Case Study

Harley Davidson Motor Company: Enterprise Software Selection

Analysis

Background:
Harley Davidson is most well known brand in the motor bikes industry. The company is well known for its heavy weight bikes and for a unique design and style of their own.The fans of Harley Davidson are very loyal. These fans keep the company active through the clubs and events. Harley Davidson is an American based motorcycle manufacturing company. The company was established in 1903. In the start the company has many rivals but the company turned out to be the survivor of the depression of the 1930s along with an Indian company. In 1953 the Indian company left and the Harley Davidson was the only motor cycle manufacturer left to serve the United Nations. Harley Davidson is a multinational company serving in countries like France, Germany, UK and Japan. The company has employed approximately 6,000 employees worldwide (Wikipedia). Now Harley Davidsons motorbikes compete with the international brands of various other companies from all over the world. Harley Davidson is an experience of life time. The fans of Harley Davidson are ready to wait for two years even to get the bike. One of the Harley fan says: its all about independence, freedom, and power. Another fan says: four wheels move the body and two moves the soul. The company faced financial difficulties in the 1970s. The band of its own managers came to its rescue by buying the stock of the company. Now a publicly owned company, Harley has scored double digit growth for eighteen consecutive years. Harley transformed itself into a strong marketing company with a focus on lifestyle image and product quality.

Identification of major Enterprise Architecture Issues:

After a thorough study of the case study and a deep contemplation of the issues I have found the following issues: Expansion of the company No supply Chain Management Complex process and high costs Competition Human resources

Expansion of the company: In 19980s when the company was near bankruptcy; the major reason identifies of this issue is considered to be the expansion of the company. The company has hired a lot of unnecessary human resources along with establishment of the new plants. This issue was addressed by focusing on the need of changing the whole process and cutting the costs of both human and material costs. No Supply Chain Management: The company revised the whole process of supply chain management. There company came up with the idea of outsourcing. This idea did not only cut the costs but also frees Harley Davison from lots of worry. This idea was shared through out the organization and the human resource of the company was taken into confidence before renewing the whole strategy of the company. Complex process and high costs The process of making a motor bike was renewed. The basic part of making the raw materials was outsourced. The company decides to cut costs. Almost 75% of costs are invested in the production sector. The company team assigned for the task breakdown the whole plan into simple small achievable sections. These sections help to see things in particular and in general. This also shows that before venturing to take the action the company team did its complete homework. Competition: Harley started working on siLK project when it was surrounded in the midst of international competitors like Honda, Yamaha, and Kawasaki. It was important for the company to stand and fight against the competitors. So when the company was trying to sell AMF; its own managers went out to buy the company stock.

Human Resources: The company team working on the siLK project is taken from all the departments. The human resources are considered to be the core of Harley Davidson Company. The resources are given due empowerment and are fully capable of bringing out the most reliable facts. The company sticks to its values. The companys stood to keep the quality intact and stood by their values is commendable. (Case study: Topic: Forming the Team, page number 6. )

Current Status of EA at Harley Davidson:

Through the incorporation of the siLK project, Harley Davidson Company is able to get back its image of the most aspired for bike of the United States. After the successful implementation of the project, many companies followed the lead of the company. This helped Harley Davidson to cut costs and achieve its goals. The project helps the company to maintain strong relationships with the company. The Harley Davidson Company relied on the functions of the EA to execute the siLK project.

Conclusion:
The siLK project is the fruit of thorough planning. The project also shows that while dealing in team projects, the team when once made should be empowered to take all the decisions. Its the selection of the right human resources that makes the project a success. If the goals are broken down into many small other sub-goals then it is easier to achieve goals. This also makes goals measurable. The project was a huge success. This project saved the company and moves the company into a new direction of self reliance and risk taking.

Recommendations:
Although the project turns out to be a success, no project should be implemented on the whole organization. This project would have taken less time and less financial support if implemented on one of the sites of the Harley Davidsons company. The company can start a new project with more reliance on the process rather then people. Centralization in the team would have speed up the process.

References: Case study: Harley Davidson: Enterprise Software

http://www.uwosh.edu/faculty_staff/wresch/HDSchmidt.htm http://devtrends.blogspirit.com/index-6.html http://devtrends.blogspirit.com/enterprise-architecture/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harley-Davidson#Current_model_designations