Re: old design was oilheads-digest V1 #47

[Steve Makohin <wateredg@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On 1/7/04 8:32 AM, rennsport@xxxxxxxxx rennsport@xxxxxxxxx wrote:

>On Wednesday, Jan 7, 2004, at 08:02 US/Eastern, Steve Makohin wrote:
>> ." My response was:
>>
>>   "I suspect that BMW Motorrad also stared "from the basement as far
>>    as sales go". Don't they all?"
>>
>> When BMW Motorrad started up, as an ex-airplane manufacturer, they
>> started up "from the basement as far as [motorcycle] sales go." I find 
>> it
>> inconceivable that there were BMW Motorrad sales before BMW Motorrad
>> started up, or that when BMW Motorrad started up, there were massive
>> orders on hand before the first motorcycle rolled off the assembly 
>> line.
>> I am prepared to be "set straight" if anyone has information proving 
>> the
>> contrary.
>
>I was not referring to "In the beginning". I was referring to a period 
>when the company had matured and started to decline, that is the 
>"basement" I was referring to...

Quick review:

  Steve: Ducati, for example, has a market share that is smaller than BMW
         Motorrad's, and they have no plans to surpass BMW in sales.
         {Context: A company can be successful with a small market share,
         and not have a corporate objective to increase market share.}

 Robert: Yes but, Ducati started from the basement as far as sales go.
         At least they are moving in the right direction.
         {Steve is not sure how this response relates to his own
         comment, shown above}

  Steve: I suspect that BMW Motorrad also started "from the basement as
         far as sales go". Don't they all?

 Robert: {You can read his comments near the top of this posting}

It seems we're down a rat hole. To refocus, the points I have made in my 
previous postings in this thread are:

  o I have seen no evidence that proves that BMW Motorrad has a
    corporate objective of increasing market share.

  o I have provided several examples of companies who also have small
    market share, and who lack a corporate objective to increase
    market share (apparently in Ducati's case, actually in Apple's
    case), and yet these companies are successful niche players.

  o Many companies focus on the bottom line with forecasted sales
    growth rather than aiming at a specific market share figure.
    This goes to demonstrate that market share is not the only
    metric for corporate success, nor necessarily the best one,
    nor necessarily a relevant one.

If we just take this one point to heart (BMW Motorrad lacking the 
corporate objective to increase market share), then the BMW Motorrad 
animal's behavior makes a lot more sense. Note that this does not imply 
that the readers' values will be consistent with that behavior.

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