Strategic management of Samsung Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Strategic management of Samsung - Essay Example While the company has diversified into several areas, it is still working hard to maintain market leadership in its core business. It was ranked first in the television industry according to its market share. Furthermore, the organisation enjoyed similar rankings in the mobile segment owing to its investment in smart phones. Despite all this, rivalry in the telecom business has put Samsung under intense financial stress. It may be leading in the industry but has lost some market share (Refer to appendix 2 on the situational analysis) when cable firms entered the touchtone phone, TV and PC market. Some of the new innovations from the company are more flexible than previous products. For instance, Samsung’s version of the Android device is more compatible with current software in the market. Market leaders like Apple are worried about this capability because their products lack the same features. Furthermore, the company now uses second mover advantage to address the flaws that were inherent in older products. It has worked on features such as security to make its devices stand out (Reed, 2013). The organisation has a reputation for innovation across new and existing product segments. In the year 2012, it recruited several researchers and innovators. This translated to the registration of over 5,000 patents in that year. For these reasons, the company got the first runner up position in the top US patented companies. Samsung has garnered a series of awards for its impressive performance. In Europe, it got four awards from EISA, which is an award program for audio and video industry players (Samsung, 2013). In theory, companies may also adopt a green strategy option that depends on technology, carbon use, and consumer recycling patterns among others (Kipley et. al., 2012). Samsung received recognition from the best Global Brands portfolio as it was ranked 9th in the industry. The latter achievement stemmed from its sponsorship of the London 2012 Olympics. O ther corporate sponsorship initiatives have also been on the organisation’s priority list. The firm’s commitment to corporate social responsibility is undisputed. It engages in a recycling program within its manufacturing sites. This move is in line with current environmental preferences for clean manufacture (Refer to appendix 5 on PESTLE analysis). Furthermore, it has committed to environmental protection by avoiding PVCs and other harmful materials (Guardian, 2012).These approaches may also give a company sustainable advantage according to green strategy theorists. Production within the company is also something worth noting. Samsung manages to keep its production costs down due to its choice of manufacturing centres. Since the firm is Asian-based, it is at a unique position to select cheap countries for manufacture. This has caused it to enjoy comfortable profit margins that emanate from controlled production costs. The global nature of the firm makes it poised to make such a choice. Operation costs have also been kept down by the organisation’s strong bargaining power. The company has considerable clout over its suppliers in the semiconductor, mobile phone and television set industries. This allows it to negotiate with such brands and thus establish lucrative ways of dealing with the differences. The latter move may be defined as cost leadership. Michael Porter identified certain generic strategies that companies may engage in, and cost leadership is one of them (Porter, 2008). Here, organisations reduce their