Marketing Strategy and Plan NKK Corporation

Question: Discuss about the Marketing Strategy and Plan for NKK Corporation. Answer: Introduction NKK Corporation is second largest steelmakers in Japan and considered as one of the largest steelmaker of the world. It also has it operations in engineering, urban development, and electronics sections. The engineering sections is comprises of power plants, pipelines, water supple, sewage treatment system, ships, offshore structure, etc. the urban division manufactures office buildings, parks, golf course, etc. the electronics sections manufactures software, circuits, automation designs systems etc. in 1911, NKK produced Japans first seamless steel pipe. Issues faced by NKK in 1999 There are many reasons due to which the company faced problems in 1999. It was said that the orders for steel products was the lowest in the year of 1999. It was the worst year in the history of NKK. There are mainly three reasons founded by the Researchers, due to which company had faced crises. Firstly, the company was (Lorette, 2016 unable to manage the staff of 15,000 in numbers. Secondly, the engineering section was unable to solve any problems as it was also suffering from a downturn that is approximately 7%. Thirdly, there was a downturn in the overall economy of the Japan. NKKs has only 30% investment in overseas market which results in loss due to the Japans economic crises of 1999. Kawasaki Steel In my opinion, the company should merge with Kawasaki Steel to resolve its issues. It was an independent company. This company had achieved a remarkable position in construction of waterfront area that proved that company has good management (Head, 2014). The company has expanded its exports by 1 million tons and announced that there must be increase in the crude steel production. This company does not follow the strategy of competitors. The company has a Product sector system to control he profits of each product. Reasons due to which NKK should merge with Kawasaki Steel Kawasaki Steel had an advantage in automotive steel sheets and enhanced this by investing 260 billion yen more to upgrade the facilities. The company had a net sale of 1.09 trillion yen and 3.1 billion yet net profit. The ratio was also good i.e., 68%. These all qualities of Kawasaki Steel helped NKK to cope up in fiscal year of 1999. The potential issues that can arise if NKK were to merge with Kawasaki Steel: Many times, companies that merged headquartered in different countries. It results in complications as the managers are unable to tranfer their services to the organization. Language is also a barrier but in this case, both the companies belong to same country. Cultural diffentiation is also a major barrier faced by companies. It is important to study the culture of the company before merger. Many times, the leaders and heads of the company are not aware much about merger. In such case, they have to hire qualified consultant to handle the merger. Time is also a big issue in mergers. Moreover, the leaders do not have time to devote for merger activities. Mergers also affect the ongoing business. Leaders have to face this challenge at the time of mergers. Trainings and coaching should be provided to the employees after merger so that they can perform the work effectively. Communication barriers Retention of employees Conclusion Under this study, we can understand the importance of marketing strategy for any organization. It helps to maintain an effective and efficient growth of the company and its production. It provides aspects to make marketing plan so that there will coordination among all the activities. Marketing strategy helps to maximize the profits also. In 1999, NKK was facing fiscal crises and the whole economy of Japan was facing the same. At that time, there was a need to analyze the market and to make appropriate marketing strategy to cope up with such issues. Referencing Head, G. (2014), 5 Keys to a Great Small Business Marketing Strategy, [Online], Accessed on: 15 September 2016, Available at: https://smallbiztrends.com/2014/09/5-keys-great-small-business-marketing-strategy.html. Lorette, K. (2016), What Is Marketing Strategy Planning?, [Online], Accessed on: 13 September, 2016, Available at: https://smallbusiness.chron.com/marketing-strategy-planning-628.html.