Strategic Capabilities - Case of Dyson - Essay Example

? DYSON CASESTUDY By Introduction Dyson is a company that wholly deals with the sale and manufacture of vacuum cleaners and hand dryers. The founder of the company and the master inventor is known as James Dyson. By the year 2005, the Dyson company had recorded up to 100 million pounds in profits. The company has had to engage itself in various strategic activities all in a bid to increase revenue. The world of today is very competitive in nature. James Dyson realized this and sort to make various innovations that cause their products to stand out from the crowed. Strategic capabilities Dyson was operating in a very competitive environment. This called for the need to introduce new frameworks and innovations that would see the company survive in the market. James Dyson believed in patents. He always ensured that whatever new form of technology he used was protected by patent laws he did this so as to ensure that his designs and innovations are not copied by the competitors. Dyson also analyzed the market to establish the true market requirements. With this information, he was able to devise a product that would meet all the market requirements and satisfy them (Bessant & Tidd, 2011, p. 267). Dyson was also involved in a move that raised numerous criticisms in its home country, the United Kingdom. James Dyson decided to move its manufacturing plant from United Kingdom to Malaysia and China. This move was to ensure that the company stays competitive. The cost of production in the home country became too much and the move was to ensure that the cost of production was minimized which will in turn lead to an increase in the amount of profit that was generated. The move to Malaysia, according to James Dyson, was so that they could have a testing facility close to their suppliers, of whom were all located in the eastern countries. This move was aimed at increasing efficiency in the company. However, the move resulted in the loss of hundreds of jobs in the United Kingdom. Imitation Competition is very stiff in the current market. This therefore means that the competitors of the company may try to imitate their biggest rivals in a bid to increase their sales. Due to the fact that James Dyson believed in patent protection so much, it became difficult for other competitors to imitate the company’s products. In my opinion therefore, I think that Dyson’s capabilities could be difficult to imitate. This is because James Dyson has studied school of arts. This therefore means that his ideas and innovations are very unique due to high innovative nature that he is capable of (Witcher & Chau, 2010, p. 79). I therefore think that the competitors may only be able to imitate Dyson’s capabilities in the design level. This is because the competitors will only get to see the product after it has been launched in the market. Dyson always ensures that all its secrets in the production line remain to be just secrets. This is also ensured by the manner in which security within the plant is handled. For starters, every door within the company is opened using a thumb print scanner. However much this is the case, there are still some areas of the company that are regarded to be off limits. That is, there are areas that not everybody is allowed to go in to. Furthermore, all of Dyson’s designs, technologies and innovations are protected by patent laws. This prohibits the competitors from copying any of their designs. As a result, Dyson’s products come out as unique and original designs. This has made it extremely impossible for the competitors to imitate anything with regards to Dyson’s products (Thompson & Martin, 2010, p. 167). Distinctive capabilities Dyson has over the years emerged to be at the top of its market. All this is owed to the fact that the company has several unique capabilities and qualities that help in ensuring the company remains competitive in nature. I my opinion, I think James Dyson’s unique ability to come up with new designs and innovations for the company’s products, will eventually become the company’s threshold for the other capabilities. This will determine the quality and range of products that the company produces. Over the years, the company has been able to remain afloat in the highly competitive market due to the fact that the James Dyson always came up with very innovative designs that were used to manufacture their products. In addition, the company engaged in very strict policies concerning the manner in which information was being handled within the company. The security system that was employed by the company was very high tech. All this was aimed at safeguarding any information about their production set up (Jolly, 2003, p. 88). By containing this information, it was difficult for the competitors to imitate anything about the company’s products. Therefore, within a few years, the innovative capabilities of the company’s founder, James Dyson, will be considered as the company’s threshold capabilities. James Dyson’s role in the company Being the founder and innovator of the company, James Dyson plays a very critical role in the running of the company. He is the brains of the company. All the designs of the products that the company produces were produced by him. This means that the company is fully depending on him to keep the company in business. Furthermore, James Dyson went ahead and protected all his designs and innovations with patent laws. This means that no one can be able to duplicate or reproduce his work in the event that he was no longer working at the company (Uhlig, 2001, p. 62). When the company first started, James Dyson invented the first vacuum cleaner using his designs. Over the years as the company progressed, the company has had to rely on Jams Dyson’s unique designs for the company to manufacture. James Dyson was a very talented individual. Based on the designs that he created, he was always one step ahead of his competitors. Once a product was launched, the competitors examined it and sort to develop a product that would perform similar functions. The company quickly became one of the leading vacuum cleaner manufacturers in the United Kingdom (Kaplan & Warren, 2009, p. 78). It is therefore evident that the company wholly relies on the abilities of James Dyson for its survival. In the event that James Dyson would leave the company, then operations within the company would be severely hindered due to the fact that the company would not be able to reproduce any of the products that were designed by James Dyson because they are all protected by patent laws. Sir James Dyson was very particular about finding designs would be able to be protected by patent laws. This is because he believed very much in the patent protection. He did not entertain any form of duplication of copying of his products and designs by the competitors in the market. The company will be most affected in terms of innovation. It would be difficult to source for another person who would be able to come up with similar designs as the ones invented by James Dyson. Furthermore, the company would not be able to reproduce the current range of products that the company has. This means that the company will lack the ability to produce more goods and as a result it will lose the competitive edge that it had gained over the years as a result of the services offered to the company by James Dyson. Therefore, the company cannot afford to lose Sir James Dyson as his work is what keeps the company growing. List of References Kaplan, J & Warren, A 2009, Patterns of entrepreneurship management. Illustrated. USA. John Wiley & Sons Print. Uhlig, R 2001, James Dyson’s history of great inventions. Illustrated. United Kingdom. Constable & Robinson Limited Press. Thompson, J & Martin, F 2010, Strategic management: Awareness & change. Illustration. USA. Cengage Learning Press. Witcher, B & Chau, V 2010, Strategic management: Principles and practice. Illustrated. USA. Cengage Learning Press. Bessant, J & Tidd, J 2011, Innovation and entrepreneurship. Illustrated. USA. John Wiley & Sons Print. Jolly, A 2003, Innovation. Illustrated. United Kingdom. Kogan Publishers. Read More