Matushi
Table of contents
Introduction
The case is about two major companies with completely different backgrounds: Philips and Matsushita, both competing in the same market: the (consumer) electronic market.
Both multinationals quickly grew out to be big successful companies in the market. Each one of these companies followed a completely different strategy. However, both companies encountered many challenges after the achievement of success.
The culture of Matsushita and Philips, respectively, the Japanese and Dutch, played a significant role in the strategic decisions that were made. These influences of cultural dimensions in the business world will be highlighted in this report.
1 History
Philips:
Philips was established by Gerard and Anton Philips in 1891 in Eindhoven, Netherlands. First of all they started to make carbon-filament lamps but after a while they kept growing and growing and became one of the biggest company in Europe. In the beginning of the 20th century they had 2000 employees which made Philips, the biggest employer in the Netherlands. Philips manufactured TV’s, radios, X-ray, electronic shavers, audio cassette, compact discs and at the end of the 20th century, begin of the 21th century they came with the DVD. So Philips kept changing and growing. During some years, not long ago, they had to change CEO’s to get back on track and to perform better.
Matsushita:
Matsushita was established in 1918 by Konosuke Matsushita. Konosuke Matsushita started small, he started to make duplex lamp sockets. Because of his low prices and new technologies he kept growing. In the middle of the 20th century, Matsushita growth allot, this because of the Radio receivers, stereo sound system and tape recorders. A couple of years further he also entered the television market. His next big success was around 1970, when he developed the VCR. So during the years Matsushita became one of the biggest Japanese electronic producer,
Introduction
The case is about two major companies with completely different backgrounds: Philips and Matsushita, both competing in the same market: the (consumer) electronic market.
Both multinationals quickly grew out to be big successful companies in the market. Each one of these companies followed a completely different strategy. However, both companies encountered many challenges after the achievement of success.
The culture of Matsushita and Philips, respectively, the Japanese and Dutch, played a significant role in the strategic decisions that were made. These influences of cultural dimensions in the business world will be highlighted in this report.
1 History
Philips:
Philips was established by Gerard and Anton Philips in 1891 in Eindhoven, Netherlands. First of all they started to make carbon-filament lamps but after a while they kept growing and growing and became one of the biggest company in Europe. In the beginning of the 20th century they had 2000 employees which made Philips, the biggest employer in the Netherlands. Philips manufactured TV’s, radios, X-ray, electronic shavers, audio cassette, compact discs and at the end of the 20th century, begin of the 21th century they came with the DVD. So Philips kept changing and growing. During some years, not long ago, they had to change CEO’s to get back on track and to perform better.
Matsushita:
Matsushita was established in 1918 by Konosuke Matsushita. Konosuke Matsushita started small, he started to make duplex lamp sockets. Because of his low prices and new technologies he kept growing. In the middle of the 20th century, Matsushita growth allot, this because of the Radio receivers, stereo sound system and tape recorders. A couple of years further he also entered the television market. His next big success was around 1970, when he developed the VCR. So during the years Matsushita became one of the biggest Japanese electronic producer,