Oticon Case

Oticon is one of the manufactures and designers of hearing aids for adults and specialized paediatric instruments. The firm has products are sold through sales offices in 22 countries and some 80 independent distributors worldwide. Oticon has been established since 1904 by William Demant and yet it is the leader in manufacturing hearing aids in European countries and successfully it has brands in more than 100 countries around the world. In the 1980's, the company lost some of its market share, but managers could react immediately and boost its efficiency and profitability. As a result, today Oticon is amongst the three largest Hearing Health Care providers in the world. Top electronic companies such as Sony and Phillips were played important role in this case. As a result by 1987, Oticon faced dramatic decreased in sales and market share from 15 to seven per cent and company started losing money. Therefore, the firm reacted immediately and appointed a new manager to boost firm's efficiency and profitability. The process of applying change lasted almost for three years, and the results helped Oticon to regain its profits, and become again a leader in the market. In 1988, Mr. Lars Kolind took over as CEO of the company and a changed happened on management style. Implemented strategic change initiated by Lars Kolind in response to modifications in the operating environment and is resulting to multiple operational changes. According to (Wells.S, 2006) , they mentioned about Kurt Lewin's force field analysis by evaluating the net impact of all forces that influence for the change and he said the forces should be Driving Force to change and vise vasa which mean resisting the forces to change. Wells.S, 2006 mention the Lewin's force field analysis by following figure. According to the (Wells.S, 2006), they explained the above figure which is force field analysis by helium-filled balloons are attached to a set of weights. The helium- filled balloons which create upward lift of five pounds. The weight of the attached is also five pounds. If the driving forces (Balloons) and the resisting forces (weights) are equal, the driving forces which mean Balloons are not able to lift off the ground towards changes which means equilibrium. However, either the addition of balloons or the removal of single weight would change the balance and will lead towards the intended change.

Likewise, the case study, oticon, of (Kennedy.A, 2004), the force field analysis for oticon will be as follow;

The forcing factors for oticon will be external factors which are technological changes, globalization and changing economy and also internal factor which is positive leadership. However, there are also restraining forces that opposing the change are lack of leadership, organizational culture, and lack of economic resources.

External Factors

Technological change

During the 1980's with the advancement of digital technologies and entry of new and innovative models of hearing aids Oticon lost quite a lot of its market share and profit.Regarding with our case study at (Kennedy.A, 2004),

...