Individual Case Study Report

Word Count: 2348

Case Study: Honda Global

Background
Honda Motor Company, Ltd is Japanese motoring company which is famous for
making automobiles and motorcycle. Honda is largest motorcycle manufacturer. Apart
from development of automobiles, its domain also ranges from garden equipment,
marine engines, robots, solar cell and personal watercraft to power generators. It also
develops luxury cars naming Acura. Thus main motive of Honda is to manufacture
products of transportation sector, it focuses on customer satisfaction and also to build
environment friendly product. Soichiro Honda is Honda’s founder, whose main area
of interest is in development of automobile, so from the start their development
consists of invention of more technologies that are more flexible in doing tasks.
Around the world the company has implanted assembly plans. These plants are
located in various South Asian countries like China, , Pakistan, , Japan, , Indonesia,
India, Thailand, Turkey , also European countries like Belgium , Peru and American
countries like Canada, England New Zealand, Brazil. As it can be seen that the Honda
manufacture and supplies product to countries which are diverse in environment
condition ,language, lifestyle, business and market condition etc, so while designing
cars all these conditions must be kept in mind. While considering the design cars for
American and South-Asian countries various factors should be kept to mind. For
instance designing cars in South-Asian market conditions to given focus are
consumption of fuel, fuel economy, car structure, design vehicle utility and the
temperature factor.

Motorcycles

Honda’s motorcycle business has heralded motorization in many regions around the
globe since production began in 1949. Honda offers a broad lineup from commuter
models, which are loved by people the world over, to sports models that give people a
taste of the joy of riding dynamics. In April 2019, Honda consolidated its Motorcycle
Operations and Motorcycle R&D Center into one organization in order to enable more
coordination and collaboration among sales, production, development and purchasing
divisions beyond their boundaries. By fully integrating the entire process involving
new models—from the planning and conceptual phase through development, initial
production and mass-production—Honda will secure its global competitiveness by
increasing not only product appeal, but also cost competitiveness, quality and the
speed of development.

Automobiles

Honda commercializes unique and personal automobiles to provide people with the
joy and freedom of mobility. Honda’s production of automobiles commenced in 1963
with the T360 and in 2016 cumulative global production reached 100 million units.
Honda currently offers a diverse variety of automobiles, from the N-Box mini-vehicle
sold in Japan and global models, the Accord and CR-V, to the Ridgeline pickup truck
in North America and the NSX super sports car. In addition, Honda is targeting 2020
for reducing CO2 emissions intensity in products by 30% (compared with 2000) and
2030 for electrifying two-thirds of automobiles sold globally.

Management Strategies and Practices

Value Creation from an Independent Entity In 1960, Honda spun off the research and
development division from Honda Motor Co., Ltd. as an independent entity with the
founding of Honda R&D Co., Ltd. As expressed by words of Honda’s founder
Soichiro Honda, “What I am researching is not technology, but rather what people
like,” the aim of Honda’s research is not just to research technologies but to also
undertake research that extends to people’s values. This is because researching
people’s values will enable Honda to create new value through the cultivation of
unexplored domains. Honda R&D has separate research centers for the motorcycle,
automobile and power products businesses to research and develop products. These
research centers have established structures in their respective regions to carry out
highly efficient product development in accordance with the products and market
characteristics of each business. Additionally, Honda R&D promotes wide-ranging in-
house development that encompasses products as well as technologies for raw
materials and elements. This has enabled Honda to gain a deep understanding of these
technologies and allowed for the creation of proprietary technologies and products
using unique concepts. The research centers share research results with one another
for effective usage, while working to develop products suited to local markets and to
gather information on leading-edge technologies and markets through cooperation and
coordination with local regions. Moreover, in response to recent technological
innovations and industrial changes, Honda has declared a commitment to joint
development and collaboration with a wide range of technological and business
partners and is firmly pushing ahead with these efforts. Besides advancing existing
businesses, the aim is to drive innovation that transcends conventional fields.

Innovation Management

Honda R&D Co., Ltd., a research and development subsidiary of Honda, established
Honda Research Institute (HRI) in 2003. The purpose of the institute is to evolve
cutting-edge intelligence research, which explores the fields of brain research and
visual/aural recognition in addition to traditional mechanical engineering. With bases
in Frankfurt in Germany, Silicon Valley and Columbus in the United States and Wako
City in Saitama Prefecture, Japan, HRI has been working on various research projects
while establishing a global network of researchers in the areas of advanced sciences.
Honda R&D Innovations, Inc., a subsidiary of Honda R&D in Silicon Valley, has
been promoting Honda Xcelerator, a program to create transformative products and
services through open innovation, since 2015 primarily in Silicon Valley but also in
Israel, Europe, China, Japan and other areas. Honda Xcelerator helps startups with
innovative ideas through funding, access to a collaborative workspace, test vehicles
and support from Honda mentors. Focus areas of development for the program include
personal mobility, autonomous vehicles, artificial intelligence, smart materials,
robotics, energy, human machine interface and production technology. Honda aims to
revolutionize mobility and energy management through co-creation. Through Honda
Xcelerator, Honda R&D will build strategic win-win relationships with startups
around the world. The company also aims to strengthen the research and development
of products and services for the future using new technologies and business models. In
addition, Honda established Honda R&D Innovation Lab Tokyo in February 2017 in
Akasaka, Tokyo. This new facility is meant to serve as a venue for co-creation in
collaboration with external experts and other research institutes in order to accelerate
the research and development of intelligence technologies in Japan. In April 2017,
Honda created R&D Center X, a new research and development operation with
responsibility for new value areas that include robotics technology, mobility systems
and energy management. R&D Center X has been pursuing strategic ties with outside
entities through open innovation to realize a robotics society that will further highlight
the inherent greatness of human beings.

Cooperation with External Organizations

To carry out our responsibility as a global mobility company, Honda engages in

dialogues with government, economic and industry organizations and also cooperates
with external bodies. In Japan, Honda personnel serve as vice chairman, committee
head and committee member within the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association,
president of the Society of Automotive Engineers of Japan, as well as vice president
of the Tokyo Chamber of Commerce and Industry. In addition, Honda personnel serve
as technical committee chairs and other representatives in the international motorcycle
and automobile industry bodies such as The International Motorcycle Manufacturers
Association (IMMA) and Organisation Internationale des Constructeurs
d’Automobiles (OICA). Furthermore, Honda cooperates with initiatives related to
sustainability through membership in the World Economic Forum (WEF) and the
World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD). At Honda, we
delegate authority to regional operations within a certain scope when executing
business in respective regions in order to enhance local autonomy and enable speedy
decision-making. Political contributions are made following required internal
procedures based on the laws and regulations of respective countries.

Sustainability

The Honda Philosophy forms the values shared by all Honda Group companies and all
of their associates and is the basis for Honda’s corporate activities and the associates’
behavior and decision-making. In order to achieve both the creation of growth
opportunities for the Company and a sustainable society, Honda has set striving to be
“a company that society wants to exist” as its direction for the 21st century. It is also
advancing initiatives known as “Creating the Joys,” “Expanding the Joys” and
“Ensuring the Joys for the Next Generation.” The “2030 Vision” is one milestone
indicating in concrete terms the direction Honda ought to take toward realizing these
objectives. For Honda’s sustainability, it is important to both meet stakeholders’
expectations and needs by providing products and services of value, fulfill its
corporate social responsibility such as by considering the impact on the environment
and society, as well as to contribute to the resolution of social issues through its
business activities. To this end, Honda is devising medium- and long-term strategies
that consider the roles it should fulfill and contributions it should make. Further, these
are matched to the characteristics of each region around the world, using the
materiality matrix, which assesses issues based on both stakeholder and Honda’s
corporate perspectives, as its guide.

Analysis and Relevant Theory Applications

As it is discussed that the main purpose of the paper is to discuss the way to design a
car that will specifically site South Asian Marketing condition. Satisfaction level is in
terms of temperature, availability of resources, and weather condition for mainly for
South Asian Markets and last but not the least satisfaction of end users. Since last few
years Honda main focus for the development is in European and American countries
so the car designing do not required any significant changes in their specifications but
when the development location changes some strategy is needed is to be specifically
implemented so as to suite only South Asian market. So the mode of the basic work is
same only some changes needed to be done in terms of fuel economy, suspension
system, braking and steering system, safety, weight, size, friction tolerating
mechanism, friction reducing mechanism and overall look of product. The most
recently added technology in the automobile is the use of computer technology for
designing cars like CAD (Computer Aided Designing) and CAM (Computer Aided
Manufacturing) and also for automating the system. This requires changing in many
other area of the system of car. Again the economic factor must be kept into the mind,
the car which is not economically feasible for customers no matter how good it is will
definitely affect its sales. Thus features that is beneficial for enhancing the systems
functionality and features of an automobile may increase the overall cost of
production and it may not be affordable for customers. Therefore designing
automobile for south Asian market is balancing of many factors. Consideration must
be given to each factor and also it is possible to make compromise among the factors.
Yet, basic system for all system remains the same come what may.

Toward achieving our long-term vision which is based on the Honda Philosophy, key
issues to be addressed are organized from our perspective and from the viewpoint of
our stakeholders. The materiality matrix provides the essential framework for
organizing these issues. By creating and employing this matrix, we confirmed the
coverage of overall issues and clarified where each of them is positioned. The
materiality matrix was prepared in two stages; identifying issues and then categorizing
them according to their materiality. Issues were identified through dialogue among
members of respective operating divisions within the Company and the process took
into account various viewpoints including global and value chain perspectives, the
status of technological innovation, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)*1 and
social issues pursuant to the Paris Agreement. We evaluated the materiality of these
issues in light of the views of stakeholders through dialogue with leading
environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) rating agencies and NGOs in
Europe and the United States that focus on sustainability issues. The contents were
also evaluated and assessed by management at the Company’s Sustainability Strategy
Committee meetings and other occasions. This resulted in the successful visualization
of critical issues on a priority basis as a mobility company, including the realization of
a carbon-free and collision-free mobile society. We believe our efforts should
contribute to the achievement of certain SDGs, notably Goal 13 “Take urgent action to
combat climate change and its impacts”; Goal 7 “Ensure access to affordable, reliable,
sustainable and modern energy for all”; and Goal 3 “Ensure healthy lives and promote
well-being for all at all ages.” Critical issues specified based on the views of
stakeholders are being reflected in company-wide strategy and incorporated into
respective business activities to achieve the Company's vision.

Automobiles Honda commercializes unique and personal automobiles to provide

people with the joy and freedom of mobility. Honda’s production of automobiles
commenced in 1963 with the T360 and in 2016 cumulative global production reached
100 million units. Honda currently offers a diverse variety of automobiles, from the
N-Box mini-vehicle sold in Japan and global models, the Accord and CR-V, to the
Ridgeline pickup truck in North America and the NSX super sports car. In addition,
Honda is targeting 2020 for reducing CO2 emissions intensity in products by 30%
(compared with 2000) and 2030 for electrifying two-thirds of automobiles sold
globally.

Recommendations

The Honda a multinational concern is busy in recruiting and selecting employees

tactfully, skillfully and with expertise. In view of the competition, especially in the
private sector, the Honda Makes efficient sales team effort with expertise to create
excellent customer relationship management with great online support and personal
contacts.

The Honda is one of the most prominent companies with expertise and experience.
Employee are extensively trained in understanding customers needs with a dedicated
work force behind it, the Honda success story is a result of the unique vision of the
company.

Hence, recruitment of employees is one of the most important jobs. Inefficient

employees are burden for the company. Hence only the capable people who have
desire to earn and work hard are selected.

The intensive market research shows that most of the respondents are showing their
interest in Honda. They are looking for high commission slab and marvelous career
growth path.
Bibliography

Books:

 R.S. DWIVEDI Managing Human Recourse

 Human Recourse week Magazine

 Kotler Philip

Websites:-

 www.google.com

 Information Brochure of Honda

 Product Manuals of Honda