CHAPTER-1

INTRODUCTION

1
INTRODUCTION
Satisfaction is the persons feeling of pleasure(or) disappointment resulting from comparing a
product perceived performance (outcome) in relation to his/her expectation. If the performance
fall short of expectation the customer is dissatisfied . If the performance matches the expectation
the customer is satisfied if the performance exceeds the expectation the customer is highly
satisfied ( or) delighted many companies are aiming for high satisfaction because they are much
ready to switch. ]
Buyer’s expectation formed on the basis of past buying experience ,friend and the associate
advice and the marketers and the competitor’s information and promises. If marketers raise
expectations too high , the buyer is likely to be disappointed. Even if the company sets
expectation should match the performances.

 A customer is the most important person ever in any company.

 A customer never depend on company,but the company depends on him.

 A customer is the person who bring company his wants.

 A customer is not a interruption of marketers work he is the purpose of it.

2
Before the liberalization of the Indian economy, only a few companies like Kelvinator, Godrej,

Alwyn, and Voltas were the major players in the consumer durables market, accounting for no

less than 90% of the market. Then, after the liberalization, foreign players like LG, Sony,

Samsung, Whirlpool, Daewoo, and Aiwa came into the picture.

Today, these players control the major share of the consumer durables market. Consumer

durables market is expected to grow at 12-18% in 2010-2011. It is growing very fast because of

rise in living standards, easy access to consumer finance, and wide range of choice, as many

foreign players were entering in the market with the increase in income levels, easy availability

of finance, increase in consumer awareness, and introduction of new models, the demand for

consumer durables has increased significantly. Products like washing machines, air conditioners,

microwave ovens, color televisions (C-TV) were no longer considered luxury items. However,

there were still very few players in categories like vacuum cleaners, and dishwashers Consumer

durables sector is characterized by the emergence of MNCs, exchange offers, discounts, and

intense competition. The market share of MNCs in consumer durables sector is 65%. MNC's

major target is the growing middle class of India. MNCs offer superior technology to the

Consumers whereas the Indian companies compete on the basis of firm grasp of the local market,

their well-acknowledged brands, and hold over wide distribution network. However, the

penetration

Level of the consumer durables is still low in India.

3
Indian Consumer durables market used to be dominated by few domestic players like Godrej,

Voltas, Allwyn and Kelvinator. But post liberalization many foreign companies have entered into

Indian market dethroning the Indian players and dominating Indian market the major categories

being CTV, REFRIGRATOR, MICROWAVE OVEN and WASHING MACHINES.

India being the second largest growing economy with huge consumer class has resulted in

consumer durables as the fastest growing industries in India. LG, SAMSUNG the two Korean

companies have been maintaining the lead in the market with LG being leader in almost all the

categories.

The rural market is growing faster than the urban market, although the penetration level is much

lower .The CTV segment is expected to the largest contributing segment to the overall growth of

the industry. The rising income levels double-income families and consumer awareness were the

main growth drivers of the industries.

4
 INDUSTRY PROFILE

The Consumer Durables industry consists of durable goods and appliances for domestic use such

as televisions, refrigerators, air conditioners and washing machines. Instruments such as cell

phones and kitchen appliances like microwave ovens were also included in this category. The

sector has been witnessing significant growth in recent years, helped by several drivers such as

the emerging retail boom, real estate and housing demand, greater disposable income and an

overall increase in the level of affluence of a significant section of the population. The industry is

represented by major international and local players such as BPL, Videocon, Voltas, Blue Star,

MIRC Electronics, Titan, Whirlpool, etc.

The consumer durables industry can be broadly classified into two segments: Consumer

Electronics and Consumer Appliances. Consumer Appliances can be further categorized into

Brown Goods and White Goods. The key product lines under each segment were as follows.

Industry Size, Growth, Trends

The consumer durables market in India was estimated to be around US$ 5 billion in 2009-10.

More than 7 million units of consumer durable appliances have been sold in the year 2008-09

with colour televisions (CTV) forming the bulk of the sales with 30 per cent share of volumes.

CTV, refrigerators and Air-conditioners together constitute more than 60 per cent of the sales in

terms of the number of units sold.

In the refrigerators market, the frost-free category has grown by 8.3 per cent while direct cool

segment has grown by 9 per cent. Companies like LG, Whirlpool and Samsung have registered

double-digit growth in the direct cool refrigerator market.

5
In the case of washing machines, the semi-automatic category with a higher base and fully-

automatic categories have grown by 4 per cent to 526,000 units and by 8 per cent to 229,000

units, respectively. In the air-conditioners segment, the sales of window ACs have grown by 32

per cent and that of split ACs by 97 per cent.

Since the penetration in the urban areas for these products is already quite high, the markets for

both C-TV and refrigerators were shifting to the semi-urban and rural areas. The growth across

product categories in different segments is assessed in the following sections.

Consumer Electronics
The CTV production was 25.10 million units in 2010-11 and is expected to grow by at least 25

per cent. At the disaggregated level, conventional CTV volumes have been falling while flat TVs

have grown strongly. Market sources indicate that most CTV majors have phased out

conventional TVs and have been instead focusing more on flat TVs. The flat segment of CTVs

now account for over60 per cent of the total domestic TV production and is likely to be around

65 per cent in 2010-11.High-end products such as liquid crystal display (LCD)and plasma

display CTV grew by 400 per cent and 150 per

Cent respectively in 2010–11 following a sharp decline in prices of these products and this trend

is expected to continue. The audio/video player market has seen significant growth rates in the

domestic market as prices have dropped. This trend is expected to continue through 2010- 2011,

as competition is likely to intensify to scale and capture the mass market.

6
 CHAPTER-2
COMPANY PROFILE

7
OVERVIEW OF INDUSTRY
Whirlpool Corporation is a global manufacturer and marketer of major home appliances. The
company manufactures in 13 countries and markets products in approximately 170 countries
under 11 major brand names such as Whirlpool, Maytag Kitchen Aid, Roper, Estate, Bauknecht,
Laden and Ignis.
Whirlpool Corporation entered India in the late ‘80’s and today has grown to become one of the
leading manufacturers and marketers of major home appliances in India. Whirlpool Corporation
entered into a joint venture agreement with TVS group to produce automatic washers at a plant
set up in Pondicherry. A modest beginning was made to establish the Whirlpool brand in India.
In 1995 Whirlpool Corporation acquired Kelvinator of India Limited and entered into the
Refrigerator market in India. In late 1995 majority ownership was gained in the TVS joint
venture and the two entities were merged to form Whirlpool of India Limited in 1996.
Whirlpool has the distinction of having ISO certification for all its facilities in India. The
refrigerator facility is located at Faridabad and manufactures a complete range of direct cool
refrigerators. With the infusion of technology, machinery and streamlining the processes the
capacity of this plant was increased from 700,000 to 1,000,000 annually.
Whirlpool’s commitment to the Indian operation has resulted in the setting up of a state-of-the-
art facility for the manufacture of no frost refrigerators at Ranjangaon near Pune. This facility
has set the standards as one of the world’s front runners in environmentally sensitive eco-friendly
manufacturing units.
The washer facility is located at Pondicherry and manufactures both fully automatic and semi
automatic washers. Constant feedback is taken from the consumers resulting in products being
continuously upgrade in features and in styling.
Products manufactured in the above facilities match Whirlpool’s global standards and are
exported to over 70 countries across the globe. Whirlpool of India is today India’s largest
exporter of home appliance and has been approved as an Export House.

8
PROFILE OF COMPANY

Whirlpool is a swirling body of water usually produced by ocean tides. The vast majority of
whirlpools are not very powerful. More powerful ones are more properly
termed maelstroms. Vortex is the proper term for any whirlpool that has a downdraft.
Whirlpool, right from its inception in 1911 as first commercial manufacturer of motorized
washers to the current market position of being world’s number one manufacturer and marketer
of major home appliances, has always set industry milestones and benchmarks. The parent
company (Whirlpool Corporation) is headquartered at Benton Harbor, Michigan, USA with a
global presence in over 170 countries and manufacturing operation in 13 countries with 11 major
brand names such as Whirlpool, KitchenAid, Roper, Estate, Bauknecht, Laden and Ignis. The
company boasts of resources and capabilities beyond achievable feat of any other in the industry.
Whirlpool Corporation (NYSE: WHR) is a Fortune 500 company and a global manufacturer and
marketer of major home appliances,with annual sales of approximately $18 billion, more than
73,000 employees, and more than 70 manufacturing and technology research centers around the
world. After acquiring the Maytag Corporation on March 31, 2006, Whirlpool Corporation
became the largest home appliance maker in the world.
Whirlpool initiated its international expansion in 1958 by entering Brazil. However, it emerged
as truly global leader in the 1980’s. This encouraging trend brought the company to India in the
late 1980s. It forayed into the market under a joint venture with TVS group and established the
first Whirlpool manufacturing facility in Pondicherry.
Soon Whirlpool acquired Kelvinator India Limited in 1995 and marked an entry into Indian
refrigerator market as well.
The same year also saw acquisition of major share in TVS joint venture and later in 1996,
Kelvinator and TVS acquisitions were merged to create Indian home appliance leader of the

9
future, Whirlpool India. This expanded the company’s portfolio in the Indian subcontinent to
washing machines, refrigerator, microwave ovens and air conditioners.
Today, Whirlpool is the most recognized brand in home appliances in India and holds a market
share of over 25%. The company owns three state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities at
Faridabad, Pondicherry and Pune. Each of these manufacturing set-ups features an infrastructure
that is witness of Whirlpool’s commitment to consumer interests and advanced technology.
In the year ending in March ‘06, the annual turnover of the company for its Indian enterprise was
Rs.1,375 Crores. According to IMRB surveys Whirlpool enjoys the status of the single largest
refrigerator and second largest washing machine brand in India.
The company’s brand and image speaks of its commitment to the homemaker from every aspect
of its functioning. It has derived its functioning principles out of an undaunted partnership with
the homemakers and thus a slogan of “You and whirlpool, the world’s best homemaker” dots its
promotional campaigns.
Whirlpool has the distinction of having ISO certification for all its facilities in India. The
refrigerator facility is located at Faridabad and manufactures a complete range of direct cool
refrigerators. With the infusion of technology, machinery and streamlining the processes the
capacity of this plant was increased from 700,000 to 1,000,000 annually.
Whirlpool’s commitment to the Indian operation has resulted in the setting up of a state-of-the-
art facility for the manufacture of no frost refrigerators at Ranjangaon near Pune. This facility
has set the standards as one of the world’s front runners in environmentally sensitive eco-friendly
manufacturing units.
The washer facility is located at Pondicherry and manufactures both fully automatic and semi
automatic washers. Constant feedback is taken from the consumers resulting in products being
continuously upgrade in features and in styling.
Products manufactured in the above facilities match Whirlpool’s global standards and are
exported to over 70 countries across the globe. Whirlpool of India is today India’s largest
exporter of home appliance and has been approved as an Export House.
Design Engineering is being developed as a core competency for Whirlpool of India. A step in
the direction has resulted in the setting up of Regional Technology Centres at Pune focussing on

10
refrigerators and at Pondicherry for washers. This will provide WOI with a competitive edge in
speedy customisation of products suited to consumer needs.
In the second phase of developing this core competency Whirlpool set up a Global Technology
Centre at Pune in 2002 to provide design support for the global organisation. A design and
development centre for Whirlpool’s global small appliances brand Kitchenaid has also been set
up at Pondicherry. The already strong manufacturing and technology infrastructure was
augmented by the establishment of a Global Consumer Design centre for Asia in New Delhi in
2005
Whirlpool India’s products range from Refrigerators, Washing Machines, 100% Dryers, Air
conditioners, Oil Filled Heaters, Microwave Ovens, Purafresh RO Range, to Home UPS
Systems.
Thus, in short the history of the company can be stated as below:
1908: The first Automatic washer was launched to public in late 1908, by 1900 Corporation
which in 1911 was renamed to Upton Machine Company.
1957: The Company was rechristened as ' The Whirlpool Corporation.'
1958: The Company moved out of country for the first time and invested in Brazilian appliance
market through purchase of equity in Multibras S.A.
1987: Whirlpool tied-up with Sundaram Clayton Ltd. of India to form Whirlpool Ltd.
1993: First time Whirlpool became the No.1 stand-alone brand in UK, Ireland, Netherlands and
Belgium
1995: Whirlpool Corp. acquired majority of stake in the TVS Whirlpool Ltd. The DC
manufacturing facility of Kelvinator India was also acquired.
1996: Whirlpool Washing Machines Ltd. and Kelvinator India Ltd. merged together to form
Whirlpool of India Ltd
1999: Whirlpool of India crossed the milestone of 1 million sales of appliances.
2006: Whirlpool Corporation acquires Maytag and become the Worlds largest white goods
company.

11
2007: Received the 2007 Cause Marketing Golden Halo Award for Business, America's highest
honor for companies and organizations that give back to the community through creative and
effective cause marketing campaigns
2008: Named one of the “2008 World’s Most Ethical Companies” by Ethisphere magazine
2008: Whirlpool OF India” was awarded the NDTV Profit Business & Leadership Award 2008
for “The Best Consumer Durables Company
2009: Whirlpool was voted Product of the Year and received the award for the 'Best Innovative
Product' in the popular refrigerators category. This was based on 40,000 consumers across 36
towns in India voting Whirlpool Frost Free Refrigerators with 6th sense as the Best Innovation in
the Popular Refrigerator Category.
2009: Named one of the “100 Best Corporate Citizens” by Chief Responsibility Officer
(formerly Business Ethics) magazine in 2009 and from 2000-2007
2009: Hewitt ‘Best Employers in India’ 2009 Study

Whirlpool vision
Every Home… Everywhere… with Pride, Passion and Performance
This vision statement reinforces that every home is their domain, every customer and
customer activity is their opportunity. This vision fuels the passion that they have for customers,
pushing towards to provide innovative solutions to uniquely meet their needs.
Pride... in work and each other
Passion... for creating unmatched customer loyalty for their brands
Performance... that excites and rewards global investors with superior returns
Whirlpool mission

Everyone, Passionately Creating Loyal Customers for Life

Whirlpool mission defines the focus and what it does differently to create value. Its a company
of people captivated with creating loyal customers. From every job, across every contact, it
builds unmatched customer loyalty…one customer at a time.

12
Whirlpool values:
The company’s values are constant and define the way that all Whirlpool Corporation employees
are expected to behave and conduct business everywhere in the world.
Respect — Trust one another as individuals and value the capabilities and contributions of each
person.
Integrity — It conducts all aspects of business honorably – ever mindful of the longtime
Whirlpool Corporation belief that there is no right way to do a wrong thing.
Diversity and Inclusion — It maintains the broad diversity of Whirlpool people and ideas.
Diversity honors differences, while inclusion allows everyone to contribute. Together, it creates
value.
Teamwork — It recognizes that pride results in working together to unleash everyone’s
potential, achieving exceptional results.
Spirit of Winning — The company promotes a Whirlpool culture that enables individuals and
teams to reach and take pride in extraordinary results and further inspire the "Spirit of Winning"
in everyone.

Innovation:
Whirlpool Corporation firmly believes innovative thinking comes from everyone,
everywhere. Nearly 10 years ago, they launched a worldwide effort to instill innovation as a core
competency throughout the entire organization. Since then, Whirlpool employees worldwide
have participated in and contributed to innovation-related activities resulting in new ideas,
products and services; thus delivering real value to consumers in ways never before seen in
either the company or the home appliance industry.

Focused on embedding innovation as a core competency, Whirlpool Corporation has

made a long-standing investment to build this competency. This investment includes redesigning
business processes, training thousands of employees, building an innovation management system
and changing the culture of the company.
Innovation attracts consumers to the wide portfolio of brands; Whirlpool Corporation
generated more than $2.5 billion of worldwide revenue from product innovations—well

13
exceeding projected targets for the year—and the robust pipeline of $4.5 billion will allow for
continued growth over time.

Promising entity of the company

Whirlpool Corporation is committed in building products that consumers around the
world can rely upon to meet their daily needs. This commitment to quality begins in the concept
stages and continues throughout the lifetime of the appliance. The result of these efforts is a
sustainable and competitive advantage for the company.
Globally, Whirlpool Corporation manufactures products using principles of lean
manufacturing and operational excellence to ensure continuous improvement of processes and to
produce products that meet the company's high-quality standards.

At Whirlpool, there is a constant focus on seeking out new and unique ways to improve
the function, performance and sustainability of their products.

The ring of promise circling the Whirlpool Corporation logo

The ring around the whirlpool logo clearly shows how the company encompasses with a
promising nature in developing a individual customer loyalty with its services .

Building the Corporate Brand

The Whirlpool corporate brand has a history dating back to 1911. The company has
steadily expanded its product line, revenues, and global footprint for more than five decades,
evident by milestone returns – from $1 billion in 1968, to $2 billion by 1978, to $6 billion by
1989, to the $13 billion reported in 2004. The corporate mission has also remained focused over

14
time, demonstrated by mantras such as “Unmatched customer loyalty – the core of our strategy”
and “Customer passion and lifelong relationships – the focus of our business.”

The corporate brand has also been built on a long history of design innovation, a safe and
diverse employee environment, customer-centered manufacturing, and a spirit of social
responsibility. In fact, the depth of the company’s commitment to multiple social efforts is
evident by a six-year inclusion of Whirlpool on the “100 Best Corporate Citizens” list published
by Business Ethics Magazine. The company boasts an impressive set of accomplishments that
foster these commitments:
 The implementation of Operational Excellence, Whirlpool’s custom version of the Six
Sigma program, improves quality while lowering costs and shortening cycle times. This
program helped Whirlpool leverage its global manufacturing experience to save $175
million in manufacturing costs in its first three years of use.
 Whirlpool’s commitment to innovation was recognized in 2002 with a National Design
Award for Corporate Achievement from the Smithsonian Institution.
 Whirlpool is a six-time winner of the ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year award from
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Department of Energy,
demonstrating the company’s commitment to environmental protection.
 More than 3,500 Whirlpool employees are involved in a five-year, $25 million
commitment to Habitat for Humanity International. The partnership has provided more
than 65,000 appliances to Habitat homes built in North America. In addition,
Whirlpool has raised over a million dollars to support the fight against breast cancer through the
“Cook for the Cure” program, sponsored by KitchenAid. Over 90 years of history gives
Whirlpool an extremely valuable asset: a corporate brand that communicates innovation,
consumer-driven research and development, and excellence in design and performance. Injecting
these principles into internal and customer-facing business processes enables the company to
invoke a consistent set of emotional responses from consumers including trust, uniqueness, and
most important, loyalty.

15
Product Range
The product range covers a wide variety of products from Refrigerators to Fabicare; from
AirCon to Water Purifiers and also Microwaves to UPS.Following is the product range of
Whirlpool Of India Limited.
 Refrigerators
 Washing Machines
 Dyers
 Microwave
 Water Purifiers

Strategy execution:

The main strategy of the whirlpool is building strong brands which has a loyal consumer
base. Whirlpool is trying to build trustworthiness of the customer and lead the customer life
easier. Whirlpool mailnly does lot of work contributing in building unmatched levels of loyalty
to their brands through lifelong relationships with the customers.
Whirlpool is committed to create the brand value using various strategies such as
focusing on innovation, cost productivity, product quality and consumer value. Whirlpool
16
always had a continous effort to improve its global operating platform to ensure the position of
the best-cost and best-quality appliance manufacturer worldwide. The company is maintaining a
strong supply chain to better deliver products in trading customers and consumers. The benefits
of these actions today through a stronger network, increased efficiencies and timely deliveries.
Now and then, even in the future the whirlpool focus is not simply on producing
products but more on the innovation and customer perception in creating them. Its major focus
is always on maximizing the benefits of their worldwide network of resources, which is
unmatched in the industry. They are creating better, more innovative products that improve
consumers' lives—in and around the home—each and every day. The company is always
committed in being an agile, global consumer products company that creates value through their
brands and innovations. With their compelling and growing brands, fueled with innovation, the
company always attracts and retain loyal customers for life.

17
GLOBAL SCENARIO OF WHIRLPOOL

COUNTRY KEY STATS BRANDS LOCATIONS

NORTH Headquarters:
AMERICA -No. 1 position in the United States Benton Harbor, MI
industry KitchenAid, Manufacturing
-$7.9 billion of sales Whirlpool, Locations:
-$810 million of Roper by Whirlpool United States
operating profit Corporation, Estate, Laverne, TN;
-Approximately 31,000 Gladiator Findlay, OH;
employees Canada Marion, OH;
Inglis,Whirlpool, Greenville, OH;
KitchenAid Clyde, OH;
Mexico Whirlpool, Benton Harbor, MI;
Acros, Evansville, IN; Fort
Supermatic, Crolls Smith, AR; Tulsa,
OK; Oxford, MS
Canada
Montmagny, QC
Mexico Monterrey
EUROPE Operations
- No. 3 position in Western Whirlpool, Center: Comerio,
and Bauknecht, Italy
Central Europe Ignis, Polar, Laden in Manufacturing
_ $2.7 billion in 2003 sales France, KIC in South Locations:
_ $124 million in 2003 Africa France Amiens
operating profit Germany
_ Approximately 14,000 Neunkirchen,
employees Schorndorf
18
 Italy Naples, Siena,
Cassinetta, Trento
Poland Wroclaw
Slovakia Poprad
South Africa
Isithebe
Sweden Norrköping
ASIA Leader among Western Headquarters:
companies, with No. 1 Whirlpool Hong Kong, PRC
market Manufacturing
position in India Locations:
_ $416 million in 2003 India Faridabad,
sales Pune, Pondicherry
_ $7 million in 2003 China Shanghai,
operating profit Shunde
_ Approximately 5,000 Whirlpool
employees

19
CHAPTER-3
CONCEPT

20
Provides all the crucial information on Whirlpool Corporation required for business and
competitor intelligence needs
- Contains a study of the major internal and external factors affecting Whirlpool Corporation in
the form of a SWOT analysis as well as a breakdown and examination of leading product
revenue streams of Whirlpool Corporation
-Data is supplemented with details on Whirlpool Corporation history, key executives, business
description, locations and subsidiaries as well as a list of products and services and the latest
available statement from Whirlpool Corporation

Reasons to Purchase
- Support sales activities by understanding your customers’ businesses better
- Qualify prospective partners and suppliers
- Keep fully up to date on your competitors’ business structure, strategy and prospects
- Obtain the most up to date company information available
CONSUMER BUYING
BEHAVIOUR
The main aim of marketing is meeting and satisfy target. Customers need and wants buyer
behavior refers to the peoples or organization conduct activities and together with the impact of
various influences on them towards making decision on purchase of product and service in a
market. The field of consumer behavior studies how individuals, groups and organization select,
buy, use and dispose of goods, service, ideas, or experience to satisfy their needs and desires
understanding consumer behavior and knowing customer are never simple.The wealth of
products and service produced in a country make our economy strong. The behaviour of human
being during the purchase is being termed as “Buyer Behaviour”. Customer says one thing but do
another. They may not be in touch with their deeper motivations. They are responding to
Influences that change their mind at the last minute. A buyer takes a decision whether save or
spend the money.

21
  Getting accurate responses from the respondents due to their inherent problems were
difficult. They were partial, and refused to cooperate.
 Since we did not had the privilege to work on a large scale, so many finding and
recommendations may not be as much in tune with their ground realities as may be
considered desirable.
 Last but not the least, the time constraint faced in the project might have affected the
comprehensiveness of its findings.

MARKET-LEADER STRATEGIES
Market leadership is not simple for a firm. Other firms continually challenge its strength or try to
take advantage of its weakness. The leader firm might become weaker against new entrants and
rival firms. The leader can use one or a combination of three strategies.

1. Expand the total market strategy

The market –leader firms can normally gain the maximum when the total market
expands. The focus of the total market depends on where the product is in its life cycle.

2. Defending market share strategy

When the leader tries to expand the total market size, it must also continuously defend its
current business against enemy attacks. The leader firm must keep its cost down, and its
prices must be consistent with the value that consumer see in the product.
(a)Position defense
This strategy involves pouring maximum firm’s resources into its current successful brands.
To overcome a position defence an attacker therefore typically adopts an indirect approach
rather than the hear-on attack that the defender expects.

(b)Flanking defence

22
 This strategy both guards the market position of leading brands and develops some flank
market niches to serve as defensive corner either to protect a weak front or to establish an
invasion base for counterattack, if necessary.

(c)Pre-emptive defence
This defence strategy maneuver involves the launching of an offence against an enemy
before it starts an offence. E.g. TITAN launched more brands called Insignia.

(d)Counter-offensive defence
This is to identifying a weakness in an attacker and aggressively going after that market
niche so as cause the competitor to pull back its efforts to defend its own territory. The
attacker has to deploy resources to this territory for defence.

(e)Mobile defence
This involves the leader broadening and expanding its territories into new market areas by
diversifying. The leader takes innovations works in both these direction. Diversification into
related areas is used in mobile defence.

(f)Contraction defence
This strategy involves retrenching into areas of strength and if often used in later stages of a
product life cycle or when the firms has been under considerable attack. Example HLL.

3. Expanding the market share strategy

Market leader can improve their profitability through increasing their market shares. Market
leaders are successfully at expanding their market shares like HLL, Procter and gamble etc.

MARKET –CHALLENGER STRATEGIES:

23
Defining the strategic objective. A market challenger must first define its strategic objective
which is usually defined as an increase in market share. In essence, the challenger can choose
to attack on any one of the types of firms:
It can attack the market leader. This is a high risk but potentially high pay-off strategy that
makes sense if the leader is not serving the market well.
It can attack firms of its own size that are not doing the job and are underfinanced.
It can attack small local and regional firms that are not doing the job and are underfinanced.
1. Frontal attack
2. Flank attack
3. Encirclement attack
4. Bypass attack
5. Guerilla attack
MARKET –FOLLOWER STRATEGIES:
A market –follower must be careful about how closely it follows a leader and challengers.
Too close an attack could result in a strong counter –offensive by the leader. The three useful
broad strategies are:
1. Following closely
2. Following at a distance
3. Following selectively
MARKET NICHERS’ STRATEGIES:
Successfully market-niches own their success to using one of these strategies to gain solid
market presence. Market niches must develop specific tactics to implement their strategic
choice to enable them to become market specialist. The nicer can play a role of specialist in
the following ways:

24
 CHAPTER-4
RESEARCH
METHODOLOGY

25
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
 To assess the customer satisfaction level

 Proper understanding and analysis of the WHIRLPOOL INDIA LTD.

 To study the brand image of WHIRLPOOL INDIA LTD.

 Proper understanding of promotional tools prevailing in the company.

 To suggest the ways to promote WHIRLPOOL INDIA LTD.

 To know strength, weakness, opportunities and threat of WHIRLPOOL INDIA LTD.

 The objectives of study is to gain knowledge about the marketing mix offered by the
company

 The study focus Whirlpool and it’s competitors

 The study reflects the various marketing strategies adopted by Whirlpool.

LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

The following are the limitations of the study:
 The sample size was small and hence the results can have a degree of variation.
 The response of the employees in giving information was lukewarm.
 Organization’s resistance to share the internal information.
 Questionnaire is subjected to errors.

LIMITATIONS

1) Time constraint- the duration of training was short, due to which it was difficult to collect
data.
2) Another constraint has been geographical area, which
is confined only to BHEL Power Sector.
3) Normally employees hesitate to disclose the
information.

26
 4) Individual biasness is their among employees.

2.1 Significance of study

 This study has an overview of Whirlpool Company or organization.
 This study gain knowledge about the company.
 This study focuses on overall industry.
 This study focuses on Whirlpool and its competitors.
 This study gives information about the competitors in the industry.

27
 METHODOLOGY
RESEARCH PROCESS:
1) DEFINE RESEARCH PROBLEM:
The formulation of a general topic into specific research problem constitutes the 1st step in
research process. Essentially two steps are involved in formulating the
Research problem that is understands the problem theoretically and rephrasing the same into
meaningful terms from an analytical point of view.
2) EXTENSIVE LITERATURE SURVEY:
Once the problem is formulated a brief summary of it shift’s the return down. It is
compulsory for a research worker for writing a thesis for a PhD degree to write a synopsis
{brief summary} of a topic and submit it to the necessity committee at this research board for
approval at this researcher should undertake the extensive literature survey, i.e.: reviewing
concepts & theories and reviewing previous research findings.

3) FORMULATE HYPOTHESIS:
Hypothesis is tentive assumptions made in order to draw out a test it’s logical or empirical
consequences. Hypothesis should be very specific & limited for a peace of research in hand
because it has to be tested. Hypothesis provides a guide for researching which are limited to
the area of research and to keep him on the right track.

4) DESIGN RESERCH:
Research design is a conceptual structure with in which research would be conducted.
Research design involves the following consideration:-
a) Means of obtaining the information.
b) Availability & skill of the researcher & his staff.
c) Explanation of the way in which selected means of obtaining information will be
organized.
d) Time availability for research.
e) The cost factor relating to research.
28
5) COLLECTING DATA:
There are certain ways of collecting the appropriate data which differ considerately in
context of money, time, cost, & other resource at the disposal of the researcher. Data can be
collected through primary resources & secondary sources Primary sources include data
collection through surveys, Questionnaire, interview and observation. Secondary data can be
collected through book, magazines, journals, business reports or internet. The researcher
should select one of these methods of collecting data taking into considerations the nature of
the investigation, objectives and scope of research.
In form of primary data I have used questionnaire and in form of secondary data I have
taken data from multiple sources.

6) ANALYSIS OF DATA:
The analysis of data requires a member of closely related operation such as establishment of
faculties, application of these facilities to draw a data, to coding, tabulation and there drawing
statistical inferences. The unwieldy data is classified data into sum purposely and usable
categories.

7) INTERPRETATION & REPORT’S:

The process of interpretation explains the finding’s on the basis of some theories. The process of
interpretation quite often trigger of new practices in which in return may lead to further
researcher.

PRELIMINARY PAGES

MAIN TEXT
END MATTERS

I) The Preliminary pages:-

We include topic’s title’s, data, acknowledgement, list of tables, list of the content, list of
graphs & charts if any given in the report.

29
II) The main text:-
It includes the interaction, summary of findings, main reports and the conclusion.

III) The end matters:-

It includes appendices, bibliography and index in case of published reports
Data can be classified under the two main categories, depending upon the sources used for the
collection purposes. i.e., ‘Primary data’ and ‘Secondary data’. The validity and accuracy of final
judgment is most crucial and depends heavily upon how well the data is gathered in the first
place. The methodology adopted for data gathering also affects the conclusions drawn there
form.

Primary data:
Primary data are those data, which are collected by the investigator himself for the purpose of a
specific enquiry or study. Such data are original in character and generated by surveys conducted
by individuals or research institutions. Thus we can say that the data that is being collected for
the first time is called primary data.

Methods that can be used for collection of primary data are as follows:

 Direct personal observation: under this method, the investigator presents himself
personally before the informant and obtains first hand information. This method provides
greater degree of accuracy.

 Telephone survey: under this method the investigator, instead of presenting himself
before the informants, contacts them on telephone and collects information them.

 Indirect personal interview: under this method, instead of directly approaching the
informants, the investigator interviews several third persons who are directly or indirectly
concerned with the subject matter of the enquiry and who are in possession of the
requisite information. This method is highly suitable where the direct personal

30
 investigation is not practicable either because the informants are unwilling or reluctant to
supply the information or where the information desired is complex or the study in hand
is extensive.

 Information received through local agents: under this method, the information is not
collected formally by the investigator, but local agents, commonly know as
correspondents, and are appointed for the different parts of the area under the
investigation. They apply their own judgment as to the best method of obtaining
information.

 Mailed questionnaire method: under this method, the investigator prepares a

questionnaire containing a number of questions pertaining to the field of enquiry. These
questionnaires are sent by post to the informants together with a polite covering letter
explaining in detail, the aims and objectives of collecting the information, and requesting
the respondents to cooperate by furnishing the correct replies and returning the
questionnaire duly filled in. the success of this method depends upon the proper drafting
of the questionnaire and cooperation of the respondents.

 Questionnaire sent through enumerators: under this method, instead of sending the
questionnaire through post, the investigator appoints agents know as enumerators, who
go to the respondents personally with the questionnaire, ask them the questions given
therein, and record their replies
Secondary data:
When a person uses data, which has already been collected by someone else, then such data is
know as secondary data. Secondary data should be used with extra caution since someone else
has collected it for his/her use. Before using such data the investigator must be satisfied with
regard to the reliability, accuracy, adequacy and suitability of the data to he given problem under
investigation.
Methods that can be used for collection of secondary data are as follows:

31
  Published sources: there are a number of national organizations and international
agencies, which collect and publish statistical data relating to business, trade, labor, price,
consumption, production, etc. these publications of the various organizations are useful
sources of secondary data.

 Unpublished sources: the records maintained by private firms or business house who
may not like to release their data to any outside agency are know as unpublished sources
of collection of secondary data.

Both ‘Primary data collection methods’ and ‘Secondary data collection methods’ have various
advantages as well as limitations. Thus it would be prudent to use both these methods to one’s
advantage.

Both Primary and Secondary data have been used in the thesis. More of secondary data has been
used.
Sampling:
Sampling refers to the procedure by which some members of a given population are selected as
representatives of the entire population.

32
SWOT ANALYSIS
SWOT Analysis is a general technique which can find suitable applications across diverse
management function and activities but it is particular appropriate to the early stage of strategy
and marketing plan
SWOT involves generation and recording of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats
concerning a task, individual, department or organization, it is customary to take account of
internal resources and capabilities (strengths & weakness) and factors external to the
organization (opportunities & threats).
SWOT Analysis is an effective way of identifying your strengths and weaknesses and of
examining the opportunities and threat.
What makes it particularly powerful is that with a little thought, it can help you uncover
opportunities that you are well placed to take advantage of. And by understanding your
weaknesses, you can manage and eliminate threats that would otherwise catch you unawares.
More than this, buy looking at yourself and your competitors using the SWOT framework, you
can start to craft a strategy that helps you compete successfully in your market.

The Whirlpool Corporation - SWOT Analysis company profile is the essential source for top-
level company data and information. Whirlpool Corporation - SWOT Analysis examines the
company’s key business structure and operations, history and products, and provides summary
analysis of its key revenue lines and strategy.

Whirlpool Corporation (Whirlpool) manufactures and markets a full line of major appliances and
related products, primarily for home use. The company operates in North America, Europe, Latin
America and Asia. It is headquartered in Benton Harbor, Michigan and employs about 67,000
people. The company recorded revenues of $17,099 million during financial year ended
December 2009 (FY2009), a decrease of 9.6% as compared with FY2008. The reason for
decrease in revenues was primarily due to lower appliance industry demand. The operating profit
of the company was $688 million during FY2009, an increase of 25.3% over FY2008. The net
profit was $328 million in FY2009, a decrease of 21.5% as compared with FY2008.

33
 CHAPTER-5
DATA ANALYSIS
&
INTERPRETATION

34
QUESTIONNAIRE
Q1. Have you purchased any consumer durable during Exhibitions?

INTERPRETATION
66% of Customers have not purchased any consumer durable from exhibition and Only 34%
people have purchased. It shows that consumers are coming in the exhibition for knowledge of
product and also they want to know that weather there is actual price difference in exhibition and
shop or not.

35
Q.2While purchasing consumer durable which parameter influences you?

INTERPRETATION
.16% of customer gives importance to price. So it shows that Indian consumers are very price
sensitive. They give more importance to price over the brand whereas 20% give importance to
brand. So price and Brand matter a lots for the costumers. And they are also want best brand in
best price and durability18% because Service is also a big factor for the customer they are less
interested in the durability.

36
Q3. From where you prefer buying consumer durables

INTERPRETATION
A majority of customers prefer to buy from showrooms. Very less proposition of customers buys
from Exhibitions 11% customers are prefer to by from the showrooms because the showrooms
are more convenient to customers they also think that these shops give more discounts. People
are less interested to buy from the exhibition they only visit the exhibition for price quotation of
the product and the comparison of the product.

37
Q.4.You prefer to buy from the same as you have mentioned in Q.3 because of following
reasons.

INTERPRETATION
Customers buy from showrooms because of the service and convenience.
There are two main factors.
1.Customers are preferred to buy from the showroom because of they think that these convenient
store may provide good after sell service.
2. Customer also thinks that there is more chance to bargain and they can get more discounts in
these showrooms and Price also a factor that attract the customer in these showrooms.

38
Q.5. How frequently you change your consumer durables?

INTERPRETATION
Customers prefer to change consumer durables within 3-5 years as 18% customers do not change
their consumer durable within 10 year. It represent that Indian consumer prefer to change their
consumer durable frequently.

39
Q.6.Do you prefer any financing scheme to purchase consumer durables?

INTERPRETATION
Majority of customers usual prefer financial scheme as a result 72% of the consumer prefer to
have financial scheme whereas 28% of the consumers says no

40
Q-8 Are you aware of warranty period of the products?

INTERPRETATION

58% of the consumer agrees to the fact that they are aware of the product warranty period where
as 42% of the consumers says that they are not aware of the warranty period of the products.

41
Q-9 Do you know which product parts are under warranty?

INTERPRETATION
56% of the consumers feels that they have knowledge that which products parts are under
warranty whereas 44% says that they don’t have knowledge.

42
Q-10 whether you are satisfied with after sales service of whirlpool?

INTERPRETATION
64% of the consumers says that service man come as prompt as said by them whereas 30% says
no and 6% consumers can’t say about this.

43
 CHAPTER-6
FINDINGS
&
SUGGESTIONS

44
FINDINGS
• 20 % of the customers responded that their overall experience to accessibility and responses
through Telephone is Excellent. Next 20 % says it is very good. Good being awarded by 40 % of
the customer. Final 20 % is not so satisfied so they said that the service is fair

• 20 % of the customers responded that their overall experience to accessibility and responses
through E-mail is Excellent. Next 20 % says it is very good. Good being awarded by 40 % of the
customer. Final 20 % is not so satisfied so they said that the service is fair

• 19 % of the customers responded that their overall experience to ability to help resolve issue or
need is Excellent. Next 21 % says it is very good. Good being awarded by 28 % of the customer.
24 % is somewhat satisfied so they said that the service is fair. 9 % is not satisfied with the
service.

• 21 % of the customers responded that their overall experience with DHL

clearance department is Excellent. Next 19 % says it is very good. Good being
awarded by 18 % of the customer. 38% is somewhat satisfied so they said that
the service is fair. 5 % is not satisfied with the service.

• 11 % of the customers responded that their overall experience with DHL clearance department
is Excellent. Next 31 % says it is very good. Good being awarded by 50 % of the customer. 5 %
is somewhat satisfied so they said that the service is fair. 3 % is not satisfied with the service.

• 19 % of the customers responded they are Extremely Satisfied with the service. Next 25 % they
are satisfied. Neutral is 22 % of the customer. 23 % is somewhat satisfied so they said that the
service is fair. 3 % is not satisfied with the service.

• 64 % of the customer responded in favour of recommending DHL Express to others. On the

other hand 36 % of the people say No to recommend DHL Express to others.

45
• 69 % of the customer responded in favour that loyalty towards DHL Express has grown
stronger. On the other hand 31 % of the people say No that loyalty towards DHL Express has not
grown stronger.

• 51 % of the customer responded in favour that DHL Express Values people & Relationships
ahead of Short-term goals. On the other hand 49 % of the people say No that DHL Express do
not Values people & Relationships ahead of Short-term goals.

46
SUGGESTIONS

1. Whirlpool needs to increase the number of BTL (below the line) activities to

generate common awareness and visibility at grassroots level, because it can be

understood from the figures of their competitors BTL activities that Whirlpool BTL

activities is not up to the that mark in comparison to other competitors.

2. In Delhi market dealers don’t want to put direct push effort on brands that’s why

unlike other cities market where if a dealer deals in LG they prefer not to deals with

its direct competitor Samsung, but in Gujarat every dealer is having collection of

brands, they want to be ready for everything like whatever customer demands they

can easily find out in their store. Currently Whirlpool is available with most of the

major dealers in Delhi, Whirlpool needs to focus on those dealers also where it will

not face direct competition with LG and Samsung , a small and dedicated brand

dealer will work not only for margins but they also can see the future opportunities in

form of Whirlpool.

3. Good thing about Whirlpool is that they got somehow success in positioning

themselves as a quality brand the customer survey and the dealer’s survey tells the

story about it. People perceived Whirlpool as a good product quality brand. If this can

be associated with better pricing also there will be immense possibilities for

Whirlpool. Need to create a value for money brand image which can give good

product quality at affordable prices.

47
4. Whirlpool needs to build strong dealer relation in order to provide better “place”

strategies for the brand. Whirlpool lacks in company support factors and most of the

existing dealers in the dealer survey said that. Like most of the companies are having

their regular company dealers meet to get together with their dealers, Whirlpool lacks

needs to do this in order to regain dealer support

5. Service arrangements need to be strengthen, still people thinks that because the

company is having foreign origin and it is new too, if they will purchase any product

they will face service problem in future. Customers in rural areas are not aware of the

service call center facilities and don’t know how do it, company is not having the

service centers also there in those area , customers passes the complaints to dealers,

and dealers to distributors, and finally distributors has to log this complaints to the

call center, which creates overburden for them.

6. Any one accepts that as a fully fledged brand, Whirlpool can only compete with the

Korean giants LG and Samsung. Product lines and variants in the refrigerators should

be increased to give wider option to choose from to the customer because the

Whirlpool refrigerators could be proved as a benchmark product for Whirlpool

because of its unique differentiation with others.

7. Most of the products are simple in looks, in refrigerators segment even the logo on

refrigerators are not attractive as compare to others.

8. Whirlpool should adopt aggressive marketing strategies to cut down competition and

visibility at market place.

48
 9. Appropriate product knowledge should be given by the company to dealers and to

dealers to create awareness towards quality.

10. Products should be more attractive refrigerators looks very simple and ordinary

especially direct cool refrigerators Entry level Refrigerators can do better because of

price and capacities.

11. Whirlpool has good presence in the market but one thing is also evident that Whirlpool

is present in major counters with LG and Samsung, Whirlpool also need to focus on

those dealers were it will not face direct competition with LG and Samsung.

Competitive strategy should be like this where first Whirlpool should wipe out smaller

brands compare to LG and Samsung because this brand also have market share larger

than Whirlpool, and Whirlpool is not in competition of LG and Samsung it should

target on brands like Godrej , TCL first, so it can compete the bigger brand later on.

49
CONCLUSION

50
CONCLUSION:
Nearly five years ago, Whirlpool Corporation set out on a course to reach the homes and hearts
of customers around the globe. By listening intensely to their customers, understanding their
needs and desires, and creating innovative solutions that meet and exceed those needs,
Whirlpool’s organizations worldwide are building unmatched levels of customer loyalty to the
brands.
“ Its about innovation, eco efficiency and the consumer”
The driving and the major elements the company considers are the
Innovation
Eco friendly in nature
Consumer
In this present world and in this emerging scenarios of business whirlpool has
exactly aimed on the aspects which it has to be.
“Through increased speed to market and international project
teams, we’re changing the way we do business.”
Time being the major concern for any person in the world the company has attained a beautiful
place in establishing a standard of producing products and placing products delivering them on
time when needed

“I make quality products that help people express their personal styles”

Personal belonging toward s anything is a major aspect for a human being in driving towards it
interest in attaining it.so whirlpool has got its uniqueness in producing products according to
lifestyles of individuals.

51
BIBLIOGRAPHY

52
BIBLIOGRAPHY
References:
1.Marketing research, G.C.Beri, Third Edition, Tata
McGrawHill Publishing Company Limited, New
Delhi, 2000
2.)Marketing management, Philip Kotler, Twelth
(Millennium) edition, Prentice-Hall of India
Private Limited, New Delhi, 2003

1. http://www.whirlpoolcorp.com
2. whirlpool annual report 2008.pdf
3.Implementing global marketing strategy.pdf
Whirlpool Corporation
4. Building a House of Brands: Whirlpool Corporation’s
Blueprint for Success.pdf
5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whirlpool_Corporation

53
ANNEXURE

54
Q1. Have you purchased any consumer durable during Exhibitions?
(A) Y (B) N

Q.2While purchasing consumer durable which parameter influences you?

(A)BRAND (B)DURABILITY (C)PRICE (D)PRODUCT FEATURE (E) SERVICE

Q3. From where you prefer buying consumer durables

(A) COMPANY SHOPEE (B) SHOWROOM (C) EXHIBITION

Q.4.You prefer to buy from the same as you have mentioned in Q.3 because of following
reasons.
(A) QUALITY (B) ORIGINALITY (C) PRICE

Q.5. How frequently you change your consumer durables?

(A) 2YEAR (B) 3 YEARS (C) 4 YEARS (D) 5YEARS)

Q.6.Do you prefer any financing scheme to purchase consumer durables?

(A) YES (B) NO

Q-8 Are you aware of warranty period of the products?

(A) YES (B) NO

Q-9 Do you know which product parts are under warranty?

(A) YES (B) NO

Q-10 Does the service man come as prompt as said to you?

(A) YES (B) NO

55