Analyzing Otis Elevators' Corporate Strategies: A Business Case Study

This assignment presents a comprehensive case study analysis of Otis Elevators, examining its competitive strategies within the elevator industry. The report delves into the company's corporate-level strategies, specifically focusing on business growth and diversification, highlighting how these strategies have contributed to its global success. The analysis explores the implementation of horizontal and vertical growth strategies, providing insights into Otis's approach to market expansion and operational control. Furthermore, the assignment offers recommendations for future innovation, such as advancements in elevator technology to maintain a competitive edge. The case study utilizes academic references to support its findings, providing a detailed overview of Otis Elevators' strategic approach to maintaining its position in the international market and overcoming competition.

BUSINESS CASE
STUDY
ANALYSIS – OTIS
ELEVATORS
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

INTRODUCTION
 The term competitive strategy refers to the long term plan
or approach that is adopted by a company for the purpose
of gaining competitive advantage over rivals or
competitors in the industry or the market in which it
operates.
 The primary aim of a competitive strategy is to create a
position of defense in the industry while also generating
what may be termed as a superior return on investment or
ROI, at the same given time (Babafemi 2015).
 This assignment prepares a report that analyzes the
competitive strategies adopted by OTIS Elevators to stay
ahead in its game, by referring to a case study on the
same

ABOUT THE COMPANY
 Otis Elevators is one of the most well-known of elevator
companies in the world and has made a name for itself because
of the high quality and innovative technology of its elevators,
with the company now having a presence in as many as two
hundred countries across the globe.
 The journey to the top has not been an easy one and the
owners and business managers of the company have had to
strive for excellence over the years, given customers a product
that they could find little or no fault with and which added
great convenience and efficiency to their lives.
 The fact that OTIS Elevators is a company that has always
been committed to the goal of growth and innovation is
something that becomes quite evident when one looks at the
history of the company

CORPORATE STRATEGY OF
OTIS ELEVATORS
 Corporate level strategy refers to the plan or decision that is adopted by a company
in order to be able to achieve its business goals and objectives in the manner desired.
While a corporate level strategy is generally long term in its nature and scope, it is
flexible enough to allow for dynamic adjustments to be made along the way, on the
basis of changing market conditions and also on the basis of uncertainty (Basu 2017).
 Three renowned corporate level strategies as undertaken by firms worldwide are
business growth strategy, business diversification strategy and business stability
strategy. This section will analyze all the three corporate level strategies by referring
to the case of the Otis Elevator Company and its success worldwide.

STRATEGY FOR BUSINESS
GROWTH AND DIVERSIFICATION
 The business growth strategies are strategies that make use of methods
to derive more revenue from the sales of goods or products. There are
usually two types of business growth strategies namely, horizontal
growth strategies and vertical growth strategies. The vertical growth
strategy is one that is aimed at taking of numerous components that lie
in the path of the company’s operation so that it is better able to
control quality, supply as well as other types of business needs
(Puranam and Vanneste 2016).
 The horizontal growth strategy is a decision made by a company to
produce and distribute products and services in new target markets or
geographic areas (Cirillo 2019).
 Both strategies appear to be quite evident in the operations and
strategies undertaken by the Otis Elevator company to attain success
worldwide. Otis Elevators decided to formally become a company
upon experiencing successful elevator sales in the early years of the
decade of the 1980’s in the USA.

RECOMMENDATIONS An improvised version of the cable car which enables an elevator to go in vertical or horizontal
direction is something that Otis Elevators can use in order to get ahead of its competitor Thyssen
Krupp in this respect. The fact that such elevators entail the use of shafts which are of a smaller
size make them ideal for use in small sized buildings, increasing the usable area in a building by
as much as twenty five percent on an average (based on given scenario). The Otis Elevator Company can also consider the use of additional pressure cabins along the
lines of what is used in an aeroplane, making it possible for an elevator system to go up and
down at an incredible speed (based on given scenario). By introducing such an innovation, the
company will be able to enhance its revenue streaming process, making even greater profit than
what it is right now (Yuan et al. 2018).

CONCLUSION
Thus, the analysis of the given case study shows how corporate level strategies like
business growth and business diversification strategies including the use of profit
models like production and advertising models have gone a long way in helping the
Otis Elevator Company to establish its position in the international market place
and root out competition in every form.
While a bit of competitive rivalry is something that is still seen to exist for the
company, it can incorporate the recommendations provided above to eliminate any
type of rivalry or the threat to the business once and for all.


REFERENCES
Babafemi, I.D., 2015. Corporate strategy, planning and performance evaluation: A survey of literature. Journal of Management
Policies and Practices, 3(1), pp.43-49.
Basu, S., 2017. Corporate purpose: Why it matters more than strategy. Routledge.
Burgelman, R.A., 2015. Robert A. Burgelman & Leonard R. Sayles (1986), Inside Corporate Innovation: Strategy, Structure and
Managerial Skills. M@ n@ gement, 18(2), pp.179-185.
Cirillo, B., 2019. External learning strategies and technological search output: Spinout strategy and corporate invention
quality. Organization Science, 30(2), pp.361-382.
Hill, T., 2017. Manufacturing strategy: the strategic management of the manufacturing function. Macmillan International Higher
Education.
Puranam, P. and Vanneste, B., 2016. Corporate strategy: Tools for analysis and decision-making. Cambridge University Press.
Shaukat, A., Qiu, Y. and Trojanowski, G., 2016. Board attributes, corporate social responsibility strategy, and corporate
environmental and social performance. Journal of Business Ethics, 135(3), pp.569-585.
Yuan, Y., Lu, L.Y., Tian, G. and Yu, Y., 2018. Business strategy and corporate social responsibility. Journal of Business Ethics, pp.1-
19.