EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

As one of the world's leading direct computer systems companies and a premier

supplier of technology for the Internet infrastructure, Dell's competitive advantage

is its direct customer focus. Constant interaction with its customers online and via

the telephone gives Dell the ability to understand unique computing needs that

drive individual and enterprise productivity. Even though growth rates for the

computer industry are expected to be less than previous years, Dell can still

successfully operate, enjoying healthy sustainable profits. A main problem is a

sagging US economy which Dell has no control over and a saturated PC market

with lower profit margins from industry price wars. Dell should focus on being a

“market taker”, instead of trying to be a market maker and capitalize on its ability

to enter new markets and quickly dominate, as it did in the low-end server and

workstation markets. It should pursue a multi-continental expansion of its middle

and high end server products. Dell should also pursue the external data storage

market through acquiring a leading company like the EMC Corporation. Having

already captured a large share of the US market, Dell should try and increase its

server, storage, and service segment penetration overseas to gain more

international market share, particularly in China and Latin America. Studies might

also be done on African and Russian markets as Dell has no physical presence in

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these regions. The only viable strategy in order to achieve Michael Dell’s goal to

double Dell Computers’ current revenue to $60 billion by 2007 is to work on

methods to improve sales in these 3 new areas. A combination of service, storage

and server product growth across newly established international markets will help

achieve this ambitious goal. While the US economy is in a recession, there is still

plenty of room to grow outside its borders.

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INTRODUCTION

Dell was founded in 1983 by Michael Dell, an 18 year old college freshman from

Texas who started out upgrading hard drives for IBM compatibles on nights and

weekends. Within a year, his service business had grown to an incredible $6

million from performing computer upgrades for local area businesses and he

dropped out of school to concentrate on the business. When Dell changed his

strategy and started offering custom built-to-order machines, the business

exploded, with $70 million in sales by the end of 1985. Evolving into an assembler

company, Dell was able to exploit certain events occurring in the industry and

swiftly adapted to meet market conditions. Five years later, total sales had grown

to an unbelievable $500 million and Dell became nationally known as a supplier of

state-of-the art desktop and portable computers. Dell continually achieved

phenomenal records in sales and profit growth, eventually making it the most

successful company ever in the PC industry, surpassing $25 billion in 2000. As one

of the world's premier providers of computer products and services, Dell was the

US market leader in its core products, the desktop and laptop markets by 2001.

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Dell’s Competitive Advantage:

Dell is officially the No. 1 computer systems company in the world. Dell is able to

sustain a competitive advantage over competitors in the computer industry because

of an extremely efficient supply chain/distribution system. Dell is able to achieve

superior profits in the industry because they are a knowledgeable user of

information, communication, e-commerce, e-business, internet, and web

technologies.

Michael Dell states that Dell is so successful because of “Knowledge

Management”. Mr. Dell defines that term by saying “physical assets are being

replaced by intellectual assets.” This relates to Dell’s inventory system. Dell

implements a Just-In-Time inventory system which operates on only 6 days of

inventory. Dell is able to achieve greater profit margins and increased profits

because of their inventory system. Inventory and labour are the highest liabilities

of a firm. Since Dell only operates with 6 days worth of inventory, they are able to

cut costs on warehousing, hiring people to track and maintain inventory, and avoid

holding on to obsolete technology. This allows Dell to free up cash flow to invest

in other value adding activities.

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Dell uses a JIT inventory system because Dell’s customers can only order

computers directly through Dell itself. Dell uses their website www.Dell.com to

take customer’s orders. Dell focuses on direct sales, cutting out other distribution

channels entirely. This allows for a deeper relationship with the customers

whereby Dell can offer their customer’s better service, savings, convenience, and

efficiency. A customer can order their own custom computer, have it built by Dell

in three days and have it delivered to the customer’s doorstep within one week.

Dell’s use of the internet has revolutionized the company. Dell makes their

website extremely consumer friendly to offer an easy order process to the

customers. Dell has also created their “Premier Page”. This page was made for

Dell’s larger accounts including corporations, the Government, and educational

institutions (i.e. Syracuse University). This webpage includes dynamic price

upgrades, easier navigability, and a greater range of available upgrades/options.

Customer relationship management software keeps close tabs on the types of

computers that customers are buying (Pizinger).

Not only does Dell use the internet to make the customer ordering process easier.

They also use the internet to build better relationships with their suppliers. In order

for Dell to work off of 6 days of inventory, their suppliers have to be very involved

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in the company to make sure superior service is met. Dell uses state of the art

production planning programs that forecast the quantities of components needed to

build the computers. After those forecasts are made, supply chain systems pass

those forecasts to suppliers, who respond with cost estimates and plan their

production as a result (Solis).

To achieve their supply chain superiority, Dell uses solutions from i2 Supply Chain

Management. “i2 streamlines the supply chain by providing component suppliers

and Dell planners with global views of product demand and material requirements.

It also provides real-time factory scheduling and inventory management, so

employees can generate key reports based on accurate and timely data, pinpoint

inventory on the factory floor, and receive supplier deliveries on a true just-in-time

basis (i2 supply chain management systems).”

This allows Dell to change their manufacturing schedule every two hours to keep

up with customer orders. Dell’s suppliers have access to this accurate, timely

information. Since the suppliers work with facts instead of forecasts, this allows

them to reduce waste and improve efficiency. Once suppliers receive this

information, they are directed to deliver needed materials to a specific dock door

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for assembly for specific product manufacturing. Dell uses the Windows NT

operating system and Intel-based servers for all of the i2 applications.

Dell’s e-commerce is a huge part of their competitive advantage. Their e-

commerce internet infrastructure is so advanced and knowledgeable that by using it

to determine trends and demands of their products, they have gained superiority

over their competitors.

Dell has set up strategic alliances with other companies to have their products sold

on Dell’s direct selling distribution channel. Back in 2000, Palm, Inc. made an

agreement with Dell to offer an expanded line of handheld Palm products and

accessories. This agreement allowed Dell to drive momentum for the Palm

operating system market (Dell: 2000, April 17). Along with Palm, Xerox also

partnered with Dell to take advantage of Dell’s e-commerce. Advantages to Xerox

were increased profits by offering the printers with the Dell computers.

Advantages to Dell include selling high quality printers along with their

computers, but more importantly, it allowed Dell to be involved in the customer

buying process for printers. Being involved in the decision making process is key

to Dell’s success because they see directly what the customers want and determine

their production schedule from that information.

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Dell achieves its competitive advantage over other firms in the industry by having

superior supply chain management. Dell utilizes technology to interpret

information. By being involved in the customer buying process they are able to

determine their customers’ needs. This allows Dell to streamline production and

have close relationships with their suppliers which results in getting timely

deliveries in order to mass customize customer’s computers.

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Analysis of Dell’s IT Tools:

Dell’s supply chain management success can be summed up in one idea. “Supply

chain management shortens the cycle between the component, the manufacturer

and the end customer. We are allowing them to almost touch each other, (E-

commerce)” according to Michael Chong, e-business Technology Manager of Dell

Computer Corporation. Supply chain management is the effective and efficient

movement of materials from suppliers, through a company and into products,

which eventually is received by consumers.

An important goal for Dell is to enable customers to process their own

transactions. Dell is known for their efficient and effective build-to-order business

model. This model allows customers around the globe to order customized

systems from the dell.com website. Dell’s online supply management allows Dell,

suppliers and customers to work together. As Michael Chong states, “Because we

work directly with customers, we have the ability to connect and understand what

products will be required and when (E-Commerce).” This helps Dell to inform

their suppliers what supplies are needed based solely on customer demand. As a

result, there is not an excess of supplies in warehouses that will decrease Dell’s

efficiency. As Dell is known for their exceptional service, ease in ordering and

responsiveness to customers needs, their competitive advantage is easily

distinguished.

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Dell’s internet presence through Dell.com is an important factor in Dell’s success.

By involving the customer from the beginning of the ordering process, Dell.com

makes it easier to do business for both parties and initiates customer relationships

while providing a means for ongoing customer service. With a number of links

focused primarily on certain groups and customers, purchases can be made easily

and efficiently. No matter what you are purchasing, Dell.com can assist the

customer in customizing and evaluating Dell’s offerings. Dell.com can help an

individual consumer purchase a single notebook or can help larger companies

purchase or lease products that will help them lower their costs. A new service,

launched in the year 2000, made it possible for customers to purchase refurbished

Dell PCs, notebook computers, digital cameras, scanners, printers and speakers

online. “The returned equipment comes from companies upgrading systems but

wishing to continue using Dell gear, or from cancelled order (Kelsey, 2000).”

Specifically, Dell has enhanced its supply chain by using i2 Supply Chain

Management to plan orders and communicate with suppliers every two hours. This

results in Dell’s efficiency in manufacturing and delivering exactly what its

customers want. Time to deployment and overall cost of ownership can be

achieved if i2 Pronto and/or i2 Solutions for Value Chain Management are utilized,

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along with Dell servers and storage. i2 Pronto is a rapidly deployed solution for

factory planning and collaboration. Dell possesses a competitive advantage in that

they are currently the only hardware platform certified for rapid deployment of i2

Pronto solutions. i2 Solutions enable Dell to reduce costs, lower total cost of

ownership and establish a reliable, stable operating environment. Dell’s own

implementation of i2 SCM solutions is known as the “DSi2 system”. DSi2 runs on

120 Dell servers and manages more than 250 suppliers delivering more than 3500

parts. As a result, Dell can deliver customized, replicable configurations, reducing

time to deploy and cost of ownership. i2 solutions also enable customers to put

Dell’s value chain to work in meeting company goals and attaining value (Jacobs,

2003). “i2 SCM streamlines the supply chain by providing component suppliers

and Dell planners with global views of product demand and material requirements.

It also provides real-time factory scheduling and inventory management so

employees can generate key reports based on accurate and timely data, pinpoint-

inventory on the factory floor and receive supplier deliveries on a true just-in-time

basis (Harrington, 2002).” This system allows Dell to achieve a new

manufacturing schedule every two hours which shows the latest customer orders,

backlog numbers, stock status and supplier commitments. Today, the supply chain

of Dell not only runs on 120 Intel-based Dell servers running Microsoft Windows

NT, but it also has four primary i2 software modules: i2 Collaboration Planner

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Demand Fulfilment, Global Supply Planning, Factory Planner and Supply Chain

Planner (Harrington, 2002). This success proves that Dell has the best of both

worlds. They achieve state-of-the-art performance at an economically attractive

price.

A competitive advantage is seen when a company, such as Dell, links supply chain

management with customer relationship management and supplier relationship

management. This link is known as DVCM (Dynamic Value Chain Management).

“DVCM requires synchronized, multi-enterprise collaboration based on

streamlined decision-making workflows across companies. It requires companies

to push planning and execution toward real-time or near-real time. DVCM's net

result is a fundamental change in the relationship between companies and their

trading partners--a change that creates tremendous value for companies, their

trading partners and their customers (Harrington, 2002).” When Dell utilizes its i2

SCM strategy, Dell “can model and monitor their business in real-time, and

analyze issues such as sourcing, distribution, resource and capacity constraints

(Harrington, 2002).” Some of the capabilities of DVCM are collaborative demand

planning with customers and suppliers, auto-replenishment of inventories, design

information sharing with strategic partners, content management and distribution

with management. After these are implemented, organizations are able to make

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decisions in a timely manner and implement those decisions for completion of the

products.

Another important role for Dell is the use of the Internet. The Internet helps Dell

to establish good relations with both their suppliers and their customers. Not only

does Dell’s use of the Internet allows customers to customize and purchase Dell

products online, the Internet also helps suppliers and Dell communicate and focus

on improving their efficiency. This method began in mid-1999 when Dell

introduced valuechain.dell.com. This website allows suppliers to follow their

material as it as used throughout Dell’s operations. Suppliers can log-on, drop off

invoices, check engineering change orders; review negotiated and forecasted cost

reports, and track their overall performances and progress. As a result of their

successful Internet system, Dell purchases almost 90 percent of its direct material

supplies online. Supplier hubs located near their manufacturing plants are used to

deliver supplies to the Dell plants when they are only a few hours old. As said by

Michael Chong, “We are trying to draw more value out of our supplier

relationship. That’s why the name ‘value chain.’ The applications themselves are

not replacing the business processes. The business processes are already defined

and well ingrained. It is just making the business processes more efficient (E-

Commerce).” By focusing on inventory control with their suppliers, Dell is able to

use industry price declines to their advantage and deliver those savings on to the

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customers. This also gives Dell a competitive advantage. According to Michael

Chong, “Our competition has a hard time trying to manage that type of model

because their inventory turns are fewer. They have more latent costs built into the

components in terms of their inventory (E-Commerce).” An efficient supplier

network is important to Dell. In order to increase efficiency between Dell and their

suppliers, Dell has reduced the number of suppliers they do business with. Three

years ago, Dell worked with more than 1,000 suppliers, but today they only work

with 100 suppliers. Dell also uses supply chain management software to reduce

inventories, improve material management and enhance relationships with

suppliers. This also helps Dell and their suppliers connect to share information

about inventory and improve efficiency, which gives Dell an additional

competitive advantage.

As a result of an alliance, Gen3 Partners and Arthur Andersen decided to work

with Dell in April, 2000. “Gen3 Partners will provide strategic business

development and technology consulting services to help Dell’s largest corporate

customers with headquarters in the United States leverage their existing assets to

create, architect and launch Internet-enabled enterprises (2000).” According to Jim

Sims, CEO of Gen3 Partners, “The next wave of Internet infrastructure will focus

on `brick-to-click' opportunities, as established companies integrate the Internet

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into their businesses. Gen3 Partners will provide a valuable service to Dell

customers by helping them use the Internet to improve their business-to-business

(B2B) capabilities and supply-chain processes." Dell has recently introduced

services to help customers conduct business over the Internet more efficiently,

including a Web hosting initiative called DellHost (www.dellhost.com) and the

upcoming introduction of a small and medium-sized B2B marketplace in

conjunction with Ariba (2000).” Ariba, Inc. provides solutions that allow

enterprises to manage efficiently the purchasing of all non-payroll goods and

services required to run their business. Ariba’s solutions, which include software

applications, services and network access, are designed to provide corporations

with technology and business process improvements to better manage their

corporate spending and, in turn, save money.

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Dell’s Business Model:

The four markets within an industry are defined as Business to Business, Business

to Consumer, Consumer to Business, and Consumer to Consumer. Dell focuses

on Business to Business and Business to Consumer commerce to satisfy their

business and individual customers. Dell differentiates between classes of

customers because the needs of their business customers, who buy large quantities

of computers, are different than the individuals who want to configure a single

unit. “Dell's business model is no secret, of course, and it's been emulated with

considerably less success by many of its competitors (Henricks, 2003).”

Dell’s initial success was due to its early use of the internet. “Dell's direct-to-the-

customer strategy presents a highly attractive cost advantage that's tough to ignore

(Banham, 2003).” Their direct interaction with their customers continues to be “a

key driver in sales for the quarter (2000).” Dell’s early work with using the

internet helped them get a jump on their competition while their competition was

finding it difficult to conduct successful Business to Business operations online

since “exchanges are still in their infancy and many haven't even gone live yet

(Memishi, 2001).” Matching customer ease of ordering and direct interaction

through the internet proved successful because Dell believes that it is the customer

that drives the business model.

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Dell recognized the challenge of dealing with the business and individual

customers as two distinct groups with different needs. Dell has done a phenomenal

job managing these two different types of consumers thus far. In the last couple of

years, Dell decided to split their operations into two different websites with

separate B2B sites. With separate sites, Dell planned to “simplify the Internet

procurement process for businesses and institutions of all sizes, generating savings

that can range to millions of dollars annually for large customers (1999).”

However, this idea failed, and “Dell had to shut down its B2B site, four months

after it launched. Dell said the site failed to attract more than three suppliers

(Schick, 2001).”

Dell controls its inventory and costs by being a demand-pull company, whereas

one of its top competitors, IBM, is strictly a supply-push company and operates in

a more traditional manner. IBM has to be good at forecasting what the customers

will need, while Dell makes the computers to order. Dell is more efficient and

therefore more profitable because it can buy its component parts based on the

customer’s demand and not have to worry about building up its supply of inventory

that may or may not be used. “The result was that the company wound up with

essentially no carrying costs for inventory while maintaining excellent turnaround

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on orders, because it sold what it had on hand, collected from customers in an

average of a few days, and didn't have to pay suppliers for several weeks

(Henricks, 2003).” Dell continues to use this successful formula to keep its

competitive edge over its customers.

Although Dell has been successfully operating according to its business plan, there

are some parts of IBM’s traditional business plan that has also proved successful.

In fact, “industry officials say that Dell could benefit from hiring IBM to support

Dell's customers with computer services (Auerbach, 1999).” Successful businesses

continue to monitor their industry and look for ways to improve to maintain or gain

a competitive advantage. This advantage is especially important in the economy

today, although Dell has “cited recent gains in customer requests for price quotes

and larger order sizes and expects a steady year of sales (McWilliams, 2004).”

“Dell is one of few firms left standing tall after the tech crash of the last two

years…[and its] growth comes as it has won over the consumer market, [but] Dell's

performance would be impressive in any year, but is even more so now

(Wasserman, 2002).” Dell’s success extends throughout the entire industry and

causes companies like “Compaq, IBM, Gateway, and Hewlett-Packard to grapple

with a lose-lose dilemma: concede market share to Dell or lower prices at the

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expense of already-flagging profitability (Pellet, 2001).” Other companies have

tried unsuccessfully to try these similar tactics.

With the spread of retail sales on the internet, “e-tailers” have fallen into two basic

groups; pure play or bricks and clicks. Pure play companies use only the internet

to sell its products and do not have a physical store. Bricks-and clicks companies

use their internet site in addition to maintaining one or more physical stores to sell

their products. Dell is a pure play internet company and does not have any

physical stores to sell its computers. “For Dell, however, the Web is more than a

sales vehicle (Thurm, 1998),” because customers can access the website for all

types of purchasing, service and support answers. Individuals and businesses can

check orders and obtain information, while businesses can make use of special

offerings and services through password-secured locations. Dell is also “offering

several flexible payment options to help make it easier to buy personal computers

online” (Pellet, 2001). Dell’s initial success as a pure play company was

evidenced by the fact that it “does more than $10 million daily in Internet sales

(1998).”

Another advantage to being an e-tailor is the reduced time it takes to adjust your

prices or modify your inventory. One of the most difficult tasks for retailers is

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managing your inventory based on your customer demand. Dell has minimized

this problem by matching finished products to orders received. Recently Michael

Dell was faced with a related question, “Do you consider yourself more of a

manufacturer or a retailer?” Dell’s innovative business plan left Dell to state,

“That's a great question. We often have that debate in-house. And frankly, there are

those who will always consider us a manufacturer, and those who will always think

of us as a retailer." While Dell claims “it is people who produce results (Cone,

2000),” it is also the strategies, organizational techniques, and the teaming up with

outside suppliers that produce mutually beneficial results. It was also extremely

helpful for Dell when “AOL announced an agreement to have its Internet access

and communications software distributed on Dell Computer Corp.'s personal

computers (Weiner, 1998),” because AOL is a leading pure play company. The

pure play also allows Dell to expand its product line more easily because of the

ability to adjust the site and add new products. This year, “the company is

bringing to the market printers that can be more easily configured to work with its

build-to-order PCs (Babcock, 2004).” As a pure play company, Dell will find it

much simpler and less costly to adjust their website for products and services in the

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

company, and grows larger everyday. The success of its business plan has resulted

in "An increasing number of customers that have asked Dell to share its e-business

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expertise with them (Felice, 2000).” Felice continued to say that Dell's services

portfolio now spans from e-support to e-consulting, serving medium-sized

companies to some of the world's largest enterprises. Three years ago Dell

launched its “direct-sales model into India.” Founder Michael Dell stated, “This is

our 13th direct sales launch in Asia and we continue to grow at more than 30

percent globally (Lallpai, 2000).” Constantly growing here in the US and

continuing to grow all over the world it is no surprise that Dell reported revenues

of $41.4 billion in 2003.

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IT Infrastructure:

IT infrastructure and business-driven technology are extremely important to Dell.

IT infrastructure provides, through the use of technology, the underlying

foundation to support the organization's operations and future growth. This

principal is profoundly important within the computer industry.

One main goal of any successful company is maintaining employee productivity. A

major concern for companies relying heavily on a productive workforce that makes

extensive use of digital data, is the threat of a system failure. Since computer

based companies do a majority of their internal and external business through the

use of computers, a system failure would result in a loss of valuable human

resources and could decrease employee productivity. For instance, Michael

Lambert said recently of Dell’s new business workgroup server, “With the

PowerEdge 1300, Dell has introduced a highly reliable and manageable system

that redefines server value” (New Servers, 2004). The PowerEdge 1300 has the

ability to run dedicated server applications such as file and print, Internet/Intranet

and e-mail, therefore safely increasing employee productivity through the use of

secure workforce systems. Dell and IBM both protect themselves from this

potential problem with the use of specific intranets and backup/recovery systems.

Recently Altiris Recovery Solution has been selected by Dell for integrated

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delivery of backup and disaster recovery. Altiris along with Dell OpenManage

Client Administrator (OMCA) will provide “Direct integration of Altiris backup

and recovery technology with Dell OMCA [which] helps ensure business

continuity and helps provide additional cost savings for Dell customers through

proactive IT management” (Dell selects Altiris, 2004). These factors implemented

into a concrete disaster recovery plan provide Dell and IBM with the confidence to

scale and complex IT network.

Another way Dell and IBM protect themselves from a potential system crash is

through the use of the internet. Dell specifically does the majority of its business

through the use of the internet. This allows customers and suppliers to have a very

intimate relationship from anywhere in the world. This concept, known as global

reach, is one of the major competitive advantages that Dell has created. Through

the use of the internet, the customer has a much greater say in what decisions the

supplier makes. Dell announced a new Web-hosting initiative and alliance.

DellHost was designed for small and medium sized businesses to increase their

internet presence. Through DellHost, Dell has increased its customer base, “forty

percent of which are new to Dell” (Dell speeds web site hosting setup, 2004). By

allowing businesses to use their software they are also expanding their global reach

by having their customers increase their reliance on Dell products.

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Dell and IBM both have managed to maintain high employee productivity

consistently. One of the main ways in which they have managed to do this is to

provide near unlimited availability to their IT infrastructure. Dell and IBM both

keep consumer information lines open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They also

all have an easily accessible online help services. For example, the site's "Ask

Dudley" feature “allows users to pose natural-language questions. Created for Dell

by the firm that developed the popular "Ask Jeeves" Internet search engine, the

application now handles more than 150,000 questions a week” (Dell courts

customers online, 2004). Full time access is crucial to the support of the IT

infrastructure by allowing knowledge workers ease in admission to the source

regardless of varied schedule.

The majority of Dell's business is done through the internet. As was previously

stated, this allows the customer to customize his/her product directly for their

purposes. These factors give Dell a competitive advantage in its high scalability

and flexibility. Through a menu of many different system component options, the

customer defines how their company is going to grow, which makes scalability a

non-issue. “By the end of 1999 Dell was chalking up $40 million a day in online

sales-- accounting for 43% of the company's total revenue. Today Internet sales

alone would rank it among the 125 largest companies in the U.S” (Dell courts

customers online, 2004).

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In addition, the reliance on the internet for its business practices allows Dell the

luxury, to easily redefine its image by nearly dismissing the time necessary to

change the system (image, function, etc). This design saves untold amounts of

money because it is ready to adapt to nearly any market, business, or economic

change. Dell and IBM also implement a great deal of capacity planning when

determining what technology will be needed in future markets to stay competitive.

Manish Mehta, director of online support has said, “The paradigm shift we'd like to

see is fewer tech support phone calls, allowing our technicians to spend more time

solving the more complex problems” (Dell courts customers online, 2004). This

displays Dell’s intense dedication to capacity planning and adaptation, even in the

field of technical support.

Enhancing decision making is also a critical factor in the sustained life of a

computer company because technology is constantly changing. With today's fast-

paced computer market, innovation through customer feedback is key to the

success of its products. Dell and IBM both have a high degree of integration when

it comes to transferring data files from system to system effectively. It has been

Dell’s vertical integration model that, “has kept the company afloat despite the

industry downturn” (Schick, 2002). To stay competitive in today's computer

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market, the ease of integration would have to efficiently match the degree of

demand as to manage its resources properly. Also Dell's flatter organizational

structure heightens the ability for many sources to have input into the future of the

company as it deals with the evolving vision of what the market will call for.

Economic problems of late have spurred IBM to begin to adapt this organizational

structure and lessen time needed to change direction.

Dell and IBM both maintain very competitive business partnerships and alliances

through the use of electronic catalogs. Dell does nearly all of its business through

the use of electronic catalog and IBM continues to increasingly rely on the

business generated through them. The use of electronic catalogs gives a specific

competitive advantage because it presents products to customers or partners all

over the world. This is also a factor in Dell's and IBM's global reach enhancement.

Perhaps the biggest advantage of the electronic catalog is the search functionality.

The customer has a much more powerful search capability, making it easier for

them to find the proper product. Another major advantage of online shopping is the

speed in which customers can purchase their final product. A recent Dell customer

reiterates this concept, “Its information hierarchy is so clean that you can purchase

an entire unit in 10 minutes” (Dell.com, 2004).

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Increasing employee productivity, creating business partnerships and alliances,

enhancing decision-making, and enabling global reach are vital to the continued

success of Dell and IBM in today's fast-paced technology driven environment.

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Dell Products

Notebooks

ThinkPad Notebooks

Track record of success, cost-savings

Industry-leading capabilities that dramatically increase productivity and reduce

cost.

Features:

1. Business class technology

2. Thin, light widescreen designs

3. Extra long battery life

4. Advanced mobile workstations

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IdeaPad Notebooks

Engineered for a great user experience

Perfect for home/home office, with distinctive designs and features for

entertainment and multimedia.

Features:

1. Home/office versatility

2. 11.1 to 17 inches widescreen displays

3. Dolby home theatre audio

4. Touch sensitive controls

5. VeriFace face recognition securities

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Dell 3000 Notebooks

Worry-free computing at a great value

A smart choice for business computing needs and budgets. Plus, new models ideal

for home/home office.

Features:

1. Roomy, widescreen displays

2. Stylish silver colored top covers

3. Preloaded small business softwares

4. DellCare tools, support and services

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Desktops

ThinkCentre Desktops

Award winning quality and innovation

Industry-leading capabilities that dramatically increase productivity and reduce

cost.

Features:

1. Energy efficient desktops

2. Security on a corporate level at a small business price

3. Dual Independence Display (DID)

4. The ThinkCentre Energy Calculator

IdeaCentre Desktops

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New PCs for home/home office

Loaded with features for everything from family finance to multimedia and

entertainment.

Features:

5. VeriFace face recognition

6. Automatic brightness adjustment

7. Antibacterial keyboard

8. OneKey convenience

Workstations

ThinkCentre Workstations

Features:

1. User centric design

2. Cool and quiet

3. ISV certifications

4. Environment-friendly

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Servers

Tower Servers

Features:

5. Single and dual sockets

6. Easier cooling

7. Existing-network scalability

8. Hard disk drive optimization

Rack Servers

Features:

9. Single and dual sockets

10. Space-optimized design

11. Centralized cable management

12. Centralized server management

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Accessories and Upgrades

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SWOT Analysis

Strength – By offering superior telephone customer services such as Premier

Access, and outsourcing their shipping, Dell had the lowest operating cost in the

industry at 11.5%. It had a unique ability to predict which new high margin

technology product could be driven to scale w/lower priced products driven by its

direct model, which was continuously improving, making it hard to copy. Dell set

the industry standard for customer service/relations resulting in satisfied customers

and less downtime (Dell resolved 72% of problems remotely, which was twice the

industry average.)

Weakness – Dell was late getting into the Latin American market (5th place in

overall market share), resulting in lost sales. It also had weak international market

share in 2002 (Western Europe =3rd, Asia/Pacific = 7th, Japan = 8th, and 5th place

in the rest of the world. In addition, jumping into the laptop market too soon,

entering the workstation market late and signing unsuccessful retail agreements all

brought losses to the company. Dell doesn’t have robust products to support

mission critical environments and is shut-out of big enterprise storage accounts.

35

Opportunity – Dell can further capitalize on the remaining build-out of the

Internet infrastructure and increase market share in the external storage market (i.e.

SAN/DAS were expected to take 2/3rds of the market by 2005) and participate

more in the midrange and high-end server markets (2000 saw a 7% worldwide

increase from 1999.) It can develop itself into the premier Internet partner for

customers around the world by heavily targeting sales to first-time PC buyers and

introducing new product categories and services. With only a 5% global market

share, Dell can easily increase business revenues from international growth.

Threat – Computer industry consumers have traditionally been notoriously fickle

in their buying habits and trends, affected by the rapid pace of technology and the

bursting Dot.com Economy. While the growth of the Internet should produce more

demand for servers and storage, those markets will test Dell in areas that haven't

been its strong points: sophisticated product engineering and labor-intensive

services.

Current Strategy

“High Quality, More Powerful, Faster, Customized and Cheaper.” For every new

product or service it introduces to the market, Dell consistently implements its

startup mindset of “build-to-order computers” (referred to as the direct model

36

approach) from the very beginning of the development and production process.

Dell’s business was unique in that it was able to consistently make significant

profits in low margin product areas.

Its’ direct model approach evolves for every new product and service achieving

delivery of high quality PC’s in a very cost efficient manner; one of continuous

improvement. Dell is a continuous-growth model, constantly adapting, changing

and finding ways to master its environment, as opposed to just responding to it. In

addition, Dell has been able to take flexibility and speed, and build it into the

company’s DNA.

Positioning- Michael Dell portrays his company as “the good guy”, the Robin

Hood of the computer industry offering more for less. Their mantra is “better,

faster, cheaper” using brand name components, build to order manufacturing, and

customized customer service, which led to high quality and more powerful

computing power. Dell had a reputation for “effectively entering product markets

where core proprietary elements had become standardized and undercutting

existing players based on price.” Dell’s strategy was to choose the best in class

providers (like Intel and Microsoft) for each component and leveraging their scale

37

investment in R&D. By 2001, Dell had become the US market leader in Wintel

server sales.

Target Market – Dell’s main focus is on large corporations with secondary efforts

on small and medium sized businesses. In addition, they also target the global

consumer directly, but with minimal effort. Dell mainly focuses on the segments

that are already knowledgeable about computers.

Products - Dell currently has 6 main products: PC’s, laptops, customer service,

storage devices, workstations, and auxiliary services.

Pricing - When Dell decides to enter a particular market, it consistently uses the

Direct Model approach, pricing their product below that of their competitors.

These low prices are the result of multi-level leveraging and from achieving

economies of scale.

Promotion - On-line model, direct mail order, catalogues, Premier Pages, special

training and certifications, word-of-mouth, editorials, reviews, sales reps, and

awards

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Place - Direct from Dell: On-line, telephone, mail-order. (Dell does not use any

retailers or wholesalers to sell their products.)

In conclusion, Dell’s strategies do match the company’s 4 P’s, targeting, and

positioning and can be summarized as a low-cost, fast and efficient business

model, with superior customer value with virtual integration.

STRATEGIC OPTIONS

Market Penetration – Maintain status Quo and continue to do more of the same.

“If it isn’t broke don’t fix it”. Many people believe the recession will end soon, so

Dell could just ride it out and hope to hang onto the market share it currently has.

This option is not a proactive approach and could prove to be risky, resulting in

declining market share, lower profits, and the possibility of the competition

advancing while Dell stays stagnant.

Product Development –

1. Pursue Mid-Range Server Growth. By 2001, Dell was the market leader in

entry level servers, but had no presence in the mid-range server market.

Pursuing this growth option could result in increased market share and

higher profits due to the higher selling prices and markups of these units, but

39

could be risky if technology suddenly changes. Increased post sale costs are

also a concern, as server sales don’t just stop upon delivery, they require

continued service regarding reliability, serviceability, availability, and

manageability.

2. Increase product line : By introducing new products like a PDA, Dell can

capture new markets and increase sales and awareness. However, Dell’s

R&D budgets are well below that of its primary competitors. This option

contains increased risk and high initial start-up costs.

3. Pursue Associated Services Growth – within the US, 2000 service revenues

accounted for over 37% of $2 billion in total revenues. This business unit

was becoming an increasingly important part of Dell’s portfolio with

longevity, able to stand the test of time and market uncertainty, no matter

what turn technology took.

New International Market Development – Target new segments and enter new

markets with existing products. The Potential benefits of international expansion

are increased market share, revenues, profit, and buyer awareness. However, the

40

successful Dell Model might not work everywhere. The product chosen for

expansion should be a commodity where the demand is already in place and the

country must also value on-time delivery. In addition, terrorism, cultural barriers,

political systems, and longer ROI must be taken into consideration as well as limits

on foreign ownership and tariff barriers.

Diversification

Merger and Acquisitions: By 2000, the external storage market was growing at

23% per year. By acquiring an innovative leading company like the EMC

corporation, Dell can effectively enter the external storage and software market

previously untapped, leveraging EMC’s expertise and experience. Due to the

sagging economy, EMC’s stock price had fallen over 800% in 2001, meaning

now might be the perfect time to buy the company at a significant discount. The

Pros include increased market share and economies of scale, but cons are higher

costs and the need to re-train employees to learn Dell’s culture and mission.

After analyzing Dell’s IT and their competitive advantage as a result of their

advanced and successful IT, it was challenging to come up with recommendations

to help them achieve more success in an industry that they already prosper in.

41

However, even with Dell’s current success, we realize that in an ever-changing

technology industry, there is always room for improvement.

1) Dell should consider selectively adding other vendors to its supply chain

management system. Due to the increase in Dell’s global sales, Dell may need to

consider to selectively adding additional suppliers to their supply chain

management system. The additional suppliers should not result in any significant

cost to Dell and Dell might be able to negotiate better component costs from new

suppliers. New suppliers would want to participate in this exchange because they

would be seen doing business with a leading technology company

2) Use “Customer Surveys” to gain market share. Although Dell does well

in its markets overseas, Dell has lost some domestic market share and has more

potential overseas. It is important for Dell to advertise and get their products

noticed in international markets. In order achieve this goal, in-depth customer

satisfaction surveys should be used in markets where they trail their competition.

Even in the US, where they are ranked high against their competitors, Dell’s

margin of leadership has declined. Dell can send out questionnaires to previous

consumers to see how they can improve. By going directly to the consumers, they

can get feedback from sources they care most about. It also makes consumers feel

that Dell truly cares about how they feel about their products and service.

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3) Invest more in Research and Development. With the growth of quality

competition, it is crucial for Dell to keep its competitive advantage by offering new

technology products and services. Dell should consider expanding into peripheral

product markets that would compliment their computer sales. This might include

specially designed systems for specific industries (architects, doctors, etc.) or

additional hardware for specific markets (gamers, music lovers, etc.) It is also

important for Dell to watch its competitors and see what new products and

techniques they introduce.

4) Dell could offer online data back-up capabilities. Another way to

increase revenue is to offer existing customers (business and individual consumers)

back-up capabilities on Dell’s own servers. This process will have advantages for

both consumers and Dell. For consumers, especially businesses, if something

happens to their plants and computer systems, they can always retrieve their data

from Dell who has their information backed up offsite on their system. By keeping

their data saved at another location that is maintained by Dell, Dell can make

money by charging for this additional service. Dell also has a built-in customer list

based on the sales that they make for computer systems.

5) Reduce errors in Dell’s direct Internet ordering system and create a

“Clearance” area on its website. It is important that Dell keeps their service of

DellDirect efficient by avoiding mistakes and making sure that purchases online

43

are correct. Since all purchases can be done on the Internet, it is easy for

consumers to click a wrong button when customizing their products. Therefore,

Dell should enhance its online ordering system with customer confirmation before

manufacturing starts. This would help reduce costs of production if there are

incorrect orders and it will also help increase consumer satisfaction. If there are

cancelled orders or completed orders that don’t get paid for, Dell can start a

clearance area on their website. This section can include these systems at lower

prices because they would be final sales on pre-configured systems. (This might

be the result of Dell’s unsuccessful mediation through its order resolution policy.

In addition to pre-made systems, Dell can offer discontinued items (older models

of components), that remain in Dell’s inventory. This will also help Dell keep its

revenues high by not experiencing extra costs because of items that were not sold.

If they place a section on their website titled, “Clearance Products,” they will

appeal to customers who want to buy a computer at a cheaper price and do not

have a strong preference on what features the product has. Therefore this

recommendation is a win-win situation for both Dell and the customer.

6) Enhance customer support services. Since successful customer support

and communications are crucial to Dell’s success, it is important that Dell keeps

enough well-trained people on the phones and on the Internet for customer support.

Based on the results of some surveys that say that Dell might be losing customers

44

because of actual or perceived decrease in support, Dell should do a cost-benefit

analysis to determine whether they should invest in more people who can answer

technical questions & support customers with their problems and needs. In

addition to more people, they should review their service support training and

quality control procedures. This is an area where possible over-staffing might be

worth the additional costs. Like many companies, Dell has taken advantage of the

cheaper labour in other countries by routing most of its technical support calls from

the US to headquarters in India. The only problem with this was that “Corporate

customers were telling us they didn’t like the level of support they were getting,

and in the normal course of business, we made some adjustments (Brewin, 2003),”

according to Jon Weisbatt, the company spokesman. As a result of prior

experience with Indian support staff, they need to either train Indian support staff

more effectively so they can take advantage of the cheaper labour in India or keep

support staff here in the US.

7) Increase Company recognition through a national advertising

campaign. In order to keep the name Dell out in the market, it may be helpful for

Dell to consider a national advertising campaign to increase Dell’s visibility. These

ads would probably be most effective for the small business and individual user

markets. This may include ads on the Internet, as well as commercial, magazine

and newspaper ads. Dell succeeded increasing its brand name recognition once

45

before with its “Dell guy” campaign. This will only help Dell get its good name

out there for all people to see, recognize and eventually result in purchasing Dell

products.

Server/Storage/Service Growth

The booming PC market seems to have bottomed out, with little signs of

improvement due to market saturation. Positive signs have come mainly in the

form of limited PC replacement programs at some large companies and sales of

notebook PCs. Any future PC market recovery will most likely be tied to an

improvement in the economy. Therefore, Dell should ramp its efforts in three non-

core areas as key for future growth: servers, external storage and services.

Meanwhile, it can carry on with its aggressive price-cutting strategy for all of its

products. Hopefully, these moves will allow them to gain traction in some markets,

and even overtake some competitors in others. Once Dell has used its lowest price

strategy to increase its installed base of clients in hardware sales, particularly in the

enterprise market, the company can leverage its expertise in customer support to

keep those clients. Even though Dell has already made some impressive progress

in server and storage developments, it still lags behind other server vendors in total

shipments and sales. The company needs to create a greater presence among

enterprise and service-provider customers. Dell can quickly grow its storage

46

business by providing simplified and standardized storage solutions to customers

ranging from small businesses to large, global corporations with enterprise-class

requirements. It can leverage its ties to Microsoft, Intel and other prestige

component vendors to focus on providing Windows-based storage and server

products. This move will make its high-end storage products work with IBM,

Hewlett-Packard and Compaq Computer Windows servers, as well as Dell servers.

This allows Dell to widen its customer base by appealing to customers that don't

have Dell servers, or have a mixture of servers from different vendors. With

comprehensive support for multiple platforms, Dell can also offer customers a

storage solution that leverages their existing Windows server investments, while

scaling to accommodate their growing data requirements.

An expansion of the services group should also be pursued based on customer

needs, which will vary from country to country. While Dell continues to partner

with third-party services firms in some areas, it should also bulk up on its own

services capabilities so it can provide customers with more complete services

offerings. Dell should realize that it would need to expand its services capability

significantly in order to be taken seriously by some global enterprise and service-

provider customers. Dell can also implement a fixed-price approach to services

that will boost its presence in that market. New services, such as migrating from

Unix-based servers to new ones based on Linux can be offered and combined with

47

Dell's hardware. A total of $2 billion to $3 billion in service revenue can be

achieved if this strategy is correctly implemented. Dell's three-pronged growth

strategy by no means guarantees a sure-fire path to future profitability, but Dell's

deliberate and measured steps to expand beyond its PC roots could result in

additional good news in the future.

International Expansion

As Dell looks at expanding into international markets, it needs to consider entering

the markets that are key to the region. For example, Germany in Europe, China in

Asia, and Brazil in South America. Dell needs to carefully study these types of key

markets and implement its Direct Model only after it understands how these

regions economically and politically function. However, this expansionary growth

will place extensive demands on Dell’s information infrastructure needed to

support such global operations. To be successful in these new markets, Dell must

update its websites in the particular languages and modify the accounting systems

to handle the specific currencies. Keeping these new employees in touch with one

another and with customers, suppliers, and partners will be a gigantic task

requiring the latest technology, increasing the demand for instant information. The

global market is huge and virtually untapped and Dell is in a great position to take

advantage of this market, especially with the use of the Internet and its advanced

48

online capabilities. Dell’s most important strategic advantage is the ability to sell

direct from Dell, eliminating all the middlemen in the normal distribution line.

Anyone who wants a Dell must order it through the mail, online, or over the phone,

which is a perfect method for doing international business. Dell just takes the order

and ships the computers via one of its many shippers. Dell should focus on

dominating the Asian market where they only have a 3.7% hold on a market with

over 19.9 billion units. Asia is a virtually untapped market and is expected to grow

rapidly in the next few years. Dell currently has two manufacturing plants and four

technical support offices in the Asia area. Dell should look for ways to optimize

these facilities and budget some advertising towards attracting enterprise and big

businesses in that region. If Dell can capture a few large clients in China, it may be

able to dominate the Asian market, drastically increasing its revenues.

49

Objectives of the study

1. To study the Effectiveness of the Marketing Analysis at Dell (India) Pvt.

Ltd. from the perspectives of the management.

2. To study the Effectiveness of the Marketing Analysis at Dell (India) Pvt.

Ltd. from the perspectives of the market.

3. To understand the shortcomings of the Marketing Analysis at Dell (India)

Pvt. Ltd.

To come out with solutions that will help the organization in formulating better

strategies for the development of the employees and the organization.

50

Limitations of the Study

1. In the project, non-random sampling has been used which is a non

probability sampling method; it therefore does not provide estimates of

precision.

2. The sample size is restricted to only those employees of Dell (India) Pvt.

Ltd.

3. The study was done for a short period of time, which might not hold true

over a long period of time.

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RESEARCH PROBLEM

1. DELL Corporate selling and feedback and market share of DELL and

compared to other IT companies.

2. The business of DELL and the company through its researchers wants to

know the potential in order to expand and retain its market share.

RESEARCH DESIGN

1. Determined the Information Sources: The researcher gathered data through

secondary sources.

2. PRIMARY DATA is collected through questionnaire, search and

research through place where today's computer has been mostly used.

3. SECONDARY DATA is being search sites like magazines, newspapers,

journals, websites and the data has been collected through other

approaches.

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DATA COLLECTION

The researcher collected information through the official websites, magazines

and journals.

DEVELOPED THE RESEARCH FRAME:

This included deciding upon various aspects for the project on which the entire

research is based. The research frame included:

NATURE OF STUDY

The project on which the researcher worked is descriptive and inferential in

nature.

DATA SOURCE:

The researcher took the help of both primary as well as secondary sources.

Secondary sources being interaction with various IT people of the selected and

has been chosen for the research by the researcher. Secondary sources being the

internet as the medium and the official sites of the companies of IT sectors and

corporate selling and feedback of DELL.

53

INSTRUMENT USED

The researcher for the research used a Questionnaire cum Schedule for market

research for both the segments horizontal and vertical. The Questionnaire was

prepared by the researcher and Schedule was provided by the company in

which the researcher did its research report.

SAMPLE SIZE

Sample size for the research is fixed. It counts to 55. That is the DELL

companies and corporate selling and feed of DELL in comparison between

other IT sectors.

54

DATA ANALYSIS

& GRAPHICAL DATA INTERPRETATIOIN

SAMPLE SIZE : 55

1. What type of computers do you use?

a.)Branded

b.)Assembled

Branded 37

Assembled 18

hospitals using brandedcomputershospitals usingassembled computers

It was observed that almost 67% of the people use branded computers or other

gadgets for their business purpose. Hence can be concluded that more people want

55

Using branded computers

Using assembled computers

HP

DELLacer

others

branded products as they are not ready to compromise with the quality and services

being provided.

2. What brand computers do you use?

a.) HP

b.) DELL

c.) ACER

d.)Others

Brand used Total Nos.

HP 7

DELL 14

Acer 13

Others 21

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This observation showed that DELL is among the top used brands. Major part

under the pie-chart goes to DELL. So DELL should continue making efforts to

attract new market and sustain the existing market.

3. What is the number of installed desktops?

1. <15

2. 15-50

3. 50-75

4. 75-200

5. 200-500

Installed desktops Total Nos.< 15 1915-50 2150-75 1175-200 3200-500 1

<15

15-50

50-7575-200

200-500

Most of the surveyed and found the use of computers within the 15-55 range. So it

can be inferred that the main target market is which lies in the middle range. Thus

we targeted mainly on SME (small and medium enterprise).

4. What is the number of used servers?

a. 1

b. 2

57

c. 3-5

d. 5

Servers usedTotal Nos.

1 102 11

3-5 21>5 13

1

23 to 5

>5

From this observation, it was concluded that number of servers were directly

proportional to the number of desktops used.

4. What is the number of installed laptops?

58

1. 1-5

2. 5-15

3. 15-30

4. >30

Number of laptops Total Nos.

1-5 20

5-15 22

15-30 8

>30 5

1 to 5

5 to 15

15 to 30>30

It was observed that maximum computers and laptop users ranging between 5-25.

This area can be focused.

5. What is the brand used for laptops?

1. DELL

59

DELLToshiba

lennovo

others

2. Toshiba

3. Lennovo

4. Others

Laptops brand Total Nos.

DELL 11

Toshiba 19

Lennovo 13

Others 12

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Observation showed that Toshiba was the major brand used in laptops. Various

other brands like HP and Samsung etc. are also used. DELL has also a good market

share.

6. Do you have AMC?

1. Yes

2. No

Total Nos.

Hospitals place having AMC 30

Hospitals place not having AMC 25

hospitals having AMC

hospitals not havingAMC

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According to above graphical data interpretation, that is the most important places

where computer has been used and it has been observation and showed that less

than 60% hospitals have their AMCs. This area can also be considered.

9. What type of company is having the AMC?

a.)Regional office of the company

1. Any other local player

Type of AMC company Total Nos.

Authorized regional office 24

Local players 6

regional office of thecompany

any local player

62

That the above graph shows that the use of AMCs in regional office and local

players prefers authorized regional offices to select for the service rather than

going for a local player.

10.Are you facing any problem with current used product line?

a.)Yes

b.)No

c.)Not yet

Total Nos.

Facing problem 15

Not facing problem 18

Not faced problems yet 22

hospitals facing problem

hospitals not facingproblem

not yet encountered

63

Facing problems

Not facing problems

Not yet encountered

That the above graph shows that the above observation showed that major number

of users are either not facing any problem or they have not being encountered with

any.

11. Are you planning to make any new purchase?

a.) Yes

b.) No

c.) Not yet planned

Planning about new purchase Total Nos.

Planning to purchase 9

No planning 17

Not yet planned 29

planning to purchaseno planning

not yet planned

64

That the above graph show that the most of the users have not planned about

making a purchase and a very few are planning to make a buy.

65

12. How do you find the DELL products?

a.) OK

b.) Good

c.) Satisfactory

d.) Outstanding

e.) Not tried yet

Reaction about DELL products Total Nos.OK 3Good 12Satisfactory 19Outstanding 7Not tried yet 10

OK

good

satisfactory

outstanding

not tried yet

According to above graph shows that the maximum of DELL user are satisfied

with the products and services provided. Very few have not tried yet DELL on a

business scale, but most of them have an experience about DELL.

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want info about DELLno info wanted

1. Do you want to know more about DELL products?

a.)Yes

b.)No

Wanted knowledge about DELL Total Nos.

Yes 42

No 13

That the above graph shows that the observation and the most of the people are

interested in knowing more about the brand and have the urge to buy.

67

14. Do you require demo for any product?

a.)Yes

b.)No

Total Nos.

Interested in demo 24

Not interested in demo 31

hospitals interested indemohospitals not interestedin demo

This observation showed that almost 45% of the sample was interested in demo.

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interested in demo

interested in demo

15.Do you want to buy any product? (Commercial proposal)

a.)Yes

b.)No

c.)Not yet decided

Commercial proposal Total Nos.

Yes 8

No 19

Not yet decided 28

hospitals interested incommercial proposalhospitals not interestedin commercial proposal

not yet planned

That the above graph shows that the above observation showed that almost a huge

chunk of hospitals surveyed either doesn’t want or they have not planned for any

commercial proposal.

69

Interested in commercial proposal

Not interested in commercial proposal

Not yet planned

FINDINGS & LIMITATIONS

Every project has some limitations even the researcher came across some

limitations while working on the project which made the analysis a little

inappropriate at times. Some of the basic limitations faced during the research

are listed below:

1. Only limited number of authorized, companies and other areas where it has

been found 55 players was covered in the study.

2. Most of the research was based on cold calls, so then visited many places

i.e. authorized and local areas and where it had not responded much.

3. There was a bias on the part of the respondents.

4. Companies that were contacted through telephone at times did not give

correct information to the researcher.

5. The IT manager or the person heading the IT Department did not have the

rights to give the authorized official information to people other then the

members of the official itself and the high officials.

70

6. At times there was a problem of non response from the hospitals,

companies and other authorized and unauthorized areas which affected

the result of the project being done by the researcher.

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RECOMMENDATIONS/SUGGESTIONS:

1. DELL is having large number of channel partners but it is not supporting &

taking care all of them equally which results in increasing discontentment

among new channel partners because its not possible for company to

support all of them equally. Company should take some positive action

against it.

2. Company executive should visit dealers on regular basis.

3. They Should pay proper attention towards checking of various components

of PC before end user delivery. Otherwise it tends towards defame of brand

name in comparison to rivals.

4. Need to expend customer care center as the consumer base of DELL

Infosystem is increasing with tremendously fast pace.

5. Proper attention should be paid for advertisement planning otherwise it

may lead to problem for dealer as well as for company.

1. Company should tie up with some event management company to organize

various promotional activities like canopy, Carnival.

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2. Company should make policy for fixed end user price for all dealers so that

fair game will be played & dealer would not to compromise on their

margin.

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CONCLUSION

Marketing is a very crucial activity in every business organization. Every product

produced within an industry has to be marketed other wise it will remain as

unsold stock, which will be of no value. I have realized this fact after completion

of my summer training project. Despite of various difficulties and limitations faced

during my summer training project on the topic “Marketing Analysis of Dell

Computer”. I have tried my level best to find out the most relevant information

for the organization to complete the assignment that was given to me. After

completion of my summer training project I have gained several experiences in

the field or sales marketing. I have got the opportunity to meet various people,

which fluctuate in different situation and time. This summer training project has

given me the opportunity to have first experience in the corporate world.

Theoretical knowledge of a person remains dormant until it is used and tested in

the practical life. The training has given to me the chance to apply my theoretical

knowledge that I have acquired in my classroom to the real business world. I have

completed my summer training project in which are involved in its successful

completion. In spite of few limitations and hindrance in the summer training

74

project I found that the work was a challenge and fruitful. It gives enough

knowledge about the computers market and the distribution process undertaken

by an organization. This summer training project has enabled my capability in

order to manage business effectively and in my career in future.

75

QUESTIONNAIRE

Name ____________________________________

Designation ____________________________________

Address ____________________________________

Contact No. ____________________________________

1. Do you use computers for your business purpose?

1. Yes

2. No

2. What type of computers do you use?

1. Branded

2. Assembled

3. What brand computers do you use?

1. HP

2. Dell

3. acer

4. Others

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4. What is the number of installed desktops?

1. <15

2. 15-50

3. 50-75

4. 75-200

5. 200-500

5. What is the number of used servers?

1. 1

2. 2

3. 3-5

4. >5

6. What is the number of installed laptops?

1. 1-5

2. 5-15

3. 15-30

4. >30

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7. What is the brand used for laptops?

1. Dell

2. Toshiba

3. Lennovo

4. Others

8. Do you have AMC?

1. Yes

2. No

9. What type of company is having the AMC?

1. Regional office of the company

2. Any other local player

10. Are you facing any problem with current used product line?

1. Yes

2. No

3. Not yet

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11. How do you find the Dell products?

a.) OK

b.) Good

c.) Satisfactory

d.) Outstanding

e.) Not tried yet

12. Do you want to know more about Dell products?

1. Yes

2. No

79

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books

1. Organizational behavior - Robbins, Stephen P

2. Personnel Management and Human Relations - Venkata Ratnam, C S and Srivastava, B K

3. Human Resource Management - Ashwathappa, K

4. Human Resource Management - Rao, V S P

Web sites

1. www.google.com

2. www.hrmguide.net

3. www.managementscience.org

4. www.londonexternal.ac.uk

5. www.hr.com

6. www.wikipedia.com

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