Strategic Capabilities of Dyson: A Value Chain Analysis

This document discusses the strategic capabilities of Dyson, a private company known for manufacturing appliances such as vacuum cleaners, fans, heaters, and more. It explores the company's value chain analysis, primary and support activities, technology, and human resource management. The document also highlights the company's strong global value chain and the importance of sustainability and dynamic capabilities.

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Answer 1
Dyson is a private company that provides the manufacture the appliances such as vacuum
cleaners, bladeless fans, heaters, hand dryers, hair dryers, air purifiers, and lights. The
company provide the services to consumers in order to provide them while cleaning the house
or any other areas (Dyson, 2019). The company have many strategic capabilities that help to
achieve the objective and success in the market. There are many strategic capabilities
analytical frameworks that used to evaluate the strategic capabilities of the company.
Value Chain analysis is one of the analytical frameworks which is used to identify and
analyse the strategic capability. This framework is a strategic tool which is used to analyse
the external and internal activities, resources and the strategies in which the company can
attain the competitive advantage. It also defines the capabilities of the company that helps to
gain the advantage over its competitors (Mudambi, and Puck, 2016). It contains the two
activities from which it can easily evaluate the capabilities of the organisation. The analysis
of Dyson in given in more details:
Primary Activities
Inbound Logistics
Dyson provides the services at the international level. As per the case study, it is observed
that the company distribute its hair dryers in China, Malaysia. Earlier, it manufactures the
dryers in UK (Shepherd, 2018). The value chain of UK helps to gain the competitive
advantage at the global level due to large network and strong distribution channel to
distribute the services in different areas to grab the number of people. The company distribute
it services to the various number of consumers through retail outlets and the online channels.
Operations

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It is observed that the company face the challenge of manufacturing the vacuum cleaners
while moving from UK to Malaysia (Shepherd, 2018). The company place its manufacturing
part of vacuum cleaners value chain in Malaysia. It uses the engineer designs to produce the
vacuum cleaners, and the other household products of the company. The company adopt the
process while manufacturing the process such as thinking, testing, breaking, and questioning.
The company follow this process from manufacturing to selling the household product in the
market.
Outbound Logistics
The company uses the high technology and innovative ideas to develop the unique products
to provide the consumers. Dyson face the challenge while implementing the technology in its
first vacuum cleaner. The first vacuum cleaners gain the success which is developed by the
use of cyclone technology. The innovative product of the company was marked as robust
which is well presented in bright colours.
Marketing and sales
The company use the marketing concept in order to promote the product in the market. Dyson
use its own personal image in order to promote the products in the market. The designs which
are used by the company are highly attractive due to which the consumer can easily grab the
market. It uses the bright colours in order to promote or attract the consumer towards it.
Service
The company provides the services of household products such as vacuum cleaners, hair
dryers and many others
Support Activities

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Firm Infrastructure
The company have the different department that performs their own responsibilities to gain
the competitive advantage such as research and development department, manufacturing
departments, engineers who develop the product with the highly innovative ideas.
Human Resource Management
Engineers of the company are the main asset of the company as they develop the new ideas
and innovative designs that attracts the consumers towards the services.
Procurement
The company uses the online and the retailer outlets channels from which the company
distribute its product to the large number of consumers. Dyson distributes its goods in 45
countries including the competitive markets such as USA, Japan and China (Shepherd, 2018).
Technology
Technology is another main capability of the company that is used to develop the product.
The engineers and Dyson are highly depending on the technology while manufacturing the
product.
Answer 2
Technology
Technology is the capability which can be imitated by the competitors. The technology is the
capability of the company that can easily imitate by the other companies in order to develop
the similar product. The technology which is used by the company is the combination of
design engineering and manufacturing (Madsen, and Walker, 2015). It is observed that the
Dyson engineering is considered as the king that is why; the competitors imitate the

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technology of the company. The differentiate product of Dyson have their own patented but
the competitors of the company does not stop to imitate the technology. The patented ball
technology is used by the company to improve the manoeuvrability. As per the case study, it
has been seen that the competitors of the company imitate the technology of hair dryers.
Dyson’s hand blade and hand dryer wipes the hands in seconds with the use of less energy. It
wipes off hand instead of evaporating the water. The competitor of the company in US who is
specialist in manufacturing the hand drying that is Xlerator claims to dry hands in seconds by
using the less energy than the standard hand dryers. As per the whole scenario, it is observed
that the competitors of the company imitate the product even after the patent (Shepherd,
2018).
Human Resources Management
As per the case study, it has been analysed that the engineers of the company are considered
as the king (Shepherd, 2018). The engineers of the company develop the unique and
innovative designs due to which the company gain the competitive advantage. The human
resource management is the distinctive capabilities of the company as they develop the
design of manufacturing the products. The company hire the people who are fresh thinkers
and wants to show their talent in their work. The company provides the feedbacks to their
engineers with the motive to improve their performance (Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart, and
Wright, 2017). Dyson Company encouraged their engineers to develop the attractive designs
and giving the fresh ideas. It has been seen that the competitors of the company develops the
same engineer reports in order to encourage them. The Competitors have good robust
engineers but they are not as inventive in terms of fresh ideas and patience to develop the
innovative ideas to develop the designs. The competitors of the company imitate the process
of encourage the engineers but the ideas and the patience of engineers was not able to imitate.

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Answer 3
Innovative designs and technology
Human resource is the main asset of the company as they develop the new innovative designs
to manufacture the products. The ideas are highly innovative and attractive as the competitors
imitate their technology even after the patent. As per the case study, it has been seen that the
innovative product of the company are marketed as robust (Shepherd, 2018). From bag-less
vacuum cleaner to time efficient, efficient energy and all the products are distinctive due to
which the consumer are attracted towards its goods. The company gain the competitive
advantage in the market due to its innovative products (Tomokazu, Kikuchi, Suzuki, and
Aoyagi, 2015).
Strong Value Chain
According to the case, it has been seen that the company has a strong value chain due to
which it can easily distribute the products in the large number of areas and consumers. The
company distribute the goods at the global level. Dyson operates the business at the
international level and distribute the products in different 45 countries including the
competitive markets such as Japan, China and USA as well as its own home country market
that is UK (Shepherd, 2018). The company also adopt the online channel and the retail outlets
in order to distribute the products in the different markets. Dyson also claims that the national
competitiveness can gain by the company by pulling the value chain of UK as global
competition (Shepherd, 2018). The value chain helps to gain the advantage of competition as
they distribute the product to the large number of people.

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Answer 4
According to the concept of sustainability, the company has to manage its capability of high
technology in order to protect the environment for the next generation. The high technology
of the company consumes the high electricity that affects the environment and it is not
beneficial for the society. All the form of uses of electricity has an environmental impact on
the water, air and land (EPA, 2018). Uses of electricity reduce the amount of amount of
greenhouse gases, fuel and the other air pollution emitted. Sustainability concept states that
the company has to use the less number of natural resources use in order to maintain the
ecological balance (Environmental Science, 2018).
The managing the use of electricity in developing the product helps the organisation to
develops the social image in the market. Managing the electricity states that the company
save the electricity for future uses that helps while changing nature of the company. High
social image of the company is also helps the organisation to beat the new entrants. The high
technology is developed by the company so that the electricity is less consumed. High
technology of the company also gives the high competition to new entrants.
As per the dynamic capabilities concept, Dyson has to invest in its research and development
department in order to analyse the current needs and demand of consumer. As per the case
study, the main motive of the company is to invest in the research and development
department should hire the engineers who have fresh ideas (Shepherd, 2018). Dynamic
capabilities concepts state that the company has to build the competences in order to address
its changing environment (Kleiner, 2013). Investing in research and development helps to
evaluate the demand of consumers so that they can manufacture the products as pre the
changing environment. Hiring the high qualified and talented the engineer in the organisation
also builds the internal competencies due to which it can easily gain the advantage of

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competitors in the market. The engineer develops the product with the innovative ideas due to
which the changing nature of environment will affect the company in less extent.

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References
Business Jargons. (2018) Value Chain Analysis. [online] Available from:
https://businessjargons.com/value-chain-analysis.html [Accessed 26/05/19].
Dyson. (2019) Dyson. [online] Available from: https://www.dyson.in/ [Accessed 26/05/19].
Shepherd, J. (2018) ‘Inside Dyson’: a distinctive company?. [online] Available from:
https://www.academia.edu/9108746/Inside_Dyson_a_distinctive_company [Accessed
26/05/19].
Environmental Science. (2018) What Is Sustainability and Why Is It Important?. [online]
Available from: https://www.environmentalscience.org/sustainability [Accessed 26/05/19].
EPA. (2018) Learn about Energy and its Impact on the Environment. [online] Available
from: https://www.epa.gov/energy/learn-about-energy-and-its-impact-environment [Accessed
26/05/19].
Kleiner, A. (2013) The Dynamic Capabilities of David Teece. [online] Available from:
https://www.strategy-business.com/article/00225?gko=32b8d [Accessed 26/05/19].
Madsen, T.L. and Walker, G. (2015) Modern competitive strategy. McGraw Hill.
Mudambi, R. and Puck, J. (2016) A global value chain analysis of the ‘regional
strategy’perspective. Journal of Management Studies, 53(6), pp.1076-1093.
Noe, R.A., Hollenbeck, J.R., Gerhart, B. and Wright, P.M. (2017) Human resource
management: Gaining a competitive advantage. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.
Tomokazu, T., Kikuchi, S., Suzuki, M. and Aoyagi, S. (2015). Vacuum gripper imitated
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