Research Paper on:
Komatsu Case Study Analysis (Harvard Business School)

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the company did was to focus on competition and whether or not their products were really competitive. This is important for any firm. After all, no matter how wonderful a  product is, if another firm is able to beat them with their ingenuity by designing a better or cheaper alterative, then the firm will not fare well. In effect,  the company did striver for efficiency. As part of its plan to be more competitive, it would focus on creating good models. It created a program called Efficient Production-Oriented  Choice Specifications or EPOCHS for example ("Komatsu Limited," 1988). The program was a success and in the end, the firm would boast a fully concentrated and integrated production system,  a system for which the company took pride ("Komatsu Limited," 1988). In addition to creating more physical plants and focusing on research and things of that nature, Komatsu adopted TQC  or Total Quality Control ("Komatsu Limited," 1988). This is something that seems to be aligned with their success. Also, it should be stated that the firm has a long, and  substantial history, in terms of customer and labor relations ("Komatsu Limited," 1988). It has a good reputation and that is one source of success. While a firm can have a  lot of things, image can prove quite valuable. Komatsu has handled itself well. Komatsu has been successful as a firm and it has been able to profit despite the fact  that the industry is not stellar. 2) How has this company been able to challenge Caterpillar when so many larger companies (International Harvester, J.I. Case, John Deere, etc.) have  not? In many areas of business, it is often thought that the large firms can best compete, but that is not always the case. Some of the larger firms