Heckler & Koch Case Study: Situation Analysis and Innovation Concept

The small arms market is fiercely contested, strictly regulated, and almost untouched by basic innovation. A large number of manufacturers sell ostensibly interchangeable products, which raises an awkward strategic question: on what basis does any one of them lead?

Heckler & Koch is regarded as a leading firm in the sector. This case study asks how that position was reached, what the company’s current situation looks like, and what its plans for the future imply.

Situation analysis

The analysis works outward from the product to the environment, covering the market, the company’s customers, the company itself, and its competitors. Two frameworks structure the external view:

• PESTEL, for the environmental factors acting on a heavily regulated industry.
• SWOT, for the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that follow from them.

The two are then brought together in a combined analysis.

Innovation concept

On the basis of the company’s current position, the paper develops a disruptive product innovation in the form of a laser rifle, intended to secure the firm’s competitiveness in the longer term. The concept is deliberately chosen against the grain of a market defined by incremental change, which is what makes it a test of the analysis rather than a restatement of it.

Abstract

Weapons have been used as instruments of attack and defence for millennia. The small arms market is fiercely contested, strictly regulated, and is scarcely shaped by basic innovation. A large number of manufacturers sell ostensibly similar weapons. As a German manufacturer, Heckler & Koch is regarded as a leading company in the sector. But how does Heckler & Koch achieve this position, what does the company’s current situation look like, and what plans exist for the future? Within a situation analysis, the weapons market, the customers of Heckler & Koch, the company itself and its competition are analysed. PESTEL and SWOT analyses are used to examine environmental factors alongside strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. On the basis of the company’s current position, a disruptive product innovation is devised in the form of a laser rifle, intended to secure the company’s performance into the future.

@techreport{golombeck2019hecklerkoch,
  author      = {Golombeck, Marius},
  title       = {{Heckler \& Koch Fallstudie: Situationsanalyse und
                 Innovationskonzept}},
  institution = {University of Applied Sciences and Arts Dortmund},
  address     = {Dortmund, Germany},
  year        = {2019},
  month       = dec,
  language    = {german},
  doi         = {10.13140/RG.2.2.23803.87843/2},
  url         = {https://www.researchgate.net/publication/338221583}
}