Strategic Management and Leadership Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Strategic Management and Leadership - Essay Example The major businesses of this conglomerate include electronics, entertainment, electronic games and most recently financial services. This paper will focus on analysis of the major factors that have propelled the company to such growth in an industry which requires one to be very innovative in order to remain relevant as the risk of being outshined is ever increasing. The paper will also seek to analyse the strategies that could be utilised in order to ensure that the company remains competitive. Success Measures The success of the Sony Corporation can be measured in terms of the growth that it has realised over the years. At the onset of its inception, there was a view of Japanese companies as simply businesses skilled at copying the technology used in the West rather than making products of their own (Beomish, 1999). The business shunned the existing Japanese business networks. As a startup company, the Corporation did not have a big market share as compared to other business that w as in the entertainment industry at the time. The Corporation at its beginning had minimal capital and was at the same time limited in its ideas. Sony has in the last year of operation realised profits of about 6.5 trillion Yens. According to Gunther (2001), this is a far cry from the time it was beginning when it barely had enough capital to finance its operations. The market share of the Corporation has also grown from the simple voltmeters that were produced during its inception in a whole range of products that include entertainment gadgets, mobile phones and even financial services. The Corporation has a wealth of resources that it can use to finance all its business ventures. The corporation has around 55 plants used for manufacturing its good and these are spread all over the world. On top of these the Corporation has 12 other manufacturing plants that are based in its home country of Japan. These physical resources that are the disposal of the Corporation are able to give it a competitive advantage which it can use as strength. On top of the physical resources the Sony also enjoys a wealth of technological resources which gives the opportunity to leverage on these as it competes in the technology industry where innovation are made on a daily basis. The technology can also be utilised well to enable the company to produce high quality products that fetch good prices in the market hence increasing the revenues for the corporation. According to Gunther (2001), the corporation also enjoys what can be termed as â€Å"reputational resources.† This comes in the form of a good name resulting from the numerous awards that it has fetched over the years as the best consumer-electronics company. Reasons for success Exploitation of Opportunities The success of the Sony Corporation is attributable to various factors. First the Corporation has proved over the years that it is able to identify opportunities and seize them (Beomish, 1999). For example during its inception, when the founders came across a tape recorder they got interested and went ahead to buy the patent and this formed the basis for their product that were later produced in the same line. The managers also have ventured in different areas since they were able to identify business opportunities, a factor that has really enhanced the growth of the company over the years. This has propelled the Corporation to be a market leader in its own right and also to enjoy the opportunity to

Why is Zara a pioneer in affordable design clothing Research Paper

Why is Zara a pioneer in affordable design clothing - Research Paper Example The paper "Why is Zara a pioneer in affordable design clothing" concenrs Zara Marketing Fashion from a ‘Fresh is What Sells’ Point of View. Because of the way that Zara, a leader in women’s fashions and a success story, has designed its marketing and business strategies, one will almost never walk into the same store twice. In looking at how to design a clothing store with its eye on the bottom line profit, Zara has found the key to their own success in the example of the produce isle. What is fresh is what will sell. As well, they have found that having many items to choose from with limited availability is far greater than having a great number of a select few items. In an economy where fashion is no longer a priority, survival becomes a game of playing the numbers in the way that will create the largest overall profit. In this game, Zara has found a formula for success that is working. Zara is a clothing company based in Spain and is a subsidiary of Inditex. In ditex has over 2500 stores across the world with Zara being around 800 or more of those outlets. According to Hines and Bruce (2007), the most successful launch of a store took place in Dublin Ireland in an outlet that was over 20,000 square feet (247). The business design is based on the concept that what is done quickly will have the best result. Getting new designs from the design room to the floor takes five weeks whereas a redesign of a piece of clothing will take only two weeks to reach the stores. Zara markets clothing for men.