Panasonic Creates a Single Version of Truth from Its Data

Authors Avatar

Panasonic Creates a Single Version of Truth from Its Data

Case Study

        Panasonic is one of the world's leading electronics manufacturers and it operates under the umbrella of the Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd, a conglomeration of over 600 firms that based in Kadoma. Because of the enormous size the firm found that hat its product and consumer data were often incomplete, duplicated or inconsistent. In addition different segments were using different pools of data that were isolated form other parts of the company. This type of data handling were costly and created operational inefficiency. In order to solve this issue Panasonic decided to replace the current “pull” model of data dissemination with a “push” model. This objective was by the master-data-management (MDM) software from IBM’s WebSphere line. The implementation of this software saved Panasonic millions euros however there were some challenges while implementing it..

Question 1. Evaluate Panasonic's business strategy using the competitive forces and value chain models.

        In order to evaluate Panasonic's business strategy first of all the  the Porter’s Five Forces model was applied. This model provides a general view of the firm, its competitors, and the firm's environment. In this model, five competitive forces shape the fate of the firm.

  • Traditional Competitors: With fierce competition and short product life cycles due to changing technologies, success greatly depends on how quickly new products can be marketed. New product information must be quickly and accurately distributed to regional sales and marketing teams located in every country in Europe, with translations in every European language. To remain competitive, it needed to speed the distribution of product data to its regional sales and marketing teams. The many barriers to rolling out products around the world simultaneously left the global electronics giant vulnerable to competitors. With the new MDM software as noted by Schwartz: "Competitors can no longer bank on the idea we have to first roll out domestically before launching abroad, giving them time to get in there first. Now we have a strategic initiative for growth”.
  • New Market Entrants: Panasonic operates in the consumer electronics industry; threat of new entrants into this industry is minimal, because there already are many very large and established companies, which all experience difficult times and make little profit or no profit at all. The traditional consumer electronics segment the main threat comes from current manufacturers entering other sub-segments in which they were not active yet.
  • Substitute Products and Services: Threat of substitute products is more likely to accrue. The extending functionalities of computers may threaten the traditional TV set and audio products, like cassette- and videorecorders and CD-players.
  • Customers: Concerning customers there should be made a distinction between direct customers or retailers on one hand and the end users on the other. A strong relationships with retailers is very important in the consumer electronics industry. The retailers are the direct contact point to the end user, so many companies want to make sure retailers make more efforts to sell their products in stead of their competitor’s and are working on close partnerships with major retail chains. As for the end users their demand is related to the total income. As well the consumer demand can be divided into two categories. High end users ask for high quality products and services, for instance improved definition and wide screen TV sets and VCRs. Low end users ask for less expensive products that are easier to use.
  • Suppliers: The most important suppliers to the consumer electronics industry are the plastics and non-ferrous metal industries and the semiconductor producers. As Panasonic operates under the umbrella of the Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd which is vertically integrated into the semiconductor and other component parts business, they do not face strong threats of their suppliers. And since the natures of business of suppliers and consumer electronics greatly differ no threat from forward integrating suppliers should be expected.
Join now!

        The Value Chain framework of Michael Porter is a model that helps to analyze specific activities through which firms can create value and competitive advantage. It highlights specific activities in the business where competitive strategies can be best applied and where information systems are most likely to have strategic impact. The Value Chain model can be seen as helping to maximize corporate value creation. It identifies specific, critical-leverage points where a firm can use information technology more effectively to keep its competitive position.

The case reveals several critical business areas within Panasonic’s activities both primary and support.

Question ...

This is a preview of the whole essay