Strategic Analysis of Oracle

The third section shall inform about the fundamental beliefs, values, and missions of the firm. The subsequent sections shall detail the competitive position of the firm in line with the various product lines it offers, discuss the financial situation of the firm, and finally conclude with the demonstration of the available opportunities, existing threat and weakness that may deter the full implementation of its strengths. The exploration found that while the financial position of the firm is healthy, the firm faces competition from its competitors which if not countered might lead to a decline in the profitability of the firm. As such, the firm should open up a new market, develop more database and cloud technology products through intensive research and development. Company Products Oracle produces a range of technology products.

The CEO of Oracle is Mark Hurd, and the Executive Chairman is Larry Ellison (Rosenfeld 2014). Oracle has been growing since establishment, and every year has always come with a new or advancement of existing innovations, for instance, in 1983, it introduced a VAX-mode database, in 1987, it designed a UNIX-based Oracle application, and in 1988 the developers introduced PL/SQL. Again in 1995, the company created the first 64-bit RDBMS which later in 1999 was improved to support XML (Oracle 2018a). In 2003, Oracle introduced the “Enterprise Grid Computing” with Oracle10g. After the acquisition of PaperSoft in 2003, and later in 2006, it acquired Siebel Systems. Customers and institutional stakeholders are recipients of the outstanding respect and dignity from the firm’s employees. Besides cooperation at work contributes to the actualization of the company’s objectives. Besides innovation, customer satisfaction, quality, fairness, compliance, and ethical behavior are reasonable values in Oracle (Oracle 2018b).

These values solidify Oracle’s business culture which consists of highly motivated personnel working in teams to deliver consistent results to customers (Oracle 2018a). Competitive Position Oracle operates in a highly competitive industry characterized by many vendors. Appendix IV shows the comparison of the top five database products. Oracle continues to face competition from all its product due to the nature of the technological space. Consequently, to position itself in the market and remain competitive, the company has adopted strategic acquisitions and alliance. Oracles strike deals with small companies in the technology, software developer all over the competition, a strategy that seeks t open up more access to its products and hence its profitability. For instance, the Acquisition of Sun appeared more as a marketing plan to expand demand its product and create a brand that can sell well (Sandoval 2016).

in 2017. Also, the year ended 2018, the pretax income of Oracle rose to 11. down from only. growth reported in 2017. Alternatively, EBITDA has been growing substantially since 2016, where it was just -8. According to Ellison, the Chief Technology Officer, and Executive Chairman, Oracle is poised for growth given the market penetration capacity, and customer changing need for cloud database (Oracle, 2018c) SWOT Analysis SWOT is a strategic tool that will be used to conceptualize the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats affecting the operations of Oracle. Imperatively, the tool should help decision makers to maximally exploit the opportunities in the market using its strengths while at the same time stay cautious of the threats that may weaken its long-term profitability. The strengths of the company include having a relative success at project implementation since it has introduced many products ranging from cloud technology, database management, and ERP/CRM for companies.

The strategy links well with its ability to open up new markets for its products, as well as make strategic alliances and acquisitions to enhance its productivity. The great entry into new markets has bolstered its revenue streams, which also means it can easily subdue supply chain bottlenecks that could limit its supply networks. Stable economic conditions promise Oracle opportunities to expand its operations and market share. The low inflation rate, steady economic growth, coupled with the introduction of online sales gives an assurance of future progress. Favorable government policies on entry into markets, technological adoption, attractive taxation packages and the government’s commitment to green initiate illuminate success for Oracle in the future. Still, economic progress which impacts positively on consumer spending behavior, especially after economic slowdown is key opportunities for Oracle (Preston 2016).

Despite the many opportunities that Oracle has, there are also threats that may limit its viability in the long run. Additionally, the company can subdue competition through the intensive differentiation, and collaboration either through the strategic acquisition of smaller vendors in the market. However, this could go well if Oracle considers third-party agents who will promote awareness and sales of its products. There is also a need to redesign its costing policy which appears disjointed, and objectively limits customer flexibility, which it should undertake in consultation with the customers. Summary Over four decades Oracle has been in operation, it has demonstrated the ability to innovate products that meet customer experience. However, its market share has been unstable even amidst an increase in sales revenue. Retrieved from http://www. oracle. com/us/corporate/analystreports/ovum-2018-swot-cec-5011567.

pdf Datanyze. Top Competitors Of Oracle Database In Datanyze Universe. Retrieved from https://www. wsj. com/articles/top-oracle-software-executive-to-take-extended-leave-1536266283?mod=searchresults&page=1&pos=17. Kimberling E. Oct 6, 2018). b). Oracle Buys Talari Networks. Retrieved from https://www. oracle. com/corporate/acquisitions/talari/ Oracle. com/sites/oracle/2016/02/04/mark-hurds-cloud-view-5-swot-observations/#1892a9677e63 Rosenfeld E. Sept 2014). Oracle CEO Larry Ellison steps down, Catz and Hurd named CEOs. Retrieved from https://www. cnbc. Dec 14, 2009). Oracle's Decade of Acquisition: Innovative or Just Well-Financed? Retrieved from https://www. cio. com/article/2422092/enterprise-software/oracle-s-decade-of-acquisition--innovative-or-just-well-financed-. html Yahoo.