The manner in which these products are lovably deployed into the consumers’ hands, becomes as unique a process as the companies themselves are. There are however, several similarities in the strategic planning each company employs when introducing their products into the market place. Growth, innovation, alliances and execution are just a sampling of these shared commonalities that will be expanded upon throughout this document (Holstein 2014).
The heavies of the hand-held electronics hitters in the industry as of the fourth quarter in 2014, are the likes of Apple, Samsung and Leno (Statistics 2014). Of the three contenders in the hand-held personal electronics industry, Leno Group Limited, is of the most ambitious. Their assets currently range over $10. 5 billion, which have experienced an increase in revenue of 7% from that of the previous year (Leno 2014). A study of Leno Group Limited will be used as the basis for an in-depth analysis on organizational growth strategies, and their execution will be outlined.
Leno will be properly introduced; and an exploration of their hand-held personal electronics division, and the competitive market environment will be reviewed as well. Following this review, Leno’s competencies and resources, as well as their partnerships and alliances will be evaluated. In order to identify opportunities for the success of Leno’s future growth, a comparison of the blue ocean innovation strategy, with that of the use of the value strategy will be considered; based on the company’s past results.
Leno’s foundation for its corporate culture is somewhat unique in nature. Therefore, an in-depth look into Leno’s distinctive business philosophy, as well as how Leno’s supportive leadership style; which has cultivated the cooperation of its employees will be addressed. Finally, an example of Leno’s strategic mapping configuration will be presented; this map ill attempt to visualize the overall strategic organizational objectives of the corporation, as well as its direction for the future of Leno.
Welcome to Leno Leno Group Limited, the China-born child of diversification, has evolved into an exceedingly successful, internationally competent, electronics organization. Their origin was the brainchild of parent organization, Legend Holdings. In 1988, Legend Holdings, an originally small computer manufacturing business, was making headway in China selling its’ first innovation, a brand of computers exclusive to Legend. As the company grew and began to take on popularity n China, Legend Holdings realized it needed help distributing their brand of well-liked computers.
In its quest to keep the price of its computers as low as possible, while remaining a competitive force in the market, Legend Holdings used the economics of its value chain and expanded (Thompson 2010). This development of resource expansion resulted in an offshoot distribution company they called Leno Group Limited (Legend 2013). Analysis of the Competitive Environment, and Market Conditions Now a multinational organization worth an estimated $10. 5 billion (Leno 2014), Leno intends to brand itself on an internationally grand scale (Rally 2014).
In the personal electronics world, the competition is intensely success-driven, and remains in a constant state of flux. This strong rivalry, coupled with the change-driven market dynamics, creates many challenges for the electronics industry, where strong product diversity comes into strategic play. Organizations attempting to separate themselves from the rest of the pack require a cost effectiveness in their processes, as well as a uniquely distinct product, if their attempts to successfully compete with their worthy opponents is to be profitable (Global 2014).
Leno, endeavors to main an unceasingly dynamic contender in the electronics world; keeping its rate of technological innovation ever-changing, while attempting to make the rest of electronics world irrelevant (Kim & Membrane 1997). Consumers tend to make purchases based on price, features, ease of use, and brand allegiance; which creates several challenges for the electronics industry for creating diverse products that not only possesses attractive features, but are affordable to the consumer as well (Sun 2014).
Current Growth and New Business Strategy As a new organization, the difficulties of being a Chinese based electronics many was threatening to stunt Leno’s potential growth in the industry abroad. Historically, Chinese organizations have been deficient in the marketing savvy most Western industries easily enjoy. Leno’s leaders sought to break the company free from that established stereotypical Chinese mindset; setting out to differentiate its company from a pigeon-holed existence in the electronics market (Rally 2014).
Leno’s acquisition of IBM was paramount in propelling the company forward in its journey through the ups and downs of the personal electronics industry. Starting out as a virtual unknown in the international arsenal computing market, the IBM brand lent Leno a much needed leg up with concerns to product recognition (Sun 2014). Leno succeeded in debunking the implication that Chinese companies could not hold ground when matched against the Western international community, and their success would become an extraordinary accomplishment for a Chinese born electronics company.
The chart below represents the competitive market share held by Leno at the end of 2014. Leno not only proved the implication false, it proved that a Chinese born company has the tenacity to surpass its Western counterparts (IDS 2015). Personal Computers Internationally, the entire personal computer market showed a marked decline across the board in 2014. However, Leno’s market share showed a significant increase from that of its closest competitors; surpassing the likes of Hewlett Packard, Apple, and Dell in that year (Sun 2014).
As the consumer market slowly moves away from the purchasing of personal computers, overall sales of stationary computers has diminished internationally throughout the industry. However, Leno has steadily maintained its’ stationary computer sales from 2013 to 2014; advancing from the other manufactures for the first time in Leno’s history. In as much as the consumer market is moving away from purchasing these types of computers, Leno saw a significant upsurge in the sales of its personal computers, when compared to that of its rivals in the market; increasing its sales approximately three percent from 2013 to 2014 (Sun 2014).
Smartness Growth in the 2014 smartened industry saw Leno slowly etching its’ way into the top three tier of the smartened leader board. In order for Leno to increase their profitability in the smartened industry, Leno made a strategically powered move and purchased the flailing Motorola smartened business from Google. Leno plans on turning the dying company around within an approximate time frame of eighteen months to two years (Duteous 2014).
With contenders as strong as Samsung and Apple, Leno is looking at an ardent struggle, but with Leno’s past successes in the electronics realm, it is anticipated that Leno will surpass its challengers. With the mindset of its dynamic leader Yang, the organization may just succeed in its endeavor (Duteous 2014). Defining Leno’s Business Model Realizing that companies originating in China have little clout in the industry, Leno’s CEO, Hanging Yang, intends to brand the organization on a more lobar scale, as opposed to remaining local to China (Rally 2014).
Yang’s conscious efforts to move Leno in this direction has been a slow and steady, yet intensely focused endeavor. An example of this endeavor started when Leno acquired IBM in 2005 (Marketing 2014). The Thinking product, created by Leno, carried the IBM brand for a substantial period of time before Leno began slowly bathing its frog. Initially immersing the product under the facade of the IBM label, and slowly evolving its’ own brand; until just recently, the brand came to fruition as a strictly Leno product (Really 2014).
This move retreated market strength for Leno in the competitive electronics environment, providing Leno with a strong competitive leg up in the industry. Producing a valuable product and establishing that product successfully in a saturated market; while attempting to profit from the venture is challenging in and of itself (Thompson 2010). However, CEO and Chairman Hanging Yang’s pioneering leadership style continues steering the Leno Company along the path to success.
The Leno Group strives to remain well ahead of its rivals in the competitive market; all the while assuring that the products they deliver to heir customers are enriching the experiential use of their products (Leno n. D. ). Yang realized early on that by giving the customer greater product value, he was making Leno’s products more valuable to the customer (Thompson 2010). Adding to that philosophy, Yang believes in deeply immersing the company into the local area; strategically utilizing the resources available to the company in the city or country they settle in.
Leno’s resource focus isn’t set exclusively on local materials resources; their designation of resource includes the intellectual type as well. Leno is intent on investing in the brainpower of he locals in the area, in order to bring fresh ideas into the organization (Leno 2012). On the path to becoming the revolutionary leaders in the industry, Yang continues to show keen insight into the needs of the organization. M/hen East meets West” seems appropriate when describing the obstacles Yang faced when setting a course for the development of Leno’s business model (McMillan 2014).
Initially, the cultural differences between China and the West were a considerable obstacle. These disparities complicated the execution of Leno’s initial attempt at cultivating an international business model; and bridging those ultra chasms takes continual time, effort and money. After initially branching out into the US, Leno faced some serious complications in communicating with their IBM counterparts. It was shortly after their first visit to New York that Yang declared the “official” language of Leno would be English (Holstein 2014).
The decision to officially make Leno an English speaking organization was a strategically wise move. Leno presented itself with the opportunity to become a more competitive entity in the electronics industry; thus, generating a more viable atmosphere to become more successful by and large. Moreover, changing the language resulted in a strategic win for the organization, as a marked performance in the company’s profitability began to accelerate from that point forward (Thompson 2010).
Evaluating Leno’s Competencies and Resources Leno’s largely improved communication status accelerated Leno’s overall strategic performance. Thus empowering the organization to strengthen its competencies, while successfully progressing in several other areas of the industry (Thompson 2010). Leno has been building its independence as well as its market competence for more than thirty years (Legend 2013). As the advantageous progenitors of Legend Holdings, Leno’s leaders were able to tap into the nurturing afforded them by their parent organization.
The basic corporate foundation established by Legend earned Leno a proverbial leg up in the IT community. Core competencies were solidified early on by Leno due in part to its Legends well established managerial values, supply chain resources, and experience in the market. This benefactor relationship, coupled with its visional leaders’ market insights, helped to establish Leno as a strong global contender in the electronics world (Legend 2013). Resources
The Leno Group has endeavored to build up strong relationships, based on its parent organizations’ original distribution and supply chain model, throughout its organization; safeguarding these relationships, while cultivating trust throughout the communities it serves (Earns & Chou 2013). Due in part to this pre-established philosophy, Leno has been able to keep the prices of its merchandise down, in comparison to that of its competition, by building up its supply chain activities in the locations the company has established itself in (Essay 2013).
Additionally, Leno also believes that making their own products as great merit, therefore they manufacture a majority of their own products. This creation tradition helps the company to maintain more reasonable prices for their products, while increasing their revenue through the growing popularity, as well as the incremental sales increases of their brands (Earns & Chou 2013). In addition to product creation, Leno has developed a more seamless inventory management process as well. Leno takes a more amalgams approach to the control of their supplies, monitoring and dispersing their products on a more local than global level.
Managing their supply chain in this fashion allows Leno o appreciate a more seamless method for supply distribution (Jail 2012). Leno’s Growth Strategies, Partnerships & Alliances Leno’s strategies for inventory maintenance coupled with their distribution processes are just a few of the strategic processes allowing for market share growth within the electronics world for the maturing company. Leno continues to build energy in the PC realm while using its three major hubs of commerce to take advantage of its position in the market.
The success of its tablets’ tent design is making way for future product innovation for Leno; their intent is to continue to take advantage of this unique design, further researching potential innovation avenues, and developing newer products as a result (Holstein 2014). Alliances In the quest to continually strengthen its position in the international market, Leno’s recent alliance with IBM, has better situated the company to gain successful entry into the business of enterprise solutions.
Developing the capacity to offer global leaders a more all-inclusive line of electronics adds a new dimension to Leno’s progressive sales portfolio (IBM 2014). An enterprise elution, of the caliber IBM is capable of providing its ally, will support Leno’s quest in offering business leaders an overall view of their organizational data (Thompson). In turn, a greater range of customers essential for the nascent giants continued progression in the electronics market, will be generated (Thompson 2010).
Acquisitions Another tactical growth strategy for Leno took place just recently; Leno acquired Motorola’s smartened business from internet giant Google (McCormick 2015). In acquiring Motorola, Leno desires to merge its Leno brand phone with the Motorola line, expecting that the move will open up opportunity for Leno’s dominance in the hand-held electronics marketplace once again (Shah 2014). The chart below outlines their competitive position in the market; depicting the room for growth Leno still has to gain within that domain (Lund 2015).
Although there are many naysayer in the industry that feel Leno is risking much with this move, Leno’s’ leadership believes otherwise. It is felt among the executives in the corporation that the revenues from this venture have already been lucrative for the China born organization. Additionally, these leaders have forecasted the revenues from the acquisition of Motorola will grow exponentially over the next two years or so (Osaka & Luke 2014).
Innovative Opportunities; Blue Ocean & Value Innovation In Leno’s past, PC sales were the organizations main focus; and the Leno Group held the majority of the PC sales business, swimming in a vast blue PC ocean, hoarding global PC sales with ease (Bloodspot 2013). Leno realized that the race for the PC market was deteriorating, and in as much as Leno had dominated that market, it was time for a new segment of the market to enter the pool.
Leno strives to seize opportunities to create another blue ocean innovation. Intentionally setting a course to produce fresh consumer interest in more modern products, Leno’s goal is to force their competition to become unimportant in the smartened market (Thompson 2010). The tides of innovation are continually ebbing and flowing, and with the role of the PC wilting significantly, this leaves a vast blue ocean available for the taking in the surging era of the smartened and tablet industry (Bloodspot 2013).
Smartened and tablet sales have far surpassed that of the personal computer (PC) business as of late, and Leno’s leaders believe their value innovation approach will propel he organization into a greater competitive ring in the near future. This upsurge providing Leno with the assistance they need to clinch a spot in that market closer to that of their rivals, Samsung and Apple (Bloodspot 2013). Leno’s intended merge of smartened resources (Shah 2014) will create better value for its customers, allow for a more global presence for their brand, and save the company much in the way of its resources as well (Thompson 2010).
Executing Growth Through Cultural Divergence Leno’s successful business approach includes a mantra often repeated at their corporate command centers; “protect and attack” (Salter 2011). This strategy, and the attitude behind the tactic, sets the stage for globally branding the Leno product lines successfully. Leno’s CEO, Hanging Yang, a young upbeat leader known for his enthusiastically charged speeches, remains active as a top manager in the corporation today (Engorges 2014). With the assistance of its global management team, Leno concentrates its efforts on effectively evolving their international principles (BETS n. D. ).
Culture Chinese and Western cultures occasionally have difficulties in the art of simple communication. Yang recognized the disparity between the cultures shortly after arriving in New York for the first time, when an initial meeting nearly turned disastrous for the fledgling company. Relating to the cultural differences throughout an industry as vast as Leno takes energy and quite a bit of time. The first in a line of strategic moves established to bridge the culture gap between East and West took place a short time after Yang’s not-so-pleasant experience in New York; the “official” language of Leno became English (Holstein 2014).
Leno’s leader realized that greater organizational success would be achieved through understanding; and learning the subtle differences in he manner each culture communicated would provide the greatest value for the organization (BETS n. D. ). Therefore, classes in cultural diversity for all segments of the organization were incorporated into the core principles of the company. Framework and Utilizing Talent When managing an organization extending into so many diverse international branches as Leno does, it’s important to utilize the talents associated with those diversities for the greater good of the organization (Thompson 2010).
The leadership at Leno has had to learn to listen to their diverse group of employees with a cultural ear; taking into consideration the value the views of their staff brings to the corporate table, and utilizing those differences to the advantage of the organization (Seem & Ghana 2005). Thompson (2010) suggests that management follow a basic frame work process for strategy; allowing for a more well-rounded organization to flourish through this process. Yang brings a youthful view to the corporate table, allowing for a more open-minded leadership attitude to be embraced in its organization.
The multinational individuality of its employees is revered and Yang’s leadership philosophy signs keen on the skill of listening to his people (Holstein 2014). Yang’s active listens skills are not focused strictly on his contemporaries, he listens to the line worker as well. This managerial strategy allows for greater insight into others’ viewpoints, positioning Yang in a more revered role in the organization (Holstein 2014). Yang believes in keeping manufacturing in-house and not using third party sources to make their products.
This strategy of vertical integration gave the organization more power to control the quality of their products, and served to save the company’s assets from dwindling (Holstein 2014). Branding, Training Best Practices Taking the time and energy to brand their product line also assisted Leno’s successful strategy execution and rise to power (Thompson 2010). Incorporating star power from both the basketball and football leagues into its advertisement campaigns, Leno was able to create brand notoriety for its mobile phone products.
Following this strategy, Leno began marketing to the sect most apt to purchase innovation; the young. Leno’s series of commercials and billboard advertisements were geared to attract the younger audience and the potential intellect they bring to the Leno product (Holstein 2014) While the creation of marketable brand is vital to the success of an organization, the training of its people at the front lines of brand creation is of utmost importance to the success of that creation (Ill 10).
Of the best practices Leno has embraced in the strategic build of their organization, the cross training of its American employees was of the most valuable (Thompson 2010). This best practice allowed for fewer employees working on the production line, which served to cut down on the expense of running a manufacturing business in America (Holstein 2014). Another of Leno’s best practices is the time the organizations invests in horology training its executive team; ultimately relying on those competent team members to communicate the corporate managerial philosophy to their underlings worldwide.
Incentives for goal setting are also incorporated into their continuous development strategies; strengthening the understanding of the management tier, and incorporating these developmental strategies throughout their corporate international community (Ill 2010). This tiered approach to management enables each leader, in every aspect of the organization, the autonomy to effectively carry out the strategic mission of their organizational duties (Thompson 2010).
The culture of Leno’s international community is widely varied, oftentimes making communicating the ethical mission of the organization somewhat challenging (Thompson 2010). In order to achieve an active amount of employee acceptance in a change initiative, Yang Hanging actively participates in strategic management practices within the Leno organization; sometimes taking, what might seem, extreme measures to legislate change within the corporate Cutter of the company (Weber 2014).
It was Yang’s belief that internationalization his employees meant that generations of quiet and politely bred Chinese workers would need to relax their stiff agates; making them seem more approachable to the international electronics community. Yang felt this move an important strategic shift for Leno’s future global success, but one that would prove challenging in garnering the teams’ cooperation in the process. Yang immersed himself in the process in order to gain the team’s full trust and cooperation in this change initiative, and took the lead in championing that change movement.
In his quest to immerse the entire organization in a campaign to relax its’ staunch Eastern posture, Yang initiated a first-name campaign. Yang and the entire executive team wore name tags simply stating their first name. Each morning for several days the executive team stood at the entry of the building and greeted each employee as they arrived for work; insisting that the employees address them by their given names.
The rigidity barrier was difficult to break, but slowly, the team came around and the relaxation process took hold (Weber 2014). This tactic may see a bit unconventional to a Westerner, but providing the Chinese team with a more globally accepting persona was an important turn of events for the international growth of the organization (Weber 2014). This type of change process bolsters n organizations’ expansion potential when its employees are better able to effectively communicate with their customers.
Yang’s successful execution of this process and was effective, and was critical to the strategic success of the Eastern- based section of the company (Thompson 2014). Strategic Mapping Leno’s core growth strategies are outlined on the strategic map below. The chart depicts Leno’s “attack and protect” business mode, attacking the markets in the United States, as well as globally; while sinking a sizeable portion of its profits into hand-held tablet, smartened, and smart TV technology (Salter 2011).
Their protection focuses around their core business model, the bustling sales market in China, the protection for their international expansion, and assuring their distribution channels remain within the control of the core company. The sustainability of the company rests on its ability to expand internationally, how well it competes with its rivals in the industry, its ability to sustain growth, and the research and development of new disruptive technologies.
Strategic Map (Earns & Chou 201 3) Protect Attack Sustain Core Business Investment of profits into smartened technology International Manufacturing and Customer base China Investment of profits into tablet and smart TV technology Competitive Advantage International Expansion LISA – promise and prosperity Growth Balance Distribution Channels Global Market Research and Development Leno’s Conclusion Intentionally setting a course to produce fresh consumer interest in more modern products, Leno’s goal is to force their competition to become unimportant in the smartened market (Thompson 2010).
The Leno “attack and protect” strategy has been a coup for their corporate culture, creating profitability, while not limiting the potential for expansion, and producing products that are well received worldwide. Leno’s inspirational CEO, Yang Hanging, keeps the organizational leadership in top shape. In as much as the top echelon of leadership spans the globe, Yang assures time is made with his management team at least twice a month.
The development of those leaders has become a vital mechanism for the development of Leno’s entire corporate growth strategy (Salter 2014). The effective dissemination of key corporate strategies from upper management down through the distribution chain, helps to accomplish a complete harmonistic of the corporate strategies throughout an organization. Aligning the employees with the direction of the company paves he way for the consistency of standards within the whole of the organization (Holstein 2014).
Standardization and dissemination of these types of core activities in an organization is paramount to reliably synchronizing each of the key corporate strategies to every member of the team (Thompson 2014). Leno is in a continual state of development, its efforts to brand itself on a grander scale internationally have become a successful state of being for the organization (Really 2014). This organizations’ ability to lucratively manage change on a both the local, as well as the multi-national level, has earned Leno well-recognized name in the industry.
