• A direct-to-consumer business model
• Best-practice implementation of the lean philosophy of operations
• A supply chain management model that integrates customers and suppliers and excels at information sharing
• Standard technologies (versus proprietary products)

Strengths	Related Performance Objectives
Dell has a strong market position – it is tied with HP in terms of worldwide PC shipments in 2006, and is Number 1 in the U.S. (Lahey 2007)	Cost
Dell’s direct-to-consumer model allows costs to be tightly controlled (Wong 2006)	Cost
Under Dell’s vendor-managed inventory approach (Dell 2006A: 5), it receives payment for a product sale before it must pay its suppliers, which results in “free cash” for the company (Katsenelson 2006)	Cost
Dell’s partnerships with its suppliers around the world allow it to leverage supplier R&D investments to minimize its own R&D costs (Stewart & O’Brien 2005: 2)	Cost
Dell has a strong global presence, allowing it to leverage growth in emerging markets such as India (which demonstrated 200% annual growth in consumer sales in 2006) (Singh 2007)	Flexibility Cost
Dell offers a diversified range of products, giving it the ability to extend beyond the low-margin consumer market (Dell 2006B)	Flexibility
Dell’s culture is characterized by “high expectations and disciplined, consistent execution” – its performance metrics are the same around the world (Stewart & O’Brien 205: 1, 5)	Dependability Quality Cost Speed
Employee satisfaction (as measured through the “Tell Dell” semi-annual survey) is strong and steadily increasing (McCarthy 2006: 12)	Cost Quality Dependability Speed Flexibility
Weaknesses	Related Performance Objective
Dell’s financial position is showing declines, for example: Profitability:  gross profit margin1 is falling (from 18.6% in April 2005 to 17.4% in May 2006, and 17% in November 2006) (Dell 2006B and Dell 2006C) Efficiency:  average inventory turnover period2 increased from 4 to 5 days year-over-year (Dell 2006B) Liquidity:  the acid test ratio3 fell from 1.08 in February 2006 to 1.03 in May 2006 (Dell 2006B) Investment:  earnings per share4 declined from $0.38 as at April 2005 to $0.33 as at May 2006 (Dell 2006B)	Cost
Dell’s market share is declining – in Q4 2006, Dell shipped 13.9% of PCs worldwide (a year-over-year drop of 8.7%), which is its lowest market share in 4 years (Bangeman 2007).  In contrast, HP had 16.3% of the market in Q3, and 17.4% in Q4 (ISSJ News Desk 2007).	Cost
Hardware problems have continued to degrade Dell’s image, including overheating laptop adaptors (Sharma, 2004), Sony battery problems (Broache 2005), and Inspiron screen problems (Smith 2007)	Quality
Although Dell’s customer satisfaction improved from 2005 to 2006 by 5.4% (to 78%) (Krazit 2006A), it continues to carry a stigma regarding its service levels	Quality Dependability
In emerging markets such as China and India, it is difficult to do business with consumers at arm’s length – Dell must find ways to increase consumer exposure to its products in these countries (Wong 2006)	Flexibility
CFO Jim Schneider is retiring in January 2007, while the SEC continues an investigation into Dell’s accounting practices (Krazit 2006B)	Quality
Opportunities	Related Performance Objective
Entry into the gaming market (facilitated by the purchase of Alienware) will support higher profit margins in the consumer market (Nichols 2007)	Flexibility
Strong economic growth in Germany (Morris 2007) is expected to increase the demand for business and consumer PCs	Flexibility
Growth in the healthcare, education and SME manufacturing sectors is expected to increase the demand for business computers (Hardy 2007)	Flexibility
The Microsoft Vista launch may lead to increased PC sales in 2007 (Bangeman 2007)	Flexibility
According to Loverde, the mobile technology marketplace is growing, with a demand transition taking place from desktops to notebooks (Ames 2007)	Flexibility
Increasing consumer Internet use presents new technology service opportunities (Burke 2007)	Flexibility
Threats	Related Performance Objective
Gartner predicts that, although PC shipments will increase 9.9% in 2007, revenues will only increase to $201.3 billion (from $201.1 billion in 2006) (Kanellos 2007).  Brutal price competition will continue in 2007 (Bergstein 2007).	Cost
“Switching from Dell to HP is not difficult, and Dell’s cost advantage is finally eroding” (Sachen 2006: 10)	Cost
Dell may be delisted on the Nasdaq if it is unable to submit its delinquent regulatory filings by March 14 (Business Week.com  2007)	Dependability
Dell faces a class action lawsuit regarding its Inspiron notebooks (CBC News 2007)	Quality

• Additional opportunities for outsourcing are being examined, and increased pressure is being placed on the Dell supply chain.
• The company is moving aggressively into growing markets such as India and China
• While continuing to compete in the basic consumer market, Dell will expand its focus on high-end gaming PCs, servers, storage, new services, etc., in order to improve its financial results.
• From a quality perspective, the firm is continuing to improve its customer service, and it must work with suppliers to ensure no further technical problems (such as overheating) occur.
• Along with all of this, Dell must address the accounting issues being investigated by the SEC to reflect a more dependable management approach.