By

RAJKAMAL
M
 3510940140

INTRODUCTION

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

DELL was founded in 1984 by Michael Dell on a simple concept: that by

selling computer systems directly to customers, Dell could best understand their

needs and efficiently provide the most effective computing solutions to meet those

needs. DELL  is a premier provider of products and services required for

customers worldwide to build their information-technology and Internet

infrastructures and is by far the most renowned name in the computer industry for

customers worldwide to build information technology and Internet infrastructures.

The mission of Dell is "to be the most successful computer company in the

world at delivering the best customer experience in markets we serve", by means

of meeting customer expectations of highest quality, leading technology and

company accountability and support as well as flexible customization capability,

and financial stability.

General Issues
 DELL is enhancing and broadening the fundamental competitive advantages

of the direct model by applying the efficiencies of the Internet to its entire

business. Dell led commercial migration to the Internet, launching www.dell.com

in 1994 and adding e-commerce capability in 1996. DELL became the first

company to record $1 million in online sales. DELL in the Chinese market is

perceived to be a highly competitive environment by strict legislation and different

cultural and social values. The Chinese government promotes national PC vendors

to foreign companies and strict control of internet usage.

The technological advancement is getting better at a quicker pace. The

economy of the country is also doing well but the societal view of internet sales is

rather blinkered and Dell does not have much success in its online sales. DELL

produces high quality PCs by using their Direct Business Model approach and sells

them directly to the customers. DELL’s weaknesses are single sourcing, new

product and reliance on corporate clients. DELL has opportunities like the

potential growth in overseas markets as the industry is still in growth phase and the

entering of the new product markets. Henceforth, the threats are technological

changes that are expected since technology can only get better. Global economy

and increased competition in which DELL’s financial ratios identifies that the

company is no match for their competitors.

The one problem concern faced by DELL is the fierce competition in the industry.

If DELL enters into a merge it would not have to spend so much money and time

trying to develop a face-to-face communications, if the local business is already

well known. DELL initiated ways to overcome its weaknesses and use its strengths

to gain advantages over its competitors by careful analyzing of the factors that

contribute to the company’s success in business strategies that had implemented

created the path for the company’s continued success.

Competitive advantage and market superiority tends to be among the top of

the list of priorities of any business or commercial entity nowadays. Proper

consideration of the market and establishing a really viable marketing mix allows

organisations to maximise their potential and realise their individual goals.

However, the inherent problem in this assumption is that the rest of the companies

working as a direct or indirect competitor also have the propensity to take on the

same objectives of gaining the bulk of the market share and take over the top of the

industry by being competitively superior. The processes and systems on which

these companies employ will be the one who’ll make or break their performance in

the market. Among those that have become monoliths in their respective industries

is Dell Inc. The following discussions will be looking into the model used by the

company in their operations. Specifically, a look on their marketing mix as well as

their distribution scheme will be taken into account.

     Strategy is based on internal and external environment in which business

decisions, according to Dell, Dell's senior internal and external environment in

which, to the highly competitive modern market, the most direct strategy is to

become the interests of all the ones who enjoy the cost savings to customers. Dell

Inc. has established close to the customer the most direct relationship. Close to the

customer is the enterprise competitive weapon, but only from a single point of

many companies to build relationships with customers, while Dell is based on

customer's needs, characteristics and size to the different organizations and

customers directly. Facts have proved that such a relationship has become Dell's

biggest competitive advantage. Dell established mainly from the following aspects

of the business strategy, and through several measures, combined with each other

to form a kind of Dell's core competitiveness.

GROWTH OF DELL

Dell Inc is among the contemporary organisations that has benefited from

making sense of their business environment and create a business model distinctly

their own. It is among the top companies in the computer-hardware industry along

with its major competitors IBM and Hewlett-Packard. (2004) The company was

noted by recent organisational literature as among forerunners in the context of

B2B (business-to-business) transactions. (2004) it was also noted that the company
is among those who employ a just-in-time (JIT) model in their inventory. (2004)

This means that the company will only manufacture specific items in their product

list once orders are placed through the internet and through other

telecommunication means.    

BEING COMPETITIVELY SUPERIOR

Traditionally, companies rely on marketing to provide information to their

target market about their product and possibly attract the market that they are

targeting. However, that may not suffice nowadays. Studies have indicated that

“functional, process, and relationship benefits” are among the most significant

elements needed for marketing superiority in these contemporary times. (1999)

basically, being competitively superior depends highly on how well a company

manages its marketing mix.

The marketing mix is the proverbial four Ps (product, price, place, and

promotion) often pointed out in business lectures and organisational studies. In the

context of Dell Inc, their product is predominantly computer-hardware with rather

competitive prices as compared with the other top manufacturers and distributors

in the industry. In terms of promotional endeavours, Dell Inc has been among the

leaders in using contemporary marketing schemes.

 These promotional activities range from print ads, billboards, television

advertisements, Internet advertisement, and even contemporary marketing

techniques like sponsorships in professional sports and product placements in

television and films. (2004) one distinct characteristic of the marketing mix of Dell

is its place, or what it is normally referred to as the distribution channels of the

company. This appears to be one of the distinguishing factors that put Dell among

the top of the computer-hardware food-chain. 

DIRECT DISTRIBUTION

 In the case of Dell Inc, the channel of distribution tends to significantly

affect the company’s performance in terms of sales. As indicated earlier, the

company uses a JIT inventory system. At this point, it is important to note

that in using that type of inventory system, Dell Inc is able to reduce

wastage and added cost of storing and moving products. (2003) In the same

regard, this places added efficiency on the operations of the company given

that both logistics and sales has been amalgamated into a unified operation.

(1993)    

 Moreover, (2004) indicated that Dell Inc has chosen the internet and

telephone lines as its main business channels. This places the company in

direct contact with its customers. At a certain degree, this is one of the
 competitive advantages of Dell Inc as it is apparently designed to take on

these marketing objectives. The use of the internet as one of its medium

inevitably provides the company is a considerably wide range and variety of

clients. (2003)

 The company is well aware on how to manage their market as well as the

manner on which it could further acquire a greater market share through

their channels of distribution.  

 Customers direct access to the system - realization of direct services

     Customers direct access to the system is toll-free telephone (sales,
customer service) and the Internet support system. Phones within the
enterprise in general are just a communication tool to complete the call task
over. But Dell can be obtained from the telephone for more analysis of data:
the number of calls distribution (advertising, point in time, source of
regional, etc.), phone talk time on average, how many Dell's customer phone
sales or technical staff had not provided assistance to be directly linked out
(discarded), etc., each data change will lead to changes in Dell's
management decision-making. Dell To further narrow the distance between
the customer and follow the progress of time, in-house to achieve "e-
commerce", the successful use of the Internet, resulting in marketing, sales,
customer service, efficiency of all aspects have been greatly improved, the
corresponding costs are further reduced

 Fine management and direct services - Dell's internal marketing system of

the establishment of refinement of the success of management Information
from Dell's internal construction, but also direct services to customers also
rely on this. If the information is unsuccessful, Dell's direct service can not
be achieved, which also affect the success will rate of direct-sales model.
Dell's marketing support system is divided into client systems and Dell's
direct use of internal staff to use the system, this is the basis for the success
 of Dell's marketing and crystallization, which improved the efficiency of the
implementation of marketing and the provision of high-level personnel
decisions to the precise analysis of the data.

 On-Demand - to adapt the organizational structure of the supply chain

     On-demand in order to achieve zero inventory, more efficient
organization is needed to reflect the ability to achieve. As the prices of
computer products quickly, inventory pressures Clearly, Dell To realize the
on-demand, it must be after receipt of customer orders, production, this will
inevitably require update inventory the types and quantities, but keep the
plot a large number of assembly parts invariably increase operating costs,
and ultimately lead to higher product prices. So, Dell has chosen to
implement the collaboration within the enterprise supply chain.

     Dell's choice and suppliers through a rigorous selection process in the
peer select a reliable supplier and establish partnerships. By allowing
suppliers to Dell's logistics storage warehouse near the center of the
establishment, only when needed supply from here. After the selected
supplier, Dell will require suppliers to the long-term presence of technicians
in Dell's production line. The technical staff know their product quality,
there is a guarantee of quality control, Dell no longer need to equip
ourselves with the inspectors and equipment, thereby saving the cost of
production.
Dell vendors through providing them with long-term production
forecast for production forecasts, the whole system to keep inventory to a
minimum. Zero inventory and rapid manufacturing model to shorten the
distance of supply and demand, no inventory risk and cost, so Dell's product
price in order to have a significant competitive edge.

EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL FACTORS OF DELL

Dell Computer Corporation is the world's leading direct computer systems

company and a premier supplier of technology for the Internet Infrastructure. Dell
was founded in 1984 on a simple concept: by selling directly to customers, Dell
could best understand their needs, and efficiently provide the most effective
computing solutions to meet those needs. Dell is headquartered in Round Rock,
Texas, near Austin. The corporation revenue for the last four quarters totaled $25.3
billion. Today, Dell is ranked No. 2 and one of the fastest growing computer
companies worldwide, with more than 36,500 employees around the globe.

The company ranks No. 1 in the United States, where it is a leading supplier of
PCs to business customers, government agencies, educational institutions and
consumers. Dell’s management has played a key role in its success (Diaz, 2003).

Our team looked at Dell’s mission statement and found that Dell and its
management team is focused on rapid change, globalization, technology, e-
business, innovation, diversity, and ethics. Managers today make business
decisions based on their company’s goals, objectives and action plans. Rapid
change in the telecommunications

Dell is known for thinking outside the box. Dell didn't grow to be a $40 billion
company in 19 years by trying to do everything alone. Why should they want to
reinvent things that they could get from someone else? Entrepreneurial rising star
Michael Dell pioneered the direct-sales model for computers and took the company
from his dorm room to the top of the PC heap by keeping it focused on a simple
formula: eliminate the middleman and sell for less. Dell's built-to-order boxes
allow for lower inventories, lower costs, and higher profit margins, elements that
leave Dell well armed for price wars that characterize the unstable personal
computer sector (Diaz, 2003).

Dell has adopted the team approach to managing diversity. More than 1,500 U.S.
executives, managers and employees participate on cross-functional teams to
establish business unit and corporate priorities, exchange best practices, and
promote business unit/corporate accountability for managing workforce and
marketplace diversity in pursuit of Dell's business objectives. Dell's diversity team
of executives who provide direction, vision, mission and corporate goals for Dell
employee Diversity Action Councils and business unit steering committees. Dell
had the first African American board member ten years ago, and there have been
minorities and women at the VP level for at least that long. Culture change is what
makes the rest of the effort successful, since Dell is a data-driven company;
metrics and accountability have naturally been built into the model. Four
imperatives drive the Dell diversity vision: to get access to the best talent, to
minimize unproductive tensions in a diverse workforce, to meet government
requirements for workforce diversity and relationships to small businesses, and to
support diversity in a global context as Dell expands its business base worldwide
(T. Woodard, 2003).

The Premier website, Dell.com, is unique to each of Dell's corporate and public
sector customers. The core to Dell’s E-business success is 60,000 customized
Premier Dell.com websites that Dell provides to its customers. It contains all
aspects relating to the company's relationship with Dell, including negotiated
pricing and catalogue, order status, management reports and customized technical
support (“Dell,” 2003).

     Dell's internal, has been the implementation of CRM strategies and methods of
management, business development according to their characteristics need to
develop a marketing support system. The support system of each department may
not the same, but there is a sophisticated seamless link, allows businesses to
conduct high-level collection, collation and analysis of end customers a full range
of information, conduct one to one marketing, better consolidate and strengthen
and end-customer relations, in order to achieve meticulous management.
     High-quality customer service system to provide efficient after-sales service for
the direct level, allowing direct services company has some internal structure to
support! Based on Dell's strong customer service system, Dell has taken within the
enterprise is centrally managed customer service, which makes higher quality
customer service, lower costs. This requires in-house staffing of the mobilization,
build on customer-centric organization structure, faithfully to implement the best
"customer experience" corporate slogan. And efficient internal analysis, making in-
house personnel structure need to be adjusted, in the establishment of information
Technology within the enterprise sector, Dell's information technology to achieve
efficient operation, so as to direct marketing, direct service and meticulous
management to provide support.
ENVIRONMENT AND DRIVERS OF CHANGE

Dell committed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from its global activities
by 40% by 2015, with 2008 fiscal year as the baseline year. It is listed
in Greenpeace’s Guide to Greener Electronics that scores leading electronics
manufacturers according to their policies on toxic chemicals, recycling and climate
change. In October 2010, Dell ranked 10th out of 18 listed electronics makers
(increasing its score to 4.9 from 4.3, which it gained in the previous ranking from
May 2010).
Dell was the first company to publicly state a timeline for the elimination of toxic
polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and brominated flame retardants (BFRs), which it
planned to phase out by the end of 2009. It revised this commitment and now aims
to remove these toxics by the end of 2011 but only in its computing products.  In
March 2010, Greenpeace activists protested at Dell offices in Bangalore,
Amsterdam and Copenhagen calling for Dell’s founder and CEO Michael Dell to
‘drop the toxics’ and claiming that Dell’s aspiration to be ‘the greenest technology
company on the planet’ was ‘hypocritical’.  Dell has launched its first products
completely free of PVC and BFRs with the G-Series monitors (G2210 and G2410)
in 2009.
Green initiatives
Dell became the first company in the information technology industry to establish
a product-recycling goal (in 2004) and completed the implementation of its global
consumer recycling-program in 2006. On February 6, 2007, the National Recycling
Coalition awarded Dell its "Recycling Works" award for efforts to promote
producer responsibility. On July 19, 2007, Dell announced that it had exceeded
targets in working to achieve a multi-year goal of recovering 275 million pounds of
computer equipment by 2009.  The company reported the recovery of 78 million
pounds (nearly 40,000 tons) of IT equipment from customers in 2006, a 93-percent
increase over 2005; and 12.4% of the equipment Dell sold seven years earlier.
On June 5, 2007 Dell set a goal of becoming the greenest technology company on
Earth for the long term. The company launched a zero-carbon initiative that
includes:

1. reducing Dell's carbon intensity by 15 percent by 2012

 2. requiring primary suppliers to report carbon emissions data during quarterly
business reviews
3. partnering with customers to build the "greenest PC on the planet"
4. expanding the company's carbon-offsetting program, "Plant a Tree for Me".
The company introduced the term "The Re-Generation" during a round table in
London commemorating 2007 World Environment Day. "The Re-Generation"
refers to people of all ages throughout the world who want to "make a difference"
in improving the world's environment. Dell also talked about plans to take the lead
in setting an environmental standard for the "technology industry" and maintaining
that leadership in the future.
Dell reports its environmental performance in an annual Corporate Social
Responsibility (CSR) Report that follows the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)
protocol. Dell's 2008 CSR report ranked as "Application Level B" as "checked by
GRI".
The company aims to reduce its external environmental impact through energy-
efficient evolution of products, and also reduce its direct operational impact
through energy-efficiency programmes. Internal energy-efficiency programmes
reportedly save the company more than $3 million annually in energy-cost
savings. The largest component of the company's internal energy-efficiency
savings comes through PC power management: the company expects to save $1.8
million in energy costs through using specialised energy-management software on
a network of 50,000 PCs.

ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS

In general, Dell company is dynamic and complex organization because of its

proven best quality services and being dedicated in serving the world with its
management values that has kept them to be one of the best and most renowned in

the computer industry business in relation to Dell's climb in terms of market

leadership which is the outcome of a consistent focus on delivering the best

possible customer experience by means of standard based products and services in

engaging the global market.

The external environment of a company consists of outside conditions that affect a

firm’s performance. An analysis of this external environment allows a firm to

identify key conditions that are beyond its direct control and those elements on

which it can have an affect. Analyzing these areas of the external environment help

DELL identify the opportunities and threats in the computer industry.

PEST ANALYSIS

Political

One of DELL’s biggest threats is involving the fourth element of the external

environment, the political/legal environment. The Chinese government prefers to

promote national PC vendors to foreign companies. There is a lot of red tape

involved in securing government contracts. The Chinese government not only

favors local firms but also local companies. Government control of internet usage

in China is another threat to the growth of the internet.

Economic

The economic environment refers to the nature and direction of the economy in

which a firm competes or may compete. A primary threat that computer companies

encounter in China is the problem of software piracy. China has a shortage of

skilled labor, even though the country has many economic opportunities. Computer

companies have to acknowledge that the average consumer could not afford the

investment and very few had a bank account. DELL is aware that Chinese

customers go for the cheapest System.

Social

The socio-cultural segment is concerned with a society’s attitudes and cultural

values. The potential for Internet growth is huge in China, giving foreign computer

companies, DELL the opportunities to expand into a new market. Computer

companies have to acknowledge that in the Chinese culture, people are still unsure

about card sales because of the huge expense of computers in China. DELL have to

invest in door-to-door or face-to-face operations to gain consumers’ faith and

consumers’ trust in the company and product.

Technological
The technological segment includes the institutions and activities involved with

creating new knowledge into products, processes and materials. In the computer

industry, technology continues to be smaller and faster than ever. Providing access

to technologies developed by institutions has proven a key government resource. It

was observed that by the year 2000, mainland China’s annual PC production would

reach 7.6 million making it the third largest in the world. The internet is a great

opportunity for companies to get their name into the public domain as well as a fast

way to tailor services to its customer segments.

A threat in the technological segment to DELL’s business in China is that

access to the Internet is costly. Dell the company's organizational structure and

strategy of matching analysis

The level of productive forces determine the organizational Structure of the

enterprise model of the Development trend, to a certain level of productivity

constraints, companies adopted the organizational structure, is what corporate

behavior with its closely related. Corporate behavior is determined by enterprises

to develop strategy. The organizational structure is not static, but rather with the

internal and external environment in which companies change and enterprise

adjustment Strategy for enterprise organization structure. This paper mainly

discusses the basic organizational structure and strategic relationship to Dell as an

example, Dell's strategy for the evolution of and in accordance with the strategic
how to adjust its organizational structure, so that the two promote each other's

development, analysis, Dell in the matching process in the neglected problems that

cannot buy that? Finally from Dell's strategy and the organizational structure of the

matching process of revelation, given the organizational structure of the process of

how to adapt to the strategic principles and policy proposals.

MARKETING MIX OF DELL

Dell is one of the leading Consumer durables brand. The marketing mix of
dell talks about the way in which dell has improvised to gain a competitive
position.

Product:

 Dell believes that, ‘Marketing is not about providing products or services it

is essentially about providing changing benefits to the changing needs and
demands of the customer’.
 Dell provides a wide variety of both business class and home/consumer class
products and services.
 Dell designs, develops, manufactures, markets, sells, and supports a wide
range of products that in many cases are customized to individual customer
requirements.
 A few examples of products for individual and professional customers are
Dell Precision workstations, OptiPlex desktops, Dimension desktops, and
Inspiron and Latitude notebooks.

Price:

 Strategies usually change as the product passes through its life cycle,
because there is constrains on the company’s freedom to price a product at
different stage.
 The main objective of Dell is to produce the low price and profitable PC for
the customers.
  For the above reason Dell’s product pricing reflects the affordability of the
local consumers.
 Because Dell products are so customizable, the price is largely dependent on
the options and services added to the product.
 Dell is undercutting competitors in price to rapidly gain market share.

Place:

 Place is also known as channel, distribution, or intermediary. It is the

mechanism through which goods and/or services are moved from the
manufacturer / service provider to the user or consumer.
 Dell has been able to affect the location strategy aspect of its marketing
campaign.
 As Dell’s products are always available at the nearest dealer’s customers
develop trust for the “local Dell” thereby achieving the objective of gaining
their trust in Dell products and services, and forming a large and diversified
consumer base.

Promotion:

 Another one of the 4 P’s is promotion. This includes all the tools available to
the marketer for ‘marketing communication’.
 Dell in the past have not concentrated on extensive marketing campaigns but
these revolutionaries in 1999 when Dell changed its tactics by engaging in
extensive marketing campaigns.
 Dell markets its products primarily by advertising on television and the
Internet, advertising in a variety of print media, and mailing or emailing a
broad range of direct marketing publications, such as promotional materials,
catalogs, and customer newsletters.
 Dell has recently started promoting its products through retailers like Best
Buy, Staples, Wal-Mart, GOME, and Carrefour.

DELL’S PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

 Servers, storage and Networking.

 Printing and Imaging.

 Notebook computers.

 Desktop computers.

 Electronics and Accessories.

 Enterprise services.

 Consumer services.