INNOVATION AT HARLEY DAVIDSON

BY- PRABHAT MANIMOHAMMAD ABBAS

MAHEK GUPTA

BACKGROUND

• The company was founded in 1903 and founders were William S Harley, Arthur Davidson at Milwaukee Wisconsin.

• It is basically a motorcycle manufacturing company.• The company built their first motorcycle in 1903

which was basically a cycle with an engine.• In 1965 HD goes public.• In 1981 13 members of senior management

purchased the co.

First Bike

• The word innovation means creation of something new and it is most important for survival and development in every walk of life of a company.

• As being more than 100 year HD company have got several awards.

ACHIEVEMENTS

• In Sep 2003 company was given “outstanding corporate innovator award “ by PDMA

• In Dec 2003 HD got the technology leader of the year award .

Problem faced by company

– High cost , low quality than Japanese bike like Honda , Suzuki and Kawasaki.

– Market share declined from 80 % to 20 %.

Things done by company

• Marketing and costumer relations:-• Established HOG(Harley owner group) group .• Regular comprehensive dealer training program.• Harley Davidson Financial Services(HDFS)offered various

innovative financial services.• Value over price strategy to compete with competitors.• Customization taking feedback from customer.• They also ensured that production did not exceed the

demand.

•Manufacturing Practices- Just in time strategy for inventory

management .• Statistical process control.• Employee involvement.

• New Product Development HD established the concurrent product

and process delivery methodology.

ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE

• Hard dates are fixed as calendar dates for achieving various targets in the project.

• The management shared the importance of a company’s value.

• HD was one of those rare company that had developed exceptionally good , strong and long lasting labor relations.

CONCLUSION

• The case explains how adopting innovation as a strategic tool helped Harley Davidson (H-D) become a leading motorcycle and motorcycle accessories company.

• It provides an explanation of the concept of innovation, types of innovation, the innovation process and its applicability in the business context

Cont…

• The case covers H-D's history and talks of the product innovations that helped it become the leader in the US motorcycle industry.

• It also discusses the reasons for H-D losing its market share to foreign and domestic competitors.

• The case then focuses on how H-D innovated at various functional levels (marketing and customer relations, manufacturing, organization and new product development) to regain its leadership status.