Final Project: Research Report

Running head: MARUTI SUZUKI INDIA 1

MARUTI SUZUKI INDIA 11

Maruti Suzuki India: Defending Market Leadership in the A-Segment

Chellyn Jones

QSO-500 Business Research

Southern New Hampshire University

Maruti Suzuki India: Defending Market Leadership in the A-Segment

Introduction

Different organizations around the globe have been facing different problems related to financial management, human resource management, and product management among others. The identification of these problems has been a challenge and has prevented these organization from maximizing their production and profits. Maruti Suzuki India is one of the companies that have been facing different challenges which have decreased their competitive advantage in the segment. The following research will seek to identify the business problem facing the entity and the extent to which the operations have been affected. The research will analyze the data presented for the organization and note the differences with the market. From the analysis, conclusions and recommendations will be made.

Business Problem

Research Problem

Product Management

Maruti Suzuki had enjoyed a great dominance in the Indian market until it failed in its product management. The company had a poor product management that saw other companies like Hyundai from Korea and Tata design unique products that raised the competition in the A-segment. The automobile makers introduced products that were accepted by the Indian market and this brought competition to Maruti Suzuki Company which dropped its market share as well as its sales in the segment. Several aspects of product management brought negative impacts on the company revolved around innovation, diversification, and brand image of the company. The problem of poor product management was brought about by poor research and development by Maruti Suzuki Company. In terms of research and development, Maruti Suzuki Company did not have a wider scope as all its research and development work was done in India. It means that all its products had only one geographical perception. Its products were meant to serve people in the A-segment.

Hyundai designed its products in Korea. Apart from that, the company gave its product a global image which is different from what Maruti Suzuki was engaged in. Tata on the other hand also developed products with a global name and image and thus conducted its research and design in Europe and India. It is clear that India missed a step in the research and development that saw it adversely affected by competition from the two companies. Maruti Suzuki did not clearly observe the market trends of most customers whose taste was growing in global products and this affected them negatively. Lack of proper research, design, and development caused the problem affecting Maruti Suzuki. Maruti Suzuki Company has made several steps in addressing the problem. The company engaged in targeting the right consumers and designing products with features and benefits that were crucial in their success. Research done by the company helped in establishing the right products for the right consumers and this has helped them improve on their market perception and shares.

Key Stakeholders

Maruti Suzuki Company has different stakeholders. Initially, the corporation was started as a joint venture between the Suzuki Motor Corporation and the Government of India. However, as the years went by, Suzuki increased its equity shares and other stakeholders like the public and financial institutions were introduced into the business. In the case study, it clear that the problem facing the company affects two main stakeholders.

The shareholders of the company who are dispersed in the different sectors of the company are the people who will be negatively affected by the present problem facing the company. The decline in market share means that the company will receive low returns which translate to low dividends at the end of the financial year. The effect of the negative changes will be felt by the management of the company who act as the representatives of the shareholders of the entity. Customers will also be on a losing spree in this case due to the problem of poor product management as they will not be able to satisfy their product needs. The problem affecting the company will also have an impact on the Suzuki motor dealers. It is clearly indicated in the case study that Suzuki motor dealers suffered as a result to low sales and the stiff competition presented in the market. None of the Suzuki motors stakeholders is expected to gain from the problem currently affecting it. However, if the problem is corrected, the management, shareholders, and customers will benefit in different ways.

Research Objective

The research objective in this case is meant to deal with the research problem which revolves around product management. Poor product management has had adverse effects on the growth and profitability of Maruti Suzuki in India. It has seen the company receive stiff competition from other companies in the same industry like Tata and Hyundai. The research objective is aimed at establishing ways through which Suzuki Motor Corporation in India can be able to improve on its products to ensure that it regains its market share and leadership in the segment. The objective is to also understand the several aspects of product management that the company failed to consider that saw it loose a significant market share to its competitors. Clearly, employing proper research and development are the main elements being established by the research objective. Proper product management in the segment will allow all stakeholders in the business to perform perfectly. The stakeholders will be able to rip the fruits of good management that will see the company grow and increase its returns.

Research Question

What has been the effect of product management in Maruti Suzuki India?

Ethical Issues

The potential ethical issues in this study will revolve around the people or the society in which data will be gotten from. The first ethical consideration will ensure that data is collected in a manner that does not violate the rights of the people. The two main data collection methods that will be employed in the case study include the use of questionnaires and interviews. Random sampling will be employed to choose the individuals to participate in the study. After taking the individuals at random, their consent will be required and only those who agree to it will be used for the study to ensure promotion of ethics in the exercise. Data collected will be recorded in a secure database to ensure that it is not tampered with. A back up of the data will be created to ensure that chances of repeating the exercise in case of loss of data is eliminated.

The ethical principle of beneficence will be used in treating the human subjects. All human rights will be considered in the exercise there will be no cases of bias in the treatment of subjects. The study will be effective and significant to ensure that it promotes the welfare of the participants. The human subjects will only be used in the cases of providing information that will be useful for the study. Confidentiality of the participants will be highly maintained to ensure that they are protected. The respect of anonymity and confidentiality is a key ethical guideline that will be followed in the study. Respect to privacy will be highly regarded in the exercise. The study will also give priority to any vulnerable groups of people who will participate in the study. Such people include the physically disabled, imprisoned, aged, students and others. The rights of these people will be highly guarded.

Literature Review

The following literature review will explain theories that ground the organizational problem in Maruti Suzuki, bias and limitations present, research studies that have faced the same challenge, and one organization with similar problems.

Theories

The problem affecting Maruti Suzuki India regards poor product management. Management in general is the main issue affecting the company. Several theories can be applied to ground the problem that is affecting the organization. According to Fredrick Taylor, who came with the popular scientific theory of management indicated that the continuity of a business was dependent on quality of work done, product development, efficient growth and creativity. The scientist indicated that it was the duty of the management to see that there is significant improvement in productivity, improved personnel activities, widespread improvements in quality control and intense research. According to Anderson, Rungtusanatham, & Schroeder (1994), it is clear that Maruti Suzuki Company did not apply the scientific management theory in its operations.

It was the main responsibility of the management of the company to ensure that there is improvement in its process so as to ensure that it grows from regional to global standards in terms of production. The scientific theory of management clearly indicates that a failure in ensuring growth can have negative problems to the business (Locke, 1982). The theory grounds the problem affecting the company of failure to ensure productivity and thus seeing a poor product management trend that saw its competitors Hyundai and Tata take over the market.

The other theory that perfectly grounds the problem affecting the organization is product management theory. According to Nambisan (2002), product management theory involves bringing the best in a product. The product can either be new or old to the market. The theory covers market research to identify the changing needs of the consumers, research on improving the product and making it best among the competitors. Product management theory also covers intense marketing (Dean & Bowen, 1994). The case study shows how Maruti Suzuki failed to ensure proper product management and how the product management theory grounds the problem it is facing on the ground. For example, the product management theory calls for the market research to identify the needs of consumers as well as constantly improving the products to higher standards. Maruti Suzuki India failed to study the market and thus failed to improve its cars and that caused it a great market share.

Bias and Limitations

Biases and limitations are present in the literature review. In the literature review, it has been indicated that Maruti Suzuki India lost a significant market share over the years. The data has been presented clearly including the percentages and the trend that different key players in the industry have followed over the years. However, the stock indicated before and after the loss of the market share shows a positive bias (Anderson, Rungtusanatham, & Schroeder, 1994). A significant drop as a result of reduced production is supposed to be witnessed from the data presented. It is also indicated that the market changed but it is not indicated how the information about the market was gathered. It therefore raises questions on the validity of the data used in the study. On the limitations, the data collected cannot be verified to be genuine or not. It is not also indicated on the method employed to gather the data. Moreover, it is not clear whether the data is biased or not. The biases and limitations can affect the organization negatively as it relies on it to make informed judgment on the way forward to resolve the issue.

Other Research Study

The research study by Becker-Ritterspach (2005) indicates the same problem of biases and limitations of studies specifically done in regards to Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. According to the research study done by the author, it is not possible to verify the source of information. It is up to the people to give information about the state of the products currently produced by the company and the reasons they have decided to shift to other companies (Becker-Ritterspach, 2005). A prove of questionnaires or surveys done could back up the study. The same biases and limitations present themselves again in the study.

Other Organization

Nokia is an example of a company that had a similar problem of poor product management. It was one of the leading companies in the communication industry before the introduction of smartphones (Vuori & Huy, 2015). However, the company failed to embrace the new technology and that saw it loose a significant market share. Poor product management was the problem affecting the company. However, the company has been able to slowly come back into the business through different ways. The company addressed the problem by engaging in partnership with other companies like Microsoft. For example, the company now produces new smartphones under the Microsoft name (Bala & Singh, 2016). It has helped it boost its revenue and increase its market share. The company had to embrace technology and innovate to deal with the problem.

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