ORGANISATION STUDY ON DELL

COMPANY
 INTRODUCTION
Dell is an American multinational computer technology company that develops,
sells, repairs, and supports computers and related products and services. Named
after its founder, Michael Dell, the company is one of the largest technological
corporations in the world, employing more than 165,000 people in the U.S. and
around the world (Annual report 2020). It is one of the biggest PC
manufacturing companies in the world .

Dell sells personal computers (PCs), servers, data storage devices, network

switches, software, computer peripherals, HDTVs, cameras, printers, MP3
players, and electronics built by other manufacturers. The company is well
known for its innovations in supply chain management and electronic
commerce, particularly its direct-sales model and its "build-to-order" or
"configure to order" approach to manufacturing—delivering individual PCs
configured to customer specifications.[3][4] Dell was a pure hardware vendor for
much of its existence, but with the acquisition in 2009 of Perot Systems, Dell
entered the market for IT services. 

Dell was listed at number 51 in the Fortune 500 list, until 2014.[7] After going

private in 2013, the newly confidential nature of its financial information
prevents the company from being ranked by Fortune. As of July 2020, it is
the third-largest PC vendor in the world after Lenovo and Hewlett-
Packard (HP).[8] Dell is the largest shipper of PC monitors worldwide.[9] Dell is
the sixth-largest company in Texas by total revenue.
It is the second-largest non-oil company in Texas (behind AT&T) and the
largest company in the Greater Austin area.[11] It was a publicly traded
company (NASDAQ: DELL), as well as a component of the NASDAQ-
100 and S&P 500, until it was taken private in a leveraged buyout which closed
on October 30, 2013.
In 2015, Dell acquired the enterprise technology firm EMC Corporation;
following the completion of the purchase, Dell and EMC became divisions
of Dell Technologies.
HISTORY:
The company, first named PC’s Limited, was founded in 1984 by
American Michael Dell, who was then a student at the University of
Texas in Austin. Initially running the business from a dormitory room, Dell
started out providing customized upgrades for PCs. The venture proved
profitable, and Dell dropped out of college that same year to begin building
PCs. In 1985 the company released the Turbo PC, the first computer featuring
Dell’s own design. Founded on the premise of creating and selling custom-built
PCs directly to consumers, the company initially sold its products through
advertisements and mail-order catalogs. By avoiding the costs associated with
traditional retail markets, Dell was able to offer high-quality PCs at competitive
prices. Dell emphasized customer support, sending technicians to service PCs
and implementing a policy of risk-free returns. This business model proved
successful, and the company quickly grew, expanding into international
markets. The company, renamed Dell Computer Corporation, went public in
1988. Dell released its first notebook computer, the 316LT

The company’s sales grew at an annual rate of 49%, jumping from $3.5 billion
in 1994 to over $25 billion in 1999, while profits increased at the rate of 62%
per year. Dell was able to grow into a largest player in the personal computer
industry due to its innovative distribution strategy as well as lean supply chain
and manufacturing strategy.   Dell used Direct Model to sell its personal
computers. Dell Direct Model was so successful to create value for the company
and well as for its customers.   Dell was able to analyze the computer industry
and made strategic changes in the personal computer value chain. This enabled
the company to cater according to changing market trend and Dell was able to
dominate the PC market in United States and other markets.

Since Dell was selling directly to customers it offered customers the

choice in system configuration and was offering customized products according
to customer choice.  It also established 24-hour hotline support services and also
gave guaranteed shipment of replacement part to customers. It was also possible
for the company to sell the personal computers at cheaper price, as the company
was saving the distribution cost by cutting out the retail middleman. This Direct
selling strategy was also giving the company a wealth of market data which it
used to forecast demand trends and allowed it to segment the market according
profitability and focus the efforts on the lucrative segment.
 Dell’s success is also a result of the far-reachingmanufacturing and
supply chain strategy. The company adopted virtual integration strategy by
developing long-term relationships with selected component manufacturers and
made it mandatory for them to establish inventory hubs near Dell’s assembly
plants. This just-in-time inventory model reduced the time it took for Dell to
bring new PC models to market and resulted in significant first mover
advantage as well as cost advantages over the competitors like Hitachi, Sony
and Fujitsu who used traditional stored-inventory method. Dell was able to use
scientific approach into manufacturing and was able to produce custom-built
PCs in a matter of hours. It used information technology to directly control its
value chain, set quality measures and monitor in real time how material is
flowing throughout the chain.

Dell started out selling direct to customers and used mail-order system in
the beginning. With the emergence of internet, the company developed online
sales platform which made it possible for the company to reach wider audience
and increase sales volume. The company developed www.dell.com for its
transactional customers and www.premire.dell.com for its corporate customers.
It also developed an extranet, valuechain.dell.com for its suppliers in which
both parties share real-time information about Capacity, quality metrics, costs
customer demand, product quality and technical customer requirements Dell’s
direct model, lean manufacturing, Just-in-time inventory and use of internet was
imitated by companies like Compaq, IBM, HP, NEC etc., but they were
overpowered by complexity and conflicts between its traditional indirect sales
channels versus direct sales. Moreover, it was difficult for Dell’s competitors to
put together an entirely new delivery system. This resulted in Dell to have
competitive superiority over its competitors.

Reasons for the failure of Japanese companies in US

The Japanese companies like Hitachi, Sony and Fujitsu saw a rosy picture
in the US market and were confident that they will be able to capture the market
due to strong brand name in consumer electronics. They thought that since they
build many of the components used in PC like monitors, audio equipment, CD-
ROM, DRAM etc. themselves, they have tremendous advantage over American
competitors who have to buy everything from outside. But the Japanese
companies learned a hard lesson and were selling far less PCs than they have
anticipated.  They spent huge money trying to capture the US PC market but the
gain was marginal. The main reason why Japanese companies failed in US
market was due fact that local competitors like Dell had far superior business
model. Moreover Japanese companies failed to understand the dynamics of the
US market.

The Japanese PC manufacturers were selling products were based on

proprietary architectures as they make much of the components themselves.
When they develop an architect they produce it in bulk. But the same types of
components were being made by more than 20 companies.  The PC industry
was moving rapidly with frequent innovations and this made the product life
cycle of personal PC very short.  Local competitors like Dell were now using
vertical integration strategy and purchasing best quality components from the
new innovator and were supplying the computers with new technology much
faster in the US market.  Due to this fact Japanese companies were stuck with
the old technology and were taking more time to launch new technology in the
market.  Geographical constraint between the manufacturing plant and the US
market also added to the problem.Local competitors like Dell were using the
direct sales approach and this resulted in minimal cost whereas Japanese
companies were using indirect approach by selling through intermediaries. This
gave the local companies cost leadership advantage and they offered Personal
computers at 15% lower price than Japanese brands. 

Local Companies were also far superior to Japanesecompanies in terms of

business model and management style. Local companies were competitive due
to high-velocity production, low-cost distribution, direct customer relationships,
Just-In-Time manufacturing, and products and services aimed at specific market
segments. Japanese style of management, production technology, product made
for mass simplyetc.couldn’t close the gap.

Spartan Approach of Dell in PC selling

Dell and his company maintained their Spartan approach in doing

business. The Spartan approach is to have simplicity, efficiency and agility in
business process and to pursue goals rigorously but in disciplined manner. Dell
had a simple selling function in which customers can order their PC through the
website and can also ask for customization as per their need.  The company also
kept 24/7 service stations for the ease of the customers. Dell increased efficiency
by using direct model which made it possible for the company to interact directly
with customers to figure out exactly what they want before the product is made.
Listening to the customer at the time of taking order takes the guesswork and
wasted resources out of the equation altogether. It showed that the company has
pragmatic approach and values customer-focused philosophy. It sees every sales
order as a personal quest.

In addition to this of Dell used specific and innovative strategies on

improving customer service, cultivating supplier relationships, and achieving
vertical integration. This made the company more agile as it was able to
capitalize the new technology much faster that the competitors. Similarly the
company’s lean manufacturing and Just in time inventory ensured that the
customer orders are met in short time span. Thinking strategically about the
business helped the company cut cost and increase profits, all the while
improving on the Spartan approach.

Dell’s Direct Model as an effective approach to gain competitive advantage

in distribution and manufacturing process

Competitive advantage can be gained through two processes a) cost

leadership and b) product differentiation. Dell succeeded in doing the both
through its Direct Model. Dell’s Direct Model was the outcome of the
company’s search for a customer centric approach to offer customers better
quality at a bargain price.

The company focused on cutting operation costs by eliminating the

intermediaries allows the company to sell products at cheaper price than
competitors i.e. to have cost leadership and to provide customers with
customized PCs as per their needs. This made Dell competitive than others with
indirect model as they were selling in higher prices than Dell. Dell’s direct
model also ensured that it did not have massive inventory like other
competitors, Inventory costs were kept at a minimum and obsolete products
were minimized. They had their supplier open inventory house close to their
factories. Furthermore, Dell also had scientific approach of manufacturing and
was focusing on productivity through space utilization and Just-In-Time
manufacturing. This significantly added to the ability of keeping the costs lower
than competitors.

Direct model also helped the company differentiate its product.

Customers were dealing with the company directly and this instilled the sense of
belief to the customers who wouldn’t have trusted the intermediaries.
Customers were also able to customize their order according to their need.   Due
to lack of intermediaries, Dell has shorter delivery time. In addition to this the
company was providing 24/7 customer service. This was hugely different for
the competitors who were making the products on bulk and selling for the mass.
Dell's adoptation of the direct model has huge competitive advantage to the
company to become successful in both the US and overseas markets.

Benefits to Dell from the efficiency of internet

Before the emergence of internet Dell was using telephone to receive

orders from customers. This was a tedious job for the call attendant who had to
describe the features of the products and note down the requirements of the
customers. It took long time to secure the order and there was high risk of the
call attendant missing out the key requirements of the customers.

The establishment of www.dell.com opened up the company's product to

a greater number of potential customers. Dell customers could configure and
order their PC online, get technical support, and download updates to their
software. Dell’s Direct model had outstanding success because customers now
were able to order the PCS through the website. It reduced overheads because
online shop costs less to set up and run than a physical store. Internet enabled
the company to have automated order and payment processing.

The internet helped the company improve its business cycle and process. 
Customer can access troubleshooting information and configuration diagrams
customers can configure and price systems within Dell's entire product line;
order systems online; and track orders. The company’s institutional customers,
who are scattered throughout the world, use premier.dell.com to do business
with the company.  Furthermore, Dell is also able to share information with its
suppliers for range of topics, including product quality and inventory through its
extranet, valuechain.dell.com. Dell is able control its customer lifecycle, selling
life cycle and flow of information to subsidiaries through the use of Internet.

VISION AND MISSION:

VISION STATEMENT :- It’s the way we do business. It’s the way we interact
with the community. It’s the way we interpret the world around us– our
customers’ needs, the future of technology, and the global business climate.

MISSION STATEMENT :- To be the most successful computer company in the

world at delivering the best customer experience in markets we serve. In doing
so, dell will meet customer expectations of the Highest quality.

ORGANISATION PROFILE :-
FOUNDER: MICHAEL DELL

FOUNDED :Feb 1,1984

LOGO:
HEADQUARTERS: ROUND ROCK, TEXAS, U.S

KEY PEOPLE:

Michael Dell
(Chairman & CEO)
Jeff Clarke
(Vice-Chairman, Products & Operations)
Karen Quintos
(CCO)
NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES: 157,000(2019)

REVENUE: US$90.6 billion(FY 2019)

PRODUCTS:

Personal computers, servers, peripherals, smartphones, televisions

SERVICES:

Application services

Big data & analytics

Cloud

Data center

Internet of things

Dell EMC services

Mobile

Security

Training and certification

Small Business central

MARKETING STRATEGY :
Dell advertisements have appeared in several types of media including
television, the Internet, magazines, catalogs, and newspapers. Some of Dell
Inc's marketing strategies include lowering prices at all times of the year, free
bonus products (such as Dell printers), and free shipping to encourage more
sales and stave off competitors. In 2006, Dell cut its prices in an effort to
maintain its 19.2% market share. This also cut profit margins by more than half,
from 8.7 to 4.3 percent. To maintain its low prices, Dell continues to accept
most purchases of its products via the Internet and through the telephone
network, and to move its customer-care division to India and El Salvador

Product: Dell’s unique approach to manufacturing separates the different

processes so that Dell is not reliant on singular production or supplier’s chain
for equipment production. Though there is no segregation of the different
products and services nevertheless in separating the components enabled it to
target the customers based on the regions in which the products are
manufactured. By assigning each regionalized production center particular
component for production not only have diversified the risk of concentration of
labor and production costs but also depending on particular infrastructure.

Price: Dell’s product pricing reflect the affordability of local consumers. For

example, basing plants in Xiamen, China Dell has been able to provide products
and services at the local prices without incurring additional costs to price. Price
reasonability and the availability of support, after-sales services, and parts have
alleviated Dell’s position from others.

Place: Dell has been able to affect the location strategy aspect of its marketing
campaign. As Dell’s products are always available at the nearest dealers
customers develop trust for the “local Dell” thereby achieving the objective of
gaining their trust in Dell products and services and forming a large and
diversified consumer base.

Promotion: Dell in the past have not concentrated on extensive marketing

campaigns but this revolutionized in 1999 when Dell changed its tactics by
engaging in extensive marketing campaigns. The “Be Direct” attitude has
changed the way consumer view Dell as the local producers.

COMPETITORS:
Dell's major competitors include Hewlett-Packard (HP), Hasee,
Acer, Fujitsu, Toshiba, Gateway, Sony, Asus,
Lenovo, IBM, MSI, Panasonic, Samsung and Apple. Dell and its subsidiary,
Alienware, compete in the enthusiast market against AVADirect, Falcon
Northwest, VoodooPC (a subsidiary of HP), and other manufacturers. In the
second quarter of 2006, Dell had between 18% and 19% share of the worldwide
personal computer market, compared to HP with roughly 15%.
In late 2006, Dell lost its lead in the PC-business to Hewlett-Packard.
Both Gartner and IDC estimated that in the third quarter of 2006, HP shipped
more units  worldwide than Dell did. Dell's 3.6% growth paled in comparison to
HP's 15% growth during the same period. The problem got worse in the fourth
quarter, when Gartner estimated that Dell PC shipments declined 8.9% (versus
HP's 23.9% growth). As a result, at the end of 2006 Dell's overall PC market-
share stood at 13.9% (versus HP's 17.4%).
IDC reported that Dell lost more server market share than any of the top four
competitors in that arena. IDC's Q4 2006 estimates show Dell's share of the
server market at 8.1%, down from 9.5% in the previous year. This represents an
8.8% loss year-over-year, primarily to competitors EMC and IBM.
FINANCIAL INFORMATION:

Operating  US$2.622 billion

income (2020)

Net income  US$5.529 billion

(2020)

Revenue  US$92.15
billion (2020)

Total assets  US$118.86 billion

(2020)

Total equity  US$3.155 billion

(2020

DELL MARKET SHARE:

ACQUISITIONS:

List of companies acquired by Dell Inc.

Date of
Company
acquisitio Company notes References
acquired
n

Manufacturer of high-end [88][89][90]

Alienware 2006
PCs popular with gamers

Acquired to gain a foothold

in the iSCSI storage market.
Because Dell already had an
January 28, efficient manufacturing [91][92][93]
EqualLogic
2008 process, integrating
EqualLogic's products into
the company drove
manufacturing prices down

[94][95][96]
Perot Systems 2009 Perot Systems was a
technology services and
outsourcing company,
mainly active in the health-
sector, founded by former
presidential hopeful H. Ross
Perot. The acquired
business provided Dell with
applications development,
systems integration, and
strategic consulting services
through its operations in the
U.S. and 10 other countries.
 List of companies acquired by Dell Inc.

Date of
Company
acquisitio Company notes References
acquired
n

In addition, the acquisition

of Perot brought a variety of
business process
outsourcing services,
including claims processing
and call center operations.

KACE Networks was a

February 10, [97]
KACE Networks leader in systems
2010
management appliances.

November 2, [98]
Boomi Cloud integration leader
2010

The acquisition extended

February [99]
Compellent Dell's storage
2011
solution[buzzword] portfolio.

By acquiring this company

Dell now has the
full Intellectual property for
their networking portfolio,
[100]
Force10 networks August 2011 which was lacking on the
Dell PowerConnect range as
these products are powered
by Broadcom or Marvell IM
.
 List of companies acquired by Dell Inc.

Date of
Company
acquisitio Company notes References
acquired
n

Dell acquired the backup

and disaster recovery
software solution provider
out of Reston, VA.
AppAssure delivered 194
percent revenue growth in
2011 and over 3500%
growth in the prior three
years. AppAssure supported
AppAssure Softwar February 24, physical servers and [101]
e 2012 VMware, Hyper-V and
XenServer. The deal
represents the first
acquisition since Dell
formed its software division
under former CA CEO John
Swainson. Dell added that it
will keep AppAssure's 230
employees and invest in the
company.

A company with 130

patents, SonicWall develops
[102][103]
SonicWall May 9, 2012 security products, and is a
network and data security
provider.

[101][104]
Wyse April 2, 2012 A global market-leader
 List of companies acquired by Dell Inc.

Date of
Company
acquisitio Company notes References
acquired
n

for thin client systems.

Clerity, a company offering

services for application
(re)hosting, was formed in
1994 and has it
[101][105]
Clerity Solutions April 3, 2012 headquarters in Chicago. At
the time of the take-over
approximately 70 people
were working for the
company.

September [106][107][108][109]
Quest Software
28, 2012

A provider of infrastructure
automation products. Gale
November Technologies was founded [110]
Gale Technologies
16, 2012 in 2008 and is
headquartered in Santa
Clara, California.

[111][112]
Credant December A provider of storage
Technologies 18, 2012 protection solutions.
Credant is the 19th
acquisition in four years, as
Dell had spent $13 billion
on acquisitions since 2008
 List of companies acquired by Dell Inc.

Date of
Company
acquisitio Company notes References
acquired
n

and $5 billion in the past

year alone.

A global provider of
March 24, analytics software, in order [113]
StatSoft
2014 to bolster its big
data solutions offering.

GREEN INITIATIVES:
Dell became the first company in the information technology industry to
establish a product-recycling goal (in 2004) and completed the implementation
of its global consumer recycling-program in 2006.[199] On February 6, 2007, the
National Recycling Coalition awarded Dell its "Recycling Works" award for
efforts to promote producer responsibility.[200] On July 19, 2007, Dell announced
that it had exceeded targets in working to achieve a multi-year goal of
recovering 275 million pounds of computer equipment by 2009. The company
reported the recovery of 78 million pounds (nearly 40,000 tons) of IT
equipment from customers in 2006, a 93-percent increase over 2005; and 12.4%
of the equipment Dell sold seven years earlier.[201]
On June 5, 2007, Dell set a goal of becoming the greenest technology company
on Earth for the long term.[202] The company launched a zero-carbon initiative
that includes:

1. reducing Dell's carbon intensity by 15 percent by 2012

2. requiring primary suppliers to report carbon emissions data during
quarterly business reviews
3. partnering with customers to build the "greenest PC on the planet"
4. expanding the company's carbon-offsetting program, "Plant a Tree for
Me"
Dell reports its environmental performance in an annual Corporate Social
Responsibility (CSR) Report that follows the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)
protocol. Dell's 2008 CSR report ranked as "Application Level B" as "checked
by GRI".[203]
The company aims to reduce its external environmental impact through an
energy-efficient evolution of products, and also reduce its direct operational
impact through energy-efficiency programs. Internal energy-efficiency
programs reportedly save the company more than $3 million annually in
energy-cost savings. The largest component of the company's internal energy-
efficiency savings comes through PC power management: the company expects
to save $1.8 million in energy costs through using specialized energy-
management software on a network of 50,000 PCs.
INDUSTRY PROFILE:
Evolution of computers:
First Generation: Vacuum Tubes (1940-1956)
The first computer systems used vacuum tubes for circuitry and magnetic
drums for memory, and were often enormous, taking up entire rooms. These
computers were very expensive to operate and in addition to using a great deal
of electricity, the first computers generated a lot of heat, which was often the
cause of malfunctions.
First generation computers relied on machine language, the lowest-level
programming language understood by computers, to perform operations, and
they could only solve one problem at a time. It would take operators days or
even weeks to set-up a new problem. Input was based on punched cards and
paper tape, and output was displayed on printouts.

Second Generation: Transistors (1956-1963)

The world would see transistors replace vacuum tubes in the second generation
of computers. The transistor was invented at Bell Labs in 1947 but did not see
widespread use in computers until the late 1950s. 
The transistor was far superior to the vacuum tube, allowing computers to
become smaller, faster, cheaper, more energy-efficient and more reliable than
their first-generation predecessors. Though the transistor still generated a great
deal of heat that subjected the computer to damage, it was a vast improvement
over the vacuum tube. Second-generation computers still relied on punched
cards for input and printouts for output.
From Binary to Assembly
Second-generation computers moved from cryptic binary machine language to
symbolic, or assembly, languages, which allowed programmers to specify
instructions in words. High-level programming languages were also being
developed at this time, such as early versions of COBOL and FORTRAN.
These were also the first computers that stored their instructions in their
memory, which moved from a magnetic drum to magnetic core technology.
third Generation: Integrated Circuits (1964-1971)
The development of the integrated circuit was the hallmark of the third
generation of computers. Transistors were miniaturized and placed
on silicon chips, called semiconductors, which drastically increased the speed
and efficiency of computers.
Instead of punched cards and printouts, users interacted with third generation
computers through keyboards and monitors and interfaced with an operating
system, which allowed the device to run many different applications at one time
with a central program that monitored the memory. Computers for the first time
became accessible to a mass audience because they were smaller and cheaper
than their predecessors.
Fourth Generation:  Microprocessors (1971-Present)
The microprocessor brought the fourth generation of computers, as thousands of
integrated circuits were built onto a single silicon chip. What in the first
generation filled an entire room could now fit in the palm of the hand. The Intel
4004 chip, developed in 1971, located all the components of the computer—
from the central processing unit and memory to input/output controls—on a
single chip.
In 1981 IBM introduced its first computer for the home user, and in
1984 Apple introduced the Macintosh. Microprocessors also moved out of the
realm of desktop computers and into many areas of life as more and more
As these small computers became more powerful, they could be linked together
to form networks, which eventually led to the development of the Internet.
Fourth generation computers also saw the development of GUIs,
the mouse and handheld devices.

Fifth Generation: Artificial Intelligence (Present and Beyond)

Fifth generation computing devices, based on artificial intelligence, are still in
development, though there are some applications, such as voice recognition,
that are being used today. The use of parallel processing and superconductors is
helping to make artificial intelligence a reality.
EVOLUTION OF LAPTOPS(from bulky machines to compact dual
screens)
The world around is being cluttered with too many screens and India hasn’t
been slouching on that front either. An overload of screens, which was once
considered an assault on our senses, has now become a part of our everyday
lives. Moving beyond TV and computers or laptops, we are always connected
through smartphones, often carrying more than one to segregate professional
from personal. But that’s not all! When running out of cash, the ATM screen is
our go-to resource. At airports, we would rather get the boarding pass from a
self-help kiosk and drop the baggage at the counter instead of bearing a long
queue.
I sometimes pause and wonder “How many screens per second are we living."
With every passing day, the world around us is being increasingly populated
with screens. No matter where we go, the black mirror follows us—at
workplaces, home, indoors and outdoors, buses, trains, airports, there is simply
no escaping now. However, one may halt and wonder, what does this explosion
of the screen mean for the evolution of laptops? From clamshell designs to
athletic architectures, laptops have certainly come a long way. Yet, the future
may hold true integration of multiple screens, with a pursuit to de-clutter and
help multi-taskers prioritize better.
It was 1982 when Grid Systems, under the leadership of John Ellenby,
popularly known as the “godfather" of laptops, launched the first-ever laptop as
we recognize today—clamshell and portable. Named the Compass, the laptop
was, however, noting like a modern-day notebook. Despite the clamshell
design, the laptop was heavy (weighing 5 kilos) and expensive (a present-day
equivalent of over $20,000).
However, the Compass led to Apple, which released its first portable laptop in
1989, which may have been priced lesser but was still questionably portable,
weighing 7.2 kg. It was the 90s when some other popular product ranges
greeted us, for instance, the 1992 ThinkPad, which is still an active product line.
It folded the screen at the top and keyboard at the bottom neatly in half, also
offering TrackPoint allowing users to operate the mouse on the screen. In 1996,
Toshiba Libretto may have been the first entrant to the subnotebook category,
owing to its sleek design. With the dimensions of a novel, the laptop weighed
only 840 g, garnering immense popularity within the market for its industry-
leading easily portable attribute.
While tracing the evolution of laptops, a standout aspect has been the
consistency in the design of laptops’ architecture. While the machines have
surely shrunk, the year 2018 saw the growth of the “thin and light" category
priced at an affordable range. But not much has shifted in the age-old clamshell
design.
We made a leap towards the weird and wonderful design of laptops when
Windows 8 debuted over half a decade ago. It led to the rise of interesting
designs, noteworthy to mention the Yoga laptop range and other athletic designs
from the leading OEMs. However, the quirky designs have come and gone,
without defining the generation. The industry, thus, in the need of a serious
makeover and to de-clutter the proliferation of multiple screens, is perhaps
headed what may be a significant epoch in the laptop space – the advent of
dual-screen laptops. Brands are tinkering with the idea of adding another
secondary screen to the traditional design.
A dual-screen laptop allows the user to perhaps check the work emails on a
secondary screen while focusing on the major task at hand on the primary one.
Professionals can develop the PowerPoint presentation on the main screen,
while constantly brainstorming on the messenger app opened on the secondary
screen. Gamers can utilize the dual offering to focus on the high-adrenaline
action-packed formats and leverage the secondary screen to take stock of their
arsenal, zoom in on the map, or simply stream music online. In a nutshell, dual-
screen laptops are here to make life easier for the multi-tasking clan and take
some pressure off from having to utilize multiple screens. They would also
solve the conundrum for users to select between gaming devices and work
laptops.

FUNCTIONAL DEPARTMENTS IN THE

ORGANISATION:
The organisation uses a functional structure. The staff has been grouped
according to what they do and put into departments. Each and every department
has a president which reports to the CEO. The CEO makes up the strategic level
of management, the presidents of the departments make up the tactical level of
management and the Staff is the operational level management.

Manufacturing Department
Responsible for worldwide engineering, design, development and marketing of
Dell's enterprise products including servers, networking and storage systems.
The function of the manufacturing department is to convert input to output. In
this department the president is responsible for making sure that raw material is
provided and finished goods are made effectively, and make sure that work is
carried out smoothly, It is closely related to other departments like HR, Finance
etc

Human Resource Department

Responsible for driving the strategy and supporting initiatives to attract,
motivate, develop and retain world-class talent in support of Dell's business
goals and objectives. The main function of this department is to make relations
between high management and working labor and to bring in people into the
business to occupy seats in the organizational structure that are not filled. It
creates relationships between departments and gives the chance to show skills.

Marketing Department
Responsible for customer relationship management, communications, dell.com,
brand strategy, core research and analytics, and overall marketing agency
management.  Its main function is to create  strong relations with their
customers and marketing involves a wide range of processes concerned with
 finding out what consumer wants then providing it for them and It co-ordinates
with sales department.

Finance Department
Responsible for all aspects of Dell’s finance function including accounting,
financial planning and analysis, tax, treasury, audit and investor relations.The
science of the management and assets, in other words supplying funds and
capitals is called finance department. Finance is the money raising, record and
control system in any organization. It plays a specific role in any organization,
because every department is directly linked with this.

Research and Development Department.

Employees in this department work closely with Michael Dell on the
development of short- and long-term strategy, and also with leaders of the
company’s four global business units on their respective growth strategies.R&D
plays an important role in the innovation process. It results in technology that
brings new product and services to the market place and then works with the
marketing department. It was this department that brought the competitive
advantage of different colored laptops into the market placing Dell above its
Competitors

SWOT ANALYSIS:

Dell’s Strengths:
1. Global Presence: Dell has 363 offices spread across the world and is
currently the third-largest PC manufacturer and vendor in the world with more
than 15% of global PC a market share. It increased its global PC market share in
Q1 of 2020 to 19.7%.
2. Strong Financial Position: While other countries struggle with the effects
of the pandemic, Dell’s total revenue for Q1 of 2020 was to $21.90 billion,
which beats the projected $20.81 billion. In this quarter, revenue from its PCs,
notebooks, and tablets division and software increased by billions.
3. Excellent Brand Reputation: As a brand, Dell has nurtured a very strong
brand reputation and was ranked #137 top regarded company and #90
world’s most valuable brand and # 12 World’s Best Employers
Diversified Offerings: From desktops to laptops, notebooks, tablets,
smartphones, TVs, software, cloud services, data centers, and networking, Dell
caters to a wide range of tech-needs. Diversified offerings enhance stability.
4. Increased Investment in R&D: Research and development are critical for
success, particularly in the tech industry. In the past five years, Dell has
increased investment in R&D to $20 billion.
5. Highly Innovative: Innovativeness is one of the main ingredients for
success. Dell was ranked #26 Top 100 Digital Companies in 2019 and exploited
its innovativeness and resilience to beat Q1 2020 projected earnings.
6. Quality Products: Dell is highly respected by consumers globally for its
quality products. Dell’s line of Latitude Rugged Express is regarded as the
most durable and practical laptop in the market.
7. Personalized Customization: Technologically spoilt consumers of the 21st-
century demand VIP treatment and services that allow for personal
customization. Dell is one of few tech companies that allows its customers to
walk into its shops and customize their laptops.

Dell’s Weaknesses:

1. Overdependence on Tech: Dell operates primarily in the tech sector,

which can experience erratic fluctuations. This exposes the company to the
risk of catastrophic losses in case the tech sector declines.
2. Lack of Diversification: Dell depends heavily on PC sales. Even
though PC sales drive Dell’s earnings, any issues in this sector can be
financially devastating for the company.
3. Few POS: Having several Points of Sale (POS) ensures that the customer
can access products and services quickly before they are poached by
competitors. Dell insists on direct selling through a few of its outlets only in
major cities and towns across the world.
4. Declining Service Delivery: Cost-cutting should never undermine the
quality of service. At the turn of the century, Dell and other companies focused
on cutting costs by moving call centers to India and other developing
countries leading to a drastic decline in the quality of customer services.

Dell’s Opportunities:

5. Focus on Emerging Economies: While markets in developed countries

reach maturity and saturate, opportunities in emerging economies grow
rapidly. For one, Dell can offer its enterprise solutions in Africa to
capitalize on the growing demand for cloud computing services.
6. Expand Growing Divisions: The demand for smartphones is expected
to remain high and increase over the coming years with an increase in
mobile usage. Dell also offers smartphones and can expand this division
to exploit the ever-increasing demand.
 7. Increase Acquisitions: All major companies have expanded rapidly into
different markets and sectors through acquisition. Dell has the resources
to finance large scale acquisition of innovative startups and companies
for rapid expansion.
8. Strengthen Networking Services: More companies are relying
on networking services for data management and efficient business
operations

Dell’s Threats:

1. Shrinking PC Market: Dell depends heavily on revenue from PCs, but

the PC market has been shrinking since 2006. The company’s profits will be
threatened if the demand for PCs declines beyond a sustainable level.
2. Second Wave of the Pandemic: From manufacturing to distribution and
sales, the business operation was brought to a standstill by the global
pandemic. With the experts warning about a second wave, Dell will have to go
through the devastation one more time.
3. Stiff Competition: From HP to Lenovo, Toshiba, Acer, Sony,
Microsoft, and others, Dell’s market share is threatened by competitors.
4. Looming Recession: As the world gradually reopens, the economic
devastation and job losses have left most countries on the downward spiral
deeper into recession. Just like any other business, Dell is susceptible to the
negative effects of a recession.
5. Effects of Tariffs: In 2019, Dell and other tech companies rejected
proposals to impose tariffs on electronics. If the governments succeed in
imposing tariffs in the future, Dell’s profitability will be threatened.
6. Legal Issues: In December 2019, Dell was named in a lawsuit along with
several other companies for profiting from child labor in Congo. The
implications and ruling threaten both the reputation and finances of the
company.

CONCLUSION:
1.  Dell’s service advantage may be a greater differentiator than its 10-15%
cost advantage, Dell has everything we want in a tech company,
especially Focus, Dell does nothing but PCs Problem: Conflicts between
its traditional indirect sales channels and its attempt to increase direct
sales. This model is simple in concept but highly complex in its
execution, especially under conditions of rapid growth and New product
lines Ended up forcing its CEO to resign in 1999 The key to Dell’s
success has been its direct sales and build-to-order business model.
2. Dell’s use of IT plays a vital role in the implementation of its business
model. The company has used IT to coordinate its build-to-order
 processes from order taking through procurement, logistics, production,
service, and support. Dell doesn’t even need the best product or price
anymore, because it is starting to own the PC space in buyers’ mind”
3. Companies such as Dell that are industry leaders in Internet commerce
will be able to expand their customer base and increase their business
with existing companies at a low marginal cost. They also can reduce the
cost of coordinating their supply chain through electronic linkages. This
will enable them to offer incentives to customers and suppliers to do
business electronically and continue to drive their own costs down.