Electrolux Case Answers To Questions
Electrolux Case Answers To Questions
Electrolux Case Answers To Questions
Case example------Electrolux
This is an introductory case example to illustrate the various elements of strategy – as presented
in Chapter 1. It shows how these apply to a particular industry and competitors within the
industry. These are some of the issues to highlight:
Levels of strategy
There are several levels of strategy at Electrolux:
Corporate (company as a whole)
Business Line (e.g. ‘Consumer Durables’)
Business Units (e.g. ‘White Goods Europe’)
Operational (departments within business units).
The market is polarising, so there are two possible bases to gain competitive advantage.
Either position 1 on the strategy clock (the low price ‘commodity’ positioning) or
differentiated (‘value-added’ product/service features) positions 4 and 5 on the clock. It is
not easy to run these two different positioning in parallel – without clever use of brands.
There are several choices of development direction for Electrolux. Decisions on product
development usually concern new features built on the current ‘platform’. Otherwise costs
are difficult to contain. Market development opportunities exist in developing countries
alongside the ‘trading-up’ of consumer requirements as economies become more prosperous.
The method of development is also important. Electrolux’s recent history has been dominated
by acquisitions.
The company has had to restructure regularly as it grew. Acquisitions also required pruning
and disposals to prevent the company from losing focus. The most recent decision to demerge
the ‘outdoor products’ division as a separate company (Husqvarna) reflects a feeling
in many sectors that re-focusing on a core business and core markets is likely to be more
successful than a wider portfolio of activities. Point out to students that this is absolutely the
opposite as to what happened at Electrolux in the 1970s and 1980s where, amongst other
things, they had extended into metal manufacture.
There is not much information about detailed processes, except reference to better product
renewal and improvements in logistics, purchasing and production
Managing change would be a particularly important issue given the possibility of cultural
clash in such a geographically spread organisation. Also, development by acquisitions
increases the cultural difficulties.