Business Strategy of Skoda-Free-Samples-Myassignmenthelp.com

Questions: 1.What was the key weakness that koda was able to Identify? 2.What strength did koda use to turn its brand weakness into an Opportunity? 3.How has koda strategically addressed external threats? 4.Produce a SWOT analysis for koda. 5.What in your view are the important benefits of using a SWOT analysis? Answers: 1.Weakness of Skoda First of all, it is observed that Skoda has very low market share i.e. 1.7% market share. Because of small market share, the company was the small player in the car industry. Along with this, the weakness of the Skoda was that the company had out-dated perception of brand. In the past, the company had bad perception in terms of poor vehicle quality, designs, materials and assembly. There was high maintenance cost in the company. The company had poor brand image among the customers and that was affecting the growth and success of the company in the market. With this, the poor perception of the company also affected the owners of Skoda. Apart from this, in the company there was the work inefficiency and that was the main weakness of Skoda. Weak supply chain of Skoda was also the weakness which was affecting the brand image of the company in the market (Parkin et al, 2015). 2.Opportunity of Skoda From the weaknesses and the perceptions of the customers towards the car products, Skoda has analyzed that there is the need to improve the brand image in the market. For this manner, it was important for the company to understand the requirements and expectations of the customers for the products. The company realized that by understanding the expectations of the customers, their negative perception can be changed. So, the company used its strengths to turn the weaknesses into opportunities. The company used its strength of gathering valuable customers feedback to understand their thinking. After that, Skoda focused on this strength and put the cars in the market according to the customers demands. Basically, Skoda noticed the marketing approaches of the competitors which are focused on the product itself. So, the company focused on providing the driving experience to the customers. Along with this, the company discovered that the customers loved their cares as compared to the compe titors in the car industry. So, company differentiated its product range and developed the strategy to improve the brand and take benefit of the opportunities in the market. Company focused on the Happy Skoda Customers as an opportunity to strengthen the brand for the competition. That was the unique selling proposition of the Skoda in the car industry to acquire the customers. This practice enhanced the experience of the customers in terms of the products in the market and turned the weakness of the company into opportunities (Jobber, 2006). 3.Strategy to address the threats There were many threats for the Skoda in the car industry i.e. there are around 50 different car markers in the UK car makers which are selling more than 200 models. So, it is the threat for Skoda to maintain its strong position in the market. So, there is the need to provide strong and powerful message by the company for the customers to deal with the competitive environment. Along with this, there was the need of strong product range in Skoda to compete in the international market. So, Skoda adopted some innovative strategies to address the external threats in the market. The company adopted recycling process in its business operations. It is clear that the customers had negative perception towards the cars of the company due to the low quality material. So, the company used recycling process as much as it can to make the products better for the customers. Further, the company focused on the corporate social responsibility. For this manner, Skoda is using environmental friendly machinery for the production purpose because the customers are now more concerned about the environment and the community in which they are living (Generals, Partner and Nairn, 2011). Further, the strategy of the company is to design such cares which can cut down on fuel consumption. This will provide good experience of driving to the customers. At last, the company has strategy to design the cars having low noise and better sound to give better experience to the customers. This strategy would be helpful for the company to enhance the customer base in the market. 4.SWOT analysis for Skoda After the above discussion, it is clear that Skoda is trying to improve its brand image among the customers by providing quality products. Further, The SWOT analysis for the Skoda is as follows: Strength- 100-year history as the vehicle manufacturer, Availability of Highly skilled workforce, Availability of largest employees, Synergy with other products, Focused on the research and development of new products, and Having strong reputation. Weakness Perception of past i.e. Skoda produces low quality products, Low wages rates for workers and it is growing unrest among them, and Outdated infrastructure Opportunities Growing the market of Automobile in the China, Africa, India and Eastern Europe, Probability of moving manufacturing and new plants into low cost countries, and Beneficial for those companies using alternative fuels Threats Competitive environment in the international market, Declining sales in the Eastern Europe countries, High wages rates in the other countries which is the threat for remaining competitive, and Increased availability of used vehicles in the Eastern Europe countries (Holweg, 2009). 5.benefits of using SWOT analysis There are most of the benefits of using SWOT analysis in a company. The SWOT analysis is useful in identifying the weakness and threats of the company along with its opportunities and strengths. The information gathered from the SWOT analysis can be utilized by the organizations for identifying their positions in the market. By the SWOT analysis, the companies are able to plan the course of actions effectively to meet the goals and objectives of the business. In case of Skoda, by the SWOT analysis, the company was able to identify its weaknesses in the business operations and it developed effective strategies to utilize the opportunities in the market (Kotler, 2012). Basically, SWOT analysis is the best way to organization the information of the company in the operating market. It shows the external and internal position of the company i.e. what the company is doing correct what is doing incorrect. After that, the company can act accordingly in the market. SWOT analysis provides a look to the managers for the future opportunities and potential threats (Valkanos and Anastasiou, 2009). References Generals, Lucky. Partner, Founding and Nairn, Andy. Effective marketing strategies for automotive campaigns. 2011. Web. 18 June 2017 Holweg, Matthias. The Competitive Status of theUK Automotive Industry. (2009). Web. 18 June 2017 Jobber. Principles and Practice of Marketing. (5th). 389. 2006 Kotler, Philip. Principles of Marketing. (11th). Prentice Hall. 2012 Parkin, Rich et al. The future of the U.K. used car market: Trends and opportunities. 2015. Web. 18 June 2017 Valkanos, Efthymios and Anastasiou, Adamos. The importance of SWOT Analysis for educational units that belong to the field of Vocational Education and Training. September 2009