Harley Davidson's corporate culture: A SWOT analysis approach

Corporate Culture: Harley Davidson

The SWOT analysis has long been a tool that is used to determine how well a company is performing, what it might need to change in the future in order to continue to grow and be profitable, and whether it should or should not be concerned about specific issues and ideas, both internal and external, that might affect it at a later point in time. That's why it's so very important for determining the corporate culture of a company like Harley Davidson. This type of analysis examines the Strengths, Opportunities, Weaknesses, and Threats that a company is encountering so that decisions can be made as to how to expand on the first two and minimize the last two, respectively. Usually, a SWOT analysis provides all of the information that is needed for a company to think about these things and work on long-term and short-term goals, which is very important in today's rapidly changing and growing society.

Presented here is the SWOT analysis for Harley Davidson and a discussion of corporate culture. Once these things have been examined the remainder of the paper will address issues that this company might have and in an effort to determine its true strengths and weaknesses as well as where it is going in the future. Even large companies are not safe from competitors, weaknesses, poor market share, and other problems. Good examples of this would be automakers, airlines, and other large companies that have filed for bankruptcy, laid off workers, and encountered many other problems in recent years. Unlike small businesses, most of these larger businesses are able to regroup, restructure, and continue operating, but this does not mean that the problems they encounter are not hurtful to them in many ways.

This is unfortunate and harms not only their profits but the profits of their shareholders as well. Performing a SWOT analysis and then acting on what is seen there can help to avoid serious problems. It can also show a company what kind of corporate culture it has and what can be done to make that culture even better and improve upon it. The corporate culture of any large company affects so many things in that company, and when the employees -- especially those high up in the rankings -- do not realize that, the company can suffer over something that could have been very easily fixed.

SWOT Analysis

Strengths

Strong involvement from the employees.

A continuous desire to improve the company in every way.

Management closely watches company operations.

Weaknesses

Too much focus on a product line unaffordable to many people.

Generally only a U.S. customer base and following.

No clear differentiation of the target market.

Internal struggles with the corporate culture of the company.

Opportunities

Strong innovation in the motorcycle industry.

More demand for motorcycles in developing countries.

Improving economy means more people can afford their products.

Threats

Japanese motorcycle companies.

Companies in other world areas can produce products more cheaply.

Inability to be adaptable to what customers need as attitudes change.

Corporate Culture

The culture of the Harley Davidson company is one that has been changing in recent years, but it has not yet changed enough to really help the company move forward. Some changes were seen when Harley began to make motorcycles that were sportier and designed for a younger crowd, but these did not really catch on the way that was hoped. They were not comparable enough to the sport bikes that the Japanese makers offer, and they still cost more than their foreign counterparts, stopping a lot of people from wanting to purchase them. The corporate culture of Harley Davidson is such that the company operates under the assumption that staying the same is what customers want. When a company stays the same for too long, it can become stale and it is harder at that point to change the corporate culture.

Playing office politics does not sound like something that would be necessary from a motorcycle company, but any large company requires a certain level of politics within their corporate culture.

While it is unfortunate that this takes place, Harley Davidson is not an exception just because of what the company manufactures. People who feel as though a large company is immune because of its product line will often find out that they are mistaken once they get a better understanding of the internal workings of the company. Every company is different, but yet in many ways they are all the same, and the corporate culture of Harley Davidson has long been one where men manufacture cruising-style motorcycles for other men and where they do not want to make changes.

They fear that making changes will cause them to lose the customer base that they already have, and that there are no guarantees that they will be able to acquire new customers who like the changes because their motorcycles are still traditionally more expensive and not as sleek as the Japanese-made sport bikes. That fear is certainly not unfounded, but yet the company must be realistic in the fact that its sales are slipping and that something needs to be done in order to improve those sales, before they slide any further. Bickering and arguing about which direction to take has become part of the corporate culture at Harley Davidson, and it is time that is changed so that the company can start moving forward again with products that will please the older crowd and products that will also please the younger generation and create a newer, more modern opinion of the company as a whole.

Conclusion

As can be seen from the SWOT analysis and other information regarding this company, it is struggling somewhat, but yet it is still very strong overall. Internal and external threats and opportunities seem to be about the same for Harley Davidson, and the internal threat of corporate culture problems can be worked on. However, the company also has good opportunities that it can take advantage of in its specific industry if it chooses to focus on these opportunities while still keeping a close eye on any problems that could appear and make it difficult for the company in the future -- particularly where culture and internal problems are concerned. All companies face competition issues, but if the company has too many internal problems and conflicts there can be more of a problem than would be seen from outside issues.

For Harley Davidson, expansion is important but it should be done very carefully. There is a great deal of competition from Japanese motorcycle makers and Harley Davidson must keep up with them while still producing motorcycles that embody the Harley style, which is more of a 'cruising' type of motorcycle as opposed to the faster and more race-inspired Japanese models that are becoming very popular with younger people today. In order to do that, though, Harley Davidson must understand that it has to focus not only on what the Japanese motorcycle manufacturers are doing but on what is taking place internally, because internal problems in a company will stop it from being successful much more quickly than external issues.

Endnotes

Want, J.H. (2006). Corporate culture: Illuminating the black hole (1st ed.)

McIntyre, M.G. (2005). Secrets to winning at office politics.

Helyar, John. (2002). "Will Harley-Davidson Hit the Wall?" Fortune 146, 120

Helyar, 2002

Sui, C. (2006, April 11). Harleys face tough China road. motoring ?

http://iafrica.com http://motoring.iafrica.com/newsbriefs/216580.htm

Caldwell, Bruce. (1998). "Harley Shifts Into High Gear -- Harley Davidson Turns to it to Rev Up Production and Tighten Supply-Chain Links." InformationWeek, 55.

Helyar, 2002

Helyar, 2002

Helyar, 2002