Harley Davidson Case Study

This case is about the path of developing and managing Harley Davidson Inc. Harley Davidson is an American motorcycle manufacturer. It is the nation's No.1 seller of heavyweight motorcycles. In a sense, Harley Davidson was not only a motorcycle manufacturer and seller but also represented the fulfillment of the dream of one generation of Americans. Harley Davidson was founded in 1903; it was because of two opportunities of aiding US military, the company grew up day by day. However, Harley Davidson was confronted with a very big competing stress after 70's, because their products declined in quality and the competitors could produce high quality products at the lowest cost. By observing and studying the management of competitors, Harley Davidson introduced three main Japanese principles: Just-in-time manufacturing, statistical operator control and employee involvement. These ways helped Harley Davidson succeed again.

Question 1

Why has continuous improvement been so successful at Harley Davidson?

Obviously, the managers of Harley Davidson made the sense of solutions that aimed at the characteristics of Harley Davidson itself. Not only made a glimpse into the competitors' working process like the standard processes of JIT. For example, Harley Davidson was not only to develop a materials-as-needed demand system to reduce inventory throughout the supply chain, but also to spend months meeting workers representatives in order to achieve a consensus on what was sought and to remove any skepticism they had regarding the changes. At the same time, Harley Davidson encouraged team work, sometimes, it entrusted employees with the responsibility of accomplishing the project on their own. Below this kind of atmosphere, employees were inspired to take ownership of the problem and also credit for its success. The company focused on each link of the whole system. The managers cared about the process, the relationship with employees and they applied advanced experience according to local conditions, for example, to ensure the quality of products under JIT, Harley Davidson adopted a new technique called SOC. The managers trained employees to check the quality of products on the manufacturing process. It was a good way to avoid subsequent waste. In general, the advanced management was combined well with Harley Davidson's culture.

Question 2

Considering the road ahead, what specific actions can Harley Davidson takes that will move them toward their goals?

In 2007, Harley Davidson again got into trouble because of recession. But the continuous improvement will be useful to move them toward their goals. The specific actions including using JIT manufacture, restructuring its production process and improving working conditions. In this time of recession, saving cost should be Harley Davidson