachi EX8000-6 loaders would be best suited for the Kangaroo Mining Corporation. The expected costs for both loaders and dump trucks were calculated (refer to table 1.9) and showed that the average expected cost per year of hauling and loading would be $142 613 457/pa and $11...
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...Case #1 Columbia Industries Inc. Centennial School of Business B2B Marketing & Channel Management BUSN-301-001 Columbia Industries, Inc. Columbia Industries is one of highly established, largest manufacturing of code- approved products. It was started in 1948 in British Columbia. Columbia Industries went on to flourish and in 1194 opened a branch in Toronto. They then decided to globally expand opening a new branch in Los Angeles. In 1997, the company faced a problem which needed to be addressed quickly and as soon as possible. 1. Problem Identification: In 1999, the plant manager, industrial engineer and the plant engineer recommended to the company’s general manager that they require 7 new lift trucks. Lift trucks were essential at the warehouse as they are used to move heavy objects from one place to another. The issue with the old lift trucks were that there were safety concerns and one of the driver had recently experienced a near accident while working. Another reason for the requirement of the new lift trucks is that the Vancouver plant has experienced a rapid sale and demand in the past few years. But because of the unavailability of proper lift trucks, the company were unable to address the customer’s needs in the given time and eventually had to lose valuable customers. Therefore, Columbia Industries require 7 new truck lifts which has the ability to do the job and provide a very reliable service. They should also consider the cost of these lift...
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