2. INTRODUCTION
▪ Motorola, Inc., American manufacturer of wireless communication
and electronic systems. The company was founded in 1928 in
Chicago by brothers Paul and Joseph Galvin as the Galvin
Manufacturing Corporation. Its first product was the “battery
eliminator,” a device that connected direct-current battery-powered
3. INTRODUCTION
powered radios too the alternating current then found in almost two-thirds
of U.S. households. In 1930 the company began selling a low-
cost automobile radio, called the Motorola, that became the most popular
new-car option, as well as a successful aftermarket kit. In 1937 the
company diversified into home tabletop radios and introduced the first car
radio to offer push-button dialing.Motorola went public in 1939, and
became Motorola, Inc. in 1947. At that time Motorola's main business was
producing and selling televisions and radios.
4. INTRODUCTION
▪ In October Motorola communications equipment carried the first calls on Illinois Bell telephone
company's new car radiotelephone service in chicago. In 1955, years after Motorola started its
research and development laboratory in Phoenix, Arizona, to research new solid-state technology,
Motorola introduced the world's first commercial high-power germanium-based transistor. The
present "batwing" logo was also introduced in 1955 (having been created by award-winning
Chicago graphic designer Morton Goldsholl inn late 1954). In 1991, Motorola demonstrated the
world's first working-prototype digital cellular system and phones using GSM standard
in Hanover, Germany. In 1994, Motorola introduced the world's first commercial digital radio
system that combined paging, data and cellular communications and voice dispatch in a single
radio network and handset. In 1995, Motorola introduced the world's first two-way pager which
allowed users to receive text messages and e-mail and reply with a standard response.
▪ In 1997, to optimize cell phone production with room for future growth, production was moved to
the new giant factory in Harvard, Il. Later with Motorola losing market share, phone assembly
was moved to Fort Worth, Tx. leaving the Harvard facility.
5. CRISIS
▪ Motorola was a stodgy Midwest company in a fast paced Silicon Valley
world. There is probably some truth in this. The Razr was an aberration a
wild success. It is hard to have a fashion business inside an industrial
firm. Today Nokia is moving into graphics-rich cell phone games while
innovation from Motorol is giving you RAZR-lite retreads in puke
colors. Apple understands design; Motorola doesn't. Motorola's fashion
sense only rivals New England Patriots' coach Bill Belichick's.
▪ Motorola missed the movement to 3G. Sure, it did — but remember its
biggest customers, the U.S. wireless carriers, didn't think they wanted 3G.
So Motorola listened to its customers, when they should have been
listening to its customers' customers.
6. CRISIS
▪ Motorola stopped innovating. True. Do you carry a BlackBerry? A
smartphone? Should Motorola have been a platform company,
like Google is moving to? The Razr was the precursor to both the
iPhone and the BlackBerry. By being late, it surrendered the high
ground. It should have jumped on Palm. Plus, no one on the
Motorola's senior management team ever sold a product to a
consumer. It really doesn't sell licenses; it sells phones to teenage
girls on Facebook.
▪ Motorola never had the sense of urgency. Could be true. Everyone
else moves at warp speed; Motorola jogged at its own pace, more
like a monopolist than a paranoid competitor.One of the benefits of
capitalism is that it kills off those that are slow to innovate, slow to
execute. But I feel somehow badly that the firm that invented
cellular is now the walking wounded.
7. SOLUTION
▪ QUALITY PRODUCTS –Motorola’s goal has been to achieve Six-Sigma
quality of 3.4 defects per million, which was achieved. Motorola is
currently aiming to double the quality of improvement every 2 years.
Motorola’s commitment to quality has earned it the Malcolm Baldrige
Quality Award.
▪ QUICK RESPONSE –Motorola has the ability to quickly determine what
customers want and need. It responds quickly to these needs and designs
products to fit customers’ needs.
▪ STRONG PARTICIPATIVE MANAGEMENT PROGRAMS –The main
focus of Motorola’s management program is on employee empowerment,
thus having the employees be responsible for their own performance.
This strong program has increased productivity of the workers.
8. SOLUTION
▪ RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT –Motorola spent over
$1,023,000,000 billion last year on Research and Development activities.
Its corporate involvement in Research and Development is defined not
only as ensuring a steady stream of development, but also one of
imposing discipline.
▪ GLOBAL CUSTOMER SOLUTIONS OPERATIONS –Motorola has
become the leader in customer care by directing systems interactions and
developing customer support, service, software and content strategies.
Through the delivery of complete customer solutions, Motorola has
indeed strengthened its market position.
▪ Customer Attitudes and Buying Behaviours-Determine who your
customers are demographically and psycho graphically – personal
characteristics, age group, location, ethnicity, income, etc. Establish what
about your brand attracts them and how they make their buying decisions.