SWOT Analysis: Dresser-Rand Is a Compressor Company

SWOT Analysis: Dresser-Rand

Dresser-Rand is a compressor company that is world-renowned and aims to please its customers any way that is necessary. It also makes steam turbines and several other products (www.Dresser-Rand.com).It has made a name for itself, and its reputation is based on the quality and reliability of its products. Since it has been around for over 100 years, this reputation has carried it from one technological age into another, and now it has a Web site where customers can learn about and purchase products (Products and Services).

Like every company, it has both strengths and weaknesses. It also has opportunities for growth, and threats to its business and market share. The purpose of this paper is to discuss these different areas and provide a statement of opportunity (or problem statement) for Dresser-Rand that deals with e-commerce and development in that area, since it is an area of business and technology that continues to grow.

Strengths

The biggest strength that Dresser-Rand has is its reputation. Since the company has been around so long, they have made a name that people recognize. This is important because companies that have recognizable names tend to do more business then companies that many people have never heard of. Dresser-Rand has given much to their customers, and their philosophy of making sure that the customer is happy has helped them build into a company that people enjoy doing business with.

Another important strength of Dresser-Rand is that they have changed over time to keep themselves at the forefront of technology and innovation. They make several products, and this helps keep them in a large area of the market, since the more diversity they have, the more areas of the market they can sell to. Those businesses that diversify can usually keep their market share at a reasonable level, provided that their quality and service stay at a level that is as high as or higher than their competitors.

Weaknesses

Like all companies, Dresser-Rand has weaknesses. They have not really spent much time or money on any kind of e-marketing before. Although they have a Web site, many other companies have been e-marketing in the past, and it is these companies that are recognized by those who do almost all of their business over the Internet. These other companies get their names out there on the sites and in the emails that get read by their customers. Dresser-Rand does not do this, and this is something that they will need to work on in the future if they want to continue to command a large market share.

Another weakness is complacency. Like all companies that have been around for a long time, Dresser-Rand assumes that they are safe because of their strengths. This is unfortunate, because even large, well-established companies have been forced to close because they didn't realize until it was too late that their competitors had taken over the market and their market share had slowly dwindled away. The fact that Dresser-Rand hasn't done much in an e-marketing sense shows their complacency in the area of Internet development and technology. Even though they have kept up with technology in their products and by creating a Web site, their marketing strategy needs work.

Opportunities

Even though Dresser-Rand has weaknesses that are roughly equal to their strengths, they have opportunities that can help to keep them a competitor well into the future. The Internet is the main opportunity that Dresser-Rand has right now. They can take ideas for e-marketing and study what their competitors are doing to help them work toward a better e-marketing strategy and a higher market share.

The Internet is great opportunity for Dresser-Rand to communicate with customers in a much quicker time period, 24 hours a day. They can also send things through the Internet and therefore exchange information about orders, shipping, and any problems that may arise (Frost and Strauss, 2000). Because all of this can be done so easily, the Internet affords Dresser-Rand a great opportunity for growth in the age of technology.

Another opportunity that Dresser-Rand has to look at is the segmentation of the market and their position in it. This is where the concept of search engine optimization comes in, and the company needs to make sure that the top search engines recognize their Web site so that customers searching for products will locate them (Search Engine, 2003). Another way to get recognized is to partner with other sites (such as vendors and others that the company does business with) and provide links to their Web site on the partner sites (Web positioning, 2000). Obviously, they would have to pay for this service, or trade off and allow their partners to a free link on their site as well. Many companies are willing to do this to ensure that more people are offered a chance to view their site, and Dresser-Rand could use this as another opportunity to get their name out there in front of people who would potentially buy their products.

Threats

Dresser-Rand does not suffer from a great many threats in the area of competition. Instead, their threats are more technology-based. They will do damage to their own company if they fall behind on technology, and this doesn't mean just in the way that they market, but in the way their Web site looks and performs, and in the way that they build their products and deal with their customers. Those who do not know how to use technology to their advantage will often be left behind by those who do.