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Ghoshal et al.Management > Asian Management > Lectures > Independent Research > Ghoshal et al. > Rahul and Bajaj > Fighting back
Fighting BackBajaj began to fight back by signing dozens of agreements over the next few years, such as Austria's AVL to improve vehicle emission and fuel economy, Australia's Orbital Engine Company for combustion systems. The firm also teamed up with Japanese firms, Toyota R&D for scooterettes and mopeds and Kawasaki's heavy industries for motorcycles. This helped widen Bajaj's customer base and placed a new emphasis on improving the machines to international standards. According to Raviv Bajaj, the new models were designed with challenges in mind:
The company developed a four-stroke engine in-house which was fuel-efficient and competed directly with Honda. In 1998, Bajaj Auto created mainly scooters (65%) in very clean factories. The company instituted an "unambiguous bottom up approach", where continuous improvement was the norm. The company also streamlined its suppliers, from 28 to 7 in 1998. fewer suppliers resulted in faster production time.
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