Strategic Management and Leadership

Running head: Strategic management and leadership 1
Strategic management and leadership
Students Name
Institutional Affiliation

Strategic management and leadership 2
A. Introduction.
Dyson limited is a global technological company that is involved in the manufacturer and
design of household appliances such hair dryers, heaters, bladeless fans, vacuum cleaners and
hand dryers (Altman, 2009). The company was founded by James Dyson in 1991 and is
headquartered in the United Kingdom. Originally, Dyson limited begun by developing vacuum
cleaners through the cyclone vacuum technology which proved disruptive after the product was
introduced into the market (Altman, 2009). Today, the company develops a wide range of
products. The threat of substitutes has been main challenge for Dyson since rivals have began
developing innovative products that compete rigorously with Dyson products hence decreasing
the market share for Dyson.
B. Defining success.
Success in life and business can refer to various things to different people. Success refers
to any desired or favourable outcome. However, what each person favours as desirable may be
undesirable to another person. To businesses, success may refer to different aspects. For
instance, profitability might be considered as measure of success to large corporations while to
small business, success can be related to the achievement of sales target (Serrat, 2017).
Measurement of the success in Dyson.
Dyson’s current mission is to solve the skills gap through inspiring a new generation of
engineers. Therefore, the company provides materials, money and mentorship to the young
generation so that they can learn how to solve various problems. This mission is carefully
integrated into the company’s strategy management. The success of Dyson can be measured
through the application of a balance scorecard.

Strategic management and leadership 3
i. Financial performance.
Dyson’s financial performance has been outstanding. In 2016, the company reported a
favourable financial outcome since the company’s profits went up by 41% which is close to
US$1 billion (Eng, 2017). In 2017, the company saw a turnover of about 45% profit which
totalled to US$4.25 billion. This was a result of technological investments made in the company.
In 2018, the company also expanded to China and attained about 244% growth. This means the
revenue has been growing each year hence portraying Dyson’s strong position in the market.
Figure 1.1. Percentage of Dyson market share by from 2012 to 2016.
Organizational capacity.
Dyson has successfully expanded into new markets such as the Asian markets. Dyson
vacuum cleaners and air purifiers have captured the Asian consumer base by storm due to their
good designs and emergent state for high end products. After entering the China market, in three
years, Dyson sales surged to 244% due to Dyson’s ability to meet the needs of the customers.
Besides, in other markets such as in Japan, customers have reiterated their commitment by
buying 30% more Dyson products.

Strategic management and leadership 4
Customer perception.
Dyson creates a high perception value to its customers. For instance, Dyson’s hair dryer
is priced at $399 which is higher than competitors (Muhonen, Hirvonen, & Laukkanen, 2017).
Other competitors range anywhere $150 to $200. This creates a high perceived value of the
brand. Therefore, Dyson has been able to create a niche for itself by convincing customers that
Dyson products are the best in the entire world.
Figure 1.2 Dyson’s perception in comparison to another brand Source:
https://www.smartvacuums.co.uk/shark-vs-dyson/
C. Reasons for success.
Increased investment in research and development.
Dyson invests millions of dollars every week to expand its R&D. This allows the
company to develop products that disrupt and perform better than the status quo (Sorvino, 2016).
The company is serious about using young and bright talent since the average age of engineers is

Strategic management and leadership 5
about twenty-six years old. Therefore, the company is able to improve its technology is greater
ways than its rivals.
Figure 1.3 Dyson’s R&D in Singapore Source: https://www.humanresourcesonline.net/dyson-
launches-new-rd-centre-singapore-science-park/
High product quality.
Good quality is important since customer satisfaction rates can improve more. Dyson
understands this concept and therefore, the company ensure its products are of high quality as
compared to competitors. This is reflected by the prices of the products since the high quality
increases the value of the products. For this reason, Dyson products have performed very well in
the market hence attiring good customer feedbacks and high satisfaction rates.

Strategic management and leadership 6
Figure 1.4 Dyson’s cyclone vacuum cleaner. Source https://www.dyson.ie/cylinders/dyson-
cinetic-big-ball-reviews.html
Great leadership.
James Dyson is the pivot for the great success in the company. His leadership and
management skills are exponential even though he chooses to remain in engineering department
(Rule & Olsen, 2016). James believes everyone in the company is empowered to be creative and
therefore, he is critical about making use of young and bright talent to ensure the company
progresses in terms of innovation. Due to his continued pursuit of innovation, James has created
a desire among the team to highly embrace innovation.