Changes in the Manufacturing Process
Maruti Suzuki India Limited is an Indian car manufacturer, which has been operating in the Indian automobile industry for quite some time. The organization was founded in the year 1981 as Maruti Udyog Limited and was merged with the Japanese automobile and motorcycle manufacturer Suzuki Motor Corporation in the year of 1982. The organization current holds 51% of the Indian passenger car market and is known to be one of widely appreciated car brands in India (Telang, 2016). A few years back, the organization was struggling to maintain its leadership in the Indian automobile industry due to the efficient and effective operations of other car manufacturers in the industry. The cars manufactured by Maruti Suzuki has always been looked as budget family cars made for the average Indians (Lord, 2015). These cars were never perceived to be the luxury cars and was used mostly by the family men and women in India who focus a lot on the fuel efficiency and affordability of the cars instead of the looks, quality or luxury. So, the management of the organization introduced a number of changes in the manufacturing and marketing process of the cars in order to position the products of the organization as the luxury and powerful cars instead of just being affordable. The case study provides some information on these changes introduced in the manufacturing and marketing processes of Maruti Suzuki (Cameron, 2015).
The pressure from the competitors drove Maruti Suzuki into a number of changes in its manufacturing and marketing processes. The management of Maruti Suzuki wanted to change the mindset of the customers in the corresponding market regarding the brand and the cars manufactured by it. The management wanted to change the perception of the customers towards the cars manufactured by Maruti Suzuki and wanted to position these cars as modern and luxury vehicles (Benn, 2014).
The changes in the manufacturing process of the Maruti Suzuki cars included the changes in the design and power of the cars. The management of the organization wanted to design of the cars to be aggressive and luxurious without being dull, boding or affordable. The management of Maruti Suzuki wanted to attract customers from every market segments by making the design of the cars to be luxurious and fresh (Walker, 2014). The idea behind this decision was to attract the customers from each demographic of the Indian markets by positioning these cars manufactured by the organization to be new, exciting, fresh, aggressive and luxurious. These were the keywords which the management of Maruti Suzuki focused on, for the designs of the cars. To achieve this, the management of the organization started organizing various training and development activities for the employees in order to ensure their high quality of skills in the designing activities (Nica, 2013). Through these training and development activities, the management of Maruti Suzuki ensured that the employees are highly efficient in determining the requirements of the customers in the corresponding market along with the latest designing architecture and processes to implement the latest technologies in the designs of the cars manufactured by the organization. The management of the organization also implemented various forums and modules in the business model of Maruti Suzuki which allowed the employees to pitch in their ideas to the higher management. The most innovative and creative ideas were chosen by the higher management for the implementation and the corresponding employees were given incentives to keep the employees motivated in the workplace. The management of the organization also started including innovative and creativity in the personal goals of the employees of the organization (Ikeda, 2016).
Changes in the Marketing Process
Apart from the design of the cars, power and capability was the other changes in the manufacturing process. The management of Maruti Suzuki wanted the cars manufactured by the organization to be perceived as powerful and aggressive instead of only economic and affordable (Nowak, 2016). So, the management of Maruti Suzuki introduced a number of changes in the manufacturing process to ensure that the cars manufactured by the organization were powerful and aggressive enough to attract customers from every demographic of the corresponding market. The management of Maruti Suzuki arranged various activities to train the employees in the new technologies and machineries used for the enhanced manufacturing process (Smet, 2016). The employees were also being trained to work on more capable and powerful engines. The business model of Maruti Suzuki was changed to utilize high quality engines and other machineries in the cars by keeping more focus on the power of the engines along with the economy (Clegg, 2017).
The manufacturing process in Maruti Suzuki was also changed to ensure the interior of the cars manufactured by the organization was of premium quality. So, the management changed its procurement process and supply chain management strategy to procure higher quality materials to be used in the interior of the cars. The employees were also trained to work with the premium quality materials along with the latest and fresh designs approved by the design team and higher management of the organization (Singh, 2015). The management of Maruti Suzuki also implemented business processes for the employees to showcase their design talents by pitching the interior designs for the cars to the higher management. These business processes involved rewards and recognitions for the employees whose designs are selected by the higher management for implementation (Jacobs, 2013).
The marketing process was another weak link in the business model of Maruti Suzuki, which positioned the brand to be a manufacturer of affordable, family cars with dull and conventional designs. The management of the organization wanted to change this perception of the customers in the corresponding market through various changes in the marketing processes (Petrou, 2017). The organization started marketing its cars as powerful cars with premium quality that can be used by individuals in any demographic of the market. The organization started spending more in the marketing activities and involved the employees in various training and development activities. The management of the organization also ensured the achievement of maximum reach to the customers in the corresponding market by getting involved in various marketing activities in multiple media (Anderson, 2013).
Outcome of the Changes
Conclusion
This section mentions the outcomes of these changes introduced in the business model of Maruti Suzuki. The changes introduced in the manufacturing, design and marketing processes of Maruti Suzuki were proved to be positive as the customers in the Indian markets started to respond in a different way to the Maruti Suzuki cars. According to the result of various surveys and questionnaires it was proved that the new manufacturing, design and marketing process allowed the customers from all the demographics in the Indian markets to connect with the cars on different levels (Vakola, 2013). This in turn has allowed Maruti Suzuki to be back in the automobile game with better products focusing on the quality and luxury provided to the customers. The new marketing strategy of Maruti Suzuki has allowed itself to be positioned as one of the most innovative and creative car manufactures in the Indian markets currently. This in turn has allowed the organization to gain more profits by the increased number of sales of the cars. The cars manufactured Maruti Suzuki are also being appreciated at different shows and exhibitions for their latest technologies and fresh designs (Cameron, 2015).
How the manufacturing process affects the position of the brand in the market?
As per the case study, the changes introduced in the business model of Maruti Suzuki involved some changes in the manufacturing process. The case study also mentioned that the management of the organization wanted to change the positioning of the brand in the corresponding market through these changes. Even though there is no direct impact of the changes in the manufacturing process on the brand position, the changes in the manufacturing process allows the organization to manufacture cars with better design, better interior and more power. These changes in the cars in turn allows the organization to provide a different value proposition to the customers in the corresponding market, which allows the customers to have a completely different perception about the brand. As mentioned in the case study, the cars manufactured by Maruti Suzuki were perceived to be dull, economic and affordable. These cars were never perceived as luxury or aggressive cars due to the lack of fresh designs and powerful engines in the cars. So, these changes in the manufacturing process of Maruti Suzuki cars ultimately allowed the management to position its brand in a different way in the market.
What were the changes introduced in the marketing process of Maruti Suzuki and what were the impacts?
Impact of the Manufacturing Process on the Brand Position
The case study mentioned the change management strategy of the management of Maruti Suzuki to have to factors in terms of the manufacturing process and the marketing process. Previously the organization wasn’t advertising its products in an interesting way to attract customers from all the market segments. So, the changes in the marketing process of Maruti Suzuki allowed the marketing professionals to reach the customers with innovative and creative advertisements. These new advertisements allowed Maruti Suzuki to showcase the new changes in the design, interior and engines of the cars in order to attract customers from every demographic. The management of the organization also ensured to reach the customers through all the available media including the social media and the conventional media of advertisement. This in turn allowed the cars manufactured by Maruti Suzuki to gain more popularity on the basis of the new changes in the design, interior and capability of the cars, which in turn allowed the organization to have increased sales in the corresponding market. Due to the changes in the marketing processes, Maruti Suzuki have better presence in the internet and attracts the customers frequently surfing the internet.
References
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