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Their liquidity and lack of relative debt are major competitive strengths.
Excellent market position in imaging and printing - Having invented and holding many of the patents in both small format and large format printing technologies, HP is considered both the market and financial leader in both imaging and printing. The breadth of the imaging and printing product lines through the consumer and commercial or business sectors is considered one of the most recognized and respected in the world.
Highly respected brand with high brand equity - While the quantification of brand equity is an inexact science, many estimates but the value of the HP brand at nearly $21B in 2006, up from $18.6B in 2005. This is considered remarkable given the fact that the company spent $1.1B on advertising on 2006, the same amount in 2005 according to the company's 10K form filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC 2007).
Weaknesses
Conflicting internal controls - the pretexting scandal where HP authorized private security agencies to impersonate senior members of the management team to find out where information leaks were originating from the board has resulted in a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation. There have also been other instances where the company has backdated options and also appeared to be...
The lack of oversight and internal controls is a major weakness.
Lack of professional services business unit - as the enterprise computing business continues to lack a professional services organization that can implement complex enterprise software solutions for corporate customers, HP is finding that this is a major competitive disadvantage vs. IBM and Dell, both of which have professional services organizations. Partnerships with Accenture and CapGemini have only been marginally successful for HP; there is much work to be done in this area for HP to be at competitive parity with IBM globally in this area.
R&D Spending continues to be flat - for a technology-driven company this is surprising as HP has long had a reputation for technological leadership. According to an analysis of the financial statements that HP has filed with the SEC (SEC 2007) HP spent $3.5B in R&D in their latest fiscal year, compared to $3.4B in 2005. The company spent $3.5B in 2004. This signals a flat level of R&D spending overall with this area of investment as a percentage of revenues declining over the last three years from 4.5% in 2004 and 4% in 2005 to 3.9% in 2006.
Opportunities
IT Initiatives within HP
R&D Spending continues to be flat - for a technology-driven company this is surprising as HP has long had a reputation for technological leadership. According to an analysis of the financial statements that HP has filed with the SEC (SEC 2007) HP spent $3.5B in R&D in their latest fiscal year, compared to $3.4B in 2005. The company spent $3.5B in 2004. This signals a flat level of R&D spending overall with this area of investment as a percentage of revenues declining over the last three years from 4.5% in 2004 and 4% in 2005 to 3.9% in 2006.
Opportunities
IT Initiatives within HP
SWOT Company Analysis & Evaluation Project Like any and every sector in the competitive world, the Information Technology sector has become highly competitive. There are primarily two reasons behind it. The first reason is the effects of the rapidly increasing globalization. This has triggered a sharp wave of raging competition in the corporate sector and organizations are trying to perfect the art of their marketing, management, human resource, production, supply chain
If the company launches an immediate public relations campaign to improve its public perception, it might be able to turn this situation around. This is a definite possibility, given Palm Inc.'s access to the deep pockets of Hewlett Packard. The best strategy will be to try to expand market share at the expense of Apple's iPhone 4. This would provide it with an immediate increase in market share. The
Yahoo Company Analysis Yahoo is a leading global internet and digital media services company, among the first internet search businesses. The company was created by Jerry Yang and David Filo in 1994. It continues to grow and differentiate its portfolio of services. The search engine comes with electronic mail services, news portals, social media products, and finance engine and web directory. The social media segment entails content sharing, expert networks, and
Supply Chain Characteristics There are five critical characteristics of supply chain in relation to the personal computer analysis. One of the essential characteristics of supply chain is the view of the process as an important asset. This makes it important for the organization to incorporate supply chain within the products and marketing strategies. Another critical characteristic is integration of new technologies with the aim of minimizing the cost of provision of
Organizational Case Analysis Organization Overview Apple Inc. is a multinational companies specializing in the designing, manufacturing and marketing of mobile communication devices such as personal computers and digital music players. The company also sells varieties of mobile telecommunication devices such as iPhone, iPod, iPad, and Mac. Additionally, Apple Inc. sells some professional software application such as Mac OS, iOS, iCloud and other varieties of communication accessories. Apple Inc. sells its products through
Dell Computer Corporation: Strategy and Challenges for the 21st Century, by Thompson and Gamble. This case analysis will evaluate a variety of factors including, the role of Michael Dell as CEO, and his strategy. Further, a brief SWOT analysis will be given, and a competitive strength assessment will compare Dell to major competitors. Advantages of Dell's strategy and an assessment of the company's financial performance will be given. Finally, a