Phillips vs Matsushita

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1) How did Philips become the leading consumer electronics company in the world in the postwar era? What distinctive competence did they build? What distinctive incompetencies? A number of factors led to the success of Philips in the post war era. Philips benefited from the strong combination of the leadership skills of Gerard and sales acumen of Anton. Philips was a preferred place to work for in Holland as they really took care of their employees this helped them develop a strong work force. The fact that Gerard used a focused approach and concentrated on being a leading light bulb manufacturer meant that no other company could complete with Philips when it came to technology and production techniques. This strength in research and technology gave Philips the strong start it needed. As a result of the great depression and high trade barriers Philips felt the need to establish its operations in the countries to which it was exporting to. These national organizations performed well as they were able to react quickly to the changing local environments and needs. The destruction of the Netherland office Philips during the war meant the national organizations had a greater degree of autonomy in their operations. This meant that the national organizations responded to the specific local needs of the market, even the research and development functions could be localized this meant that the company was not forced to use a one size fits all approach and this allowed Philips to gain market share rapidly across different markets around the globe. This proved to be one of the major competencies leading to post war success. The national organizations also benefited from leadership that was gave equal weightage to commercial, technical and financial factors during the decision making process. 2) How did Matsushita succeed in displacing Philips as No. 1? What were its

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