...In October 1946, Soichiro Honda established the Honda Technical Research Institute in Hamamatsu, Japan, to develop and produce small 2-cycle motorbike engines. Two years later, Honda Motor Company, Ltd. was born, and in 1959 Honda opened its first storefront in Los Angeles with six industrious employees. The history of the Honda Motor Company began with an autophile and his dream. Japanese entrepreneur Soichiro Honda had loved motor vehicles almost since birth. When he was fifteen, he became part of an auto repair shop, and the passion grew. His greatest dream was to become a world-renowned car racer, and it was an ambition which he would fulfill in time. But first, the auto lover found himself employed as a technician. During his free time, he nurtured his growing interest in motor vehicles by building race cars and tooling with his Harley motorcycle. Honda possessed a natural talent for anything motorized, and his skills allowed him to open the doors of his very own repair shop in 1928. As his curiosity grew, he attended technical school in order to discover the perfect way to manufacture a piston ring. Honda combined his inborn knowledge with his new technical knowledge to take the first tentative steps toward entrepreneurial success. He utilized what he had learned about piston rings to form the Tokai Seiki Company. In 1928, he secured his first of many patents (for automobile wheel spokes). Then, as World War II ravaged Japan, Honda cornered the market on badly needed generator...
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...1. What is the explanation for Honda’s success in the U.S. market? Unlike other foreign players who depended on distributors, Honda established a U.S. subsidiary, American Honda Motor Company and moved forward in the U.S. market by presenting very small lightweight motorcycles. Female riders were kept in mind while designing its structure, it was simple to handle and cost effective. Honda focused mainly on middle class consumers. This marketing endeavour was supported by substantial advertisement and promotional strength. Honda used its productivity-based cost advantage and R&D competency to launch new models at a price lesser than that of the competitors. The time gap between conception and production was really short. Honda was also found to have a large variety of designs that could be proposed if the market progressed. Honda had formed the biggest dealership network in the U.S. Honda dealers were higher than their competitors. Honda was prepared to undergo short term losses in order to establish a satisfactory selling and distribution network. It gave a lot of importance to market share and sales volume. Hence the maintenance and expansion of the market share played an integral role. The yearly sales target simply had to be met by the company. The sales volume had to be developed quicker as compared to that of the competitors. Honda did not target any particular market segments in the U.S., but displayed the capacity to conduct experiments, to correct errors, to...
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...[pic] CASE STUDY GROUP 1 ASSIGNMENT 1 CASE STUDY SUMMARY Kinetic Company was formed in 1972 by H.K Firodia then taken over by his son in Arun Firodia in 1985. Kinetic then merged with Honda to form Kinetic Honda Motor Ltd with stakes of 28.56% each concentrating on scooters and spare parts. Kinetic Honda Manufactured Scooters while Kinetic engineering manufactured mopeds. In the 80s Kinetic Honda had the largest market share of mopeds which dropped in the 90s by half to 22%. There was also competition in the two wheeler industry by Suzuki and hero Honda. This led to a further poor performance of Kinetic in the market. The poor performance was brought about by conflicts of interests between Honda and Kinetic; each wanting their brand promoted more than it was at the time. Honda also competed with Kinetic Honda through hero Honda in the larger two wheeler market. The poor performance of the scooter industry was leading to a diminishing market. Kinetic realized that their brand was slowly diminishing and decided to pull away from the merger; Honda shared the same sentiments and asked Kinetic to buy them off or vice versa. Firodia bought the 51% stake of Honda and gained full control of the Organization. The new company was called Kinetic motor Company; the company restructured and was able to implement decisions much better. There was better promotion and growth in sales and revenue of Mopeds and Scooters. In 2001...
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...MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS MINI PROJECT SUBMITTED BY D.Muthamizh MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS Management information systems (MIS) is the study of people, technology, organizations, and the relationships among them. This definition, given by Mays Business School, relates specifically to MIS as a course of study. In other words, MIS is commonly used in business schools to refer to the study of how individuals, groups, and organizations evaluate, design, implement, manage, and utilize systems to generate information to improve efficiency and effectiveness of decision making, including systems termed decision support systems, expert systems, and executive information systems. Many business schools (or colleges of business administration within universities) have an MIS department, alongside departments of accounting, finance, management, marketing, and may award degrees (at undergraduate, master, and doctoral levels) in MIS. A good definition of MIS in practice has been given in a journal article: "Establishing and Managing Management Information Systems in Developing Countries" by Dr. Chris Prince Udochukwu Njoku. Dr. Njoku gave the comprehensive definition after a critical assessment of many definitions, some of which he cited, and described them as inadequate. MIS professionals help organizations--big, medium and small--realize maximum benefit from investments in personnel, equipment, and business processes. MIS is people-oriented, with an emphasis on service. Although...
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...Honda workshop handout (Honda B) Extract taken from pages 84 – 89 of The Honda Effect. By: Pascale, Richard T. California Management Review. Summer96, Vol. 38 Issue 4, p80-91. 12p. Abstract: The article presents an excerpt of "Perspectives on Strategy: The Real Story Behind Honda's Success," by Richard T. Pascale, originally published in the Spring 1984 issue of "California Management Review". Copied under the terms of the Copyright Licensing Agency's (CLA) Higher Education licence, for students registered on UMSD7T-15-3 - Strategic management (business, international and management); UMSD7U-15-3 - Strategic management (accounting, economics and finance); and UMSDDJ-15-3 - Strategic management (marketing, events and tourism). Any account of Honda's successes must grasp at the outset the unusual character of its founder, Sochiro Honda, and his partner, Takeo Fujisawa. Honda was an inventive genius with a large ego and mercurial temperament, given to bouts of "philandering" (to use his expression).[ 8] Postwar Japan was in desperate need of transportation. Motorcycle manufacturers proliferated, producing clip-on engines that converted bicycles into make-shift "mopeds." Honda was among these, but it was not until he teamed up with Fujisawa in 1949 that the elements of a successful enterprise began to take shape. Fujisawa provided money as well as financial and marketing strengths. In 1950, their first D-type motorcycle was introduced. They were, at that juncture, participating...
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...to customers. A firm with a competitive advantage may experience higher profits than the average profit in the industry while competing for the same customers. In the case of Honda, this is true. Honda has many distinctive competencies based on its resource and capabilities that allow it to have a competitive advantage in the auto manufacturing industry. Three areas that give Honda a competitive advantage in the auto industry include Honda's engineering and design, research and development, and brand equity. In order to determine whether Honda's competitive advantage in these three areas is sustainable, we analyze and apply each one to the VRIO framework. Honda is unique in that its corporate structure is made of three companies. Honda Research and Development is in charge of research and development of innovative products for the company. Honda Motor produces, sells, and services the all Honda products. Honda Engineering develops manufacturing processes, systems and equipment used to build all Honda products. Honda's superior design capability has enabled it to build high-quality reliable products and has also added value to the Honda brand. Honda's efficient manufacturing processes have also kept production costs low relative to other automakers in the industry (Snipes 2008). In terms of value, Honda excels at using its engineering expertise and design skills to build reliable cars that simply work. This ability is quite valuable to the company and its industry. Although valuable...
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...ICRA RATING FEATURE TWO-WHEELER INDUSTRY: GROWTH DRIVERS INTACT Contacts Anjan Ghosh aghosh@icraindia.com (+91-22-30470006) Subrata Ray subrata@icraindia.com (+91-22-30470027) Jitin Makkar jitinm@icraindia.com (+91-124-4545368) Overview The Indian two-wheeler (2W) industry has shown a strong volume growth over the last two-years, having grown by 25% in 2009-10 and 27% in 2010-111 to reach 13.3 million units. This strong double-digit growth has been driven by multiple factors. One reason, of course, is statistical as this period of high double-digit growth has showed up after a rather sedate previous two years, when the 2W industry volumes had shrunk by 5% in 2007-08 and had grown by a mere 5% in 2008-09. In addition to the contribution of pent-up demand, the 2W industry growth over the last two years has been supported strongly by various underlying factors including India’s rising per capita GDP, increasing rural demand, growing urbanization, swelling replacement demand, increasing proportion of cash sales and the less measurable metric of improved consumer sentiment. Going forward, ICRA expects the 2W industry to report a volume CAGR of 10-12% over the next five years to reach a size of ~21-23 million units by 2015-16 as it views the fundamental growth drivers comprising of expected steady GDP growth, moderate 2W penetration levels, favourable demographic profile, under developed public transport system and utility quotient of a 2W - to be intact. Additionally, the...
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...Honda Motor Co, Ltd. The Beginning From a young age, Honda's founder, Soichiro Honda (本田 宗一郎, Honda Sōichirō) (November 17, 1906 – August 5, 1991) had a great interest in automobiles. He worked as a mechanic at a Japanese tuning shop, Art Shokai, where he tuned cars and entered them in races. A self-taught engineer, he later worked on a piston design which he hoped to sell to Toyota. The first drafts of his design were rejected, and Soichiro worked painstakingly to perfect the design, even going back to school and pawning his wife's jewelry for collateral. Eventually, he won a contract with Toyota and built a factory to construct pistons for them, which was destroyed in an earthquake. Due to a gasoline shortage during World War II, Honda was unable to use his car, and his novel idea of attaching a small engine to his bicycle attracted much curiosity. He then established the Honda Technical Research Institute in Hamamatsu, Japan, to develop and produce small 2-cycle motorbike engines. Calling upon 18,000 bicycle shop owners across Japan to take part in revitalizing a nation torn apart by war, Soichiro received enough capital to engineer his first motorcycle, the Honda Cub. This marked the beginning of Honda Motor Company, which would grow a short time later to be the world's largest manufacturer of motorcycles by 1964. The first production automobile from Honda was the T360 mini pick-up truck, which went on sale in August 1963. Powered by a small 356 cc...
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...“emerging-market” companies face. Honda, which sold its scooters, motorcycles, and cars worldwide on the strength of its superior technology, quality, and brand appeal, was planning to enter the Indian market. Its remarkable success selling motorcycles in Western markets and in such nearby countries as Thailand and Malaysia was well known. For the independent-minded Bajaj family, a joint venture with Honda was not an option. But faced with Honda’s superior resources, what else could the company do? Here in this situation David is BAJAJ Auto and Goliath would be HONDA Motors. Why David succeeded? A closer look at the situation convinced Bajaj’s managers that Honda’s advantages were not as formidable as they first appeared. The scooter industry was based on mature and relatively stable technology. While Honda would enjoy some advantages in product development, Bajaj would not have to spend heavily to keep up. The makeup of the Indian scooter market, moreover, differed in many ways from Honda’s established customer base. Consumers looked for low-cost, durable machines, and they wanted easy access to maintenance facilities in the countryside. Bajaj, which sold cheap, rugged scooters through an extensive distribution system and a ubiquitous service network of roadside-mechanic stalls, fit the Indian market well. Honda, which offered sleekly designed models sold mostly through outlets in major cities, did not. Instead of forming a partnership with Honda, Bajaj’s owners decided to stay...
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...Honda has assigned a woman, Kunii to its board for the first time and given a major promotion to a foreigner in a sign the automaker wants to change perceptions of a hidebound corporate culture. Honda Motor Co. announced Monday that technology expert Hideko Kunii, 66, will join the board, and Issao Mizoguchi, a Brazilian of Japanese ancestry, has been appointed operating officer. These appointments require shareholder approval at the June meeting of the establishment. The company has come under fire in Japan does not advocate any person other than Japanese men. Honda officials clearly stated that Kunii was chosen is because her’s ability and she is the right person but not because of the gender issue. Among Japanese companies, Nissan Motor Co., allied with Renault SA of France, has been the most progressive in promoting diversity. However, this has not yet appointed a woman to its board of directors. Placing women in leadership positions is a motive of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's policies to rescue the moribund Japanese economy. Japanese society is expected to lose its potential for growth and innovation, if it does not do more to encourage women to enter the labour market, because its population is aging and shrinking. This is because Japanese is a high masculine culture country which the society is driven by competition, achievement and success, with success being defined by the winner in field. This culture make women hard to climb up the corporate ladders in Japan with their...
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...1 SH VIETNAM GROUP Product Analysis Report SH VIETNAM Pham Thu Trang – s3269619 Dinh Thi Huyen Huong – s3255419 Cao Huong Giang – s3275900 Nguyen Phuc Tuan Anh – s3259027 Nguyen Phi Hung – s3258221 Lecturer: Ellen McArthur 2 SH VIETNAM GROUP TABLE OF CONTENT Executive Summary ................................................................................................................................................................ 3 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................................ 4 Company founder and its current status ............................................................................................................................ 4 The company’s principal products ...................................................................................................................................... 4 Major rivals and current situation ...................................................................................................................................... 5 Target Market and Positioning .............................................................................................................................................. 6 Primary target market for SH Vietnam ............................................................................................................................... 6 Potential...
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...1. What is the explanation for Honda’s success in the U.S. market? Ans: Honda Motors Co. Ltd., one of the leading automobile companies in the world, achieved success by offering superior quality products to its customers. Honda produced its products which were of high quality and prices below those of competitive machines. Honda became the first Japanese automaker to be a net exporter from the United States, exporting over millions of product. The success of Honda in the US market was responsible for distribution, marketing and sales of Honda and Acura brand automobiles, Honda power sports products, including motorcycles, scooters and all-terrain vehicles. Honda claims several firsts for a Japanese carmaker in the United States. The company was the first to create a subsidiary to market and sell its vehicles in the country. Honda spends more money on its advertising which made it famous in the US market. As it tells about that ‘you meet the nicest people on Honda’ its advertising techniques was very much better in attracting the customers. A large number of Honda vehicles were being sold in the US market all because of its services and the technique of advertising about its product in the market, made Honda famous in the US market. Firstly Honda began as a motorcycle manufacturer only in the US market. The main point in the business purpose of Honda was it was looking for its long term profit in the market. So Honda was ready to face short term losses so that it can enhance...
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...Japan’s Motorcycle Wars alexander.indd 1 4/14/2008 9:29:25 PM alexander.indd 2 4/14/2008 9:29:25 PM Jeffrey W. Alexander Japan’s Motorcycle Wars alexander.indd 3 An Industry History 4/14/2008 9:29:25 PM © UBC Press 2008 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without prior written permission of the publisher, or, in Canada, in the case of photocopying or other reprographic copying, a licence from Access Copyright (Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency), www.accesscopyright.ca. 17 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 54321 Printed in Canada with vegetable-based inks on FSC-certified ancient-forest-free paper (100% post-consumer recycled) that is processed chlorine- and acid-free. Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication Alexander, Jeffrey W. (Jeffrey William), 1972Japan’s motorcycle wars : an industry history / Jeffrey W. Alexander. Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn 978-0-7748-1453-9 1. Motorcycle industry – Japan – History. 2. Motorcycling – Japan – History. I. Title. HD9710.5.J32A43 2008 338.4’762922750952 C2007-907431-6 UBC Press gratefully acknowledges the financial support for our publishing program of the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program (BPIDP), and of the Canada Council for the Arts, and the British Columbia Arts Council. This book has been...
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...dominating the market. There were very few products and choices available as far as motorcycle is concerned and Enfield bullet and Rajdoot dominated the market. The 80s saw the entry of Japanese companies in the Indian market with the opening up of the market to foreign companies. Hero Honda and TVS Suzuki are companies formed in this era of market reform. The market was still predominantly scooter dominated and Bajaj and LML were the leading brands producing two-wheelers at that time. Scooter was viewed as a more family and utility friendly vehicle than motorcycle and hence was preferred. The Japanese companies not only collaborated with Indian companies to produce the already existing products but also brought in new technology as a result of which the ever conquering 100cc bikes which were extremely fuel efficient with 4 stroke engines were launched in India. These proved to be highly successful as they provided a cheap and affordable means of personal transport to all those who could not buy a car. The flourishing middle class took a great liking for these bikes and the bike sales in India began to grow exponentially year on year leading to Hero Honda becoming...
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...Case Study 2: Types and Patterns of Innovation Honda and Hybrid, Electric Vehicles Honda was founded in Hamamatsu, Japan, by Soichiro Honda in 1946 as the Honda Technical Research Institute. The company began as a developer of engines for bicycles, but by 1949 it had produced its first motorcycle, called the Dream. In 1959, Honda entered the U.S. automobile and motorcycle market by opening the American Honda Motor Company. A few years later, in 1963, Honda released its first sports car, the S500, in Japan. Honda Motor Co. Inc. grew rapidly to become one of the largest automobile companies in the world. Its "glocalisation" strategy of building factories around the world that would meet the needs of local customers had resulted in a total worldwide presence of more than 100 factories in 33 countries. Furthermore, while other auto manufacturers engaged in a frenzy of merger and acquisition activities in the late 1990s, Honda steadfastly maintained its independence. Honda has grown into one of the world's largest automobile manufacturers and has also evolved into one of the most respected global brands. In 1997, Honda Motor Company introduced to Japan a two-door gas/electric hybrid vehicle called the Insight. The Insight's fuel efficiency was rated at 61 miles per gallon in the city, and 68 miles per gallon on the highway, and its battery did not need to be plugged into an electrical outlet for recharging. By 1999, Honda was selling the Insight in the United States, and winning accolades...
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