MIS

1. Introduction 3 2. Background 3 3. Intelligence Phase 4 4. Design Phase 7 5. Choice Phase 8 6. Work Breakdown Structure 12 7. Conclusion 13 8. References 15

Improving LG’s Low Smartphone Market Share

Life’s Good (LG) Company was established in a chemical manufacturer in South Korea in 1947. The organization has grown to become a multinational conglomerate that deals in four electronic, nine chemicals, and nine communication services subsidiaries (So, 2019). The company is family-run and currently stands as the fourth-richest corporate institution "chaebol" in South Korea after Samsung, Hyundai, and SK (So, 2019). The corporation's vision is "to become the market-leading company with broad market recognition” (lg.com, n.d.). LG is an innovator and a manufacturer in technology and has more than 100 locations globally. The company made sales worth $54.4 billion in the fiscal year 2018. LG is a world-leading producer of TVs, refrigerators, air conditioners, washing machines, and mobile devices (lg.com, n.d.). Our objective is to design a decision support system (DSS) that makes LG Corporation increase its smartphone market share to match market leaders like Samsung and Apple.

LG is lagging in smartphone market share as compared to other multinational corporations. In 2018, a report on the global market share of smartphones indicated that there were a total of 3.6 billion mobile devices in use (Mourdoukoutas, 2018). Samsung held the highest market share of devices at 27%, that represented 893 million copies. Apple held a 24% share, and Oppo, Xiaomi, Huawei, and Vivo were in the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth positions (Mourdoukoutas, 2018). These companies represent Chinese manufacturing firms and hold a third of the world’s total smartphones market share (Mourdoukoutas, 2018). LG’s global smartphone market share falls below 3% in the category of “others” and continues to face stiff competition from market leaders like Samsung. The DSS platforms will help the company to establish new markets in emerging markets to increase its global share of the smartphone devices. DSS will help LG Corporation to make the best recommendations for reducing the market gap that exists between the company and other competitors like Samsung and Apple. DSS will create solutions on how the corporation can increase its global sales.

After investing heavily in research and development of the company's smartphone devices, LG realized that the global impacts of its competitors shadowed its efforts. The company did not achieve an increase in the global share of smartphone sales even though it has different agencies in more than 100 locations worldwide. Given that customers are not giving preferences to the offers provided by LG, the company realized that the problem might originate from the marketing strategies applied in the respective regions as well as the research and development strategies that are reflected in the final products. The increasing decrease in the total market share of smartphones suggests that LG Corporation is not meeting the needs and preferences of many customers around the world. Also, there is an indication that competitors are meeting the changing trends and demands of the modern marketplace, hence the need to alter the company’s customer perceptions for its products.

LG Corporation needs to find solutions to the problems facing the smartphone products category. The issues will be broken down into smaller details for more straightforward selection and execution of strategies. The company needs to evaluate answers and implications of the following research questions:

· What are the significant concerns raised by customers around the world about LG smartphones?

· Why do products offered by competitors stand out better than LG’s offerings?

· Is the company investing enough in the promotion of its smartphone product segment?

· Does the research and development department consider the changing needs and preferences of customers in designing new smartphones?

The marketing department of the company is responsible for ensuring that the sales of the organization are increasing and new strategies of market penetration are developed. Surveys conducted worldwide show loopholes in the marketing techniques applied by LG, and the company should coordinate with the relevant professionals to develop solutions. The suggestions on improvement may be submitted to the head of marketing who compiles a report to the board of directors for approval. The senior management team may approve the recommendations or offer better insights on streamlining the performance of the marketing department of the corporation. The decision-making process in the project will utilize a semi-structured approach.

The decisions made by the company to solve the issue of low market share may result in additional risks and losses. However, the recommendations are vital to revamping sales for smartphones. The company must act swiftly to attract the attention of customers through new product promotion techniques. Also, the R&D department may include new properties that make the company's devices to gain massive preferences from the buyers. The surveys may help determine the pertinent issues that limit the sales and the potential opportunities for product development.

LG may consider using the DSS software in decision-making processes to bolster the sales output and customers’ satisfaction. Given the complexity of highlighting the problems and developing sound solutions, the company needs an alternative that limits levels of risk as high as possible and saves the time required to respond to the situation. The software incorporates efficiency in decision-making and bolsters the cognitive potential of managers (Guo & Diaz Lopez, 2013). The amount of data collected from customers in different countries is large and cannot be processed and analyzed manually. DSS offers a tool for analyzing extensive data collected from customers to make sound decisions that reflect the concerns of the buyers in different markets.

DSS improves communication between employees, managers, and senior management. As explained by Alshibly (2015), DSS improves communication in organizations and enhances satisfaction in the decisions made. The issue of low market share for LG smartphones calls for immediate action from the marketing managers and the board of directors. The incorporation of technology in decision-making reduces the time taken to make recommendations. Thus, DSS is time conscious and allows for the analysis of different marketing scenarios in a limited duration (Alshibly, 2015).

DSS allows for real-time sharing of data between different departments. For instance, regional marketing managers can share data on monthly customers' responses to a specific device model with the R&D manager. The information allows for immediate recall in case there is a problem with some smartphone models. Secondly, the data mining feature of the DSS provides data on customer responses on new products in the market or the impact of a marketing campaign for a product (Alshibly, 2015).

DSS directly captures customers’ data on response to an ad and the feedback provided in surveys on how to improve the performance of the brand (Chan et al., 2016). Feedback from customers is vital to understanding the differences between the product features provided by Samsung and Apple as compared to LG’s offers. From the DSS data reports, managers will determine the rate at which customer loyalty is declining in the markets formerly held by LG. Thus, DSS helps managers and LG’s top management to respond to low market share by devising appropriate plans (Chan et al., 2016).

DSS will help LG in collecting vital data on products’ performance in markets dominated by industry leaders like Samsung and Apple. The data collected may include the price preferences per item categories, design, feature considerations, and after-sales services. The information defines the strategies employed in increasing the smartphone market share held by LG Corporation worldwide.

Several alternatives can be applied to develop a strategy for improving the smartphone market share for LG. The suggested solutions have positive impacts on reducing the low market share of smartphones.

Firstly, LG Corporation should offer customers the liberty of choice by providing different products with prices reflecting the purchasing powers of all the customers in the respective markets. Manufacturing smartphones that consider the needs of all the potential buyers help in creating brand awareness and loyalty. Customers need variety from companies that allows them to get specific devices depending on their abilities to spend money.

Secondly, LG should increase its number of distributors worldwide as well its online presence about the offers on smartphones. Increasing the number of stores and distribution centers throughout the world increases sales potential. Many consumers prefer checking products online before visiting the vendors' stores. Thus, LG Corporations should consider the approach.

Thirdly, LG should consider investing more capital toward product promotion and marketing. Spending on brand awareness increases customer awareness and the possibility of consumers giving preference to the products the company offers. Features, advantages, and benefits of the smartphones determine the response of the potential buyers.

Fourthly, the R&D department of the company should emulate the designs and features that modern customers prefer in smartphones. The section should reflect on what market leaders like Samsung, Huawei, and Apple offer that LG fails to provide to the buyers. The strategy may require additional capital investment and an overhaul of the current production techniques.

The strategies chosen by the company would depend on whether the location is a new market or an existing market for the company. For instance, a product in a current market may be sold at a 20% discount while the same item may be sold at 100% selling price as buyers are trying the brand for the first time. Existing markets call for product modifications for consumers to change preferences about a brand. However, in the emerging or new markets, LG may sell its old smartphone models or conduct product diversification to gain the loyalty of customers.

LG Corporation faces a low market share of smartphones globally. The company needs to improve its product offerings to attract more customers. The current need at the organization concerns the desire to gain increased sales for its smartphones to match the numbers posted by market leaders like Samsung and Apple. Increasing the market share of the products would present specific benefits to different stakeholders at the company.

Benefits

The use of the DSS software is deemed as a potential key to unlock numerous challenges faced by LG Corporation. The software will bolster customer relationship management at the organization. Customers value firms that grant them opportunities to provide their views on how they perceive products. LG will benefit by improving the bond with its customers. Customers will be provided with regular feedback and opportunities to take part in surveys for the long-term improvement of the offers they get from the company. Buyers will get opportunities to be part of the corporation's loyal team and get discounts on membership. LG's improvement in the products may lead to an increase in the number of loyal customers. Increased referrals from this group of stakeholders will ultimately increase the company's sales. Thus, the company will benefit from increased sales and customers from need satisfaction.

Beneficiaries

LG Corporation and its customers will benefit from the DSS software implementation project. The tool will help the organization’s managers and top management in making sound decisions concerning the low market share of smartphones. Given that customer satisfaction and increased market share are interrelated, the fulfillment of the company's need to reduce the market share gap will generate customer satisfaction. The success of LG in meeting its sales objective relies on how well the company utilizes the DSS software to understand the preferences and changing demands of customers in the modern marketplace.

Customer satisfaction remains the primary goal of many start-ups and established multinational corporations. Thus, the long-term success of a firm relies on meeting the needs of customers throughout its operations. The profit-making motive of a company may conflict with its intention to make its buyers happy. However, for LG to increase the market share margin, it needs to prioritize meeting its customer preferences on smartphones.

After we analyzed the sets of alternatives that LG may use to solve the problem, we decided that the first and fourth options are the most ideal. Providing diversity and affordability is highly valued by customers. Also, improving the products through R&D ensures that the quality matches the ones provided by the competition. A descriptive model will be applied in evaluating the validity of the decisions made.

The "what-if" analysis function will be used to determine the effect of discounts on customers in the existing markets. The strategy will be used to assess how customers respond to the new smartphones developed through R&D. The "what-if" function will also determine the impact of newly manufactured handsets in emerging markets on emerging markets. Reducing the prices of LG smartphones and providing variety in LG's current 100 locations may increase the market share. Similarly, the company may decide to sell newly designed smartphones in new markets and compared the performance of the different products in the respective markets. Positive returns in new markets would suggest that customers need up-to-date modern designs of the handsets the beat to conform to the offers received from rival firms.

The assessment of the alternatives suggests that option one and four are the best alternatives for LG Corporation. The first option indicates that the company should develop different products at different prices. Creating offers that accommodate the needs of many buyers in a specific market suggests that a company is conscious of the demands of the marketplace. Brand awareness would increase since many people would be able to afford the smartphones offered by LG. The company may not gain the intended profit margin in the short-run. However, the number of loyal customers would increase in the long-run. The fourth alternative suggests that the R&D department at LG should design new smartphone models that reflect the preferences of buyers as practiced by the competitors. The majority of consumers like uniqueness, and many buyers today are techno-savvy. Providing these components in the market may change the reputation of the company's products. DSS software offers survey data to developers that may prove to change the way customers perceive the brand in the marketplace.

The second and third alternatives advocated for aggressive marketing techniques and increased the production of the products. These options would have a minimal impact on changing the way consumers perceive the corporation's products. Where products have been considered to have low quality in the past, increasing the production would only lead to additional losses. Similarly, increased advertising may only have a limited impact on buyers. Given discounts for the same products may not generate the desired profit to keep the product line effectively running for the company. Implementing the first and the fourth solutions change the negative publicity, rebrand the products, and lures buyers into trying the new offers in the market.

Several business intelligence tools are applicable in the case of LG. The following tools are appropriate:

· Microsoft Excel: The component is useful in recording, analyzing, evaluation, and visualization of data. Excel has formulas and functions that are critical in making sound calculations and decisions.

· Clear Analytics: The tool allows the performance of analysis on an Excel-based platform. It will enable the publication of data in cloud-based systems, online, and on mobile gadgets.

· Tableau Software: This business intelligence tool permits data visualization and comprehension. The software has a drag-and-drop function, easy to navigate, and allows data analysis.

· Micro Strategy: The tool provides a dashboard function and high-spend data displays. It is critical in the assessment of market opportunities and trends. It also allows for the evaluation of a firm's productivity.

According to our evaluation, Tableau is the best business intelligence tool. The software permits data sharing across PCs and mobile devices without the need for programming or format conversion. The item allows users to connect to a database as well as dashboard creation easily. It guarantees security at different levels, interactivity, and constant updates.

LG Corporation can use the DSS software to collect data on the problem of low smartphone market share it faces. The project determined that the company should reduce its selling price on its smartphones and offer variety as a way of revamping its market share in more than 100 locations worldwide. Secondly, the R&D department of the company should use the survey collected through the DSS system to develop new designs of smartphones that reflect customer preferences. LG can use product diversification strategy, and variety in price offers to win customer loyalty and increase its sales. The implementation of the solutions will lead to customer satisfaction and the development of new perceptions of LG smartphones. In the long-run, the gap that exists between the market leader- Samsung and LG will significantly narrow. LG needs to remain relevant in its production techniques by considering customer views are vital components of change and adaptation in the marketplace.

· Alshibly, H.H., 2015. Investigating the decision support system (DSS) success: A partial least squares structural equation modeling approach. Journal of Business Studies Quarterly, 6(4), p.56.

· Chan, S.H., Song, Q., Sarker, S., and Plumlee, R.D., 2017. Decision support system (DSS) use and decision performance: DSS motivation and its antecedents. Information & Management, 54(7), pp.934-947.

· Guo, X. and Díaz López, A., 2013. Mobile decision support system usage in organizations.

· Life’s Good, n.d. Company information [Online]. Retrieved November 7, 2018, from

https://www.lg.com/global/investor-relations/company-info

· Mourdoukoutas, M., September 13, 2018. Samsung beats Apple in the global smartphone market as Chinese brands close in [Online]. Retrieved November 7, 2018 from

https://www.forbes.com/sites/panosmourdoukoutas/2018/09/13/samsung-beats-apple- in-the-global-smartphone-market-as-chinese-brands-close-in/#3f72309a697d

· So, W., September 2019. South Korea’s LG Group – Statistics and facts [Online]. Retrieved November 7, 2018, from

https://www.statista.com/topics/4818/lg-corporation-of-south-korea/

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