FACULTY OF BUSINESS MANAGEMENT &

GLOBALISATION
MCO 101 ● Management

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 Table of Contents
Part 1: The Organization Profile..................................................................................................3

Mercedes Target Customers:.......................................................................................................6

Locations & its Branches:............................................................................................................6

Public Relations:..........................................................................................................................7

Organizational chart.....................................................................................................................9

Part2: Contextual Dimensions....................................................................................................17

1) Strategy..........................................................................................................................17

2) Environment..................................................................................................................19

Task environment......................................................................................................................19

Top Competitors:...................................................................................................................20

The general environment...........................................................................................................22

Macro Environment:..................................................................................................................25

Current Level of Environmental Uncertainty......................................................................25

3) Culture...........................................................................................................................26

4) Organizational Lifecycle...............................................................................................27

5) Technology.....................................................................................................................28

Part 3: Structural Dimensions....................................................................................................29

Formalization.............................................................................................................................29

Specialization:............................................................................................................................29

Hierarchy of authority:..............................................................................................................30

Centralization:...........................................................................................................................30

pg. 2
 Professionalism:.........................................................................................................................30

Part 4: Recommendations...........................................................................................................31

Part 1: The Organization Profile

Mercedes Benz is a well-known brand name company that originated in Germany and it’s
specialized in producing automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks and is a division of its parent
company, Daimler AG. Mercedes as a brand is equivalent with quality and elegance, and also it's
considered as one of the oldest automotive brand that still exists until today. MERCEDES is a
service, private organization containing less than 500 employees.

The Mercedes automobile was first marketed in 1901 by Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft. The

first Mercedes-Benz brand name vehicles were produced in 1926, following the merger of Karl
Benz's and Gottlieb Daimler's companies into the Daimler-Benz company.

Mercedes-Benz has built a reputation of quality and exclusivity throughout its product lines. It is
a globally recognized company and one of the top ten most recognizable brands in the world and
enjoys a reputation of prestige.

The company markets its products to upper middle class and upper class people in all countries
with remarkable success. Typically its clients are aged 40+ but their products also appeal to
younger markets which have been a loyal and very profitable niche. The company competes with
other luxury automakers that also have world presence such as BMW and other luxury brands of
commercial cars, such as Toyota’s Lexus, Honda’s Acura and Nissan’s Infinity.

Mercedes-Benz manufactures full-sized sedans, hardtops, convertibles, coupes and sports sedans.
The company markets luxury automobiles through a network of dealers around the globe and has
a broad price structure, with models targeting the low end of the niche luxury car market (prices
in the $30,000 range) and continuing to cars costing up to $100,000 or more.  Mercedes-Benz
has also tried to enhance the reputation of luxury and durability of its cars by including the
“Mercedes-AMG” which is a sister company that produces high-performance engines for luxury
cars.  Mercedes’s AMG models have more aggressive body, better stability, higher

pg. 3
performances, better handling, and the use of carbon fiber is more extensive than their regular
Mercedes models. AMG models are more expensive than a regular Mercedes car.

Among the passenger cars that Mercedes-Benz manufactures are the following models:

B-Class—Multi-Activity

C-Class—Saloon, Estate & Coupé

CL-Class—Coupé

CLS-Class—Coupé

E-Class—Saloon, Estate, Coupé & Cabriolet

G-Class—Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV)

GL-Class—Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV)

GLK-Class – Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV)

M-Class—Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV)

R-Class—Luxury Tourer Vehicle (LTV)

S-Class—Saloon

SL-Class—Roadster

SLK-Class—Roadster

SLS AMG—Coupé

Viano—Multi Purpose Vehicle (MPV) 3

Mercedes-Benz manufactures in Egypt are the following models:

A-Class

B-Class

C-Class

pg. 4
CLA

GLA

E-Class

GLK-Class

S-Class—Saloon

Each of those cars has different engines options, accessories, and other personalization options to
customize the product according to the customer’s preference. The assortment of product
offering is pretty wide. The pricing strategy of the company is also an intrinsic part of its
strategy. Pricing the cars above the prices of the competition allows the company to be perceived
a higher value manufacturer.

pg. 5
Design "Where artistry meets engineering"

The words "a Mercedes-Benz should always look like a Mercedes-Benz" still fuel our creative
fire. But what we achieve goes far beyond appearances. Together with some of the world's best
automotive engineers, our team of industrial, textile, graphic and interface designers devote
themselves to the craft of automobile making. And what we produce are vehicles that not only
look, but feel and sound like nothing else on the road.

“The company keeps its customers through INNOVATION.”

Mercedes Target Customers:

The company markets its products to upper middle class and upper class people in all countries
with remarkable success. Typically its clients are aged 40+ but their products also appeal to
younger markets which have been a loyal and very profitable niche.

The decision to buy a Mercedes-Benz is the result of extended problem solving. Because before
buying a car, consumer will search into its different attributes and would compare with the other
competitive brands.

Mercedes-Benz, a division of DaimlerChrysler, applies an understanding of customer segments

to direct strategic initiatives. In the past, Mercedes-Benz primarily targeted aged 50+ affluent
males. Through customer segmentation research, the company discovered an attractive, younger
customer segment – that of successful, affluent, young professionals. This attractive segment
actually did not exist even a decade ago; the segment is the result of many young people
marrying later and making high salaries at a far younger age. Mercedes determined that by 2001,
this “Entry Luxury Car Segment” accounted for 75 percent of the luxury car market sales.

Mercedes-Benz has different market segments for different sized luxury cars, which offer a wide
variety of luxury cars to suit the needs of their customers.

Locations & its Branches:

Mercedes-Benz Retail network in Egypt currently consists of 4 Authorized Sales and After Sales.
Two of them in Cairo and one tradeshow in Alexandria (Alexandria National Automotive, Giza

pg. 6
National Automotive, Hurghada National Automotive & Cairo National Automotive). Dealers
with 5 sales showrooms and 3 Authorized Service workshop.

Alexandria National Automotive (Cairo-Alexandria Agricultural Rd., beside abis traffic,

Semouha Alexandria, Egypt)

Locations of Mercedes Benz Cars:

 Affalterbach, Mercedes-AMG GmbH

 Beijing, Beijing Benz Automotive Co., Ltd. (BBAC)
 Berlin, Mercedes-Benz Plant
 Bremen, Mercedes-Benz Plant
 East London, Mercedes-Benz Plant (Mercedes-Benz Manufacturing South Africa (Pty)
Ltd.)
 Hambach, smart Plant (smart France S.A.S.)
 Hamburg, Mercedes-Benz Plant
 Kecskemét, Mercedes-Benz Plant (Mercedes-Benz Manufacturing Hungary Kft.)
 Kölleda, MDC Power GmbH
 Rastatt, Mercedes-Benz Plant
 Sebeş and Cugir, Romania
 Sindelfingen, Mercedes-Benz Plant
 Stuttgart-Untertürkheim, Daimler AG Headquarters/ Mercedes-Benz Plant
 Tuscaloosa, Mercedes-Benz Plant (Mercedes-Benz U.S. International Inc.)

Public Relations:
Mercedes Benz fashion week (StarEGYPT Magazine)

While the image of Mercedes-Benz is of the leading automobile brand of prestige and quality,
StarEGYPT comes to demonstrate that Mercedes-Benz is also about lifestyle, entertainment,
people, and events.

pg. 7
Star Care: Mercedes Benz Egypt also gives great attention towards their social responsibility. In
2008 it established Star Care Egypt, a foundation to help children in need, in partnership with
Daimler AG and Star Care in Germany. 

STAR CARE Egypt is a non-profit organization founded by company executives of Mercedes-

Benz passenger cars in Egypt.

To support children directly or through cooperation with specialized organizations. It is the

company's primary objective to help ensure a better future for less fortunate children in Egypt.
They thrive to extend a helping hand to children in need. Every child's smile is what matters to
us, and with your help we can help make that possible

Mercedes-Benz Driving Academy

Mercedes-Benz Driving Academy is unlike any other driving school. We believe our pioneering
approach already starts before your driver education. We guarantee to reach the UK’s high
quality standards in driver education and let you benefit from our unique approach and
exceptional pass rate. Learn to drive with Mercedes Benz in London, the Midlands & the South
East.

Head Start

Want to start learning to drive before you're 17, before you even start to get your driving
licence? With HeadStart you get driver training on-track in a safe and controlled environment at

pg. 8
Mercedes Benz World. This driver training will prepare you for getting your driving licence.
Click here to find out more about starting early.

Driving lessons

Find out more about starting your journey of learning to drive with Mercedes-Benz. We take you
all the way from complete beginner to getting your driving licence and individual driver training
for new and advanced drivers. Our expertly trained driving instructors offer driving lessons
around London, the Midlands and the South East.

Winter Driving

Even the most experienced driver’s heart can sink when they pull back the curtains to reveal
roads covered in snow and ice, especially when the day’s journey really is necessary.

Organizational chart
Mercedes Benz have 11 different departments with an average of 4 core practice areas in each:

pg. 9
Global Organization Chart

pg. 10
Local Organization Chart

Mercedes-Benz has a divisional structure.

Mercedes follows high specialization policy because it focus on the perfect quality and excellent
performance so the company includes separate divisions, each division has its own budget,
personnel, policies & planning staffs that are focused on what is the best for each particular
division.

The divisional structure has several strength that’s why it is the best choice to cope with the fast
change in the environment instability since each product line has its own separate division as
company can make effective control on the production process across different functional
departments.

Departments in Mercedes Benz

1) Corporate Communications/Public Relations

This department manages public relations and internal communications to retailers, to foster a
positive news-media environment for MBUSA, Mercedes-Benz, smart USA and Sprinter
products, and Mercedes-Benz, smart USA and Sprinter retailers, by cultivating relationships with
key stakeholders and maintaining a positive media image.

Core areas include:

 Brand Public Relations

 Product/Technology Public Relations

pg. 11
  Corporate Public Relations
 Corporate Communications
2) Customer Service

Whenever Mercedes-Benz owners are in need, customer service is there, 24 hours a day/seven
days a week, to answer their questions, provide solutions to problems, and offer technical and
roadside assistance. Our staff of trained professionals also supports the dealer network, helping
them better serve owners' needs.

Core areas include:

 Customer Assistance Center

 Parts Assistance Center
 Technical Assistance Center
 Parts Distribution Centers
3) Distribution & Logistics

Distribution & Logistics ensures the timely delivery of vehicles, parts, and accessories in the
U.S. They arrange for transportation from Mercedes-Benz global production plants, manage
national inventory, make sure that vehicles are in tiptop shape after their long voyage to the
states, and allocate and distribute vehicles, parts, and accessories to Retail Centers.

Core areas include:

 Vehicle Preparation Centers

 Volume Planning
 Supply Chain Management/Inventory Management
 Import & Domestic Transportation Logistics
 Retail Distribution
4) Specialized Technical

Those who work in specialized technical functions are the heartbeat of MBUSA. They
implement design modifications, correct any damage done during transport, and provide service

pg. 12
assistance to the dealerships. They make sure our vehicles are ready to go to market and keep
them running for years to come.

Core areas include:

 Technical Assistance Center Operations

 Vehicle Preparation Center
 Parts Assistance Center
 Warranty Evaluations
 Vehicle Test Centers
5) Engineering

Engineering's primary functions are to ensure all Mercedes-Benz, smart and Sprinter vehicles for
sale in the U.S. market meet all applicable regulations, operate as designed, and are able to be
serviced by our dealerships. This includes functions such as product testing, developing service
manuals, trend analysis on parts replaced under warranty, and product design modifications to
specifically tailor vehicles to the U.S. market. Mercedes-Benz endeavors to do everything
possible to enhance the safety of our products. That is why Engineering also investigates
accidents involving Mercedes-Benz, smart and Sprinter vehicles to find out what can be done to
further enhance vehicle design to increase safety.

Core areas include:

 Product Analysis
 Service Engineering
 Emissions Control
 Technical Writing
 Warranty Services
 Test Centers
 Field Technical Services
 Customer Satisfaction
 Quality Engineering Center
6) Human Resources

pg. 13
MBUSA recognizes that people are what make our star shine. That is why the aim of the Human
Resources department is to find, recruit and retain a highly qualified, diverse workforce, while
striving to offer benefits and develop a culture that make MBUSA a great place to work!

Core areas include:

 Employee Development & Organizational Design

 Compensation & Benefits
 HR Operations - Talent Acquisition and Associate Relations
7) Information Technology

Information Technology provides the network infrastructure to support the collaborative

processes at MBUSA. They facilitate the work of all other departments, allowing for the quick,
efficient, secure, and accurate analysis and exchange of information.

Core areas include:

 Dealer, Corporate & Customer Systems

 Vehicle Sales Systems
 Network/Web Operations
 Information Management
 Project Management
 HRIS
 General Counsel

The General Counsel department carries out the legal processes necessary to affect the rights,
privileges and obligations of the Company.

8) Marketing

Marketing actively promotes positive visibility for MBUSA, and strengthens customer
relationships and product and brand public perceptions. This is achieved via sporting and
lifestyle events, product placement, internet marketing, relationship marketing, and advertising.
Marketing also develops and manages MBUSA's current and future product development, and

pg. 14
creates and implements targeted marketing strategies for each product as well as for the
Mercedes-Benz brand in the U.S.

Core areas include:

 Product Management
 Events Marketing
 Marketing Communications
 Internet Marketing
 Relationship Marketing
 Market Research & Strategy
 smart Marketing
9) Sales

The MBUSA sales function primarily supports the dealer network with new and certified pre-
owned sales on a national and regional level. Nationally, they develop plans, budgets, programs
and policies to support the achievement of national sales objectives. Sales also works closely
with the dealer network to translate national programs into tactical programs that can be
implemented across a region and on the dealership level. Additionally, the corporate sales group
handles fleet sales.

Core areas include:

 Sales Operations
 Regional Operations
 Pre-Owned Operations
 Retail Development
 Corporate Fleet Sales
 Remarketing
10) Finance

In today's environment, effective management of resources is imperative. The finance

department helps MBUSA to be responsible stewards over these resources by controlling costs,

pg. 15
managing and mitigating risk, and ensuring that MBUSA is in compliance with legal obligations.
By applying standardized best-practice methods, strategies and guidelines, it ensures
transparency, comparability, and value creation.

Core areas include:

 Profit Planning & Financial Reporting

 Corporate Finance, Controlling & Risk
 Corporate Treasury
 Tax Administration
 Purchasing
 Payroll

11) Learning and Performance

MBUSA offers learning and performance resources to staff that enable them to stay on the cusp
of technology, refine their existing skills, and develop and grow both professionally and
personally.

Core areas include:

 Corporate training
 Retail Training

Mercedes Benz Egypt

pg. 16
 President

VP

Manager Customer Manager Marketing

Director Sales
Service Research

Sales Team

The President is Dr/Albear Farag. The head of the department is Ms/Monanita. There are three
main managers in the marketing department: Manger of Customer Service Mr/Bishoy, Manager
of Marketing Research Mr/Samuel Ramzy and Director Sales Mr.Mina Magdy. There are about
60 employees in the organization.

The President is Dr/Alber Farag has led the company to a whole new level. Under his leadership,
Mercedes-Benz Egypt has successfully sustained its leadership position in the premium car
market and consecutively achieved historical sales records. In addition, Dr/Alber and the
Management Team have launched a number of innovative initiatives, which drove the brand to
new heights. With these achievements, he has been appointed as the new President & CEO of
Mercedes-Benz Egypt. He is well-prepared for the responsibilities of a CEO. As the leading
brand in Egypt’s premium car market, Mercedes-Benz Egypt will continue to introduce top
quality products, maintain high class services and deliver its brand promise “The best or
nothing” to its valued customers. Most importantly, Mercedes-Benz Egypt will continue to
aspire in making the “star” shine even brighter in the Egyptian market.

pg. 17
Part2: Contextual Dimensions
1) Strategy
Porter's generic competitive strategies are ways of competing, in which it develops a firm's
relative position within its industry determines whether a firm's profitability is above or below
the industry average.
Low-cost leadership Different
Michael Porter suggests that a
company can adopt one of
three strategies: Focused Differentiation,
Focused low-cost
Low-cost
Leadership differentiation leadership, and
Focus. (Mercedes-Benz ) However, to
use these strategy
managers should take into consideration two factors: the competitive advantage of the product, in
addition to the competitive scope (Broad scope or Narrow scope).

In line with porter's generic strategy, Mercedes-Benz has employed focused market generic
differentiation strategy as its competitive strategy to outperform other firms in the auto industry.
Mercedes makes their cars to appear more luxurious than the models of rivals in the same range;
because it focuses on a narrow scope in which it sells to selected customer segment.

Competitive Advantage

Low cost Uniqueness

Broad

pg. 18
Competitive Scope

Narrow

The dedication of Mercedes-Benz to cutting-edge technology, styling and safety innovations has
made the firm’s vehicles prized by those who are rich enough to afford them that is why
Mercedes uses Focused Differentiation Strategy.

These are few departments that exists in Mercedes that proves that focus differentiation
strategy is suitable for the organization:

- Customer service
- Learning & performance
- Corporate Communication & PR
- HR

2) Environment
In a broad sense the environment is an infinite factor that includes everything outside the
organization, every organization has its own environment that effected by all the elements that
exist outside the boundaries of the company.

Every organization has something called (organization's domain) is the chosen environment that
an organization stakes out for itself with respect to the product, services and market served.

Task environment
It includes all sectors that the organization directly interacts with and have direct impact on the
ability of the organization to achieve its goals.

pg. 19
One of the most important things that organizations must put into consideration is the
competition that it faces, no doubt all companies that work at automobile industry face very
aggressive competition among them. Mercedes is a huge organization and well-known one, it
face aggressive competition from BMW, Volvo, Toyota, ford.

a) Industry Size & competitors:

Intensity of competition:

Most of these companies are focus only on the car manufacture and not diversify at any other
fields , so Mercedes only specialized in car manufacturing and it cooperate with other suppliers
to provide it with the metal and rubber and all the required ingredient that necessary for car
manufacturing ,which is considered a competitive advantage for Mercedes that its partnership or
the long period deal with its suppliers enhance it with the best raw materials and the best quality
that its competitors can't get.

Consumer Decisions are characterized as habitual decision making, limited problem solving and
extended problem solving. Habitual decision making is the result of a consumer's habit to buy a
product and it is more in case of necessities. Limited problem solving requires a little search.
Extended problem solving involves extensive search high risk and involvement. The decision to
buy a Mercedes-Benz is the result of extended problem solving. Because before buying a car,
consumer will search into its different attributes and would compare with the other competitive
brands like BMW.
Consumers have several distinct goals in purchasing cars. Generally, the company follows
certain objectives to achieve its goals. These organizational buying objectives are important:
availability of product, reliability of seller, consistency of quality, delivery, and price and
customer service. 
From the Social Psychology perspective, low income level and middle income level consumers
after buying a Mercedes car start feeling like they are richer in their social group.
The marketing concept states that to be successful, a company must provide greater customer
value and satisfaction than its competitors do. That is exactly what Mercedes-Benz is applying
worldwide.

Top Competitors:

pg. 20
BMW, Audi, Porsche, Cadillac, Lexus, Range Rove are MB's top competitors which we call the
"Competitive Rivalry between Existing Players".

There are five competitive forces that shape every industry and every market. These forces
determine the intensity of competition and hence the profitability and attractiveness of an
industry. Based on the information derived from the Five Forces Analysis, management can
decide how to influence or to exploit particular characteristics of their industry.

b) Suppliers & manufacturers

The raw material sectors

Mercedes is very smart company, they make deals with German suppliers And local suppliers
but the suppliers don’t have strong power on them according to the condition of the deal because
the part that break the contract will pay huge amount of money for the part.

The supplier of Mercedes are, one for the rubber, one for the metal (hard cover of the car'), one
for the glass, and the last one for the chairs of the car and these staff, the company manufacture
the engine and the break and all equipment that are required for the performance itself, changing
in the prices.

pg. 21
Prices changes frequently according to the currency of the country that the car sell in it and
according to tariffs and customs. The materials that the company uses not turn to be obsolete
between day and night.

Market sector

All companies face cretin level of uncertainty at their field , automobile industry one of the
industries that face high level of uncertainty and the surrounding environment at the middle of
stability ,car consumers always want more technology at their cars ,more safety systems , best
quality and new styles and colors for their cars

The human resource sectors

First the labor market: the headquarter of Mercedes at Germany, that make it hard on foreigners
engineers and workers to travel and work their because the strickted regulation that Germany
obliged at everyone enter the country

If we talked about wages and salary at Mercedes, we will classify it as engineers and
administrators and worker the highest salary for engineers and the top managing then wages for
workers ,as wrote in some reviews about Mercedes the experience of work for Mercedes is one
from the most beautiful experience that engineers could have, because the very creative and
flexible work conditions at Mercedes the human resource department there try to provide work
environment that help engineers to create and be effective as well. The human resource
department always choose the well-educated employees and people that have a long period
experience at that field then provide them with a satisfying working environment and finally they
provide them training programs to develop their skills. Mercedes is also known for the program
for internship for the post graduate to encourage the remarkable student to come and work for
them and provide them all they need to be loyal to the company.

The international sector

Mercedes face internal competition and external competition ,the internal from woles vagn and
Volvo that the headquarter of the two companies at Germany also ,and the external competition
from big organization like Toyota at Japan and ford at America ,all of these companies sell its
product around the world so they almost compete at the same market.

pg. 22
Mercedes as a well-known company faces acquisition from foreign markets because it establish
itself well, the problems that faces Mercedes when it decide to enter new market is the foreign
customs and regulations and of course main point cause big problem specially if the two
countries use different currency in the exchange rate, that make the price of the car extremely
high at certain country and moderate at another country.

The general environment

Government sectors

Every country has its own regulations and laws and all organization at these county should
follow it, Germany is well-known as industrial country and very strict at their laws and when
they open new branches at different countries like Egypt they try to make adaption between their
policy they used to use and the policy of that country. Mercedes here in Egypt follow the
regulation and laws of Egypt to adapt and make profits and it pay its taxes, but Mercedes as
company doesn’t do anything for the community, it is not social responsible company. It is
affected by the revolutions and what happened after it because the country wasn’t safe and its
property face many trails to get robbed.

The sociocultural sector

All employees at Mercedes are very well-educated and graduate from well-known universities,
and most of the top managers have PHD.

Numbers of females and males

According to the nature of the work environment most of the employee at Mercedes are males
because it is hard job, require many hours of work and sometimes need much physical effort, and
according also to the culture of Egypt women not used to work at automobile manufacturing.

Work ethics

Mercedes CEO SAID THAT honesty, integrity, effectiveness are traits of all employees at
Mercedes because they always aim to provide the best quality for their clients and make them
satisfied and loyal to Mercedes,

pg. 23
Unfortunately Mercedes doesn’t do any green movement to protect the environment, it follows
the regulations and laws that protect the surrounding environment but it didn’t do anything extra
to protect the environment.

Economic condition sectors

At 2008 all the organization around the world face big recession (the global recession) that
affected the economic statues of the organization

And the employee rate increased at that year.

Technology sectors

Techniques of production, Mercedes is a leader in the automobile industry, it provide advanced

technology and advanced safety systems that help their clients and offer them the best service
and quality because Mercedes provide high rate of innovations, also the website of Mercedes
provide information about the company and all the new product that the company offer, and
Facebook page is very active to make the company in touch with all fans and followers.

Mercedes-Benz has introduced many technological and safety innovations. That's why it is one
of the most well-known and established automotive brands in the world. It will continue to be the
leading brand in innovation as long as it is always up to date with the new technologies.

In the 1980s, Mercedes built the world's first robot car, together with the team of Professor Ernst
Dickmanns at Bundeswehr University Munich. Partially encouraged by Dickmanns' success, in
1987 the European Union's EUREKA programmer initiated the Prometheus Project on
autonomous vehicles, funded to the tune of nearly €800 million. A culmination point was
achieved in 1995, when Dickmanns' re-engineered autonomous S-Class Mercedes took a long
trip from Munich in Bavaria to Copenhagen in Denmark, and back. On highways, the robot
achieved speeds exceeding 175 km/h (109 mph) (permissible in some areas of the German
Autobahn). The car's abilities has heavily influenced robot car research and funding decisions
worldwide.

Mercedes Website:

pg. 24
Social media and mobile are often a large focus for luxury marketers, but Websites should not be
excluded from the mix. Rather, brand Websites should act as a hub for brand content across all
digital channels.

Internet users average 32 hours online per month, per Mr. Johnson. The average users spend
approximately 20 percent of their time reading content and 5 percent online shopping.

Therefore, Mercedes has dedicated much of its site to brand content.

Also, the site does not limit users to one feature on each page.

One key factor in Mercedes’ Web execution is spontaneous navigation.

Mercedes does not limit its site to product pages since it is not certain why users have arrived at
the site. The car brand offers lifestyle content such as its Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week content.

Above all, Mercedes is looking to bolster its Website as a channel to build relationships with its
customers beyond the purchase process.

The Mercedes-Benz website is the boldest statement of prestige and luxury that anyone can make
for a car. It is the best resource for information about their products and also sells the idea of a
glamorous sport car. Mercedes-Benz also features why their cars are well engineered. In the first
page of the website, they placed the picture of the Vice-President of Google, Vic Gundotra,
Mercedes-Benz owner, and promoted his story that unequivocally tells why Mercedes is the
safest car in the world. 
The President Mr. /Alber has also mentioned that Mercedes-Benz….
does not sell online.
Macro Environment:
- Economic
Mercedes-Benz(MB), is considered to be a top of the line, luxury car manufacturer, experienced
a tough period of time in the early part of the 1990’s due to an economic recession and
subsequent changing customer preferences. This tough operational period experienced by MB
caused the company to lose money on operations for the first time in the company’s history in
1993, but also encouraged the company to rethink some of their operating and core business
processes and change them to be more cost effective and efficient. It seems fair to suggest that in

pg. 25
times of economic down-turn, demand for luxury cars may decline at significant levels because
consumers may have significantly reduced amounts of personal income and it may no longer be
practical for these individuals to purchase luxury vehicles during this time. For example, in
times of recession, factors such as decreased personal income and lack of job security overall
may force consumers to stay away from the luxury brands.

-Political and Cultural Forces

In most cases worldwide when firms source, produce, and/or market products in foreign
countries, they encounter dynamic and challenging political and legal environments. Mercedes-
Benz has strategies on how to deal with different political forces in the countries that it deals
with.
From the perspective of the Cultural Anthropology, this is not a major factor while taking a
buying decision for Mercedes cars as the brand is famous all around the world.

Current Level of Environmental Uncertainty

As Mercedes is exposed to high environmental complexity and high environmental change then
it has high uncertainty. There is complexity in Mercedes environment because of the large
number of external elements and dissimilarities of the elements available in the environment, in
addition to the frequent & unpredictable change of elements.

Every day new technologies are introduced and developed which greatly influence the
automobile industry and force the suppliers to be more innovative so they can survive between
their competitors.

3) Culture
Culture is consistent, observable patterns of behavior in organizations. Aristotle said, “We are what
we repeatedly do.” This view elevates repeated behavior or habits as the core of culture and
deemphasizes what people feel, think or believe. It also focuses our attention on the forces that shape
behavior in organizations.

pg. 26
Mercedes culture states that ‘’Between big product launches, global town halls and the occasional
picnic, we work to foster a sense of community in every corner of the company, in every corner of
the globe’’

These are some of the observable aspects that Mercedes practice in its firm:
 Product launch parties/special events
 Promotional events, sporting events, movie events
 Holiday party and associate picnic
 Recognition and Rewards
 Bimonthly employee newsletter: includes news on products, events, employees, and HR
topics
 Product evaluation opportunities
 Monthly Town Hall Meetings: hosted by the CEO and live broadcast to all remote locations.

Mercedes employees wear differently considering the department they are working in. For
example: An employee who works in the administration and is in contact with the firm’s
clients should wear formal clothes in order to be representative to the firm in opposite to an
employee who works in the factory should wear resistant clothes for safety reasons.

Mercedes has ‘’Mission Culture’’ in which it is concerned with serving customers in the external
environment. Mercedes has core clear values that it focuses on which makes it a mission culture
type:

-Passion for Excellence

To be the best, all the time.

-Customer Focused

Ensuring that every customer is satisfied.

-Willingness to Grow

Trying to continuously innovate and improve.

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-Make a Difference

By supporting the communities they serve

Mercedes includes teamwork in its internal environment that has a team-oriented and open
minded corporate culture involving employees through leadership and individual acceptance of
delegated responsibility, although it is more concerned with a narrow scope in the market that it
is serving and that is its main goal. Satisfying a firm’s customers is not easy especially when it is
serving a focused group with a unique product, for that reason teamwork is important, strong
capability in research in order to enhance the product according to the customers’ needs and
desires, innovation and creativity to enhance the product and impress the customers I am serving.

4) Organizational Lifecycle
Now Mercedes at the mature stage because it is a big corporation and well-known ,make profits
by millions of dollars ,cover come a lot of problems ,but Mercedes also has a great opportunity
for growth and to expand at new markets around the world ,create new technology at automobile
industry and differ itself from all the companies at the field, Mercedes at Egypt is still at
mature(elaboration stage) stage also and it established itself well, to overcome any obstacle the
company could face at this stage is lack of innovations ,it should rethink again as small business
at the entrpreunrial stage to have more creative ideas and bring the life of innovation back to the
organization.

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 5) Technology
Technology refers to the collection of techniques, methods or processes used in the production of
goods or services or in the accomplishment of objectives. Workflow independence is a
characteristic of technology that specifies the design of the firm and measures the dependency of
the departments on each other in the firm.

There are three types of interdependence that influence the organization structure:

1. Pooled Interdependence which has low communication within the organization between
the departments
2. Sequential Interdependence which has medium communication within the organization
between the departments.
3. Reciprocal Interdependence which has high communication within the organization
between the departments.

Mercedes has Sequential interdependence workflow, in which departments exchange

information and resources, and depend on each other to perform well. The first department
should performs its work correctly so that the other department performs it correctly. They use
Long Linked Technology; each stage of production uses as its inputs the production of the
preceding stage and produces inputs for the following stage. It creates a need for horizontal
communication. Mercedes uses cross-functional teams to coordinate among the organization’s
departments. The interdependence implies a one-way flow of materials; therefore, extensive
planning and scheduling are generally effectively.

Design "Where artistry meets engineering"

The words "a Mercedes-Benz should always look like a Mercedes-Benz" still fuel our creative
fire. But what we achieve goes far beyond appearances. Together with some of the world's best
automotive engineers, our team of industrial, textile, graphic and interface designers devote

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themselves to the craft of automobile making. And what we produce are vehicles that not only
look, but feel and sound like nothing else on the road.

“The company keeps its customers through INNOVATION.”

Part 3: Structural Dimensions

Formalization
Pertains to the amount of written documentation in the organization. These documents includes
procedures, job description, regulations and policy manual. These written documents describe
behavior and activities.

Mercedes Formalization:

At first, procedures, rules and regulations are introduced to new employees to stick to the
organization’s framework. Daily to do lists are distributed among the employees to update their
daily tasks and performance.

All Mercedes operations comply with all local and national laws relating to the accurate and
complete maintenance of Company financial statements and records.

Specialization:
Organizational tasks are subdivided into separate jobs. Specialization is sometimes referred to as
the division of labor.

Mercedes Specialization:

Mercedes-Benz has a high specialization and division of labor. They believe that when
employees are specialized in certain tasks and projects, they become more efficient and
productive in their tasks.

Hierarchy of authority:
Describes who reports to whom and span of control for each manager. Hierarchy is depicted by
vertical lines on an organization chart.

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Mercedes Hierarchy of Authority:

In managerial levels, the hierarchy is tall in which a small number of employees report to single
supervisor, span of control narrow.

In operational levels, the hierarchy is wide in which large number of employees report to a single
supervisor, span of control is wide

Centralization:
Refers to hierarchical level that has authority to make decision. Examples of organizational
decisions that might be centralized or decentralized including purchasing equipment, establishing
goals, choosing suppliers, setting prices and hiring employees.

Mercedes Centralization:

In major organizational decisions are highly centralized because decision making kept at top
level and low centralized in daily activities in decision making because decisions are delegated
to lower level employees.

Professionalism:
It is the level of formal education and training of employees.

Mercedes Professionalism:

Professionalism is high, when employees require long period of training to hold jobs in the
organization.

Part 4: Recommendations
Recommendation regarding the economy

In our opinion, the current design in the organization is suitable with the environmental
challenges and uncertainty it is facing.

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Regarding the Economic Conditions we suggest that it should prepare previously for any
economic crisis that are predicted to happen as in Egypt the economic conditions are unstable
through effective forward planning.

Our recommendation to Organization Lifecycle:

Mercedes have to maintain both elaboration and maturity stage, it should focus on innovation
and growth. Thus preventing declining. The major crisis for the elaboration stage of development
is the need of revitalization. All mature organizations have to go through periods of revitalization
or they will decline. Therefore, Mercedes should inhibit declination by streamlining and using
small company think as illustrated in the figures above. Through encouraging innovation,
creativity and seeking new opportunities for learning and growth. In other words, through the
continuous production of creative and user-friendly products that meet the consumers’ needs and
expectations.

Recommendations on structural dimensions

Mercedes should keep up with the high professionalism by the continuous courses and training
of employees, which will increase their knowledge and commitment to the firm.

Top managers should be more flexible in their decision making towards the employees in the
production lifecycle.

Mercedes-Benz should start being more social responsible in the Middle East by
implementing CSR strategy aligned with its mission to enhance the standards of living.
As most customers prefer to deal with companies with social responsible activities.

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Daimler af mercedes-benz. (2012, June 01). Retrieved

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Larsson, H., & Falkemark, C. (2006). Bmw: A company analysis. (Master’s thesis, Goteberg
University)Retrieved from https://gupea.ub.gu.se/bitstream/2077/3072/1/06-07-53M.pdf

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l

Mercedes-benz s-class review. (2012, Feb 19). Retrieved

from             http://www.edmunds.com/mercedes-benz/s-class/

Mercedes-benz mission statement: 6 values and 6 global principles that drive. (2010).
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Short essay about mercedes-benz marketing approach. (2012, March 01). Retrieved
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Weihrich, H. (2012). Daimler-benz move toward the next century: With the
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