Introduction to Dirt Bikes USA

Dirt Bikes USA is an independent Off-Road Motorcycle manufacturer based in

Carbondale, Colorado. Founded in 1991 by two engineers and motorcycle enthusiasts, Dirt Bikes

USA since its inception has sought to create the best possible motorcycles using innovative

design techniques and combining the top components from manufacturers all over the world.

Dirt Bikes USA has been producing high quality race and recreational off-road motorcycles for

over a decade, with thousands of satisfied customers and impressive trophy case from dirt bike

races from all over the United States as evidence to our continuing excellence. Dirt Bikes USA

strives to continue to grow as a company and to always offer products that will consistently

perform at the top levels of competition for years to come.

Company Goals and Culture

When the Dirt Bike’s founders realized that the most popular bikes on the market were

foreign ones. Their goal was to create bikes that preformed and looked better than their foreign

competition. Their culture comes from many different factors. They were both very young when

they started out with the company. They are still a privately owned company and maintain their

values of family, teamwork, exceptional quality, and attention to detail.

Services Provided
Dirt Bike’s offers four different models of bikes: the Enduro 250, the Enduro 550, the

Moto 300 and the Moto 450. They also sell parts and provide repair services for customers. Dirt

Bikes does not directly sell its products to their customers. It uses a network made up of 40

distributors, mainly located in the Midwest and Western United States. Also there is a small

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percentage sold in Europe using independent distributors that also sell other brands of dirt bikes

and motorcycles. They also heavily promote their business at racing events.

Hierarchy
Around 120 employees work for Dirt Bikes in design, engineering, and production. They

have 4 people in the parts department and 10 people on the service department to service

warrantees and help customers with problems. Five people work in the shipping and receiving

department. They also have a marketing manager and 5 sales representatives. The corporate

administrative staff has a total of 10 employees. The company’s organizational structure is quite

flat. All they have is a CEO and a COO with three managers under them. After that are just all of

the workers.

Department Number of Employees

Total Employees 120
Parts Department 4
Service Department 10
Shipping/receiving 5
Marketing/Sales 6
Administration 10
Corporate 5
Basic Employees 80

Technology
The kinds of information technologies that would be the most important for Dirt Bikes

would be something to track their sales and prices. They should also have something to track

exactly how many of each bike they sell so they will be able to tell which ones are the best

selling and which ones need to be improved upon. They will also need something to keep track

of their employees and how much they make so they will be able to accurately do payroll.

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 Financial Statements
For the period from 1999 to 2002, sales at Dirt Bikes USA have grown steadily; an

increase of 1.2 million dollars from 1999 to 2000, 1.7 million dollars from 2000 to 2001, and 6

hundred thousand dollars from 2001 to 2002. However, from 2002 to 2003, Dirt Bikes USA

suffered a drop in sales of 5 hundred thousand dollars. The best selling product from that time

period was the Enduro 550. And although it was the worst selling product overall, the Moto 450

was the only product that did not drop in sales in 2003.

Over the five year period, the ratio between Domestic and International Sales has hovered

between 8 and 10 percent. Domestic and International sales both increased from 1999 to 2000,

and 2000 to 2001. Both decreased from 2002 to 2003. However, from 2001 to 2002, Domestic

sales increased, while International sales decreased.

Sales increased from 2001 to 2002 by 3.5 million dollars, but decreased from 2002 to

2003 by 4 million dollars. In 2001 and 2002, the cost of goods sold were 66 percent of the

revenue, while in 2003 the goods were 75 percent of the revenue. The operating expenses for the

company have increased every year. The firm is in debt 30 million dollars, almost half of its total

assets.

Sales by Model
Model 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003
Enduro 250 1201 1663 2291 2312 2195
Enduro 550 2832 3290 3759 4078 3647
Moto 300 1755 1932 2454 2615 2627
Moto 450 463 598 661 773 823
TOTAL 6251 7483 9165 9778 9292

Domestic vs. International Sales

1999 2000 2001 2002 2003
Domestic 5723 6843 8254 8889 8530
International 528 640 911 889 762
TOTAL 6251 7483 9165 9778 9292
% International 8.4% 8.6% 9.9% 9.1% 8.2%

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 Consolidated Statements of
Income
2003 2002 2001
Revenue
Net sales 60,144 64,063 61,529
Cost of goods sold 45,835 43,155 41,072
Gross profit/(loss) 14,309 20,908 20,457
Gross margin

Operating expenses
Sales and marketing 4,733 4,537 3,944
Engineering and product development 3,141 2,992 2,339
General and administrative 1,913 1,601 1,392
Total operating expenses 9,787 9,130 7,675
Operating income/loss 4,522 11,778 12,782

Other income/expense
Interest income/expense 1,747 175 80
Other income/(expense) (6,254) (2,914) (3,080)
Income before provision for income taxes 15 9,039 9,782
Income taxes 1,459 1,729 535
Net income/(loss) (1,444) 7,310 9,247
Net margin

Summary Balance Sheet Data

At December 31 2,003 2,002 2,001

Current assets
Cash and cash equivalents 6,994 7,197 6,891
Accounts receivable 13,083 12,981 12,872
Inventories 6,315 5,931 5,843
Total current assets 26,392 26,109 25,606

Property plant, and equipment 36,920 34,515 32,002

Other assets 1,765 1,903 1,834
Total assets 65,077 62,527 59,442

Current liabilities
Accounts payable 8,943 8,694 7,592
Accrued expenses and other liabilities 10,877 9,382 8,654
Total current liabilities 19,820 18,076 16,246

Long-term debt 9,772 9,338 8,890

Total liabilities 29,592 27,414 25,136

Shareholders' equity 35485 35113 34306

Total liabilities + shareholders' equity 65,077 62,527 59,442

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 Expansion into International Markets
There are several countries that can be expanded into. The larger ones include England,

France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Portugal, Austria, China, Japan, and Brazil. Other potential

locations are Taiwan as well as some of the smaller countries in Europe and South America.

Enduro Racing is very popular in Europe, and similar sports are gaining popularity in Asia and

South American also. These dirt bikes could also serve as a mode of general transportation in

countries with less developed roadways, instead of use exclusively for entertainment. Sponsoring

a racing team or individuals is an option to expanding the bikes into other markets.

International Website
The website would have the same general design, but the primary language would vary

by location; this would be done by having users choose their language when first entering the

site. The site would offer videos of all of the bikes in use, pictures and computer generated 3D

models of the bikes, along with their individual specifications. Accomplishments of any racing

team and profiles for the individuals would be included within the site. A public message board

would be included for any visitors that wished to converse with other users of the bikes on a

global scale.

Value of the bikes

Producing dirt bikes as a whole product to distribute are the activities at Dirt Bikes USA

that make the most value. One example of how Dirt Bikes USA provides value to its customers

would be the manufacturing of the four contemporary models of Dirt Bikes with kick and

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electric starters, steering stabilizers, and liquid coolers. Another example of Dirt Bikes USA

providing value to its customers would be the designing of various styles that are suitable for

different types of terrains.

Competitor Comparison
Kawasaki, Suzuki, Yamaha, Honda and KTM are other companies that are major

competitors of Dirt Bikes USA. The competitor’s bikes are so much more expensive because you

are paying for the name brand also.

Min Price Max Price

Dirt Bikes USA $1,200.00 $2,200.00
Kawasaki $4,900.00 $7,000.00
Suzuki $3,100.00 $6,600.00
Yamaha $2,500.00 $7,100.00
Honda $3,150.00 $7,200.00
KTM $6,500.00 $7,800.00

Competitive Sales
Sales, product advancement and advertising strategies are the competitive forces that can

affect the Dirt Bike USA industry. Trying to create the best product to sell at a reasonable price

in order to maximize the profits for the company is the competitive strategy that Dirt Bikes USA

should pursue.

Benefits of a Website
Dirt Bikes can benefit from e-commerce because it will be able to expand its business to

a broader group. Many people may not have heard of their company before and by creating an

online business it will be available to more people. Dirt Bikes should sell both motorcycles and

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parts over the web. If they offer were to only sell motorcycles then people who need just parts

would not be able to but anything from them over the web. By selling both they will get more

customers and therefore more sales. Dirt Bikes should use its site to advertise and for customer

service. This way people who cannot make it to a distributor right away can get more

information and be able to communicate with the company.

Cost of a Website
A web site would add value to Dirt Bikes because they will be able to make more of a

profit with the new customers that they will gain from having the site. At yahoo.com they have

an option to create an e-commerce site. For the first two months it will cost $25.97 plus a 1.5%

transaction fee. After that the cost of the site will vary depending on each month’s sales. It would

be a worthwhile investment for Dirk Bikes if they were expecting to make at least $5000.

Anything below that and the cost of the site is not really worth it.

Functions of a Website
Dirt Bikes home page should be a colorful site showing people racing on their bikes and

having a good time. Above these pictures should be a menu that will take you to the various

pages on the site. These options should include: Different styles of bikes they offer, parts that

they offer, contact information, distributor and store locations, their terms of use, and their

privacy policy. After you click on each option you should then be able to navigate around and

find the product or service that you are looking for. A good example of this is the Honda site.

http://powersports.honda.com/motorcycles/off-road/index.asp?bhcp=1

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 Website Privacy Policy

It is important to collect certain data on our customers and potential customers to ensure

marketing efficiency and to increase targeted service to our customers. We need to collect

regional and demographic data on potential customers to develop targeted advertising to increase

sales. For existing customers, we need to collect personal and contact data to ensure a high

quality of service for our products. The use of cookies on the Dirt Bikes USA website will

provide advantages to both the company and the customer. The tracking information gathered by

the cookies will help develop a demographically sound marketing plan and provide a streamlined

web experience for the customer that is detailed to their preferences. Dirt Bikes USA would be

faced with some privacy issues; like that customers may be unaware of information collected by

the cookies, consent would be needed from the individuals if that information were to be shared,

and they are accountable for the protection of the information gathered by the cookie. Internet

organizations, like TRUSTe, exist to assure customers of a companies’ dedication to information

security; Dirt Bikes USA would join such a group. Since some customers won’t read the privacy

policy on the website, the symbol of the internet organization can be found on the website,

assuring the customers that their private information will be kept safe; this provides a clear

advantage over companies that don’t join an internet organization. Dirt Bikes USA’s site would

conform to the standards made by P3P, thus taking another step to remove the uncertainty of the

protection offered that some customers may have. Having an “opt-in” policy for personal

information will give the customers control over sharing their own information, just reducing

some of the liability of Dirt Bikes USA.

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 Dirt Bikes U.S.A. Online Privacy Policy
Thank you for visiting the Privacy Policy page of Dirt Bikes U.S.A.'s ("DBUSA") website. DBUSA values your right of privacy, and wants
you to feel comfortable using its website. This page describes our privacy policy for the Website, and informs you of certain uses and
potential disclosures of your personally identifiable information.

1. Your Acceptance
By using and/or visiting the DBUSA Website, you signify your assent to both the content of this Privacy Policy and are incorporated
herein by reference. If you do not agree to any of these terms, you should not use the Website. Should DBUSA make any substantial
change to this Privacy Policy, we will publish an amendment, or we may email you if you have opted in for email notifications.

2. Dirt Bikes USA Website

This Privacy Policy applies solely to the DBUSA Website, which may contain links to third party websites that are not owned or
controlled by DBUSA. DBUSA has no control over, and assumes no responsibility for, the content, privacy policies, or practices of any
third party website, which may collect both passive and personally identifiable information. In addition, DBUSA will not and cannot
censor or edit the content of any third party site. By using the Website, your expressly relieve DBUSA from any and all liability arising
from your use of any third party website. Accordingly, we encourage you to be aware when you leave the DBUSA Website, and to read
the terms and conditions and privacy policy of each other website that you visit.

3. What Type of Information Do We Collect and Use?

When you visit the DBUSA Website, we may collect passive information about your visit. Passive information is any form of aggregate
data, navigational data, tracking data, click-stream data, or historical data, which does not on its own personally identify you. Passive
Information includes information collected through cookies. When you register a product, apply for extended service through our
service program, send us an email, subscribe to one of our newsletters, or otherwise submit any data through and/or to the DBUSA
Website, we may also obtain and collect personally identifiable information. Personally identifiable information is information collected
online that personally identifies you, such as by name, email address, or mailing address. DBUSA provides you with the ability to "opt-
out" of certain uses of such personally identifiable information.

4. Maintenance & Opt-Out of Information

If you wish to opt-out of our use and disclosure of your personally identifiable information, other than as expressly permitted in this
Privacy Policy, you will have the option to do so when you first submit your personally identifiable information via the DBUSA Website.
Simply state your desire to opt-out where indicated. If you wish to amend or delete any personally identifiable information that you
have previously provided without opt-out, please send us a message at privacy@dirtbikesusa.com. We will endeavor to provide a
simple way to review, correct, update or remove personally identifiable information you have given us. If you wish to stop receiving a
DBUSA newsletter or other circulation, please follow the "unsubscribe" instructions contained in each newsletter.

5. How Do We Use Personally Identifiable Information?

If you have not opted in for our general use of personally identifiable information, DBUSA will not use or disclose such information
except as follows:

- to communicate directly with you in connection with your specific requests;

- to validate credit card numbers;
- to permit our website designers to develop features and services that meet your needs;
- to tailor your experience on our Website, showing you individually tailored content;
- to comply with a lawful subpoena or court order;
- to remedy any violation or breach of an agreement between you and DBUSA; and
- to prevent harm to the property or rights of DBUSA or its customers.

If you have opted in of our use and disclosure of your personally identifiable information, DBUSA may also use such information for its
own marketing and survey purposes, and DBUSA may appoint third party agents in connection with such marketing and survey efforts,
subject to a confidentiality agreement concerning the information. DBUSA will not, however, disclose any personally identifiable
information for use in connection with a third party's marketing efforts.

6. Aggregate Information
DBUSA may share aggregate statistical information with business partners, sponsors or other third parties, but none of them receive
personally identifiable information. For example, we may tell an advertiser that X number of visitors visited a certain area on a website,
or that Y number of men and Z number of women applied for extended service, but we would not disclose anything that uniquely
identifies those individuals.

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7. Unsolicited Emails Received by You
DBUSA does not send unsolicited bulk emails to anyone who has requested that we do not contact them. We send newsletters only to
those who have taken affirmative steps to subscribe. If you have inadvertently received one of our newsletters, or if you simply wish to
stop receiving them, please follow the "Unsubscribe" instructions contained in each newsletter or send a request to be unsubscribed to
privacy@dirtbikesusa.com.

8. Cookies
Your browser software includes a feature called "cookies." We may use "cookies" to enhance your experience with our site. If enabled,
cookies may store small amounts of data on your computer about your visit to the DBUSA Website, including your page preferences.
Cookies tell us nothing about you personally, unless you specifically give us additional information. DBUSA does not merge or associate
our cookie information with any personally identifiable information obtained by us or from third parties. Cookies simply assist us in
tracking which of our features you like best and what content you may have viewed during past visits. When you re-visit the DBUSA
Website, cookies can enable us to customize our content according to your preferences. We may use cookies to: (i) keep count of your
return visits to the Website; (ii) accumulate anonymous, aggregate, statistical information on website usage; (iii) deliver content
specific to your interests or past viewing history; and (iv) save your password so you don't have to re-enter it each time you visit our
sites. You can also disable cookies. By modifying your browser preferences, you can accept or reject all cookies, or request a
notification when a cookie is set.

9. P3P (Platform for Privacy Preference) Conformance

Our cookies conform to the emerging P3P privacy standard, developed by the World Wide Web Consortium. P3P provides a simple,
automated way for users to control the use of personal information. Browsers like Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 conform to the P3P
standard. At its most basic level, P3P is a standardized set of multiple-choice questions, covering all the major aspects of a website's
privacy policy. Taken together, they present a clear snapshot of how a site handles personal information. P3P-enabled browsers can
"read" this snapshot automatically and compare it to the consumer's own set of privacy preferences. P3P places privacy policies where
users can find them, in a form users can understand, and, most importantly, enables users to act on what they see.

10. IP Addresses
An Internet Protocol ("IP") address is a number assigned to your computer whenever you access the Internet. An Internet Service
Provider ("ISP") typically assigns a random dynamic IP address at the time of your dial-up. For local area network ("LAN"), DSL, or
cable modem users, a static IP address may be permanently assigned to a particular computer. DBUSA may record the IP addresses of
visitors to its Website. While an IP address may reveal your ISP or geographic area, we cannot determine your identity solely based
upon your IP address. Other websites you visit have IP addresses, and we may collect the IP addresses of those websites and their
pages, but these IP addresses are never associated with Internet users.

11. Web Beacons

The Website may contain web beacons, which are electronic images (sometimes called "single-pixel gifs") that allow us to count page
views, or to access cookies. We may also include web beacons in HTML-formatted newsletters containing graphics that we may send to
opt-in subscribers, to count the number of newsletters that have been opened and read. Our web beacons do not collect, gather,
monitor, or share any personal information about our website visitors. They are used only to compile our anonymous, aggregate
statistics about website usage.

12. Computer Profiles

DBUSA may also collect and accumulate other anonymous data that helps us understand and analyze the Internet experience of our
visitors. For example, we may accumulate visitor data relating to referring domain names, the type of browsers used, operating system
software, screen resolutions, color capabilities, browser plug-ins, language settings, cookie preferences, search engine keywords and
JavaScript enablement. None of this information is personally identifiable and we only share this information in the aggregate, reflecting
overall website or Internet usage trends, as outlined in this Privacy Policy.

13. Chat Rooms and Forums

The DBUSA Website may in the future include chat rooms, forums, message boards, and/or news groups. If so, DBUSA as a passive
conduit will not be liable for any of the transmitted information. Any information that is disclosed in these areas becomes public
information. You should exercise caution before disclosing your personal information via these public venues, which you do at your own
risk. If you do so, you may receive unsolicited emails or "spam." DBUSA cannot safeguard the privacy of personally identifiable
information that is disclosed and can be viewed or accessed online in this manner.

14. Security
Some pages of the DBUSA Website use security measures to protect the loss, misuse and alteration of information that is transmitted
through the Website. These pages use Secure Socket Layer ("SSL") connections with 128-bit encryption for certain transactions and
confidential data. When you use a secure browser, all information you submit comes to us over the Internet in an encrypted form, with
a digital certificate issued by a third-party certification authority such as TrustE®. To view this certificate, click on the image of the

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closed lock or the solid key on the bottom bar of your browser window. We also maintain our servers in locked facilities with secure
access. Unfortunately, no data transmission over the Internet or any wireless network can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. As a
result, while we strive to protect your personally identifiable information, we cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information
you transmit, and you do so at your own risk. Once we receive your transmission, we make our best effort to ensure its security on our
systems. You can report network abuse and any risk of security violations to us by emailing privacy@dirtbikesusa.com.

15. Children's Online Privacy Protection

The DBUSA Website complies with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (COPPA). COPPA and its accompanying FTC
regulation protects the privacy of children using the Internet. DBUSA does not knowingly collect contact or personally identifiable
information from children under 13. The DBUSA Website is not intended to solicit information of any kind from children under 13, and is
designed to block our knowing acceptance of any such information, wherever age related information is requested. It is possible that by
fraud or deception we may receive information pertaining to children under 13. If we are notified of this, as soon as we verify the
information, we will immediately obtain parental consent or otherwise delete the information from our servers. If you want to notify us
of our receipt of information by children under 13, please do so by emailing us at privacy@dirtbikesusa.com.

Cost of Software Ownership

MS Office 2007 Sun StarOffice

Word Processor Word Writer
Spreadsheet Excel Calc
Database Access Base
Electronic Presentation PowerPoint Impress
E-mail software Outlook
Publish Web pages FrontPage
Price $400 $70

Although Sun StarOffice has a lower cost, the products offered do not fill all of Dirt

Bikes USA’s requirements. The better choice, at a higher price, is Microsoft Office. Microsoft

Office also has the ability for the system to be upgraded later, whereas Sun StarOffice does not

have that capability.

Software Cost $400.00

Installation fee $100.00
Training fee $25.00
Cost Per User $525.00
Total Users $8.00
Subtotal $4,200.00
Annual Tech Support $1,260.00
Annual Downtime $630.00
Annual Cost $1,890.00
(Annual) Cost over 3 years $5,670.00
Grand Total $9,870.00

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 Telecommunications Reducing Expenses
Since the Senior Managers of Dirt Bikes USA are concerned about the increase in travel

expenses, they believe that the use of telecommunications should be practiced more. Commercial

online services, e-mailing, and video-conferencing on interactive TVs are examples of modern

telecommunication applications that would be most useful to help Dirt Bikes cut down on travel

and communication costs. Exchanging data information on a product is a specific work activity

that could benefit from the telecommunication application of emailing. Teleconferencing

between conference locations of corporations during meetings is a specific work activity that

could benefit from the telecommunication application of videoconferencing on interactive TVs.

For video-conferencing, large-screen monitors to use for video-conferencing purposes cost

roughly $1000 or over, and the web-cams that would be used to capture the images would cost

roughly $900.

Internet Tools
The various Internet tools could help the employees at Dirt Bikes because they could start

communicating through e-mail rather than on the phone. This will save Dirt Bikes money

because all of their employees are equipped with internet service already, so e-mail will not have

any extra charges attached to it.

All Employees Marketing Personnel

E-mail Free communication
Search engines Look up information on competitors for free

All of these departments could benefit from intranets because each department could be

broken down so everything can be more focused and have more direct information. The sales and

marketing department would greatly benefit from the creation of an intranet. The type of

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information that could be provided by an intranet for that department would be information about

how their marketing campaigns are working out. It will also allow them to have accurate

information on how many bikes they are selling and what kinds are the most popular. By

receiving this information the people that are in that department will have more information

about what is working and what is not working. This will help them to develop new campaigns

that will be successful. It will also allow them to see what bikes are selling and which ones are

not as popular. This will allow them to decide if they should change anything on any of their

models or what bikes they should advertise more. All of this will allow the sales and marketing

department work to a higher capacity and make more accurate decisions.

Fuel Tank Suppliers

RidingGear.com sells a variety of fuel tanks. For a single fuel tank, ground shipping is

free; it can be shipped in two days for $48.99, or overnight for $86.99. There is a handling fee of

$15.99. For each additional fuel tank, the shipping fee; except ground which remains free,

increases slightly. Their average cost for fuel tanks is $380.00. Ground shipping, which takes 3-5

business days, has a total cost of $396; two day shipping is $445 total, and overnight shipping is

$483 total.

Orange County Choppers sell a few fuel tanks. The average cost for a fuel tank is

$600.00. All shipping, however, is free; from 2-7 day ground delivery from UPS, to overnight

UPS air delivery. There is also no handling fee. Therefore, the total cost is just that of the fuel

tank itself.

Although orange County Choppers offer a better deal when it comes to shipping, Dirt

Bikes should consider using RidingGear.com for their fuel tank needs. Riding Gear offers a

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larger selection of fuel tanks at a significantly lower cost. Riding Gear also offers more methods

for shipping.

Supply Chain
Logility’s Voyager provides solutions for supply and demand planning, manufacturing

planning, and management of both warehouses and transportation. The demand planning

software will give Dirt Bikes the ability to increase their gross profit margins, reduce their

inventory costs while increasing the inventory turnover, and allow new products to reach the

market faster through more efficient planning. Supply planning will help reduce costs when it

comes to shipping products, reducing costs by effectively distributing resources, and identify

orders that can’t currently be met, so changes can be made to meet the orders. The supply

execution portion of the program will increase perfect orders, profitability, and inventory and

shipping accuracy to almost 100%. The efficiency of shipping can be drastically improved, while

the shipping cost is cut.

Cadre’s Supply Chain Execution Software brings together several aspects and does

everything with a single program. It allows the user to control just about everything at the same

time, in real-time; products in the warehouse, those being shipped, and everything that is located

for sale on the Internet.

Logility provides a better system that will suit Dirt Bike’s needs more completely as the

company continues to grow. The Logility system works with more then just supply chains, so

Dirt Bikes won’t need to purchase another system for other departments. Having a single system

will also allow the information to be shared between departments very easily since all of the file

types will be the same.

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 Knowledge Management

As we continue to rely on technology for efficiency, it is important to incorporate

technology that will protect and enhance our competitive advantage, primarily our unique

products and business procedures. Our most important knowledge assets are our engineering

designs, our customer relations management, and our sales/marketing processes. We can

document much of this knowledge, as the engineers can draft their designs, and our customer and

sales personnel can develop SOP documents. However, a good deal will remain tacit. Our

engineers will continue to develop new ideas, and many techniques for dealing with people,

techniques that will be employed by our customer service representatives and sales personnel

cannot be recorded in any traditional fashion, the “tricks of the trade” as they may be known as.

There also elements of knowledge outside the company that will not only enhance our

productivity, but are required to even be functional. Since Dirt Bikes USA uses outside engine

manufacturers, we must be knowledgeable about what engine products and advancements are

being developed at our engine suppliers. Also, as the dirt bike market continues to expand, our

marketing staff can use outside media to increase its knowledge of current trends. Any company

requires knowledge on economic trends; this could range from interest rates for borrowing

money for expansion, to ensuring adequate compensation and benefits for employees.

Knowledge management systems can provide benefits to all the functional areas of the

organization. Our engineers, design technicians, and product developers can use Knowledge

Work Systems to assist in turning their ideas into actual products. They may use computer aided

design to create a new motorcycle frame to work with a new motor from our engine supplier.

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 Our marketing and sales teams can use Intelligent Techniques and Structured Knowledge

Systems to analyze patterns in their functional areas. Marketing can use internal and external

data to develop targeted advertising campaigns based on trends extracted from data analysis. Our

sales team can analyze annual sales figures to determine periods when extra incentives or

specific financing plans may be necessary.

Our managers, for both the functional areas and the executives would employ an

Enterprise Knowledge Management System. This system would contain as much information as

possible that can be documented and organized, from raw data to data studies. This will allow

our managers to make the most informed decisions possible. At our current personnel level, a

Knowledge Network is possible, but would be excessive as managers can personally interface

with the small number of employees for an opinion or other form or tacit knowledge.

By using the internet, Dirt Bikes USA can find large sources for knowledge acquisition.

By maintaining a visible internet presence, we can acquire information for marketing purposes

through our website and third party advertising services. Our design team can link into

knowledge networks of our overseas engine suppliers to work out design issues. The company as

a whole will benefit from using dirt bike enthusiast sites, message boards, and forums because

the entire organization needs to be in touch with the current trends in the market and the needs

and wants of the customer.

Enterprise Information Portals are a new tool that we can use to provide knowledge

resources to our employees to aid them in completing their objectives. For example, a portal

designed for our sales team would link to in depth sales information. This would include the

database of raw sales data for the past and present, and forecasting for the future. Sales trends

and analysis would also be available. Sales team members would be able to post to a message

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board to provide semi structured documentation for tacit knowledge. This portal would resemble

a typical internet interface. It would require a secure login to protect our sensitive financial data.

The homepage would have a constantly updated news section from both the dirt bike and

financial worlds, and links to all of the information previously mentioned.

In conclusion, knowledge management is an important aspect of ensuring our company’s

success for the future. We are continually seeking to employ the best technology to exploit our

competitive advantages and knowledge management systems are an integral part of creating,

storing, and protecting the knowledge that will allow us to accomplish that.

Final Word on Dirt Bikes USA

Dirt Bikes USA has great potential as a company to continue to grow and flourish. All of

these suggestions will assist Dirt Bikes in becoming the best company that it can be. The future

of Dirt Bikes is in their hands and only time will see what happens to this company.

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