Herman Miller Employs A Broad Differentiation Strategy

1. Herman Miller, Inc employs a broad differentiation strategy. The essence of a broad differentiation strategy is to offer a unique product or service attributes that a wide range of buyers find appealing and worth paying for, and Herman Miller (HMI) does just that through innovative products and processes. Unlike most firms, especially those in mature industries and most of its office furniture rivals, Herman Miller pursued a path distinctively marked by reinvention and renewal. The company obtained a competitive advantage by studying buyers’ needs and behaviors carefully in order to learn what buyers think has value and what they are willing to pay for. Even in downturns, it invested in millions of dollars in research and development.
It all started in 1981 when the company took initiative to become more efficient and environmentally friendly. One of the first initiatives was for its energy center to generate both electrical and steam power to run its 1-million-square-foot facility by burning waste. Some of the buildings at Herman Miller were even used to establish Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards. To speak to something product related, in 1990 Herman Miller discontinued using endangered rosewood in its award-winning Eames lounge chair and ottoman, and substituted cherry and walnut from sustainable sources. Another good example is the Mirra Chair, introduced in 2003, and how environmentally friendly it was due to being made of 45 percent recycled materials and 96 percent of its materials were recyclable. Assembly of the chairs used 100 percent renewable energy. The use of green marketing to sell products appealed to the environmentally conscious consumers. Herman Miller also appealed to the price conscious consumer with the launch of the SAYL line of chairs in 2010 accentuating affordability while offering a full-featured, ergonomically sound chair. This further supports HMI’s use of a broad differentiation strategy because buyers’ needs and preferences are too diverse to be fully satisfied by a
Herman Miller’s values have shaped its strategy and approach to strategy execution. There are many values that the company holds dear, but I will start with inclusiveness. This value speaks to the success of the company being dependent on the inclusion of all of the expressions of human talent and potential that society offers. Herman Miller believes that all workers are individuals with special talents and potential and that it is necessary to tap into the diversity of gifts and skills held by all. Empowering employees from every source to make decisions related to daily operations relies on the capability of these employees to make timely, informed and competent decisions. Herman Miller makes a concerted effort to recruit quality people who can function as agents of change and further the cause of first-rate strategy execution. Teams are cross-functional, where membership on a team is based on the employee’s ability to contribute to that team. Workers at all levels were highly encouraged to put forth new ideas and therefore leadership was shared through the concept of “talking up and down the ladder.” At Herman Miller, this created a whole that is greater than the sum of individual