Herman Miller, Inc. can be said to be an American company, which produces the office furniture, the equipment, and the home furnishings. Its products encompass the Equa chair, the Aeron chair, the Noguchi table, the Marshmallow sofa, as well as the Eames Lounge Chair. Herman Miller has been credited with invention of office cubicle (originally called the ‘Action Office’) in the year of 1968 under then-director of ‘research’ Robert Propst.
As per CNN Money, as of the month of March in the year of 2011, “Herman Miller was ranked as the second most admired company in the Home Equipment, Furnishing division. They also scored first in Innovation, People Management, Use of Corporate Assets, Social Responsibility, and Quality of Products/Services. In Quality of marketing management, they scored second place, third in Long Term Investments, fourth in Financial Soundness, and ninth in Global Competitiveness.”
In the month of March in the year of 2008, Herman Miller settled s specific antitrust lawsuit with New York, Michigan, as well as Illinois for $750,000. The lawsuit focused upon Herman Miller’s utilization of a proposed retail pricing policy that was found to be inside the bounds of the law. In the present day, several companies employ these policies in order to evade price erosion in internet channel.
In this case study, Herman Miller has been involved in numerous initiatives to promote the sustainability, and several of them have consisted of cost-saving implications in connection to the company. Herman Miller has developed a method of mixing the sawdust with the chicken manure in order to produce the topsoil. The company also utilizes a database in order to track all the chemicals in each product utilized by the company, for eliminating harmful chemicals from the products. Management of the above said company has expressed several concerns in relation to the global warming, and the specific company had been using 27 per cent renewable energy as of the year 2007.
Herman Miller calls its own driving sustainability initiative as the ‘Perfect Vision’ and the strategy had been forwarded in the year of 2004. According to hermanmiller.com, “This is a broad initiative that sets significant targets for the year 2020. These targets include zero landfill disposal, zero hazardous waste generation, zero air emissions (VOCs), zero process water discharge, 100% green electrical energy use, company buildings constructed to a minimum LEED Silver certification, and 100% of sales from DfE-approved products.”
Herman Miller facilitated in the funding in relation to the beginning of the ‘United States Green Building Council’, as well as hired the architect named ‘William McDonough + Partners’ in order to design a workshop incorporating the green design principles. The building has been called to be the ‘Greenhouse’, and is an instance of the green building. The building won several awards such as:
AIA Committee on the Environment Top Ten Environmental Buildings’, 1997
Week/Architectural Record Good Design Is Good Business Award’, 1997
AIA Central Virginia Honor Award’, 1998
International Development Research Council, Award for Distinguished Service in Environmental Planning’, 1995
Herman Miller has a strong foundation of reliable supplier of the raw material thus allowing the company to overwhelm any supply chain bottlenecks.
Herman Miller has a strong free cash flow that provide the resources to the company to expand into the new projects.
Herman Miller has constructed expertise at entering the new markets. The expansion has enabled the organization to construct a new revenue stream as well as diversify the economic cycle jeopardy in markets where it operates in.
There are good returns on the capital expenditure.
Herman Miller has highly skilled workforce with the help of successful training as well as learning programs.
Herman Miller has enjoyed a high level of the customer satisfaction.
Herman Miller has a successful track record in the development of new products.
Financial planning at Herman Miller is not done efficiently or properly.
The company has been unsuccessful in tackling the challenges in connection to the new entrants in this segment.
Herman Miller is definitely not very good at the product demand prediction resulting in higher rate of the unexploited opportunities compared to its competitors.
Herman Miller has not been highly successful at incorporating the firms having different work culture.
New inclinations in the consumer behavior can open up the new market for Herman Miller. It delivers a great opportunity for Herman Miller to build the new revenue streams as well as diversify into the new product categories too.
The new technology delivers an opportunity to practice the distinguished pricing strategy in new market. It will help the firm to maintain the loyal customers by providing great service and entice the new customers through the other value-oriented propositions.
In the course of the previous few years, the company has actually invested huge sum of money into online platform. This specific investment has actually opened new sales channel in respect of Herman Miller. In the future years the company may leverage such opportunity by knowing the customer better as well as serving their needs through the utilization of the big data analytics.
The new opportunities would create a ‘level playing field’ for every player in the industry. It represents a big opportunity for Herman Miller to actually drive home its benefit in the new technology as well as gain market share in new product category. You can also get marketing assignment help on Herman miller case study,
The stable free cash flow of Herman Miller shall provide opportunities to actually make an investment in the adjacent product segments.
The decreasing cost of the transportation due to the lower shipping prices may also bring down cost of the products of Herman Miller, thereby, providing a great opportunity to Herman Miller.
The low inflation rate will be able to bring more stability and steadiness in the specific market, enable the credit at the lower interest rate in respect of the customers of Herman Miller.
Liability laws in the different nations are different, and Herman Miller might be exposed to several liability claims given alteration in the policies in such markets.
Rising pay level particularly the movements like $15 an hour as well as increasing prices in the Republic of China might result in serious pressure upon the profitability of Herman Miller
Increasing inclination towards the isolationism in the economy of the nation of United States might result in similar reaction from the other government, thereby, negatively affecting the international sales.
The new environment regulations in accordance to the Paris agreement (of 2016) might be a threat to specific existing product categories.
The new technologies of the competitor or the market disruptor might be a grave threat to the specific industry in the medium to the long-term future.
Growing strengths of the local distributors also gives rise to a threat in certain markets.
As Herman Miller is functioning in numerous nations, it would be exposed to currency fluctuations.
Herman Miller, Inc. may closely analyse the following factors -
Political stability and significance of the Business Equipment sector in the economy of country.
Risk of the military invasion
Level of the corruption.
Bureaucracy and intrusion in the Business Equipment industry by the government.
Legal framework for the contract enforcement
Intellectual property protection
Anti-trust laws connected to Business Equipment
Pricing regulations
Taxation
Wage legislation
Work week rules in Business Equipment
Economic factors that Herman Miller, Inc. must consider are -
Kind of economic system in nations of operation.
Government interference in free market and the related Consumer Goods
Exchange rates as well as stability of the host country currency.
Efficiency of the financial markets
Infrastructure quality in the Business Equipment industry
Comparative advantages of the host country.
Skill level of the workforce in the Business Equipment industry.
Business cycle stage
Economic growth rate
Discretionary income
Unemployment rate
Inflation rate
Interest rates
Social factors that Herman Miller, Inc. must analyse are -
Demographics and the skill level of population
Class structure, the hierarchy and the power structure in society.
Education level and education standard in industry of Herman Miller, Inc.
Culture
Entrepreneurial spirit and the broader nature in relation to the society.
Attitudes
Leisure interests
Technology analysis encompasses understanding the ensuing impacts -
The recent technological developments by the competitors of Herman Miller
Impact on the cost structure in the Business Equipment industry
Impact on the value chain structure in the Consumer Goods sector
Rate of the technological diffusion
Few of the environmental factors that any firm must consider beforehand are -
Weather
Climate change
Laws regulating the environment pollution
Air and water pollution’ regulations in the Business Equipment industry
Recycling
Waste management in the Consumer Goods sector
Ecological products
Endangered species
Renewable energy
Legal factors to be considered are -
Anti-trust law
Discrimination law
Copyright, patents/Intellectual property law
Consumer protection
Employment law
Health and safety’ law
Data Protection
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