Colgate Toothpaste Company, Essay Example

Some companies perform just one business. (For example, a local company that operates a single restaurant.) Others have several businesses, but one is overwhelmingly dominant. (For example, Wal-Mart discount stores is the dominant business of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., though the company also sells on line and through Sam’s Club warehouse stores.) Finally, in some companies several businesses have to be understood to gain a good sense of the firm as a whole. (For example, Shell Oil has businesses that find and produce oil, that refine oil, and that sell oil to end-users. You can’t understand Shell by looking at just one of these businesses.)

Colgate-Palmolive Company is a rather relatively concentrated organization that started from a simple soap and candle business in New York back in the early 19^th century. This organization has been well focused in providing personal care products to people from all nations. Today, the full bloom of the business is assumed to have greater heights in accomplishing the primary goal of the business to gain international recognition from the global market. Expanding their business into a more diversified system of operation was one of the strategies taken into account by the company. However, to make sure of the solidity of the foundation of the business, the company’s administrators made sure that the path of their branding would remain focused and distinctively remarkable for the market to recognize.

How many different businesses need to be analyzed to give a picture of the overall success of your company? (Usually if you analyze business units representing 70-80% of the firm’s total sales and profits, you can get a good idea.) If one business unit is dominant, answer the following questions for that business unit. If more than one is important, pick two business units and answer the questions for each.

There are currently two branches of operation that the Colgate-Palmolive company engages with. The line of personal care products that the company offers is distinctively recognizable apart from other brands available in the market. Practically this approach of the organization made it easier for the business to make a name in the field of international trade. The central attention that the administrators give to the creation of a focused system of operation makes it easier for the business to give attention to what the organization basically want to offer to the market.

How differentiated are the products/services of this business? To the extent that they are differentiated (that is, to the extent that customers see them as superior to competitors’), what is the basis of their differentiated appeal?

Colgate-Palmolive is a notable brand that has been around for a long time. Being a pioneer in the industry gave the business a sense of edge in the competition with which it is engaged with. Practically, it could be observed that for a long time, such remarkable and recognizable reputation has allowed the company to grab the attention of the market and retain their loyalty to the product lines offered by the organization accordingly. Most likely, this made it easier for the company to take an easier path towards recognition even at the point of entering the international trade.

What is the business’ strategy toward market segmentation? If it segments its market, on what basis does it do so?

Most likely Colgate products target a more general set of buyers in the market; being a common product that is used by the general public and being a pioneer in the market gives the company a better edge against its competitors. The Palmolive sector of the company is more directed to women of all ages. Having this specific segmentation is expected to limit the market served by this section of the organization, nevertheless, the administrators are able to make the best out of what the company holds strongly which is the branding impact taken into account against all the other competitors in the market. Practically, the segregation of the market sectors that the company serves works pretty well for the organization especially as it takes the strategies of escalating endorsement and improving pricing operations to be the primary element of competition it is to hold in front of the international operations of distribution basing from operations of the international trade.

What functional units seem the main driving forces in your company? Are they adequate to support its business-level strategy?

The function units most effective in driving the power of the company is that of its status of being a pioneer in the industry. The established name and the established reputation that the organization already has creates a definite source of trust and loyalty from the market through the years; something that cannot be completely turned over by new brands that are released in the face of international trade. Even internationally acclaimed brands cannot fully accomplish the success that the organization has taken into account for the past centuries of existing in the market.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of the chosen business-level strategies?

Pioneer reputation in the industry is something that needs to be given attention to in establishing a sense of competitive stance against other brands and other organizations. Nevertheless, retaining a common name and common brand may be quite risky especially as other brands are coming in and are willing to offer something new to the market. Notably, through effective strategies of establishing such recognizable name could be used to turn the attention of the market into something new that the organization could provide every now and then.

Based on all the information you have gathered so far, do you now believe your company has a sustainable competitive advantage? If not, what might it do to create a sustainable competitive advantage? Could you improve the business-level strategies you have discussed?

Practically, Colgate-Palmolive Company’s established reputation is something that cannot be competed with. Nevertheless, the company remains alert of the possible new entrants that are surely going to make a name among the buyers in the market. Nevertheless, embracing a sense of originality and innovation as well as market research does provide a distinct sense of edge for competition for the business to recognize and embrace accordingly.

Works Cited

Drucker, Peter. The Age of Discontinuity, Heinemann, London, 1969 (also Harper and Row, New York, 1998).

Toffler, Alvin. Future Shock, Bantom Books, New York, 1970.

Toffler, Alvin..The Third Wave, Bantom Books, New York, 1980.