The motorcycle industry is very attractive due to the low cost in production and high profit specially when compared with the car industry. This may draw many competitors into the business, perhaps other car producing companies who already may have a following of their own e.g. BMW.

Harley-Davidson places strong emphasis on the company’s corporate culture and employee relations. The company is looking to team up with a software supplier who provides both the appropriate functionality and cultural fit. Regarding the factor of cultural fit, Provider 1 would rank first. The Supplier Information Link (SiL’K) team members were all quite impressed with the presentation of Provider 1. They distinguished themselves by demonstrating their product wearing Harley-Davidson shirts, show genuine interest in the project. They also appear to possess strong ties to their own corporate culture by wearing shirts having their own company logo during their second meeting with the SiL’K members. These factors are significant to the SiL’K team, as they demonstrate parallel corporate cultures and goals.

The second provider is a well-known vendor in the industry. They have established a reputation of superior implementation and support skills. Through their presentation, they showed the Harley-Davidson management team that they were professional and well prepared for the engagement. As well, at the Provider Conference, they demonstrated to the management team that they had a system that would be compatible with the goals and objectives of Harley-Davidson. This would allow for a seamless integration. Provider 2 also demonstrated choice functionality, which included a Web-enabled interface.

As globalization is taking over Harley Davidson has an advantage to open more manufacturing plants and dealerships around the world, this will add profit sources. On the other side of the coin Harley might face a stronger competition then the one facing right now as well as different country regulations and tariffs.

Although the product of Provider 1 lacks in certain areas, they did an excellent job in differentiating themselves from the other providers. The main factors differentiating Provider 1 from the others include the fact that they are a diversified team, demonstrated great enthusiasm, and possessed the closest match to the corporate culture of Harley-Davidson.

In order to meet high and unmet demand, show by 2-year long waiting lists for its products, Harley-Davidson has begun a plan to increase production capacity during 2003. This has become rather important especially seeing as unmet demand has potential of yielding a loss in sales. The purchasing organization at Harley-Davidson has become tightly integrated with engineering and manufacturing in order to provide each of the organization’s sites with appropriate inventories. Also, there has been successful implementation of two manufacturing facilities on-line for additional support. This is especially important as the company has been experiencing capacity constraints during times of sustained market growth, which has also caused a loss in international market share. These factors will also aid in addressing the long lead times for products.

Although Provider 2 is lacking two requirements set out by the SiL’K team (support of change management and the assessment of organizational needs), they still remain to be the preferred choice due to their lengthy experience.

Some topics in this essay:
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