Harley-Davidson Inc Essay Example for Free

Harley-Davidson Inc Essay This case study analyzes the differentiation strategy adopted by Harley-Davidson Inc. to differentiate itself from the competition. Further, it will address the issues and challenges faced by Harley- Davidson Inc. due to changing demographics and financial turmoil. And last but not least the case study will give an idea of what strategies Harley- Davidson Inc. could apply in the future so that it could sustain and enhance its competitive position. There are two generic business level strategies to yield a higher rate of profit over a rival according to M. Porter. First, a firm can focus on cost leadership, which generates economic value by having lower costs than competitors. Second, a firm can focus on product differentiation and generates economic value by offering a product that customers prefer over the products of competitors. In other words the firm provides something unique that is valuable to buyers beyond offering the product at a low price. Harley-Davidson Inc. does not focus on cost leadership, but on product differentiation. Its tangible dimensions of differentiation are among other things its classic style that had characterized Harleys since its early years, the ability to personalize the motorcycle according to ones taste, the super-heavyweight cruiser bikes it sells and the wide price range. Moreover, H.D. offers a wide pre- and after- sales service that obliges dealers to carry a full line of Harley replacement parts and accessories and to perform service on Harley bikes, it offers test ride facilities, rider instruction classes, motorcycle rental, assistance for owners in customizing their bikes through dealer-based design centers and chrome consultants, insurance services and exclusive dealerships. Its intangible dimensions of differentiation are its unique image, status, exclusivity and identity. Thus, H.D does incorporate the American lifestyle, stands for individuality, freedom, toughness and adventure and can be seen as the ultimate biker status. Some people might even state that it represents something close to a religion or a family. H.D. created the HOG, a community where Harley Owners meet and interact with other Harley owners and where Harleys employees participate eagerly. That way H.D. could create a strong loyalty among Harley owners by creating a Harley experience and a unique relationship with its customers. Harley still focuses mainly on the Baby Boomer generation, customers that are now age 35 and 54, male and middle class and on heavyweight cruiser motorcycles, which prioritize the statement of style over either comfort or speed. In summary H.D. applied a differentiation strategy wherein it targeted specific products at niche segments (heavyweight cruiser motorcycles). The brand has a cult status among its loyal clientele and characterizes adventure, freedom, tradition and power. By differentiating its product from the products of competitors H.D. was able to command a premium for its products. Further, H.D. resources and capabilities are compared to those of one of his competitors taking the example of Honda. H.D. represents one of the oldest motorcycle brands in the US. They are designed, engineered, assembled and built in the U.S.A. Honda designs and builds its motorcycles in Japan. Whereas Honda is known for the best weight to power ratios, emphasizes speed and power and aims at a younger clientele, H.M. is known for its cruiser motorcycles which prioritize the statement of style over either comfort or speed and are mainly bought by customers between age 35 and 54. Further, H.D. competes with Honda by also building performance motorcycles (Buell Motorcycles) and Honda competes with H.D. by also building cruisers targeting H.D. Due to the smaller corporate size and inability to share RD across cars and bikes H.D.s ability to invest in technology and new products is limited. Thus, most of Harleys product development efforts in the past were limited to style changes, new paint designs and engineering improvements. In contrary, Honda has been continuously pursuing advancement of new technologies and new products. Thus, it puts emphasis on innovation in Fuel and Engine Technology. Because of the advanced nature of their research, Honda has a strong first-mover advantage over competitors such as H.D. It will be difficult for H.D., which does not actively pursue his own research to catch up with Honda. Moreover, Honda does also have a strong brand loyalty (64% vs. 48% Industry Average) and it offers multiple lines (cars, motorcycles, mowers). Further, Honda does cultivate mass production, whereas H.D. offers highly customized products, which allows H.D. to premium pricing. Moreover, Honda successfully continues to broaden the sales distribution base beyond the North American and Japanese markets to Asia, Russia and Europe. H.D. sells the American lifestyle and is rooted in American culture. The European motorcycle market focuses on performance bikes (70%) and not on H.D.s specialty, the cruisers (only 30%). Those circumstances lead to difficulties for H.D. regarding its position in the European market. Difficulties Honda does not have. To extend its European presence H.D. bought the MV Agusta Group, which has two families of motorcycles, a line of exclusive, premium, high-performance sport motorcycles and a lightweight motorcycle to comply with the demand on the European market. H.D. is thus facing the threat of growing advantages of determined competitors. Market shares on the international market continue to grow for other firms. Demographic changes represent a threat to H.D. because of the aging customer base H.D. does have. The owners continue to age (Baby Boomer generation and soon they are too old to ride their bikes. Another threat is the economic recession. Customers are staying away due to less buying power. H.D. had to cut jobs and to close production facilities. Further, EUs motorcycle noise standards and pollution and emission standards that are not up to level of some countries represent a threat to H.D. Because of the aging customer base H.D. should market and position their products to the right market segment. Since the original H.D. customers are soon to be too old to ride their motorcycles H.D. could apply a multi-generational and multi-cultural marketing strategy that also includes young adults and women. In order to survive H.D. needs to supply different types of bikes with different brand images to appeal to different and changing types of customers. H.D. could then further take action in increasing their market share internationally by expanding their current presence and reaching new international markets and creating value for its brand outside the U.S. Further, H.D. should focus on the Harley brand by leveraging unique H.D. strenghts. It should abandon the Buell line of sport bikes and the Agusta line. Moreover, H.D. should develop its technology to increase automation. This will lead to cheaper labor and to a more efficient customization. What H.D. should not do is lowering its customization level since customization also represents one of H.D.s highest assets for their brand. To get access to high-level technological capabilities H.D. could merge with groups like Renault/Nissan who bring Japanese manufacturing skills or Volkswagen, who has excellent Eastern European experience.

Destructive Love in Toni Morrisons Song of Solomon Essay examples --

Destructive Love in Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon When an emotion is believed to embody all that brings bliss, serenity, effervescence, and even benevolence, although one may believe its encompassing nature to allow for generalizations and existence virtually everywhere, surprisingly, directly outside the area love covers lies the very antithesis of love: hate, which in all its forms, has the potential to bring pain and destruction. Is it not for this very reason, this confusion, that suicide bombings and other acts of violence and devastation are committedÂ…in the name of love? In Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon, the reader experiences this tenuity that is the line separating love and hate in many different forms and on many different levelsÂâ€"to the extent that the line between the two begins to blur and become indistinguishable. Seen through Ruth's incestuous love, Milkman and Hagar's relationship, and Guitar's love for African-Americans, if love causes destruction, that emotion is not true love; in essence, such destructiv e qualities of "love" only transpire when the illusion of love is discovered and reality characterizes the emotion to be a parasite of love, such as obsession or infatuation, something that resembles love but merely inflicts pain on the lover. As her "daddy's daughter", there is little doubt that a form of love exists between Ruth Dead and Dr. Foster; however, such love is not truly love because as evidenced by Ruth's subsequent life, the filial relationship better resembles an emotional dependence that Ruth took for granted (67). The great emotional schism within her that is the result of her father's death leaves Ruth dysfunctional: she is unable to emote towards other, especially her family. Instead, ... ... Sunday man. He has instead become his cause, and the person behind that cause has been lost. In Song of Solomon, through many different types of love, Ââ€"Ruth's incestuous love, Milkman and Hagar's romantic love, and Guitar's love for his race, Ââ€"Toni Morrison demonstrates not only the readiness with which love will turn into a devastating and destructive force, but also the immediacy with which it will do so. Morrison tackles the amorphous and resilient human emotion of love not to glorify the joyous feelings it can effect but to warn readers of love's volatile nature. Simultaneously, however, she gives the reader a clear sense of what love is not. Morrison explicitly states that true love is not destructive. In essence, she illustrates that if "love" is destructive, it is most likely, a mutation of love, something impure, because love is all that is pure and true.

The Cellmate

â€Å"The Cellmate† by Crystal Arbogast â€Å"The Cellmate† is a text by Crystal Arbogast, and the story is set in a small town called Whitesburg Kentucky in the USA. The story takes place in the summer of 1925, and includes a protagonist and two important supporting characters. The title obliviously indicates that the story will have something to do with a cellmate; therefore we can say that the title is some sort of foreshadowing. Crystal Arbogast has used the third person limited as point of view, and furthermore her style of writing is quite detailed.Some of the themes in this short story are prejudice, death penalty or the fact that there has to be a co-existence between the good and the bad in the world. The plot is about Andy, a man who lives in Whitesburg who is known for his homemade liquor. On this exact Indian summer day in 1925 there is only one thing that seems to disturb the inner peace of our protagonist, and that is the fact that a young man called Lloyd is in prison for having killed a woman and for this reason is sentenced to death the following day.As Lloyd does not fit Andy’s idea of a killer, he continues to wonder whether he really killed this poor woman and if so, perchance someone else had anything to do with the murder. In the story some townspeople ponder that Lloyd’s mother, Annie, was the one who persuaded him to kill that woman. Later in the afternoon Andy is bound to pass the night in the same cell as the killer Lloyd, due to the sheriff’s amusement. In the following morning Lloyd was executed. Later when Andy was released, he decided to take care of Lloyd’s dearest possession; his horse, which was Lloyd’s last wish.The story begins with the author describing the beautiful nature and landscape of Whitesburg, which she also describes as â€Å"truly God’s country†. Moreover she uses the literary device circular composition, which means that the opening and the finish is s omehow linked together; in this story it is the beginning’s sunrise which is joined to the ending’s sunset. The sun can be a symbol of life, and by starting and ending with this powerful symbol, we could interpret that life will go on no matter what. There will always be a day after tomorrow.Additionally, the opening tells us that Andy sees Whitesburg Kentucky as â€Å"truly God’s country†, whereas, the ending shows us humanity at its worst and best. Andy represents the goodwill in humans, and takes on the burden of a young man’s last wish, for no other reason than feeling sorry for Lloyd. However there will always be people like the sheriff and Lloyd’s mother, and these are the people who most likely are unaware to the pleasure of helping others or the touching joy of sunrises and sunsets.There are three characters that stood out the most, and those are the protagonist Andy Sturgil and the two supporting characters, the Sheriff and Lloyd. A ndy Sturgil is an interesting character, because he is dynamic. In the opening we learn that he brews his own liquor, and the fact that the Sheriff is onto him, makes Andy look like a carefree and chancy man. On the other hand, he is the one in the story that shows empathy and compassion towards the â€Å"killer† (Lloyd), Andy is truly a goodhearted man. Men do not show emotions, however the story portrayed some quiet feelings.However, perhaps the most interesting character is Lloyd, caused by his role in this short story. Lloyd gives the impression of having a child mentality and it appears as he is non-violent, and for this reason I find it hard to believe that he could have killed that woman, without someone pulling the strings. And then there is the Sheriff, who is a power-hungry and egocentric man, and the towns bully. Besides it looks as if the Sheriff actually feels threatened by Andy, perhaps because Andy is a cherished man in his town.

A Day at the Beach - 1135 Words

The sun’s rays glisten across the water as my family and I lie on the golden sands of the beach to relax. Seagulls and other families are scattered around us along the length of the beach. My mom, my sister, and I lie next to each other, listening to the waves crashing against the ocean bank. I remember the day the horrible news arrived. I stood in the kitchen waiting for my father to arrive home from work. Once he arrived, he and Mother sat me down and hesitated, â€Å"Your mom has been diagnosed with breast cancer. Several things around here will be changing. They will be changing very fast due to the aggressive treatment she will be going through.† Tears filled my eyes as I wondered, Why is this happening to my family? What will happen to my family, and when will this be over? I sat at the table, unable to speak a single word. The emotion had overcome me like the waves of the ocean now breaking on the shore. My father and brother are very far out in the deep waters searching for seashells and any aquatic life swimming through the warm, ocean waters. Back on the shore, my mother, my sister, and I are tanning and reading magazines that we grabbed at the hotel. On the cover of the magazine in bold letters it says â€Å"SURGERY.† It reminds me of the day Mother got her surgery. She and Father left very early that morning to drive to Apple Hill Surgical center. My parents warned us to behave and that my sister was in charge for the day. My brother and I would have to behave or weShow MoreRelatedThe Day Of The Beach1950 Words   |  8 Pagesgrandparents backyard, so my aunt and uncle always made sure that while I was with the m we went to the beach. Although this one particular year stands out to me when I think of the beach; 2011 I was fifteen in RI at Misquamicut Beach. 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