Harley Davidson Case Analysis

September 22, 2010

Harley Davidson Motor Company: Enterprise Software Selection

The decision to be made is which supplier and partner should they choose in implementing an enterprise-wide procurement and supplier management system? William Harley and Arthur Davidson founded The Harley-Davidson Motor Company in a shed in 1903. With production of over 28,000 motorcycles per year in 1920 and dealers in 67 countries, the Harley Davidson Motor company became the largest motorcycle manufacturer in the world. And on top of that the company had a vision, by the year 2003, Harley Davidson’s 100th anniversary, to dramatically increase the company’s production capacity.

In the mid 1980’s Harley Davidson was on the brink of bankruptcy due to strong Japanese competition and their rapidly growing production which lead to quality problems. The company survived after a management buy-out and a short period of reform focusing on quality. In 1998, Harley Davidson’s target market grew by 13.8% and the company itself grew by 14.3%, showing that American manufacturing could prevail.

CEO Jeff Bluestein stated that the image of Harley Davidson was, “a little bit special, a little bit mysterious, a little bit bad.” The Harley Davidson Brand was known for its spirit of youthfulness and recklessness. A growing number of customers were in their forties with their children grown and out of the house. They had the means to purchase these recreational vehicles and were willing to wait up to two years for their Harley Davidson Motorcycles. The dream of adventure and freedom which motorcycling offered was hard to resist.

Harley Davidson encouraged and valued independence and teamwork and because of this the company’s organizational structure consisted of three interlocking circles. The three self-directed work circles were:

* Produce Product Group (PPG) – handled development and manufacturing.

* Create Demand (CDC) – was responsible for sales and marketing...