MATSUSHITA ELECTRIC: STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT ANALYSIS
This research analyzes Matsushita Electric Industrial Company, Ltd. from the perspective of strategic management. Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Ltd. is headquartered in Japan. The company manufactures and markets video and audio equipment, home appliances, communication and industrial equipment, and electronic components. Major subsidiary companies include (1) America Matsushita Electronics Corp., (2) Matsushita Avionics Development Corp., (3) Matsushita Electric Corporation of America, and (4) Matsushita Refrigeration Company of America. Matsushita Electric Corporation of America is a (1)wholesaler of electrical appliances and electronic parts and (2)a manufacturer of radio and television equipment. Matsushita Electric's major consumer brands are Panasonic and Quasar.
Matsushita's company vision, mission, and culture are reviewed in the following discussion. This review is followed by considerations of (1) the company's strategic dimensions, (2) a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis, and (3) a strategic reassessment.
Company Vision, Mission, and Culture
For most of Matsushita's 75-year history, the company did not have an integrated business vision (Ghoshal & Mintzberg, 1994, p. 14). Rather, Matsushita's primary mission was growth, as "mandated in the 250-year plan that the then 37-year-old founder expressed in 1932 when the company was only 14 years old and 160 employees strong" (Ghoshal & Mintzberg, 1994, p. 14). Beginning in the last-half of the 1980s, however, vision and mission considerations at Matsushita began to change. At the level of managerial "thrust, the company a adopted the vision of 'human electronics' as the multi-trillion dollar business it hopes to create and dominate" (Ghoshal & Mintzberg, 1994, p. 15). At the planning level, a process of restructuring the product portfolio to match the evolving strategic...