Competitive Strategies Case Study

Motorola’s Competitive Strategy: Will It Work?

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Abstract:
In the 1990s, Motorola Inc. was the no.1 mobile manufacturer in the global handset market. In the mid 1990s, due to the emerging popularity of digital mobile industries, Motorola lost its no.1 position in the global handset market. Nokia, a Finland based digital mobile manufacturer started growing and in 1997, with 22.5% market share, surpassed Motorola and grabbed the no.1 position. In 1998, under Chris Galvin, Motorola planned on restructuring which included the introduction of a new section within the company, job cuts, transforming Motorola into a Net company and collaborating with internet giants. In 2003, Motorola’s market share rose to 13% as compared to Nokia’s 34% but it failed to gain back its position. The company also had to face stiff competition from Siemens, Samsung and Sony Ericsson. In 2004, Ed Zander joined Motorola as CEO to succeed Chris Galvin. Zander adopted strategies of diversification, product innovation, promotion, corporate culture and pricing. With all these strategies, Motorola’s market share rose to 22.1% from 19% in 2005. Despite this, Motorola was unable to catch up with Nokia which retained its position as the market leader with 36% market share. What could be the next strategy for Motorola to regain its position?

Pedagogical Objectives:

• To understand the impact of changing trends in the mobile industry
• To analyse reasons behind Motorola’s inability to gain back its position in the global handset industry
• To analyse the strategies adopted by Chris Galvin
• To analyse the strategies adopted by Edward Zander.

Keywords : Global Handset Industry Performance; Motorola’s declining market share; Nokia’s leading market share; Competitive Strategies Case Study; Chris Galvin’s Strategy; Ed Zander’s Strategy; Product Innovation; Collaboration; Pricing Strategy; Diversification; Corporate Culture; Stiff competition in Worldwide Handset Industry; Six sigma

Contents : 
Motorola: Leader in Cellular Industry
Restructuring Strategies of Motorola under Chris Galvin
Global Market Share of Mobile Companies
Ed Zander’s Competitive strategies forMotorola
Analog and Digital Cellular phone