Business Level Strategy
Danaher uses mainly a Cost Leader Strategy with a few qualities of Product Differentiation. Details of this can be found by looking at their DBS system. The system is designed to increase productivity and reduce costs. This gives them a learning curve and technological advantage. We will further discuss each of these advantages.
The Learning Curve advantage is very valuable to the Danaher Corporation. The DBS was created based on the study of Toyota’s lean manufacturing process. The DBS system has been in use since 1988, but has been added to along the way. They have created and modified this system for not only continuous improvement, but also a system for implementing changes and operation of their corporation. This is what gives it its rarity and makes it costly to imitate. The learning curve is a form a temporary competitive advantage, because it can at some point be imitated.
Even with the right technological system in play, what makes Danaher stand out is their technological advantage, especially their software. Their management teams are put through trainings, what they refer to as “boot camps”. These training courses for their employees, along with the tools that allow each level of the corporation to make improvements, create great relationships between labor and management. This empowers the employees with the know-how to get things done more efficiently. This adds tremendous value, and is rare and not seen in many corporations. This type of dedication to training is very costly to imitate. This has allowed them a sustained competitive advantage through the years.
Corporate-Level Strategy
Danaher Corporation uses the Merger and Acquisitions and a Diversification corporate