Dell

Lee Walker served as Dell Computers CEO from 1986-90. Walker had managerial and financial experience that Dell didn't have. He also became Dell's mentor by giving him much needed confidence. Dell not only learned all aspects of his business, but he became a leader that employees trusted and respected. He delegated his authority and believed that you should rely on people to their jobs because that's how you get the best results. The corporate culture at Dell is very aggressive and competitive for this reason.
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             2. What are the elements of Dell's strategic organization design? How well do the pieces fit together? Is the strategy evolving?.
             Dell's vision was simple. He wanted to sell directly to customers computers that are built to order. Dell knew this concept had two distinctive advantages. This eliminated the markups that retailers place on products and costs are reduced when using a build to order method. This strategy proved itself by giving the company cost and profit advantages over the competition. The competition is unable to keep up with Dell's constant innovation because they have to wait for old inventories to be sold at their retailers. This allows Dell to have a higher profit on each computer purchased since they are not subject retailer discounting.
             Dell's strategy is composed of many elements. These elements are build to order manufacturing, mass customization, partnerships with suppliers, just in time inventories, direct sales, market segmentation, customer service, and extensive data and information sharing with both suppliers and customers. Dell wanted to achieve "virtual integration." He wants the suppliers, customers, and core business to appear as they are all the same organizational team.
             With build to order manufacturing, no inventory is produced at Dell. Every computer, workstation, and server is made to the customer's liking. Dell started out by operating assembly lines with each worker performing one single task.