What Accounts for Steinway's Reputation as a Manufacturer of High-Quality Pianos?

What accounts for Steinway's reputation as a manufacturer of high-quality pianos?

Steinway from the beginning was focused on the superior technical expertise. And they won the gold medal in the Washington DC metropolitan fair the very next year of its inception. The main reason for its high quality product is due to its core philosophy and traditional manufacturing methods. All Steinways were still assembled by craft methods with little use of assembly-line techniques. Volumes remained small. Skilled labor was employed throughout the process and many employees often continuing an association begun by their parents and grandparents and had been with the firm for 20 or 30 years. The manufacturing was done in the job shop by highly skilled labour which was trained through years of observation, practice and association with some of world's best piano players and their feedback. For e.g. the final voicing was done by the most experienced workmen and took around 20 to 30 hours to be perfect. This was the level of skill and delicacy which was invested in making the pianos.

Only the finest materials were sourced from the original country from around the world. Purchase of millions of dollars' worth of wood annually, which includes rosewood from Brazil, mahogany from Africa and Sitka spruce from Alaska. Besides, research and development also contributed for maintaining the high quality product. The R&D group was always on the lookout for better materials and methods which would make the piano sound better. The R D group and it collaborated with CBS Technology center on several other projects causes the high reputation as a manufacturer of high quality pianos. Still following the advice of its founder i.e. build the best piano possible and sell it at the lowest price consistent with quality.

Question 2

How Does Steinway's strategy compare