Dell Computers. The Writer Explores

¶ … Dell Computers. The writer explores the company mission statement, products and competition to provide an overview of its success. There were three sources used to complete this paper.

Today's business world is as competitive as ever. With globalization and the Internet abilities the computer market has exploded with growth in the past decade. One of the top competitors in the industry is Dell Computers. Dell is based in Lebanon, Tennessee and recently took the number one slot for personal computer sales.

The driving element of Dell Computers was when they opened in the 1980's was to provide a personal computer to customers without a middle man (Dell, 1999). The premise of the company was that allowing a customer to order directly from Dell without involving a retail store sale would significantly cut the cost of the computer sale while at the same time allowing the company to get a first hand understanding about what each customer wanted in his or her computer.

CEO of the corporation,. Michael Dell is quick to credit the Internet with much of his company's success. The ability to order online and have a product shipped directly to the customer opened a worldwide market for the industry (Dell, 1999).

Today, Dell is named the number one contender in the personal computer sales industry, recently taking the title away from former industry giant Compaq Computers (Pletz, 2001).

MISSION STATEMENT

When a business starts up that business creates a mission statement. The mission statement provides a blueprint idea about what the company wishes to accomplish in the world.

The mission statement of Dell Computers is short and direct.

Dell's mission is to be the most successful computer company in the world at delivering the best customer experience in markets we serve. In doing so, Dell will meet customer expectations of: Highest quality: Leading technology: Competitive pricing: Individual and company: accountability: Best-in-class service and support: Flexible customization capability: Superior corporate citizenship and financial stability (Mission statements (http://www.hhpublishing.com/_onlinecourses/study_strategies/BSL/motivation/E5.html)."

The company serves the public's need for computer products. While many company's state that they are there to serve the consumer or the public, they are also serving the retail outlets that they sell their products to. They do not sell directly to the consumer, therefore their orders and their directives come from the retail chain that chooses to stock and sell the product. The retail chain is the who buys the product therefore the company that builds the computer has a loyalty to them. With Dell the mission statement is directed at the consumer. It is the consumer that gets online or picks up the phone and orders a Dell product. It is the consumer that makes or breaks the sales quotas and goal of Dell and it is the consumer who has a direct impact on whether Dell succeeds or fails in its endeavor.

PRODUCT LINE OF DELL

The product line at Dell is not extensive or exhaustive of the computer industry market but it does provide most of the large ticket items that someone with an interest in owning a personal computer would need.

The products include:

Desktops:(A desktop computer is a computer that is larger than a lap top. It is generally stationed on a desk or a table though it is portable if it needs to be moved from one location to another. While a laptop has all components in one unit a desk top is several different units including a monitor, keyboard, mouse, tower and enclosed operating system).

TVs: (Dell offers televisions that can be attached as monitors to its computers.)

Printers & Ink (Printers and ink are needed to print off reports, pictures or any other graphics that the computer owner may need. A computer can be operated without a printer.)

Electronics, Software & Accessories: (Programs for the computers including operating systems, games, accounting, publishing and other software is available for Dell consumers to use on their machines.)

Axim Handhelds & MP3 Players: (This is a relatively new market for Dell as the Market growth explodes.)

Monitors: This is used to view all things being done with the computer with the exception of printing. One can use the monitor to view word processing actions, play video games, watch news clips and other things)

COMPETITORS

Dell's principal competitors include Compaq, IMB and Hewlett Packard.

Compaq was the world's leading PC manufacturer, with a global market share of approximately 13%. Compaq's strategy was to sell almost exclusively through resellers -- distributors and PC retailers, particularly large computer stores like CompUSA. It was starting to build computers to order and operate its factories with smaller inventories of parts and components, but it had to soft-pedal direct sales so as not to alienate its worldwide reseller network (Profiles of Selected Competitors in the PC Industry (http://www.mhhe.com/business/management/thompson/11e/case/dell7.html)."

Dell consistently beats Compaq in speed of assembly and delivery of the product to the customer.

At one point in history IBM was considered the king of computers. People still ask friends today if they have an IBM or an Apple, meaning a PC or an Apple.

For many years it was considered the worldwide leader in mainframe computers but in the personal computer industry it fell short of the mark. While competitors fine tuned their consumer understanding and worked to meet those needs, IBM found itself slipping in the ratings until its current ranking of third or fourth at best.

Dell regarded Hewlett-Packard (H-P) as a strong competitor because of H-P's global leadership in printers (a 52% market share), strong reputation with corporate customers in most all parts of the world, and growing strategic emphasis on the PC segment (Profiles of Selected Competitors in the PC Industry (http://www.mhhe.com/business/management/thompson/11e/case/dell7.html)."