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CANON
A brief, general coverage of the company
Oskar Barnack, a German camera maker created a new, ground-
breaking camera called the Leica in 1925. A company later on
responded to the success of Barnack’s creation in 1933 and
produced its indegeneous 35 millimeter version of Barnack’s
design. This was the foundation for the world’s most powerful
camera company called Canon.
The word strategy has been very common in the present day world
of business. The most common use of this term is in the corporate
world. Strategy is considered to be the high point of managerial
activities and the word strategy is very influential. What does
it mean? For Canon, strategy is the scope of an organization over
a long-term, which attain advantage in a dynamic environment by
its configuration of resource and competence with the objective
of fulfilling expectation of its stakeholders.
As the business environment is full of complexities, firms like
Canon tries to be very flexible (standing against the cut throat
competition) and Canon has worked hard to respond rapidly to such
changes in the markets when strategies are developed.
So, this paper is meant to find out the ways by which CANON
incorporation could take benefit of various strategic models in
dealing with the complex problems of business posed by unstable
and normal situations.
coverage of the product or service
Commenced its business of production of camera with the name
called PRECISION OPTICAL INSTRUMENT LABORATORY in 1930, Canon is
known today for its copiers, printers and cameras. Business
strategy is used to draw the course of an organization.
Competition
The larger threats to Canon is caused by the firms producing
similar product in the market. This involves cut throat
competitions from the top most companies like Sony, Samsung,
Sharp, Toshiba, and others which are working hard for
superiority. This creates intensive competition for substitute’s
products that Canon has to deal with. However, it should be noted
that Canon is responding adequately by establishing fully
automated production lines built around automated machinery and
robot to sustain international competitiveness.
. Price
This strategy is to target the low-cost producer in an industry
of competitive firms (porter- 1985). When Canon entered the
global market in 1970 for copiers, Canon redefine the low price
for the market of the product in this segment. These product were
small and of high quality for small scale business and household
use.
The salesperson and his/her job
Canon is an formed as the global firm in the copier and
photography industry. Structure of the organization is developed
as a due to the people’s requirement to know who the in charge,
what is their responsibility and whom to look forward for the
solution of their problem. Canon has developed horizontal type of
organization which includes companies and management structured
under committees worldwide. These committees are formed to sort
out important management issues, and works as mutual-check system
for its products and operations. The structure of Canon
significantly affects how the company executes and achieves its
strategic goals. It allows or limits workers (as the case may be)
to makes changes and get culturally ally with the strategy of the
company. The firm used a participative technique in determining
of strategy rather, which contrasts to the technique in which
managers at the top formulate strategy in isolation and apply the
strategy by directive. This approach of mutual participation by
Canon separated the task of setting strategy, which was done at
the centre, from planning strategy, which was executed jointly by
the centre and the managers at divisional level. Also this
collaborative approach by Canon for planning strategy brought out
a closer association between the realities of the internal
environment of the organization and the ability of managers to
carry the strategy. To this participative approach, the company
Canon has a two-directional communication system in which
divisional managers are expectant to provide information and
views to senior managers to hold up the strategic decision-making
process. Such organizational culture necessary to use the
participative approach is an incentive for innovation and risk-
taking. Strategic change often involves the risk that the
strategy or the methods used to execute the strategy will not be
successful.
Canon works on a structure which is of a flat kind. It is
significant to note that various firms are structured in
different ways depending on its size, culture, activities and its
history. Canon represents what Boje and Dennehy submits as a
modern form of organization(2000) and therefore able to
strategically react to the business environment. As a post modern
organization, Canon has networked set of varied, self-managed,
self-controlled teams with multi- centers units where number of
centers of coordination of activities fold and unfold as per the
needs of the tasks. As a post modern organization, Canon has the
ability of the company to employ the Kyosei philosophy in every
segment of the company is also a clear example. Teams are
organized in flat design in the company. Here the employees
carries high level of authority and involve deeply in their job.
Flow of information in Canon is like a fluid and the company
seeks for continuous improvement which is emphasized throughout.
As on 2009 Canon had massive staff strengths which were nearly
25000 people globally employed. The staff of Canon is highly
technical and expertise. Canon relies on learning and development
as an key aspect of an growth and development of the
organization. The company has largely invested on training its
staffs and this has resulted in improved skills and knowledge of
