Research Paper on:
Harley Davidson

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
1. Introduction In 2003 Harley Davidson sold 291,147 bikes, this was a 10.4% increase on 2002. This was an achievement for the 100th anniversary of the  companies founding and more remarkable was the fact that every bike manufactured had been sold before it left the production line (Grant, 2004). The year was the 18th year of  continual growth and demonstrated how far the company had come since the leveraged buyout in 1981 when the company had high levels of debt. The target for 2007, only a  few years away, was for 400,000 bikes to be sold, this would mean a large increase in sales over the next few years (Grant, 2004). To consider the way that  the company may choose to pursue the goal there needs to be a careful consideration of the company and its resources as well as its position in the industry and  the industry trends. The paper will start with a general situation analysis, and then consider the company in terms of a SWOT analysis and a Porters Five Forces. These different  approaches will have some cross over between them, so repetition will be avoided, the analyses can then be used to assess the potential strategies which Harley Davidson could follow.  2. Situation Analysis 2.1 General Environmental Analysis Harley Davidson is the main supply of super heavy bikes in the US and more recently in Japan. The position was gained as  a result of careful marketing and the use of brand image and in the US support forms the government with the placement of a temporary tariff of imported bikes making  them extremely expensive (Grant, 2004). Before the leveraged buyout and the company becoming independent Honda was the main competitor, but by 2003 49;.5% of the heavy motorcycle market in the