The Saturn Corporation And Critical Approach Theory

8 Pages 1897 Words

A Study of Saturn using the Cultural Approach to the Study of Organizational Communication.
The case study, “Achieving Customer Satisfaction Through Distribution Partners: The Case of Saturn”, seeks to understand the principles behind Saturn Corporation’s distribution strategy. A car company created to compete with Japanese imports, Saturn has implemented a unique distribution strategy which appears to “break the traditional arms-length and sometimes adversarial relations between manufacturers and dealers.” Saturn seeks to create a partnership between its manufacturers and retailers in order to insure that all members (manufacturers, retailers, and consumers) are involved in a mutually beneficial relationship.
Saturn’s mission surpasses other “traditional” car companies in that their main goal is to achieve consistent customer satisfaction. Traditional car companies work to “push” as many cars possible at the highest margin. Saturn realized that this created a gap in “what the customer desired in terms of service and what was being delivered by the existing dealerships.” While the mission of other car companies is to make a profit first, and service the customer second, Saturn realized that consistently achieving customer satisfaction would increase “current and future sales.” Saturn’s strategy to achieve consistent customer satisfaction is “highly dependent upon a close partnership that Saturn fosters with its retailers.” While the techniques that Saturn has implemented are not unique on their own, together they form a unique organization which seeks to commitment to “total customer satisfaction.”
Saturn’s unique organization developed a completely new approach to the management and manufacturing of cars. The figure 1 (below) is a conceptual model of the retail service quality and customer satisfaction which Saturn works to achieve:


Saturn is able to maintain a close manufa...