Corning Glass Organization Analysis

Corning Glass is a multinational organizational that deals with the manufacture and sale of glass, ceramics, and other related products. Founded in the mid nineteenth century, the Corning Glass Company was in the forefront in the use of technology in high-volume manufacture of glass (Tidd, Bessant, & Pavitt, 2005). Specifically, Amory Houghton founded Corning Glass Company in 1851. The company is headquartered in Corning, New York City, US. However, in the 20th century thee company specialized in the manufacture of a variety of specialized glasses. Since then, the company has continued to grow technologically improving on its products over time. Additionally, it has moved into new areas to ward off competition from other companies with similar businesses.

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SWOT Analysis

Also known as, SWOT matrix, a SWOT analysis is a greatly used planning method that evaluates the market position of a company based on its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. In this paper, an analysis of the previously mentioned factors will be done on Corning Glass Company.

Strengths

Corning Glass enjoys a number of strengths that enables it to remain competitive in the market. In this regard, it has moved from the sole business of manufacturing normal ceramics and glass to making fibreglasses, which is an area that many companies have failed to exploit. Specifically, the company is now the pioneer of photonics, fiber optics, and of late, it has moved into internet services (Tidd, Bessant, Pavitt, 2005). The shift that the company has made ensures that it has diversified businesses, which can support those, which are not doing well. The second and most important strength of the company is their knowledge bank. In this regard, corning glass properly patented its intellectual property rights and continues to make more innovations to match the changing nature of the market. The strength that the company has in terms of the revenue and profits is huge. Notably, corning glass s the leading producer of display glasses. More importantly, the company enjoys presence in a number of countries making it diversified. Their tradition in research and development (R&D), networking and collaboration makes it better placed to exhaust the intellectual property at its disposal.

Weaknesses

Although the company has enormous strengths, it still has few weaknesses that it should improve on. Specifically, Corning Glass faces competition from other companies that manufacture display glass. These competitors include the Arc group, Asahi Glass Company Limited, and Saint-Goblin. Compared to other global leaders, Corning Glass has small brand awareness. In this regard, its public relations (PR) department does not do enough publicity about the company. Additionally, few customers buy their specialized glass compared to other glasses made by its competitors.

Opportunities

Despite the weaknesses that Corning Glass faces, it has room for improvement. As such, there are opportunities that exist for its exploitation. The first of those is the new markets that exist. Although the company enjoys global recognition, it still has not ventured several markets. Therefore, it is the high time that it exploits that opportunity to expand its market. Secondly, there is an increasing global demand for digital technology. Therefore, corning glass has the opportunity to take advantage of this demand. Thirdly, telecommunication market that the company is part of still continues to expand; therefore, the company can seize the opportunity to make an impact. Finally, the global LCD is an opportunity that corning glass might consider exploiting in the future.

Threats

Corning glass faces several threats to its continued survival in the market. Specifically, the slowdown in its major markets; the US and the Europeans markets is a major threat. In this regard, the company stands to lose profits if the trend continues. Additionally, the influx of many telecommunications companies is another threat that threatens the profitability of corning glass. In this regard, many telecommunication companies offer competition, which is very unhealthy for Corning Glass. Apart from competition, the telecommunication market is very volatile. From these threats, Corning Company needs to embrace measures that are necessary to turn these threats into opportunities.

Answers to Case Questions

I agree with the notion; financial or market crisis requires the company to cut on the basics of cost cutting, profit maximization, and improving market share etc. Financial crisis is a situation where financial assets lose their nominal value because of either banking panics or recessions. In such times, companies are greatly affected as they have to employ measures that will make them remain financially afloat. One of those measures in cutting on basics. In this regard, companies should desist from spending on that which is not necessary for is continued success. Rather, they should focus on maximizing on the markets that have a high probability of profitability. Specifically, in the case of financial and market crisis, companies should pull out o markets that are making losses and improve on those with profits. Further, it is at such times that the company should make known its ability to remain resilient by improving on its market share. When other companies pull out because of the crisis, resilient companies should dominate the market and obtain the trust of the customers. When Corning Glass was in decline, it cut on its costs and maximized the profit that it was making, leading to its original state of success.

Knowledge bank is a very important aspect in managing technology and innovation in a company. In this regard, it ensures that there is continuous management and application of new ideas. A company with a broad knowledge bank is likely to wither the storms associated with market change and volatility. This is because they can make use of its diverse intellectual capacity base to devise new ways of appeasing their customers. Further, knowledge bank is an asset to the company as it can be called upon to transform new ideas into great innovations. Indeed, knowledge bank is a core strategic value that can be unleashed to ward off competition by always being creative and innovative. In the case of Corning Glass, the depth of its knowledge makes it strategically prepared for any eventuality that can affect its profitability and growth. Additionally, it makes the company very competitive in its industry as it has the ability make one innovation after the other, depending on the demands of the market.

Linkages and networking are important tools that help in building an innovative institution. Linkages are those collaborations between different research institutes and development institutions for the sake of creating new ideas and products. Success in innovation can only be achieved if companies collaborate with other institutions that are proficient in scientific experiments and interpretation. Notably, Linkages bring together different synergies that translate to great innovations. The importance of linkages and networking is properly demonstrated by Corning Glass. In this regard, the company collaborated with some institutions in the former Soviet Union, which were excellent in scientific experiments. However, they lacked the financial resources necessary to perform tests on new products. As such, Corning Glass offered the resources resulting in the massive harvesting of the available intellectual property. From this case study, linkages are important collaborations that bring together two parties for a common goal of innovation and development.

Learning/Conclusion

To conclude, Corning Glass is a multinational organization that is focused on the manufacture and sale of glass products and ceramics. From the case study of the company, there are several lessons that can be taken. Currently, the company entered the telecommunication market. However, it has different strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. The biggest strength of the company is its knowledge bank. In this regard, Corning Glass has the ability to make major researches and developments, which leads to creation of better products. However, the competition that the company faces from the leading companies is immense. As such, Corning Glass has the opportunity to venture into new markets where it has not reached. This diversification is important for its growth. Further, in times of market crisis it is always important for companies to cut on costs and maximize on profits. From the case study, it is proper to conclude that the knowledge that Corning Glass possesses enables it to make major innovations hence being a step ahead of its competitors. More importantly, the linkages and networking that the company has with research institutes enables it to fully exploit its wide range of intellectual property.

References

Tidd Joe, Bessant John, Pavitt Keith,. (2005). Managing Innovation Case Studies; Corning Glass. Retrieved from http://www.wileyeurope.com/college/tidd