Use the Swot Framework of Analysis to Critically Examine the Internal and External Environment of Brompton Bicycle as Described in the Case Study. Provide Recommendations to Brompton Bicycle About Future Actions They Should Take for Business Success.
The following is SWOT analysis is based on the case study provided of Brompton Bicycle.
Brompton Bicycle has a number of strengths, with one of them being a fact that they are a premium bicycle brand with British heritage. They are one of only two major frame manufacturers still based in the UK, and they have been in full production since 1988, designing and building their bikes in a factory in West London. Their strength is also company philosophy that their bikes are not ‘a commodity product’ (Philip Smith, The Daily Telegraph (LONDON) 1 April 2008). Attention to details and building the bikes to the very last part, differencing them from the competitors and helps strengthen the Brompton brand. A further strength for Brompton Bicycle is that their bikes have not changed to much in the last 20 years and unlike their competitors they were able to refine their production process, which allow them invest over time in tooling. (Philip Smith, The Daily Telegraph (LONDON) 1 April 2008). Whilst the Brompton Bicycle has strength, it also has weaknesses. One of these is that the company is based in England and therefore the production costs are much higher, compering to other manufactures of the similar product, which have their production lines based in Asian countries, i.e. Taiwan or China. Also, although the Brompton Bicycles are very well known and popular, the limitation of their production lines in the past cost them losing market share as they were not able to meet the demand of the market. However this should be solved by the on-going one million renewal of the production system to use double shifts backed by slicker systems and change of management. The company like Brompton Bicycle need to face a fast growing global market. As I have mentioned earlier Brompton Bicycle competitors quite often have their production lines based in countries like Taiwan or China, which allows them to keep lower production cost and therefore offer the product at the comparable
Brompton Bicycle has a number of strengths, with one of them being a fact that they are a premium bicycle brand with British heritage. They are one of only two major frame manufacturers still based in the UK, and they have been in full production since 1988, designing and building their bikes in a factory in West London. Their strength is also company philosophy that their bikes are not ‘a commodity product’ (Philip Smith, The Daily Telegraph (LONDON) 1 April 2008). Attention to details and building the bikes to the very last part, differencing them from the competitors and helps strengthen the Brompton brand. A further strength for Brompton Bicycle is that their bikes have not changed to much in the last 20 years and unlike their competitors they were able to refine their production process, which allow them invest over time in tooling. (Philip Smith, The Daily Telegraph (LONDON) 1 April 2008). Whilst the Brompton Bicycle has strength, it also has weaknesses. One of these is that the company is based in England and therefore the production costs are much higher, compering to other manufactures of the similar product, which have their production lines based in Asian countries, i.e. Taiwan or China. Also, although the Brompton Bicycles are very well known and popular, the limitation of their production lines in the past cost them losing market share as they were not able to meet the demand of the market. However this should be solved by the on-going one million renewal of the production system to use double shifts backed by slicker systems and change of management. The company like Brompton Bicycle need to face a fast growing global market. As I have mentioned earlier Brompton Bicycle competitors quite often have their production lines based in countries like Taiwan or China, which allows them to keep lower production cost and therefore offer the product at the comparable