INTRODUCTION
Lockheed Martin is an American based global organization that operates in the aerospace, defense and security industries. Technological advancement along with globalization have impact Lockheed Martin over the years. This report analyzes the impact of globalization and technological changes on the organization. The report also applies industrial organizational model and resource based model on the organization. These models have been used to analyze how Lockheed Martin is able to achieve above average returns. The report also discusses the influence of vision statement and mission statement on the success of the organization. In addition to this, the report also analyzes the impact of each category of stakeholder on the success of the organization. The report provides conclusion at the end of the report.
IMPACT OF GLOBALIZATION AND TECHNOLOGY ON THE CORPORATION
Technology has been advancing rapidly. With the increasing pace of technological advancement, it has become integral for businesses to keep up with this pace in order to be successful. According to Linda Gooden, Executive Vice President at Lockheed Martin, the company has been able to maintain competitive edge because of constant innovation and by offering customized and affordable solutions to challenging problems of the customers. Lockheed Martin has been striving hard to further expand and increase its portfolio and product offerings to maintain this competitive edge at a time when the technology is advancing very fast (Lockheed Martin, 2012b).
The company makes sure that the products and services offered are able to meet the needs of the consumers. The company is making investment in independent research and development activities to achieve these objectives and to make sure that Lockheed Martin is able to advance its solutions and services with the passage of time (Lockheed Martin, 2012a).
In addition to this, globalization has been another important factor that has resulted in the success of the firm. Globalization has allowed Lockheed Martin to receive orders from different parts of the world. Keith Moore, Vice President of International Business Development at Lockheed Martin, believes that one of the success factors of the company is the international expansion (Lockheed Martin, 2012b).
Lockheed Martin is aiming to offer the best solutions in different parts of the world in different domains. The company has currently contracts in United States, Australia, Singapore, Japan, Korea, Canada and several other countries. In addition to this, the company has established production capabilities in different countries such as United States, Canada, Taiwan, and Norway (Lockheed Martin, 2012a). All these have been possible because of globalization as the world has become a global village and Lockheed Martin is able to operate and manage its team as well as clients in these different countries.
Besides these, because of globalization and advancement in technology the company has been able to acquire different companies and businesses to expand its product portfolio and expand their offerings in other countries. Divestiture is another strategy that has been adapted by the company along with internal realignment activities to achieve these objectives (Lockheed Martin, 2012a).
INDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATION MODEL AND THE RESOURCE-BASED MODEL
Industrial organization model analyzes the external environment of the firm. On the other hand, resource based view (RBV) model analyzes the internal capabilities and performances of the company.
Industrial Organizational Model
The external environment of the organization offers different opportunities to the company to expand and grow. The company is expanding its products and services to different countries. Moreover, Lockheed Martin is able to maintain competitive edge by offering affordable solutions and services. Therefore this makes Lockheed Martin in a position where it is able to generate above average returns. Thus, it can be said that the industry is attractive for Lockheed Martin. However, other firms that want to enter in the industry face several barriers to entry. Lockheed Martin has already formulated different strategies such as acquisition, divestiture and international expansion and these strategies have been aligned with the assets and capabilities of the organization, and thus it has resulted in achieving above average returns. The company has valued its human resource and it has been focusing highly on research and development, therefore, Lockheed Martin has been successful in its strategy of innovation and offering high quality and affordable solutions and services to its clients.
Resource Based View (RBV)
Resource based view identifies the resources that that firm has which gives the firm competitive advantage. RBV analyzes these advantages and if these advantages are heterogeneous then they can be transformed to long term competitive advantage from short term competitive advantage. For this, it is important that the resources or capabilities are rare, imitable and non-substitutable (Freeman, 2010). The following table analyzes the RBV model of Lockheed Martin.
As most of the resources of the firm are valuable, rare, imitable and the organization is exploiting these resources in a good way, thus these resources have resulted to gain and maintain competitive advantage.
VISION STATEMENT AND MISSION STATEMENT OF THE CORPORATION INFLUENCE ITS OVERALL SUCCESS
The vision statement and mission statement are important as these statements provide a guide way to everyone of what the organization wants to achieve and what is the purpose of the organization. The vision statement of the organization focuses on not only the product portfolio and on expanding the offerings to provide better services and solutions to the customers of Lockheed Martin, but the vision statement of the company also focuses on being a renowned employer where employees want to work. The company focuses on appreciating talented employees and wants to attract and retain talented employees that can help the organization in enhancing their corporate value (Lockheed Martin, 2013). This highlights that the company gives value to its employees as well as the customers and it is aiming to further expand its offerings and use talented employees to achieve these objectives.
The mission statement is another important factor that helps the employees, management and other important stakeholders to know what the mission of the organization is and what it is looking to achieve. The mission statement of Lockheed Martin is focused on delivering high value, and quality solutions for complex and challenging problems to the customers across the world. The company also highlights the importance of quality human resource in the mission statement as well. In addition to this, the mission of Lockheed Martin is to offer an environment where employees are valued along with other important stakeholders (Lockheed Martin, 2013).
EACH CATEGORY OF STAKEHOLDER IMPACTS THE OVERALL SUCCESS OF THIS CORPORATION
Stakeholders are the parties that have direct or indirect relation with the company. In addition to this, the actions of the stakeholders can influence the firm and the actions of the firm can also influence the stakeholders. Stakeholders can be categories into two categories; internal and external. Internal stakeholders are the employees, owners, and managers. On the other hand, external stakeholders include suppliers, distributors, government, shareholders, society, and customers (Freeman, 2010).
Internal stakeholders of the organization have played a crucial role in the success of Lockheed Martin. The company focuses on attracting and retaining talented employees and this shows that the company values talented employees. The company offers a range of benefits for the employees and in turn expects them to perform well and make sure that the organizational objectives are achieved (Lockheed Martin, 2012b). More than 120,000 employees work for Lockheed Martin in different parts of the world (Lockheed Martin, 2012a). The company values diversity and has formed a diversified team which has helped the company in offering solutions and services that could meet the complex problems of the customers in different parts of the world (Lockheed Martin, 2012b). The role of managers has been crucial as well as they have helped the team in making sure that the objectives are achieved.
External stakeholders of the company have also played a vital role in the success of the organization. The company is offering solutions and services to not only general consumers and businesses but governmental agencies are also the customers of Lockheed Martin. This shows the quality of the solutions that the firm is providing. The company makes sure that the needs of the customers are understood as this helps the organization in achieving the goals of satisfying customers.
CONCLUSION
Lockheed Martin is a successful organization over the years. There are number of factors because of the company is successful. One of the most important success factors is that the company is able to keep up with the growing technological advancement. Moreover, the company has also taken advantage from the growing concept of globalization as Lockheed Martin has not restricted itself from geographical boundaries and it has established its production setup in different countries. In addition to this, the company has also found customers in different regions and currently it is planning to found new customers from Middle East. Lockheed Martin to gain and maintain competitive advantage. The vision and mission statements of Lockheed Martin also support the employees and its customers and it acts as a guideline for the employees and management working at the company. Thus, these statements provide the pathway on what needs to be done. Moreover, the stakeholders have also played their part in the overall success of the organization.
References
Freeman, R. E. (2010). Strategic management: A stakeholder approach. Cambridge University Press.
Lockheed Martin. (2012a). Annual Report. Retrieved October 17, 2013 from http://www.lockheedmartin.com/content/dam/lockheed/data/corporate/documents/2012-Annual-report.pdf
Lockheed Martin. (2012b). Cover Story: International Growth Reflects Success of New Strategic Approach. Retrieved October 17, 2013 from http://www.lockheedmartin.com/content/dam/lockheed/data/isgs/documents/ISGS-Connect-Q4-2012.pdf
Lockheed Martin. (2013). Mission Statement. Retrieved October 17, 2013 from http://www.lockheedmartin.com/ca/who-we-are/mission-statement.html
