Case Study 1
* Given name | * Lawrence | * Surname | * Lau | * Student number | * 16012143 | * Email | * lawrencelkh1989@gmail.com | * Unit name | * Strategic Marketing 310 | * Unit code | * 3900 | * Assignment title | * Case Study One | * Date submitted | * 8th of April 2013 | * | * | * | * | * Marker’s comments | * | * Recorded mark | * | * Marker | * | * Comments | * |
Question 1. What competences has IBM had to invest in arising from its transformation from a ‘product-centric’ to a ‘service-centric’ organization?
To adapt to the fast changing pace of business, IBM CEO Louis Gerstner took the initiative to transform IBM from product-centric oriented to customer-centric oriented company (Jain,S.C. et all, 2012). Product-centric organization is defined as organizations that focus on the products it brings to the market rather than the customers who buy their products (Brown, C. 2012). These companies are heavily investing into new product development by utilizing technology or specialized skills that the company possess.
On the other hand, customer-centric organization is defined as organization that is operated based on customer's point of view (Mifflin, H. 2010). Unlike product-centric organizations, these companies would come up with strategies to convince and attracts customers to buy their products rather than focusing only on developing new products (Mifflin, H. 2010). A customer-centric organization develops products and services their customers according to their need and wants (Mifflin, H. 2010).
The chart below shows the differences between product-centric and customer-centric companies: (Brown, C. 2012)
Back to the case, IBM was a product-centric organization where they spend most of their resources in research and development of products during 1980s and even produced four noble prize winners (Jain,S.C. et all,
Question 1. What competences has IBM had to invest in arising from its transformation from a ‘product-centric’ to a ‘service-centric’ organization?
To adapt to the fast changing pace of business, IBM CEO Louis Gerstner took the initiative to transform IBM from product-centric oriented to customer-centric oriented company (Jain,S.C. et all, 2012). Product-centric organization is defined as organizations that focus on the products it brings to the market rather than the customers who buy their products (Brown, C. 2012). These companies are heavily investing into new product development by utilizing technology or specialized skills that the company possess.
On the other hand, customer-centric organization is defined as organization that is operated based on customer's point of view (Mifflin, H. 2010). Unlike product-centric organizations, these companies would come up with strategies to convince and attracts customers to buy their products rather than focusing only on developing new products (Mifflin, H. 2010). A customer-centric organization develops products and services their customers according to their need and wants (Mifflin, H. 2010).
The chart below shows the differences between product-centric and customer-centric companies: (Brown, C. 2012)
Back to the case, IBM was a product-centric organization where they spend most of their resources in research and development of products during 1980s and even produced four noble prize winners (Jain,S.C. et all,