Dell Competitive Intelligence Mission
Presented to: Mr. Michael Dell, CEO
By: Larry Seale, CI Director (incoming)
First Year Preliminary Agenda
May 2, 2007
Overview
I.
Assess/Evaluate Team Members
A. Recruit/reassign/add team members as necessary
B. Spend time communicating and developing a cohesive unit
1.
2.
3.
4.
II.
Paint a clear picture of the conduct and standards required
Espionage Act... http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/cybercrime/eea.html
Code of Ethics... http://www.scip.org/2_code.php
Signed statements by team members attesting to the standards
of conduct required by Dell
Identify Mission Targets - Goals
A. Observe and absorb current Dell CI philosophy and strategy in current
Markets
1. What are we trying to accomplish?
a. my incoming impressions - http://osint.pbwiki.com/Dell
1) see Cultural Analysis
http://osint.pbwiki.com/Dell%20Cultural%20Analysis
2. What is worthy? What isn't?
3. What should we be trying to do? Do we confine ourselves to our
existing markets/industries, or do we try to export our streamlining
skills to other industries that are ripe for supply chain
enhancement?
III.
Data Acquisition
A. How will we acquire the pieces of the puzzle?
1. Monitoring link - http://osint.pbwiki.com/Dell%20CI%20Watch
a. competitor webs, publishing, blogs, customer surveys,
ex-employee surveys, supplier surveys, small-group feet-up
discussions with Dell executives from different business units
IV.
Data Analysis
A. CI team internal collaborations
B. CI team with Dell field operatives - sales, purchasing, customer
service reps, legal
C. CI team with Dell business unit executives
V.
Action - Implementation
A. Devise strategic plans
1. current markets strategies
2. evolutionary growth strategies
3. revolutionary leap opportunities
VI.
Evaluate - Learn - Adjust
A. We will evaluate our implemented strategies and evaluate
effectiveness
1. Measures - growth in revenues, profits, customer #s, customer
satisfaction levels
2. Increased productivity - manufacturing, personnel, margins
B. Decide what is worth keeping and what isn't
1. fine tune the 'hits'
2. discard the 'strikeouts'
3. begin 'round two'
Specific Examples
I.
Existing Market Segments
A. Computer Industry Hardware
1. My preliminary, incoming SWOT analysis
a. see high points at http://osint.pbwiki.com/Dell%20Keys
b. see full SWOT analysis at http://osint.pbwiki.com/f/Dell-SWOT.doc
II.
Consider Evolutionary Initiatives
A. Take a walk around the interior perimeter of our box
1. IBM 90's playbook (transition from hardware focus to consulting focus)
a. Investigate adding (internally or through acquisition) a significant
consulting and service side to Dell's business.
1) Can Dell grow beyond hardware PC company?
Margins are in the magic.
2) Musing - could we establish a nationwide network
of service outlets that service Dell, HP, Lexmark, Brother,
Samsung printers - the service node would deliver local ink
orders also and get a discount on cost - so the service nodes
would be self funding and service would become a profit
center, as well as taking revenue dollars from Best Buy,
Circuit City, HP, etc. It would all be promoted and directed
from the Dell website, so overhead costs would be minimal.
b. See full article on IBM's self reinvention here http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0SMG/is_n8_v17/ai_19615298
2. Be first to market with a completely disruptive new technology
a. http://www.webcastgroup.com/client/start.asp?wid=0830315073194
(click on <click to view> and use "larryseale@ou.edu" as <registered>)
b. there is a dangerous new printer vendor in town. After more
than a decade spent secretly developing and patenting a
radically inventive new printing technology, Australia's
Silverbrook Research has just announced its new Memjet ink jet
array technology. Memjet offers unprecedented speed, topnotch print quality, and an extraordinarily low cost of purchase
and operation. Through an aggressive licensing program
managed by top U.S. printer-industry management talent,
Silverbrook intends to quickly become a top-tier player in
multiple segments of the printing market.
1) Silverbrook's plan is to license the technology to existing
printer vendors. This technology will revolutionize the
printer industry. If we can't buy it outright or stop it, we might
as well be first to market with it.
III.
Consider Revolutionary Initiatives
A. Go outside our box and walk around the block
1. Broaden our application of Dell's core proficiencies. Can we
transfer those core proficiencies to different industries, diversifying
Dell's stance in the world?
a. Other industries to consider ...
1) Defense
a) ? acquire company(s) with strong presence in security
products/homeland security/identification technologies,
and use those inroads to inject more of our mainstream
products in government and defense populations.
b) use our newly acquired defense company(s) to secure
defense equipment contracts, and then apply Dell's core
proficiencies in supply chain efficiency to make these
contracts more profitable to us, thus accelerating our
opportunities with future defense contracts.
2) Construction
a) Can Dell acquire a large scale construction firm, and
apply its supply chain efficiency skills to streamline
processes and lower costs, creating more profit and
more opportunities for deeper penetration into this
industry?
3) Transportation
a) Can Dell apply its streamline skills to the manufacturing
of ships, and the logistics of freight transportation?
4) Software
a) Can we do the same thing with software design?
2. I propose contracting the Rand Corporation to conduct a feasibility
analysis of these revolutionary ideas, using their infrastructure and
expertise to report the most promising of these (and other)
industries that might be confronted.
a. Rand Corp - http://www.rand.org/research_areas/science_technology/
Timeline
I.
Month One
A. Team assembly
B. Meetings (formal and informal) between executive management team
and me
C. Meetings with Michael Dell away from office - preferably 'feet-up' to mull and discuss opportunities and directions
II.
Month Two - Three
A. Mission identification
1. Map and spell out our primary goals and secondary goals
III.
Month Four - Ten
A. Mission execution on existing business segments
B. Commissions and studies outsourced
C. Monitoring and data collection and analysis
IV.
Month Eleven - Twelve
A. Evaluations and Recommendations to executive management
1. Existing business models
2. New opportunities in our current industries
3. New opportunities in new industries