HBS Otis Elevator Case Analysis
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Otis Elevator is the largest manufacturer, installer and servicer of elevators in the world. Otis sells about 65,000 new elevators each year, which is around 23 percent of the market, but their profits are in large part due to service revenue generated from existing elevators.
Otis is truly a global company with about 85 percent of its employees working outside the United States. The company's main competitors are Kone and Schindler, which are both foreign companies. The industry in general is considered to be very competitive and as with most mature industries competition is based mainly upon price.
The main issue facing Otis Elevator in this case is how to best rollout a new e-commerce initiative. The goal has been set to have at least 60 percent of all global elevator orders be specified or designed using the new tool, which has been named Plan Your Project. This Internet based tool allows architects and others to specify the needed elevator for the project they are working on and receive price estimates. Convincing your own sales force and even outside architects to use the new tool should be the relatively easy part. The biggest obstacle will be to entice competitors to partner with Otis and use the product as well...