Comprehensive Strategic Management Report for Seagate Technologies

This report provides a comprehensive strategic management analysis of Seagate Technologies, a Californian technology company specializing in data storage solutions. The report begins with an examination of Seagate's strategic management process, followed by an analysis of its mission, vision, values, and corporate social responsibility initiatives. It then delves into internal and external environmental factors, utilizing SWOT and PESTEL analyses, and explores the industry environment through Porter's Five Forces. The report further assesses Seagate's strategic innovation, competitive position, strategic choices, leadership, organizational structure, and company culture. The report concludes with a discussion of the firm's action plan, short-term and long-term objectives, key success factors, risk management strategies, and contingency plans, offering a complete overview of Seagate's strategic approach to success.

Running head: SEAGATE TECHNOLOGIES
SEAGATE TECHNOLOGIES
Name of the Student
Name of the Universities
Author Note

1SEAGATE TECHNOLOGIES
Table of Contents
Executive Summary.........................................................................................................................2
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Strategic Management Process Analysis.........................................................................................3
Mission, Vision, Values, and Corporate and Social Responsibility Analysis.................................4
Corporate Social Responsibility..................................................................................................5
Internal external environmental analysis.........................................................................................6
SWOT Analysis...........................................................................................................................6
Industry Environment..................................................................................................................9
Strategic Innovation and Competitive Position Analysis..............................................................10
Competitive position of the firm................................................................................................11
Strategic Choice Analysis..............................................................................................................12
Leadership, Organizational Structure, and Culture Analysis........................................................12
Leadership..................................................................................................................................12
Current organizational structure................................................................................................13
Culture of the firm.....................................................................................................................13
Implementation, Strategic Controls, and Risk Management Contingency Plans..........................14
Short-term and Long-term Objectives.......................................................................................14
The focus areas..........................................................................................................................14
Action Plan................................................................................................................................14
Key Success Factors..................................................................................................................17
Risks and Contingency Management Plans...............................................................................17
Risk Matrix................................................................................................................................19
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................19
References......................................................................................................................................20

2SEAGATE TECHNOLOGIES
Executive Summary
The Strategic management is considered to be an integral part of the organization and in order to
ensure long term success, any firm functioning in the business environment will be required to
undertake considerable initiatives to improve their overall positioning in the long run. Hence,
this report can be stated to be a strategic management report based on the overall operations and
strategic direction of the Seagate Technology which is a Californian company. The report
follows a systematic format whereby the report is beginning with the Strategic Management
process analysis of the firm and followed by the analysis of the Mission, Vision and overall
corporate social responsibilities of the firm. The internal as well as external analysis of the firm
has been discussed which is then followed by the overall Strategic formulation and competitive
analysis. The choice made by the firm have been provided which is then followed by a
discussion on the overall culture and structure of the firm. The action plan which the firm needs
to adopt along with the Risk plan has also been provided.

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Introduction
The Seagate Technology can be understood to be a Californian technology company
which engages in the production of goods which support the storage. The company was found 39
years ago back in 1979 by Shugart, Doug Mahon, Tom Mitchell and Finis Conner (Seagate.com,
2019). The company engages in the production of the hard disk drives, hybrid drives, solid state
drives and others (Acheampong, 2012). The primary aim of the report can be largely understood
as to highlight the overall Strategic Management process analysis the company can follow to
bring about change and innovation in the organization. In addition to this, the plan also lies to
seek an understanding of the manner in which the company can make use of the different factors
as present in the external and internal environment to support the change which exists. The
action plan will be provided in the latter half of the report which will then assist in understanding
the manner in which the procedure of change will be carried out effectively for the overall
benefit of the firm.
Strategic Management Process Analysis
The Strategic management process is an integral procedure which goes a long way in
assisting the firm to undertake a thorough procedure through which they will be successfully able
to understand the overall change which they are required to bring in their organization. Through
this initiative, the firm would be able to identify the target market of the firm and will also be
able to ensure that they are able to identify the new inventions which can be undertaken by them
in order to increase their overall revenue (Alvesson & Sveningsson, 2015). The strategic
management process analysis as undertaken by Seagate can be understood to be as follows:

4SEAGATE TECHNOLOGIES
 Situational analysis: The first step which is to be adopted by the firm can be stated to be
the Situational analysis through which the firm would be gaining an understanding of the
overall environment and the scanning can be carried out in an effective manner.
 Formulation of appropriate strategies: The particular stage involves the designing as well
as the development of the different strategies of a company. Seagate would be able to
ensure long term success if they are able to analyze the overall strengths of the company
and come in terms with the appropriate strategies (Hsu, 2011).
 Strategy implementation- In this stage, the overall plans as well as strategies which the
firm does for itself are generally implemented using proper steps, methods as well as
processes.
 Strategy evaluation- In the strategic evaluation procedure, the organization tends to
undertake initiatives to measure the overall success of the strategy to be adopted by them.
Ty make use of various metrics and measures to engage in this (Holten & Brenner, 2015).
Hence, in line of this, it needs to be noted that in order to ensure long term success,
Seagate make use of the strategic formulation in the best manner and ensures that all aspects are
taken into consideration.
Mission, Vision, Values, and Corporate and Social Responsibility Analysis
The mission statement of the company lies to ensure that they are able to ensure that the
data is always in motion. They believe it to be connected and alive. The mission revolves around
ensuring that the digital lives of the people are protected considerably (Mogilko, 2016). The
company has created high-calibre capacity with services which are safe and hence, the firm

5SEAGATE TECHNOLOGIES
ensures that it works with efficient and passionate people all around the globe with safety,
performance as well as high calibre in places like UK, Singapore, India, China and others.
The vision statement of Seagate can be understood to be the crafting of data share while
engaging in Caring, Creating as well as Collaborating form the overall value of the firm. The
company engages in taking considerable measures which helps them to ensure that they
undertake the mission and vision to be serious affairs and also engage in the alignment of the
strategic objectives as long term goals of the organization (Kim et al., 2019). Hence, when
management communicates with the stakeholders and the employees, they concentrate on the
efforts of their daily work activities. After conducting an interview with an executive, the
following was understood to be the overall vision of the firm: “Giving people the power to share
and making the world more open and connected.”
Corporate Social Responsibility
The Corporate Social Responsibility Initiatives which have been rightfully adopted by the
Seagate technologies can be stated to be long term commitment and focus on the overall
economic, social as well as environmental wellbeing (Lane, 2016). This means the organization,
needs to get into an engagement which would help it to directly have a strong impact on the
different communities. The company follows the Corporation Act 2001 to follow the Corporate
Social responsibility initiatives as prescribed by them. The firm undertakes serious initiatives to
design, plan as well as evaluate their CSR initiatives. In addition to this, they also engage in
practices which are responsible all across the globe (Lacey & Morgan, 2007). The different
initiatives which the firm aims to undertake with respect to the Corporate Social responsibility
practices can be stated to be practices like green enabling storage products, providing health and
safety of employees, good governance, and community involvement as well as environmental

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safety. The firm has also signed various initiatives like the Responsible Business Alliance Code
of Conduct and United Nations Global Compact. Therefore, it can be rightfully mentioned that
the corporate social responsibility practices of the firm tends to along with its overall policy.
Internal external environmental analysis
In order to ensure that, the Seagate Technology is able to gain an assessment of the
external environment and internal environment, the tools of SWOT analysis, PESTLE Analysis
as well as the Porters Five Forces analysis.
SWOT Analysis
The SWOT analysis can be understood to be a considerably good tool which can be made use of
in order to see to it that, the overall internal environment of the Seagate can be understood
(Seagate UK. ,2019).
The SWOT analysis of the firm have been carried out as follows:
Strengths
The strengths of the company can be understood to be the internal capabilities which are
possessed by the firm and can be used for a future competitive advantage of the firm. The
Seagate experiences a wide range of strengths which are beneficial for the overall success of the
firm. These strengths of the firm are Reliable supplier’s relationship, the overall satisfaction of
the customers can also be considered to be considerably high and lastly, the firm enjoys
functioning with a strong dealer community.
Weaknesses
The weakness of a company can be understood to be those in capabilities which are
generally possessed by a firm and often lead to the weak performance of the audience (Qehaja,

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Kutllovci & Pula, 2017). The various weaknesses as faced by the firm can be largely understood
to be the lack of efficiency in financial planning, the strong competition which exists in the
industry comprising of companies like Kingston Technology, Samsung electronics, Hitachi as
well as Fujitsu. In addition to this, the forecasting also leads to ineffective predictions.
Opportunities
The opportunities can be rightfully identified as the different factors which exist in the
external environment of the firm and can be made use of in order to deal with new customer
base, the increasing demand for the storage capacity as well as the growing demands for the fast
performing disks like solid state drives.
Threats
Lastly, the different threats which can be identified by the firm can be stated to be the
SSD which is highly expensive, the failure rate of the SSD which is also considered to be high
and the increased competition which takes place in the market.
PESTEL:
The PESTEL analysis can be considered to be another effective tool which can be made
use of by the Seagate Technology in order to determine the different factors lying in the external
environment of the firm. The different factors can be understood to be as follows:
Political
The political stability in the major markets as present around the globe can be considered
to be as an opportunity which can be taken up by the firm to ensure success. Moreover, there has

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been an increase in the international trade agreements which can serve both as an opportunity as
well as a threat for the firm (Pisano, 2015). In addition to this, the growing governmental support
for the automation can also be considered to be an opportunity which can be used by the Seagate.
Economic
The growing economy has the capacity to support the different firms as existing in the
developing nations as present around the globe. In line of this, it needs to be understood that, the
growing disposable income in the middle class economy can also be taken up as a consistent
advantage which can be taken by Seagate.
Social
The social factors revolve around the demographics of the different countries and hence,
in line of this, it can be mentioned that the high level customer service serves as an adequate
opportunity for the firm to show its capabilities in the long run. In line of this, it can also be
mentioned that, the increased online purchases as made by the consumers also serve as a good
opportunity for the different customers.
Technological
The technological factors relate to the factors relating to the overall increase in the online
transactions as well as Business automation which supports a firm and assists it in performing
better in the long run (Srithip, Suthummanon & Sirivongpaisal, 2017). In this manner, the firm
will be able to undertake adequate initiatives to ensure that they are able to pace up with the best
technological aspects.

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Environment
The overall demand for the green products have been increasing considerably and in line
of this, it can be considered to be effectively important for the firm to shift the focus towards
sustainability.
Legal
The improvement in the legal patents can be considered to be an advantage for the firm.
Industry Environment
Porters’ Five Forces:
Force Key Determinants
Buyer Power (Medium to high)  Buyer concentration
 Switching costs
 Buyer size in volume
Supplier Power (Low to Medium)  Supplier concentration
 Switching costs
 Supplier size in volume
Industry Rivalry (Medium to high)  Size and number of competitors
 Brand identity
Barrier to entry (Medium to high)  Economies of scale
 Capital requirements
 Brand identity
Threat of substitutes (Low to medium)  Switching costs

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 Performance and price of substitutes
Strategic Innovation and Competitive Position Analysis
Hence, from the previous analysis, it can be rightfully understood that it can be
considered to be highly critical for the firm to ensure that Seagate comes up with various
innovation strategies which will assist them to operate in the best manner possible. The different
innovative strategies can be stated to be as follows:
 Cost reduction: The cost reduction strategy can be largely understood as one of the most
effective strategies which can be adopted by Seagate to ensure that the firm is successful
in reducing the cost price of the products as this will go a long way in ensuring that the
firm will be able to attract large number of customers as present (Zalewska-Kurek et al.,
2016).
 Designing of the products: The employment of the qualified personnel will assist the firm
in development and the design of a strategy which will help them to design the Seagate
products in a unique manner and this strategy will then go a long way in ensuring that the
firm will successfully be able to meet the needs of the different customers (Pascoa, 2012).
In addition to this, if the firm is able to offer training services to the employees and
ensure that they are provided with adequate rewards, then the firm would be able to see to
it that, they are successful in coming up with trendy products for their overall success.
 Differentiation: Another initiative which can be rightfully adopted by the firm can be
stated to be the differentiation in the offerings as made by the firm.
 Making a good relationship with beneficial companies: There are various beneficial firms
as available in the market and in case the firm wants to ensure long term success, then in

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such a scenario, the firm will be required to have excellent service enhancements and
network expertise also needs to be expanded considerably. Hence, in line of this, the firm
should be adopting considerable acquisition strategy which comprises of Avago
technology LSI flash business and the Xyratex which will ensure that the most significant
data storage technology will be used for testing the overall maker`s providers.
In line of all this, it can also be considered to be extremely important for the firm to ensure
that it is able to manage its overall financial activities to avoid any losses which takes place in
the firm.
Competitive position of the firm
The strategy which the Seagate technology undertakes to follow can be understood to be the
Differentiation strategy. Under the different strategy, the firm aims to provide the customers with
good quality products and hence, by following this, the firm has gone for various strategic
acquisitions. The acquisitions have gone a long way in assisting the firm to increase the overall
expertise required and ensure that it is able to engage in success.
 Xyratex, a leading provider of testing equipment maker and data storage technology
 Avago Technology’s LSI flash business,
As the company engaged in the acquisition of the Xyratex it was successfully able to gain a
pricing power over the HDD manufactures and this made the company engage in competitive
HDD pricing and reducing the overall manufacturing costs of the company. However, the price
has been soaring high for the hard disk drives and in line of this, the making of the high
performing HDDs will lead to higher pricing for the different HDDs. The Seagate has identified
a rising opportunity in the form of high performing drives and this has assisted the firm to