Porsche Case Study And Strategic Plan Case Studies Example

Introduction: Strategic planning is a basic requirement for any organization to grow and compete in the market. Without effective planning, no organization can grow and compete in the market for long term. This study is about the strategic planning of an organization "Porsche".

Company Introduction:

Porsche History:
Ferdinand Porsche founded the company called "Dr. Ing. h. c. F. Porsche GmbH", in 1931. The main office was located at Kronenstraße 24, at the center of Stuttgart. Initially, the company offered motor vehicle development work and consulting, but did not build any cars under its name. One of the first assignments the new company received was from the German government to design a car for the people, which is the "Volkswagen". This resulted in the Volkswagen Beetle, one of the most successful car designs of all time. The Porsche 64 was developed in 1939, using many components from the Beetle (Porscheengineering.com, 2015).

Marketing Strategy (4Ps):

Product: The products at Porsche are known to be high-quality products for automobiles. They have been designed so that they are strong enough to endure high amount of use. When we study the industry, it has been found that this Company reflects a strong brand when it comes to automobile products in the market.
Price: Consistency and quality are the two features of the products that the Company focuses primarily. This explains the reason the prices may be somewhat higher in the case of these products, as compared to the competitors in the market. There is but a guarantee that the extra amount paid in the purchase of these products will be compensated for the value that is added with the use of these products.
Promotion: The tagline of the brand PORSCHE, "Engineered for Magic, Every day", is itself n indication of how the brand wants to portray itself in the market. The marketing strategy of the Company is customer focused, and that is why the main communication that the Company aims to achieve is making aware the customers about the practical features of Porsche. They specifically target the values of the consumers, to make them more prone to modern features, breaking from the traditional advertisement of performance focus. The enthusiasm of the consumers has been on an increasing trend given the strategic tools that the business has followed. It is also known as an excellent automobile employer in the industry with equal returns to investors and shareholders. The main focus is on value creation.
Place: The Porsche is a premium brand that has a strong distribution channel but may not be available as desired. A popular sports utility vehicle, the brand has a number of offices at various places of the global map places but operates through a central headquarter. It is good for the Company to increase its accessibility because the purchasing power of the customer is increasing. But then, the Company also has to keep in mind that the competition is growing, and other companies too are there trying to capture their market share by making best use of newer models of distribution management.

Current Situation, Industry and Market Analysis:

Porsche has been able to attract and retain a diverse customer segment mixture because of the enhancement capabilities that the Company has exhibited in its engineering. The loyal base of customers that the Company has earned throughout the years is one of the major strengths for the Company. But the competitive advantage for the Company lies in the research and development that the Company indulges in. It is the first mover and leader in the industry when it comes to researches to an extent that many companies use Porsche research as a basis. The major attribution of the efficiency and effectiveness of the brand goes to the engineering variation and excellence, which is a major catalyst for the Company to target niche markets. Diversification of the Company's current product line and penetration into newer markets could comprise the future of Porsche. The worldwide automobile industry is much competitive at the present that it was in the past. There need a clear goal and vision in order to have an additional edge over the competitors. Porsche has been trying to achieve that edge by using newer strategies or modifying the existing ones. There is apt possibility in emerging markets like India, China, Brazil, and Russia. This could be a future for the saturated Western market of automobiles. The demand for vehicles in these markets is at a substantial rise. Sports car can be an option but then for these areas, the demand for non-sports cars will be high. This is where the Company needs to tap in the opportunity. The effectiveness and efficiency of the new age vehicles are being measured now by high fuel efficiency and reduced costs. The brand, Porsche needs to have an eye on the advantages that it maintains and its ability to achieve its targets in a limited period. The long-term success of the Company is dependent on a strategy that is comprehensive because the market is competitive.

SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats)

Strengths and Opportunities:
High quality at comparatively lower prices.
It has the best car factory in the world of automobile manufacturing.
World leading technologies are integrated into successful innovations continuously.
Strategic alliance policy with the other automobile makers.
Strong diversification strategy.
Well-built brand image
Lean production and skilled manpower
Cars manufactured in Germany.
Emerging markets in the world with growing automobile demands.
Weakness and Threats:
The concentration is higher on exportation as compared to licensing, acquisition and international expansion.
The size of the Company may be small if we compare the giants of the automobile industry.
The Company was also a victim of the 2008 worldwide recession.
There may be high brand dilution.
There is an internal conflict between the makers of the Company and the makers of VW.
Growing competition
Continuous need for technology and environment innovation.
Three or four areas from the SWOT analysis and the reasons why the areas have been chosen as essential to the strategic plan:
Strategic planning is the very essential for any organization for the continuous growth and important. Before making any strategy one should analyze the organization position in the market, key value and weaknesses of the organization. Market scenario and competitor's analysis is also necessary to make effective strategic planning for the organization growth.
Strength: To know our strength is the very crucial for any person or any organization. Strength is the result of the self-evaluation. If any organization introspects itself, then it can easily come to know about its strength and weaknesses. So to make the effective strategy it is important to know yourself. Strength assessment gives the knowledge of what else it can do which its competitors are not doing. Using the strength what things can be made better for the customer satisfaction (Managementstudyguide.com, 2015).
Organization needs to analyze the what are the strength which people or customer feel about the organization so that in planning these fields can be explored more. Organization should consider the strength from the internal perspective as well as the customer perspective. While deciding the strengths of own organizations consider the competitor's strength also. For example, if all the competitor is proving the energy efficient cooling system then it cannot be the strength of your organization it is the necessity of market which you have to provide. Strength is something which creates the difference among the competitors.
Analyze the strength in every department like innovation, technology, sales, purchase, etc. what marketing strategy you are having and what need to add so that business can be boosted. How efficient is the support process? How strong and efficient customer and employee training is to deliver the best in the market solution?
Weaknesses: Weakness analysis also plays a vital role in the strategy formation. If you want to improve your performance in the market, firstly you must know all your weakness so that planning can be done in such a manner which aims to improve or remove those weaknesses. In weakness analysis, those factor should be considered which must be avoided in business so that weak factor could not affect the business process. From the customer point of view, weaknesses should be analyzed like what will be the impact of any policy or process is being incorporated. It also analyzed what factor or policies are going to degrade your sales. After analyzing the weaknesses from multiple points of view, there is big chances that any strategy planning will work as expected and will result in greater height in business. It is always good to be realistic as soon as possible and face the unpleasant truth so that these weaknesses can be improved and can be converted into the strength. It should be analyzed that what is reputation of the company among the customer. If it is not good, then some branding mechanism should be included in the strategic planning so that this weakness can be improved. Weakness about the internal processes and HR practices should be identified and try to remove that weakness. It should also be analyzed about the employee satisfaction. Employee orientation program also be analyzed so that in minimum investment maximum can be achieved. Weakness about the external factor should be analyzed like market trends, global economy impact, funding, donations, etc. Weaknesses about the demographic impact like people, place, and market should be analyzed. So weakness analysis is the major pillar for the successful strategy formation.
Opportunity: The external factors analysis for any organization can result in the many opportunities for the business to get the maximum growth and benefit. Reading and analyzing the customer need and thought can give an opportunity to enter the market with some value edition in its offering. All technological enhancements in the market should be analyzed periodically to provide "best of the best" to its customer. Opportunities should be explored in terms of whether company offering can improve the easiness for the customer. Can any product or offer improve the lifestyle of people. It should also be analyzed that which kind of markets like emerging market or developed market can give the best opportunity for the business. What technology should be used for any product so that it can give the values addition to the product and result in business opportunity? It should also be analyzed by the new invented technology which can for the betterment of the products so that it can create the opportunity in the market.
Opportunity analysis should be done from each and every aspect of Technology, invention, customer, and region so that any opportunity analysis cannot be left to maximize the business. Those opportunities should be analyzed which can improve the market image of the organization. If any government policy is being updated then its positive and negative impact on the business need to be analyzed so that it can be concluded that which opportunities can be created for the business in that particular area for example if any country have provisioned for the 50% foreign investment in the defense sector then a company dealing with defense field can explore the opportunity for business in that country and if it seems for any organization that it will be feasible and beneficial to invest in that country then go for investment in that country also. Always keep on eye on the international aspect of the business policies to groom the business in the long term.
Changes in the social pattern of any region can be analyzed for the opportunity and decide whether company offering can create the business opportunity. So while opportunity analysis always keeps in mind that particular market or business which strength can offer an opportunity and which weakness elimination can create the opportunity for the long term. Any organization can make the competitive advantage by analyzing and grabbing the available market opportunities.
The strategy for Porsche for the next five years will comprise of promoting its newer version after promoting it's newer fourth version of the Cayenne. The newest model that we have at Porsche is the fifth generation 911 GT3.
The newer GT3 model increases the chance of downforce over the old car by a significant 10-15%. This improved performance is due to the advanced features of a revamped wing and an aerodynamic body kit. There is a newer and improved 3.8 liter engines as well, which accompanies the PDK gearbox. The innovation at Porsche is going to go a long way in leaving behind the deficiencies in gear changes and make the driving experience a much smoother one.
The 4 P's need to be considered when entering into the market with a new product. The main focus should be the newer emerging markets, and the strategies should be in line with these target markets.
Product: First off, the company needs to figure out the product they are introducing. It is best to differentiate this company product from competitor’s products. It can help get an upper hand against competitors. The product must have good appeal to people, as well as reliability and quality.
Price: Price is the next thing that must be considered. They must have a competitive price. It is preferred to have the cheapest price, but it is bad to sacrifice quality for price.
Place: In this case, the company will be selling this new model through their distributors. They must find a retailer with a good reputation, as well as getting the company the most profit it can get.
Promotion: Since the company is not personally selling this product, it is good to make sure the retailer has a good promotion strategy, as well as good marketing tactics. The company can also try to market their new profit. They could offer some promotion; such as prizes and facilities, saying that the customer may get a year warranty or a rebate if they buy a Porsche on certain occasions.

Recommended organizational structure:

The Company is a branded Company and does not need that much of retailers for the promotion or proper distribution as people will not have bulk purchases and they may directly visit the showrooms when they need to buy a PORSCHE. But then, since we are entering emerging markets, it may be essential to have some retailers or distributors who can have the brand name publicized and attract high profile clients. For other areas, showrooms of the brand set up by the regional offices would suffice as the organization structure.

Plan to measure the success of the strategic plan:

It is always good to implement the strategic plan to boost your business. Progress assessment of any plan also has the same importance for the success of any plan (Success, H. 2015). Below is listed some parameter which should analyzed for the successful implementation of ant strategic plan-
Efficiency measure: After implementing any strategy, any organization must be having some data regarding the company performance so it should be measured that whether this planning implementation improved the efficiency of the business. If all defined goal related to efficiency of any process are people were achieved without creating the negative impact, then it can be concluded that particular strategy has been successfully implemented.
Quality measure: After any plan implementation it should always be measured that whether the quality of people or process is achieved as the targeted. For example- if there was a training program for the sales person which aimed to provide all the necessary information about the product so that they demonstrate the product to the customer in a better way. So if, after training, sales person can sell products to more customer then it derives that training included in the process is having the quality material. If after the plan implementation quality is increasing with time in every aspect of business then it can be concluded that the plan is successful.
Outcomes measures: Before any plan some outcomes are decided. So after the plan implementation desired outcome should be compared with the current output. If desired and output is almost same as the target output plan is successful.
Organization reputation measurement: If there were some planning to improve the organization reputation in the market then there should be some survey to measure whether the company reputation was improved or not.
Increase in sales measurement: Compare the sales of any company before and after the strategy implementation. If sales are increased and meet the desired target, then it means a plan is successful.
Employee satisfaction measurement: Employee satisfaction is the key factor for any business. If after the plan implementation employee's satisfaction level is increased then it means that plan results in positive way.
Technological enhancement measurement: It should be reviewed that after the plan implementation, whether technology enhancement is achieved as desired because technology is the key element of any business.
The measurement criteria as given above reflect the variables that need to be considered whenever the monitoring part of the plans comes into action. The first and foremost thing to do, in this case, is analyzing whether the communication part is correct. If the same message is received by the customers as is wanted to be communicated to the producers, we can say that the plan is a success. Financial success is a major indicator for the success of the plan. The strategy success can also be judged by the competition and brand analysis in the areas where our products and services are being sold. Reduced costs are also one of the major criteria for the success measurement of the plan that has been prepared.

Conclusion:

Strategic planning is the nervous system of any business or organization, including Porsche. So to achieve greater height in business it is mandatory to have to plan and implement it with utmost care so that it could not create any negative impact on the business. Planning should be done in such a manner so that no stone left unturned (Balancedscorecard.org, 2015). There must be some criteria to measure the effectiveness of the plan. Plan should to monitored in effective way to ensure that plan is not deviated from its path and going as desired. These factors will drive Porsche to further success.

References

Amor, A. (2015). GRIN - A detailed analysis of Porsche AG and its industry segment. Grin.com. Retrieved 16 March 2015, from http://www.grin.com/en/e-book/269113/a-detailed-analysis-of-porsche-ag-and-its-industry-segment
Balancedscorecard.org,. (2015). The Basics of Strategic Planning, Strategic Management, and Strategy Execution. Retrieved 16 March 2015, from http://balancedscorecard.org/Resources/Strategic-Planning-Basics
Managementstudyguide.com,. (2015). SWOT Analysis - Definition, Advantages, and Limitations. Retrieved 16 March 2015, from http://managementstudyguide.com/swot-analysis.htm
Porscheengineering.com,. (2015). History - The Company - Home - Porsche Engineering. Retrieved 16 March 2015, from http://www.porscheengineering.com/peg/en/about/history/
Success, H. (2015). How to Measure Your Strategic Plan’s Success - For Dummies. Dummies.com. Retrieved 16 March 2015, from http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-to-measure-your-strategic-plans-success.html