Mike Lyden - Team 3
August 8th, 2002

Management 450-001
Prof Milton Silver

Minicase - Cisco

 

 

 

I. Current Situation

A. Past Performance

Cisco was founded in 1984 by a group of computer scientists from Stanford University, among them were Leonard Bosack and Sandy Learner, a husband and wife team that had made it enormously easier for computers to communicate.

The internet is now changing how we look at the world, and how the world looks at business.  Cisco knows this now, and knew it long ago.  To foresee this and act on it is what helped to make Cisco the powerhouse of a company it is today.

 

B. Strategic Posture

Cisco’s mission is to shape the future of the internet by creating unprecedented value and opportunity to its customers, employees, investors, and ecosystem partners. Cisco is currently in a very good position in its market.  This means that the company’s goal is to constantly improve upon and refine its own technology, creating the most effective product in many fields.  It is, at present, the market leader, and has even created industry standards.

The creation of industry standards puts a company or individual in a very good situation.  Cisco is an innovative company that continues to excel at introducing leading-edge technologies to an industry that is in constant development.  Not only does Cisco keep up with a blindingly fast industry, it stays on the forefront.  However, with outstanding performance comes incredible pressure.  Cisco is the frontrunner of the Internet Technology sector, and they do not want to lose the lead.

 

Cisco’s strategy consists of five key elements:

1.      Investments for Future

Growth Markets

Service Providers

2.      Cross-functional Collaboration

Matrix Councils

Consulting/IBSG example

3.      Organizational Evolution

4.      Technology Leadership

Innovation Roadmap

Everything into network

Measure results

5.      Unique Position

 

II. Strategic Managers

  1. Board of Directors

There are eleven members on the board; John P. Morgridge as chairman (see: pg 5)

B. Top Management (see: pg 6)

 


III. External Environment

A.     Socio Environmental

Technological advances, in no particular order, include:

      Broadband: High-speed access to the Internet and corporate networks

      Content Networking: Making content delivery networks more intelligent

      E-Learning: Providing training anytime and anywhere

      IP + Optical: Combining IP technology with the capacity of optical networking

      IP Routing: The technology foundation of the Internet

      Metro Area Networking: Optical, Ethernet, and IP routing for the metro market

      Storage Networking: Advancing data storage

      Switching: Multilayer technology connecting millions of users

      Voice: Advancing the telephony change to modern digital packet technology         

      VPN/Security: Protecting networks from intrusion and corruption

      Wireless: Access to the Internet whenever and wherever                    

Political and legal – new foreign markets present new issues, both positive and negative.  Breaking into a foreign market is very much like starting over.  It is necessary to establish a good reputation and develop consumer relationships, however there is also a significant amount of legalities that can come into play.  Often times

Social and cultural – trends are changing.

 

IV. Internal Environment

  1. Corporate Structure – decentralized and cross-functional
  2. Corporate Culture – customer- and employee-centric

V. Analysis of Strategic Factors

A. SWOT Analysis

Strengths
Marketshare
Brand Awareness
Leading Technologies
International Presence
Growth both past and potential
Industry standards
Weaknesses
Management
Recent acquisitions
Financial state
Performance in niche markets
Performance in foreign markets
Opportunities
Foreign markets
Joint ventures
New product development
Increase e-business
Threats
Poor economy
Increasing competition
Competitors in niche markets
Competitors in foreign market

B. Current Mission and Objectives

Cisco’s mission is to shape the future of the internet by creating unprecedented value and opportunity to its customers, employees, investors, and ecosystem partners.

 

VI. Alternative Strategies and Recommendations

Alternatives

Expansion into foreign markets via mergers, acquisitions, and joint ventures

Penetrate new markets

Diversify product lines

Recommendations

Continue with Research and development in order to keep ahead of the game.

Focus on developing internet technologies

Keep up with trends and set new ones


Cisco Executive Employee


 

John T. Chambers

President and Chief Executive Officer

 

John P. Morgridge

Chairman of the Board

 

Board of Directors


 

Carol Bartz

Chairman and CEO, Autodesk, Inc.

 

Larry R. Carter

Senior Vice President, Finance and Administration,

Chief Financial Officer and Secretary

 

John T. Chambers

President and CEO, Cisco Systems, Inc.

 

Carly Fiorina

Chairman, President and CEO of HP Company

 

James F. Gibbons, Ph.D.

Professor of Electrical Engineering and Special Counsel for Industrial Relations, Stanford University

 

John L. Hennessy

President, Stanford University

 

James C. Morgan

Chairman and CEO, Applied Materials, Inc.

 

Arun Sarin

CEO, Accel KKR Telecom

 

Donald T. Valentine

General Partner, Sequoia Capital

 

Steven M. West

COO, nCube Corp.

 

Jerry Yang

Co-founder and Chief Yahoo!, Yahoo, Inc.


Senior Executive staff


 

Douglas C. Allred

Senior Vice President, Customer Advocacy

 

Gordon Astles

President, Asia Pacific Operations

 

Brad Boston

Senior Vice President, Chief Information Officer

 

Susan L. Bostrom

Senior Vice President, Internet Business Solutions Group

 

Larry R. Carter

Senior Vice President, Finance and Administration,

Chief Financial Officer and Secretary

 

Howard S. Charney

Senior Vice President, Office of the President

 

John T. Chambers

President and Chief Executive Officer

 

Kate DCamp

Senior Vice President, Human Resources

 

Douglas Dennerline

Senior Vice President, U.S. Enterprise and Federal Sales

 

Charles Giancarlo

Senior Vice-President and General Manager, Switching, Voice and Carrier Systems

 

Rick Justice

Senior Vice President, Worldwide Field Operations

 

Yasuki Kurosawa

Vice President, Japan Operations

 

Robert Lloyd

President, European, Middle East and Africa Operations

 

Mario Mazzola

Senior Vice President, Chief Development Officer


Randy Pond

Senior Vice President, Manufacturing

 

Dennis D. Powell

Senior Vice President, Corporate Finance

 

Carl Redfield

Senior Vice President, Manufacturing Worldwide Operations

 

James Richardson

Senior Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer

 

Manny Rivelo

Senior Vice President, Worldwide Field Process & Operations

 

Daniel Scheinman

Senior Vice President, Corporate Affairs

 

Peter Solvik

Senior Vice President, Internet Capabilities Group

 

Mike Volpi

Senior Vice President, Routing Technology Group