Ch. 5 - Developing a Global Vision

Yamaha Motor Company its a global motorcycle manufacturer established in 1955 upon separation from Yamaha Corporation and its products are present in more then 180 countries and region, consolidating its unique position in the Motorcycle Market.

Yamaha Motor have major factories worldwide, mostly concentrated in Japan, India, Europe and North America. This show a perfect example of Global Marketing Standardization where Yamaha Motor maintains its product uniform all over the world. A key for the worldwide company success it's its partnership with Hewlett Packard for the improvement of their IT system to support global business operations resulting in an improvement in reliability through the system life cycle to support global businesses and more efficient maintenance to reduce effort and cost when introducing new international branches. In India, where sales are 43.1%, Yamaha Motor has made sustained investments in developing and implementing an effective business contingency plan as well as measures for recovery of IT infrastructure and operations.

A factor that differentiate Yamaha Motor worldwide is the culture of where its products are sell. European and North American market focus their selling mostly on supersport product such as the R1 and similar because of the widely popular Racing Heritage of its sports team while in Asia, especially India and Japan, Yamaha Motor promote traffic units less powerful and more manageable in the highly busy Asian cities.

The purpose of Yamaha in being global is to be a corporate group that people always look to for the next advances and innovations by listening to the necessities of its customers in each market and build and supply products that fit the realities of the specific markets, as well as incrementing their profits that are increasing consistently year after year.

Ch. 4 - The Marketing Environment

Motorcycling in America is more for sport than for transportation, and it's more popular with all ranges of society than at any other time. Much of the growing popularity with motorcycles is from people well into their careers and Yamaha Motor Company understood that, mainly targeting customers in their late 30s through their mid 50s, as known as Generation X and Y. The expanding popularity of motorcycling and a growing desire for new and ever-better products matches the Yamaha YZR R1 marketing strategy that spares no expense in its pursuit of excellence. Supersports category is becoming more selective and defined, with many customers opting to ride a specifically designed road  bike on the road and a track bike on race circuits. Also, according to the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA), one out of every twelve U.S. motorcycle owners is female which is about 8 percent of the nation's motorcycle owners. A very important statistics for a potential slice of the market that keeps increasing year after year and shows how the scenario is evolving. The new R1 purpose and design philosophy are entirely different based on this new Marketing needs. Featuring sophisticated MotoGP derived technology, this new machine is a purely focused sport bike that has been developed both for road and track.

Yamaha Motor Company can count on several events in the U.S. to target and convince potential customers at the Circuit of The Americas (Austin, Texas) and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (Indianapolis, Indiana), where two races of the MotoGP World Championship are held every year. In such events many Fans, Motorcycle Enthusiasts and Riders comes from all over the U.S. and Yamaha Motor Company as well as its main competitors are able to manage showcases to introduce their brand new products to convince the audience over the race event Weekend.

Despite the growing popularity, motorcycling is not an expensive activity in the United States considering that, always according to the AMA, its member-riders earn an average household income of $84,000, and own 2.6 motor-cycles where they spend an average of $800 a year on maintenance items and do about sixty percent of the work on their own bike. They also spend approximately $1,200 a year on apparel and accessories. All of this is facilitated by the web where potential customers can do basic research about the product they're interested in, get the answers about their specific needs and eventually being able to access to it.

Ch. 3 - Ethics & Social Responsibility

Yamaha Motor Company has operate to create distinct values through engineering, manufacturing and marketing based on its Corporate Mission by providing new excitement and a more exciting life for people all over the world. 

      The Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is to be expected by a company such as Yamaha Motor because it can contribute to sustainable development of society through its business activities based on its “Corporate Philosophy". The approach to CSR it's being shared by Yamaha Motor Company with all its employees so they can applying it in their daily routine at work. 

The presence of the Risk Management and Compliance Committee is a system for controlling risks and its duty is to oversee hazards faced by the company and it moves to forbid major accidents, identifying and evaluating dangers and the measures to overcome them by creating risk management regulations and initial emergency response regulations as its main procedures. 

 Yamaha Motor is enforcing the creation of safer working environments to detect potential dangers or harmful conditions by taking measures to prevent accidents on the workplaces. Thanks to job-specific education and training, such as safety manager training programs and skill improvement programs for supervisors, as well as holding occupational safety and health meetings, the company is focused on developing human resources that can support occupational safety.

Yamaha Motor Company does its best to establish workplaces that esteem diversity, defining its position on human rights by creating the Disabled Employment Promotion Committee and is working to improve the workplace environment through measures such as having analysis of organizational work and other tasks conducted by committee members assigned to each division. As of December 2012, the Company employed more then 140 people severely and mildly disabled, increasing the disabled employment rate. In doing this the Company is looking to build a society in which people with and without disabilities can live and work together. 

        The relationship with its customers its very important for the company which expects from its employees to improve continuously the quality of its products by sharing quality–related informations, formulating action plans and training, raising customer satisfaction to higher levels.

      By being a worldwide transportation machinery manufacturer, Yamaha Motor Company considers the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions to be critical for the environment. Reducing every year the CO2 emissions its the main target of Yamaha that going forward will work is way to reduce gas emissions completely in all of its business units as well as reducing environmentally hazardous substances, that could be harmful to human health or the environment.

Yamaha is also involved in special Environment friendly events such as a beach cleanup and baby loggerhead sea turtle watching event at Nakatajima Sand Dunes in Japan, where endangered loggerhead sea turtles come to lay their eggs. Every year since 1991, lots of people including friends, employees and family members participate to this event that show the involvement of the company in environment related matters.

        

Ch. 2 - Strategic Planning for Competitive Advantage

One of the main Goals of Yamaha Motor Company is to satisfy its customers with products that exceeds their expectations, creating unforgettable and unique  memorable experiences that can contribute to the quality of life. Yamaha Motor Company has a wide range of products but it all began with Motorcycles, where the founder Genichi Kawagami needed to explore new markets. Choice that after more then 50 years made Yamaha one of the leaders of the Motorcycles Market, giving its customers "the sensation of profound excitement and gratification derived from experiencing supreme quality and performance", which is what Yamaha through the japanese word Kandō uses to describe its corporate mission.

2015 will be a very important year for the House of Iwata after few years of restructuring its domestic and foreign manufacturing facilities. Yamaha Motor Company is ready to expand its business scale and begin to grow once again introducing on the market the Yamaha YZR R1, a new kind of motorcycle that is ready to transform the sportbike world and showcase Yamaha's vision for the future.
Yamaha has been able to fully express the comparative advantage of this line, approaching the existing market of riders showing them the development of this new model and how its technology is derived from its closest racing model, the Yamaha YZR M1 that competes in the MotoGP category.
As its marketing objective, Yamaha's engineers and designers had the opportunity to explore new concepts and designs, and create the kind of machine that, up to now, only factory racers could ever experience.

Yamaha Motor Company can count in an unbeatable marketing mix, by having the R1 being developed by the 9th time World Champion Valentino Rossi also known for his incredible skills of bike developer (4 times MotoGP World Champion with Yamaha Factory Team) as well  as the innovating technologies with which the bike was created (Product Strategies). Yamaha can count on retailers spread out all over the world, expecially in North America, Europe and Asia, making its products available everywhere and an excellent website that can locate the closest retail store (Place). The R1 was presented at the end of 2014 at the EICMA, which is an International Motorcycle Exposition that takes place every year in Milan and can count steadily almost one million visitors each edition, where manufacturers debut new models. Promotional videos were spread online announcing the new born R1 with an effective promotional message prior the show (Promotion Strategies). Yamaha knows how price is an important competitive tool for earning revenue. The R1 has been introduced with an accessible price for its customers, giving them the opportunity to experience such a great innovating machine (Price).
Yamaha Motor Company with its creativity and innovating technology performs an enviable strategic planning in order to magnify its competitive advantage towards its main competitors.

MOTOGP season opens up and the Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Team is in Malesia for Winter Test

Yamaha Motor Company is widely engaged in many different leagues around the world with its Sport Teams. Today in Malesia opens up the MOTOGP Season where the Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Team will try to get the Championship  Crown from rival team Repsol Honda Team and it's rider Marc Marquez. With its riders Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo, the Team hope to conquer the Championship after the second place of last year. Today Test finished with Riders Rossi and Lorenzo in second and third place with timing very close to Marquez, the leader of the day. It seems that the hard work and perseverance of Yamaha Motor Company started to give its results.

Ch. 1 - Overview of Marketing (Brief History and Mission Statement)

"I want to carry out trial manufacture of motorcycle engines." It was from these words spoken by Genichi Kawakami (Yamaha Motor's first president) in 1953, that today's Yamaha Motor Company was born.

"If you're going to do something, be the best." Genichi Kawakami

Genichi Kawakami was the first son of Kaichi Kawakami, the third-generation president of Nippon Gakki (musical instruments and electronics; presently Yamaha Corporation). Genichi studied and graduated from Takachiho Higher Commercial School in March of 1934. In July of 1937, he was the second Kawakami to join the Nippon Gakki Company.

He quickly rose to positions of manager of the company's Tenryu Factory Company (musical instruments) and then Senior General Manager, before assuming the position of fourth-generation President in 1950 at the young age of 38.

In 1953, Genichi was looking for a way to make use of idle machining equipment that had previously been used to make aircraft propellers. Looking back on the founding of Yamaha Motor Company, Genichi had this to say. "While the company was performing well and had some financial leeway, I felt the need to look for our next area of business. So, I did some research." He explored producing many products, including sewing machines, auto parts, scooters, three-wheeled utility vehicles, and…motorcycles. Market and competitive factors led him to focus on the motorcycle market. Genichi actually visited the United States many times during this period.

When asked about this decision, he said, "I had my research division chief and other managers visit leading motorcycle factories around the country. They came back and told me there was still plenty of opportunity, even if we were entering the market late. I didn't want to be completely unprepared in this unfamiliar business so we toured to German factories before setting out to build our first 125cc bike. I joined in this tour around Europe during which my chief engineers learned how to build motorbikes. We did as much research as possible to insure that we could build a bike as good as any out there. Once we had that confidence, we started going."

	The first Yamaha motorcycle... the YA-1.

"If you are going to make it, make it the very best there is." With these words as their motto, the development team poured all their energies into building the first prototype, and ten months later in August of 1954 the first model was complete. It was the Yamaha YA-1. The bike was powered by an air-cooled, 2-stroke, single cylinder 125cc engine. Once finished, it was put through an unprecedented 10,000 km endurance test to ensure that its quality was top-class. This was destined to be the first crystallization of what has now become a long tradition of Yamaha creativity and an inexhaustible spirit of challenge.

Then, in January of 1955 the Hamakita Factory of Nippon Gakki was built and production began on the YA-1. With confidence in the new direction that Genichi was taking, Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. was founded on July 1, 1955. Staffed by 274 enthusiastic employees, the new motorcycle manufacturer built about 200 units per month.

That same year, Yamaha entered its new YA-1 in the two biggest race events in Japan. They were the 3rd Mt. Fuji Ascent Race and the 1st Asama Highlands Race. In these debut races Yamaha won the 125cc class. And, the following year the YA-1 won again in both the Light and Ultra-light classes of the Asama Highlands Race.

By 1956, a second model was ready for production. This was the YC1, a 175cc single cylinder two-stroke. In 1957 Yamaha began production of its first 250cc, two-stroke twin, the YD1.

The first Yamaha to compete in America (1957).

Based on Genichi's firm belief that a product isn't a product until it can hold it's own around the world, in 1958 Yamaha became the first Japanese maker to venture into the international race arena. The result was an impressive 6th place in the Catalina Grand Prix race in the USA. News of this achievement won immediate recognition for the high level of Yamaha technology not only in Japan but among American race fans, as well. This was only the start, however.

Yamaha took quick action using the momentum gained in the USA and began marketing their motorcycles through an independent distributor in California. In 1958, Cooper Motors began selling the YD-1 250 and the MF-1 (50cc, two-stroke, single cylinder, step through street bike). Then in 1960, Yamaha International Corporation began selling motorcycles in the USA through dealers.

With the overseas experiences under his belt, in 1960, Genichi then turned his attention to the Marine industry and the production of the first Yamaha boats and outboard motors. This was the beginning of an aggressive expansion into new fields utilizing the new engines and FRP (fiberglass reinforced plastic) technologies. The first watercraft model was the CAT-21, followed by the RUN-13 and the P-7 123cc outboard motor.

In 1963, Yamaha demonstrated its focus on cutting-edge, technological innovations by developing the Autolube System. This landmark solution was a separate oil injection system for two-stroke models, eliminating the inconvenience of pre-mixing fuel and oil.

Yamaha was building a strong reputation as a superior manufacturer which was reflected in its first project carried out in the new Iwata, Japan Plant, built in 1966. (The YMC headquarters was moved to Iwata in 1972.) Toyota and Yamaha teamed up to produce the highly regarded Toyota 2000 GT sports car. This very limited edition vehicle, still admired for its performance and craftsmanship, created a sensation among enthusiast in Japan and abroad.

Genichi said, "I believe that the most important thing when building a product is to always keep in mind the standpoint of the people who will use it." An example of the commitment to "walking in the customers' shoes" was the move in 1966 by Yamaha to continue its expansion. Overseas motorcycle manufacturing was established in Thailand and Mexico. In 1968, the globalization continued with Brazil and the Netherlands. With manufacturing bases, distributors and R&D operations in a market, Yamaha could be involved in grassroots efforts to build products that truly met the needs of each market by respecting and valuing the distinct national sensibilities and customs of each country. Yamaha continues that tradition, today.

By the late 1960s, Yamaha had quality products that had proven themselves in the global marketplace based on superior performance and innovation. Distribution and product diversity were on the right track. But Genichi knew that beyond quality, success would demand more. He had this view on the power of original ideas. "In the future, a company's future will hinge on ideas over and above quality. Products that have no character, nothing unique about them, will not sell no matter how well made or affordable…and that would spell doom for any company."

He also knew that forward vision, walking hand in hand with original ideas, would create an opportunity for the company and its customers that could mean years of happiness and memorable experiences. Genichi said, "In the business world today, so many people are obsessed with figures. They become fixated on the numbers of the minute and without them are too afraid to do any real work. But in fact, every situation is in flux from moment to moment, developing with a natural flow. Unless one reads that flow, it is impossible to start out in a new field of business."

A real-world illustration of this belief is the Yamaha DT-1. The world's first true off-road motorcycle debuted in 1968 to create an entirely new genre we know today as trail bikes. The DT-1 made a huge impact on motorcycling in the USA because it was truly dirt worthy. Yamaha definitely "read the flow" when it produced

	"Make every challenge an opportunity." Genichi Kawakami

the 250cc, single cylinder, 2-stroke, Enduro that put Yamaha On/Off-Road motorcycles on the map in the USA. The DT-1 exemplified the power of original ideas, forward vision, and quick action coupled with keeping in mind the customers' desires.

In years to come Yamaha continued to grow (and continues to this day). Diversity increased with the addition of products including snowmobiles, race kart engines, generators, scooters, ATVs, personal watercraft and more.

Genichi Kawakami set the stage for Yamaha Motor Company's success with his vision and philosophies. Total honesty towards the customer and making products that hold their own enables the company that serves people in thirty-three countries, to provide an improved lifestyle through exceptional quality, high performance products.

Yamaha Motor Corporation, USA Cypress, California

Genichi Kawakami's history with Yamaha was long and rich. He saw the new corporate headquarters in Cypress, California and the 25th Anniversary of Yamaha become a reality in 1980. He also watched bike #20 million roll off the assembly line in 1982. Genichi passed away on May 25, 2002 yet his vision lives on through the people and products of Yamaha, throughout the world.

As its mission statement, Yamaha Motor Company wants to satisfy its customers and exceed their expectations with products and services of superior quality, unmatched performance, and extraordinary value.

With an ever-expanding line that includes motorcycles, outboard motors, ATVs, personal watercraft, snowmobiles, boats, outdoor power equipment, race kart engines, accessories, apparel, and much more, Yamaha Motor Corporation strive to contribute to the quality of life.

Life can have many exciting, memorable experiences. Creating opportunities for them is what Yamaha is all about.