Philips vs Matsushita Swot Analysis
Philips:
Internal Strengths:
* 1900 – Philips was third largest light bulb producer in Europe due to recruitment of Gerard Philips’ brother, an excellent salesman. (C85) * From the beginning, Philips developed a tradition of caring for workers. Built company houses in Eindhoven along with bolstering education and paying employees very well (C85) * Philips refused to diversify in the beginning, keeping a one-product focus and creating significant innovations (C85) * Became leader in industrial research, which led to development of a tungsten metal filament bulb that was a great commercial success (C86) * 1912 – Philips built sales organizations in U.S., Canada, and France (C86) * 1919 – Philips entered Principal Agreement with General Electric, giving each company the use of each other patents (C86) * After this, Philips began evolving into a decentralized sales organization instead of a highly centralized company, with autonomous marketing companies in 14 European countries, China, Brazil, and Australia (C86) * Philips greatly increased self-sufficiency during the war had allowed most National Organizations (NO’s) to become experts at responding to country-specific market conditions, becoming a valuable asset in the post-war era (C86) * NO’s had the “real” power, reporting directly to the 10 members of the management board (previously 4 members), and each NO regularly sent envoys to Eindhoven to represent its interests (C87) * Wisse Dekker reorganization in 1982 had promising intentions, closing inefficient operations and focusing more on core operations. Dekker also supported technology-sharing agreements and entered alliances in offshore manufacturing (C90) * Van der Klugt reorganization in 1987 set profit objectives of 3 to 4% and made beating the Japanese companies a top priority (C90) * Van der Klugt identified various businesses as core and noncore. 3 of the 4 businesses defined as core were strategically
Internal Strengths:
* 1900 – Philips was third largest light bulb producer in Europe due to recruitment of Gerard Philips’ brother, an excellent salesman. (C85) * From the beginning, Philips developed a tradition of caring for workers. Built company houses in Eindhoven along with bolstering education and paying employees very well (C85) * Philips refused to diversify in the beginning, keeping a one-product focus and creating significant innovations (C85) * Became leader in industrial research, which led to development of a tungsten metal filament bulb that was a great commercial success (C86) * 1912 – Philips built sales organizations in U.S., Canada, and France (C86) * 1919 – Philips entered Principal Agreement with General Electric, giving each company the use of each other patents (C86) * After this, Philips began evolving into a decentralized sales organization instead of a highly centralized company, with autonomous marketing companies in 14 European countries, China, Brazil, and Australia (C86) * Philips greatly increased self-sufficiency during the war had allowed most National Organizations (NO’s) to become experts at responding to country-specific market conditions, becoming a valuable asset in the post-war era (C86) * NO’s had the “real” power, reporting directly to the 10 members of the management board (previously 4 members), and each NO regularly sent envoys to Eindhoven to represent its interests (C87) * Wisse Dekker reorganization in 1982 had promising intentions, closing inefficient operations and focusing more on core operations. Dekker also supported technology-sharing agreements and entered alliances in offshore manufacturing (C90) * Van der Klugt reorganization in 1987 set profit objectives of 3 to 4% and made beating the Japanese companies a top priority (C90) * Van der Klugt identified various businesses as core and noncore. 3 of the 4 businesses defined as core were strategically