Case Study Description of Harley-Davidson: Marketing Strategy for Motorcycles--1977
Incorporates material on AMF, Harley-Davidson's parent company. This information is designed to permit analysis of Harley-Davidson in the context of AMF's corporate strategy and overall business portfolio. A rewritten version of two earlier cases.
Swot Analysis of "Harley-Davidson: Marketing Strategy for Motorcycles--1977" written by Robert D. Buzzell includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Harley Davidson facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Harley-Davidson: Marketing Strategy for Motorcycles--1977 case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Competitive strategy, Financial markets, Marketing and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Harley-Davidson: Marketing Strategy for Motorcycles--1977 casestudy better are - – increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing energy prices, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing transportation and logistics costs, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, wage bills are increasing,
banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Harley-Davidson: Marketing Strategy for Motorcycles--1977
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Harley-Davidson: Marketing Strategy for Motorcycles--1977 case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Harley Davidson, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Harley Davidson operates in.
According to Harvard Business Review, 75% of the managers use SWOT analysis for various purposes such as – evaluating current scenario, strategic planning, new venture feasibility, personal growth goals, new market entry, Go To market strategies, portfolio management and strategic trade-off assessment, organizational restructuring, etc.
SWOT Objectives / Importance of SWOT Analysis and SWOT Matrix
SWOT analysis of Harley-Davidson: Marketing Strategy for Motorcycles--1977 can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Harley-Davidson: Marketing Strategy for Motorcycles--1977 case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Harley Davidson
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Sales & Marketing field.
4. Making a Sales & Marketing topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Harley Davidson
Strengths Harley-Davidson: Marketing Strategy for Motorcycles--1977 | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Harley Davidson in Harley-Davidson: Marketing Strategy for Motorcycles--1977 Harvard Business Review case study are -
Innovation driven organization
– Harley Davidson is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Harley-Davidson: Marketing Strategy for Motorcycles--1977 Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Digital Transformation in Sales & Marketing segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Harley Davidson digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Harley Davidson has successfully integrated the four key components of digital transformation – digital integration in processes, digital integration in marketing and customer relationship management, digital integration into the value chain, and using technology to explore new products and market opportunities.
Strong track record of project management
– Harley Davidson is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Harley Davidson are driving operational speed, building greater agility, and keeping the organization nimble to compete with new competitors. It helps are organization to ideate new ideas, and execute them swiftly in the marketplace.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– Harley-Davidson: Marketing Strategy for Motorcycles--1977 firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Harley Davidson to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Harley Davidson to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Harley Davidson in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Training and development
– Harley Davidson has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Harley-Davidson: Marketing Strategy for Motorcycles--1977 Harvard Business Review case study by analyzing – employees retention, in-house promotion, loyalty, new venture initiation, lack of conflict, and high level of both employees and customer engagement.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Harley-Davidson: Marketing Strategy for Motorcycles--1977 Harvard Business Review case study comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the industry, building diversified operations across different geographies so that disruption in one part of the world doesn’t impact the overall performance of the firm, and integrating the various business operations and processes through its digital transformation drive.
Diverse revenue streams
– Harley Davidson is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Harley-Davidson: Marketing Strategy for Motorcycles--1977 case study a diverse revenue stream that has helped it to survive disruptions such as global pandemic in Covid-19, financial disruption of 2008, and supply chain disruption of 2021.
High brand equity
– Harley Davidson has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Harley Davidson to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Learning organization
- Harley Davidson is a learning organization. It has inculcated three key characters of learning organization in its processes and operations – exploration, creativity, and expansiveness. The work place at Harley Davidson is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Harley-Davidson: Marketing Strategy for Motorcycles--1977 Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Ability to lead change in Sales & Marketing field
– Harley Davidson is one of the leading players in its industry. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in its segment but also across the whole industry. The ability to lead change has enabled Harley Davidson in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Weaknesses Harley-Davidson: Marketing Strategy for Motorcycles--1977 | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Harley-Davidson: Marketing Strategy for Motorcycles--1977 are -
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Harley-Davidson: Marketing Strategy for Motorcycles--1977 has high operating costs in the. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Harley Davidson 's lucrative customers.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Harley Davidson has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Harley-Davidson: Marketing Strategy for Motorcycles--1977 that the firm needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department in the case Harley-Davidson: Marketing Strategy for Motorcycles--1977 can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Harley Davidson is planning to shift buying processes online.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Robert D. Buzzell suggests that, Harley Davidson is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the industry.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Harley Davidson needs to come up with a strategy to reduce the workers concern regarding automation. Without a clear strategy, it could lead to disruption and uncertainty within the organization.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Harley Davidson has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Harley-Davidson: Marketing Strategy for Motorcycles--1977 HBR case study mentions - Harley Davidson takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the industry in last five years.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Harley Davidson is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Harley-Davidson: Marketing Strategy for Motorcycles--1977 can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Harley-Davidson: Marketing Strategy for Motorcycles--1977, in the dynamic environment Harley Davidson has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Harley Davidson has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Lack of clear differentiation of Harley Davidson products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Harley Davidson needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
High dependence on existing supply chain
– The disruption in the global supply chains because of the Covid-19 pandemic and blockage of the Suez Canal illustrated the fragile nature of Harley Davidson supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Harley-Davidson: Marketing Strategy for Motorcycles--1977, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Harley Davidson vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Opportunities Harley-Davidson: Marketing Strategy for Motorcycles--1977 | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities highlighted in the Harvard Business Review case study Harley-Davidson: Marketing Strategy for Motorcycles--1977 are -
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Harley Davidson can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Harley Davidson can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Harley Davidson operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Sales & Marketing sector.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Harley Davidson to increase its market reach. Harley Davidson will be able to reach out to new customers. Secondly 5G will also provide technology framework to build new tools and products that can help more immersive consumer experience and faster consumer journey.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Harley Davidson can leverage digital technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate the production process, customer analytics to get better insights into consumer behavior, realtime digital dashboards to get better sales tracking, logistics and transportation, product tracking, etc.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Harley Davidson is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Harley-Davidson: Marketing Strategy for Motorcycles--1977 case study suggests that firm can utilize new technology to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Identify volunteer opportunities
– Covid-19 has impacted working population in two ways – it has led to people soul searching about their professional choices, resulting in mass resignation. Secondly it has encouraged people to do things that they are passionate about. This has opened opportunities for businesses to build volunteer oriented socially driven projects. Harley Davidson can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Manufacturing automation
– Harley Davidson can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Sales & Marketing segment. It can use CAD and 3D printing to build a quick prototype and pilot testing products. It can leverage automation using machine learning and artificial intelligence to do faster production at lowers costs, and it can leverage the growth in satellite and tracking technologies to improve inventory management, transportation, and shipping.
Developing new processes and practices
– Harley Davidson can develop new processes and procedures in Sales & Marketing industry using technology such as automation using artificial intelligence, real time transportation and products tracking, 3D modeling for concept development and new products pilot testing etc.
Loyalty marketing
– Harley Davidson has focused on building a highly responsive customer relationship management platform. This platform is built on in-house data and driven by analytics and artificial intelligence. The customer analytics can help the organization to fine tune its loyalty marketing efforts, increase the wallet share of the organization, reduce wastage on mainstream advertising spending, build better pricing strategies using personalization, etc.
Reconfiguring business model
– The expansion of digital payment system, the bringing down of international transactions costs using Bitcoin and other blockchain based currencies, etc can help Harley Davidson to reconfigure its entire business model. For example it can used blockchain based technologies to reduce piracy of its products in the big markets such as China. Secondly it can use the popularity of e-commerce in various developing markets to build a Direct to Customer business model rather than the current Channel Heavy distribution network.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Harley Davidson can build a diversified supply chain model across various countries in - South East Asia, India, and other parts of the world. This reconfiguration of global supply chain can help, as suggested in case study, Harley-Davidson: Marketing Strategy for Motorcycles--1977, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Harley Davidson can make experimentation a productive activity and build a culture of innovation using approaches such as – mining transaction data, A/B testing of websites and selling platforms, engaging potential customers over various needs, and building on small ideas in the Sales & Marketing segment.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Harley Davidson can still utilize the low interest rates to borrow money for capital investment. Secondly it can also use the increase of government spending in infrastructure projects to get new business.
Threats Harley-Davidson: Marketing Strategy for Motorcycles--1977 External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Harley-Davidson: Marketing Strategy for Motorcycles--1977 are -
Increasing wage structure of Harley Davidson
– Post Covid-19 there is a sharp increase in the wages especially in the jobs that require interaction with people. The increasing wages can put downward pressure on the margins of Harley Davidson.
Aging population
– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Harley Davidson with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Regulatory challenges
– Harley Davidson needs to prepare for regulatory challenges as consumer protection groups and other pressure groups are vigorously advocating for more regulations on big business - to reduce inequality, to create a level playing field, to product data privacy and consumer privacy, to reduce the influence of big money on democratic institutions, etc. This can lead to significant changes in the Sales & Marketing industry regulations.
Backlash against dominant players
– US Congress and other legislative arms of the government are getting tough on big business especially technology companies. The digital arm of Harley Davidson business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Sales & Marketing field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Harley Davidson can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
New competition
– After the dotcom bust of 2001, financial crisis of 2008-09, the business formation in US economy had declined. But in 2020 alone, there are more than 1.5 million new business applications in United States. This can lead to greater competition for Harley Davidson in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Harley Davidson can face downward pressure on margins from increasing competition from international players. The international players have stable revenue in their home market and can use those resources to penetrate prominent markets illustrated in HBR case study Harley-Davidson: Marketing Strategy for Motorcycles--1977 .
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Harley Davidson has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Harley Davidson needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Sales & Marketing sector. According to Mckinsey study top managers believe that the adoption of technology in operations, communications is 20-25 times faster than what they planned in the beginning of 2019.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Harley Davidson in the Sales & Marketing industry. The Sales & Marketing industry is already at various protected from local competition in China, with the rise of trade war the protection levels may go up. This presents a clear threat of current business model in Chinese market.
Instability in the European markets
– European Union markets are facing three big challenges post Covid – expanded balance sheets, Brexit related business disruption, and aggressive Russia looking to distract the existing security mechanism. Harley Davidson will face different problems in different parts of Europe. For example it will face inflationary pressures in UK, France, and Germany, balance sheet expansion and demand challenges in Southern European countries, and geopolitical instability in the Eastern Europe.
High level of anxiety and lack of motivation
– the Great Resignation in United States is the sign of broader dissatisfaction among the workforce in United States. Harley Davidson needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Harley-Davidson: Marketing Strategy for Motorcycles--1977, Harley Davidson may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Sales & Marketing .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Harley-Davidson: Marketing Strategy for Motorcycles--1977 Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers in the HBR case study Harley-Davidson: Marketing Strategy for Motorcycles--1977 needs to zero down on the relative importance of each factor mentioned in the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants.
We can provide the relative importance to each factor by assigning relative weights. Weighted SWOT analysis process is a three stage process –
First stage for doing weighted SWOT analysis of the case study Harley-Davidson: Marketing Strategy for Motorcycles--1977 is to rank the strengths and weaknesses of the organization. This will help you to assess the most important strengths and weaknesses of the firm and which one of the strengths and weaknesses mentioned in the initial lists are marginal and can be left out.
Second stage for conducting weighted SWOT analysis of the Harvard case study Harley-Davidson: Marketing Strategy for Motorcycles--1977 is to give probabilities to the external strategic factors thus better understanding the opportunities and threats arising out of macro environment changes and developments.
Third stage of constructing weighted SWOT analysis of Harley-Davidson: Marketing Strategy for Motorcycles--1977 is to provide strategic recommendations includes – joining likelihood of external strategic factors such as opportunities and threats to the internal strategic factors – strengths and weaknesses. You should start with external factors as they will provide the direction of the overall industry. Secondly by joining probabilities with internal strategic factors can help the company not only strategic fit but also the most probably strategic trade-off that Harley Davidson needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
