Strategy of international business pressures

Strategy of international business pressures The strategy of international business involves analysing the progression of globalization in the worlds economy and how a company responds and what measures it takes, strategy-wise to compete effectively beyond national borders. It involves business transactions crossing national borders at any stage of the transaction; it also involves dealing with many different cultures and extensive field experience. 2.1 GLOBAL EXPANSION There are many advantages for firms who expand globally which include increasing their profitability and higher growth of profits. Most basically it creates a larger market size. It allows firms to reduce their costs through differentiation. Global expansion helps realize location economies, recognize higher cost economies and earn a higher return by exploiting any valuable skills from foreign actions. 2.2 COMPETITIVE PRESSURES. The competition in the market place is not easy for the firms. Firms in the market place usually face two types of pressures. 2.2.1 PRESSURES FROM COST REDUCTION. One type of pressure is the one they receive due to pressures for cost reductions. In response to this companies try to lower the costs of their value production. Ways a firm may do this could include mass producing standardized products in a location where it is most optimal to do so and realize economies of scale and location and/or outsourcing certain functions of the job to foreign suppliers that cost less so as to reduce costs. Most companies face difficulties distinguishing commodities since differentiating non-price factors is complex. 2.2.2 PRESSURES FROM LOCAL RESPONSIVENESS. The second pressure they face is that from local responsiveness. Such pressures arise from varying differences in traditional practices, infrastructure and customers preferences and tastes. To respond to this, firms need to differentiate their products in each country to take into account all these factors. 2.3 CHOOSING A STRATEGY. Differences in the strength of pressures for cost reductions versus those for local responsiveness affect the firms choice of strategy. Firms typical choose among four main strategic positions when competing internationally. These can be characterized as a global standardization strategy, a localization strategy, a transnational strategy, and an international strategy. The appropriateness of each strategy varies given the extent of pressures for cost reductions and local responsiveness. 2.4 PROCTER GAMBLE. Procter Gamble was founded in 1837. It is one of the worlds most international companies. PG sells over 300 brands including tide pampers, Crisco and IAM pet food. Nowadays PG is a large global consumer product business that has sales of over $50 billion. Most of these sales are generated outside the United States in Canada, Britain, Western Europe, Japan and other Asian nations. These expansions led to growth opportunities, created value by transferring its business model to foreign countries and preempted other retailers that were also starting to expand globally. However the company started facing some issues and had to rethink their strategies of expanding globally. 4.0 PG REORGANIZATION. Procter Gamble, as observed were initially following an international strategy, which was possible since they had low pressures to reducing costs and low pressures on local responsiveness. However their costs were rising and in 1993, in response to the increase of costs, they initiated a major reorganization. During this they closed down thirty manufacturing plants worldwide and fired about 13000 employees. In addition to this they focused their production on lesser plants so that they could reach regional markets and achieve better economies of scale. It is apparent that PG are moving towards a global standardization strategy from their previous international strategy. 4.1 GLOBAL STANDARDIZATION STRATEGY. This strategy is appropriate if the cost reduction pressures are high but the pressure on local responsiveness stays low. Under this strategy the products are standardized worldwide. They undertake a low cost approach on an international basis. They rarely try to differentiate their product offering because often their costs increase when customization is undertaken. As a result of this strategy, PG reduced their costs by about $600 million but it still was not enough. Their profits were still not favorable and sales were slow as ever. 4.2 ORGANIZATION 2005. In 1998, PG tried yet again to control these increased pressures and embarked on its second reorganization. They named it Organization 2005. The company hoped to change the ways in which their products were being innovated, manufactured and marketed. The strategy consisted of modifying the structure of the organization, culture and work processes comprehensively. It including laying off 17000 employees within the next 3 years and it changed its organizations structure by breaking up their four geographic business units and focusing it on 7 global business units (GBUs). These units were derived according to product categories ranging from food products to baby care. Each unit was completely in charge for generating profits from their products and also their own marketing, production and product development. Their focus shifted to only few large plants, trying to build global brands where possible so as to remove differences in marketing among countries. It also intended to speed up th e developing and launching of new products. It is evident that PG is now moving towards a transnational strategy because they are faced with high pressures to cost reduction as well as high pressures to local responsiveness. The international and global standardization strategies failed to be effective since PG didnt take into account the falling barriers to trade and customers abilities to trade internationally and therefore increase in demand for variety of goods. 4.3 TRANSNATIONAL STRATEGY. A transnational strategy is one where companies try to keep their costs low while simultaneously differentiating the products they offer across national borders and fostering a flow of skills across different subsidiaries in their operations network worldwide. This strategy is difficult and involves the company in balancing the local markets demands for consumer products whilst concurrently aiming to save their costs. PGs seven units are called global business units, but function on a very decentralized way. They develop their strategies locally or regionally and implement them. In other words their product development, delivery and marketing are conducted locally whereas the background functions of finance, payroll and human resource management is carried out on a worldwide basis. 4.3.1 BENEFITS AND RISKS. There are many benefits for pursuing a transnational strategy. It enables firms to gain scale economies as well as location due to the increase in sales in global volume. It also helps transfer distinguishing competences and skills. The home country may hold many different competences and it is only right to share it with other countries as well. In addition it simultaneously lowers pressures on local responsiveness. However one risk they face is trying to differentiate the product to respond to local demands in different geographic markets raises costs, which run counter to the goal of reducing costs.

The Tunnel Essay -- Personal Narrative Writing

The Tunnel My unforgettable senior football season was coming to a close. The whole team knew that this was the last game of football we would ever play together. After this game, it would never be the same. I had been waiting my whole life to experience what I was about to face in the next few hours. To me, and to the rest of my hometown, high school football isn’t just a game; it is a lifelong passion. I grew up watching my role models play the same game I was about to play where the football-frenzied town of Mahnomen won four state championships in a row. Since the seventh grade, my team was expected to make it to the state play-offs our senior year, and now we were playing for the state tittle. We didn’t have anybody extremely fast, strong, or even smart on our team. In fact, no senior would go on to participate in college football. We were just a few guys that would never give up no matter what the circumstances. Those guys were my team, like I was the one leading them all into a battle field, even though that was the feeling of half the other guys. My team had been nicknamed â€Å"The Cardiac Kids† because of our ability to pull out a victory by one point, which we had done in six games that season. Critics thought a team that could only squeak out so many victories by one point was bound to lose their composure in the play-offs. Throughout the season we had worked towards becoming the team we now were. We were proud of how far we had gotten. The only thing left to do was to play our hardest and to see how well we matched up against the best team in the state. All of this led up to the moment of the State Championship Game. From the locker room, we walked into the dark tunnel leading to the nervous light of The M... ...at is he didn’t like how he wrote about things he didn’t know about, when he could have been writing about important things that were happening to him because he did know about them. This makes me see the importance of my paper better. I also changed some things around in the paper. As you can imagine, when Dr. Morgan criticized writing about â€Å"The Big Game† I was like, â€Å"Oh Crap, now I have to write it all over again.† As you can see, I decided to stay with my original idea, but just focus on it at a different point. Instead of telling what happened, I focus more on why it affected me. Like when I wrote, †Because of what I learned that moment, I will be able to see when teamwork is needed and how to pursue it. You might not think that this is such an important quality, but this connects with me every day of my life.† I think this helps fit the assignment better.

Discuss the writers use of the supernatural Essay

The two stories resemble each other with the idea they communicate with the reader, that people should respect the supernatural. In the Withered Arm, Thomas Hardy develops why we should fear and respect the supernatural by showing that by mocking Gertrude about her medicines and counter curses, Farmer Lodge ended up with a dead son and a dead wife. He also ended up selling all his land because he could not endure staying in the village with everyone gossiping about him. Also by keeping the tempo of the story fast and building up to all the supernatural events keeps us tense. In the Monkey’s Paw, Sergeant Major Morris warns the White family about the consequences of the wishes the paw grants. However the White family do not take heed of the warning and take advantage of the paw and in doing so, they end up with their son dead, Mrs. White acting senselessly to try and bring back her son and Mr. White having to wish his son back to the grave. The author is trying to tell us that if you do not respect the supernatural and take advantage of it, you will feel its wrath. The two stories are alike in other ways. Both stories involve young innocent people suffering. In the Monkey’s Paw Herbert died for his family’s foolishness. Whilst in the Withered Arm it was Rhoda’s and Farmer Lodge’s son that was innocently sent to the gallows. Another similarity is that people that were selfish earlier on in the stories are punished in the end. Mr. White is self-seeking at the start of the Monkey’s Paw and does not take Sergeant Major Morris’ advice and his son dies as a result. In the Withered Arm Farmer Lodge is punished for his negligence shown to his son and his failure to accept the responsibility for his son. The consequence for this is the eventual hanging of his only son. Also both stories have ironic twists. In the Monkey’s Paw the family wishes for two hundred pounds and after the money doesn’t appear straight away, Herbert says â€Å"Well I don’t see the money, and I bet I never shall. † The wish eventually does come true and the money is handed over to the family but only as an insurance payout for Herbert’s death at the factory. So the irony is that Herbert will never actually see the money. In the Withered Arm the ironic twist is that when Gertrude was waiting for a hanging she got so desperate that she used to pray for a hanging â€Å"O Lord, hang some guilty or innocent person soon! † It turned out her prayers were answered but the man seen to be in the wrong turned out to be Farmer Lodges’ and Rhoda Brooks’ son but it seemed the boy was wrongfully charged with arson. At the hanging, Farmer Lodge and Rhoda were present in the crowd and once Gertrude had realized the hung man must be their son, she entered a sense of shock. This proved too much for her and she died. The irony is that she prayed for a man to be hung, so that she could cure herself but the man in the end was her husband’s son and this did the opposite of curing her and the shock of it all ended her life. In conclusion, the writers use the supernatural to show the reader that if you ridicule the supernatural, it will backfire on you and you will feel the consequences greatly. Also they try and make you scared of the supernatural by making the paranormal events happen to normal people. Meaning it could have been you instead.

Castaway Essay

Isolation and being alone is a phobia of many. Ann Burden, from Z for Zachariah, and Chuck Noland, from Cast Away, were faced with a life of isolation. Ann and Chuck dealt with their isolation differently, with different situations and circumstances. When arguing who was better off, it is important to analyse and compare the food, shelter, resources and companionship each character had. With the variety, convenient and nutritional value of food the characters had, Ann had the better of the two situations. Ann had a large variety of food; she could get flour, sugar, tinned meat and similar items from the Klein’s store. She used these items to made cakes and other products. Ann collected eggs from the chickens and later on she used chickens as meat. She also had cows that she could collect milk from; she used the milk for butter and also for other foods. Ann could also grow her own food; she had land to grow many crops such as; peas tomatoes, beets, potatoes, beans and other fruit and veggies. Ann thought of ways to maximize the use of the land. For example Ann states what she is thinking in her diary when she wrote, â€Å"I planned to fertilize the corn and the soy beans and pea-beans, which were now up† (Page 126). This shows that she thought how she could get the most out of her crops. She had an uncontaminated pond where she could collect fish and fresh water. With all these food sources, Ann had no reason to work hard for food. As opposed to Chuck who had to hunt and gather his food Chuck also only had a small variety of food. Chuck only had Coconuts flesh and milk and seafood (crabs and fish). With the situation that both characters had in terms of food, Ann was better off. With Chuck suddenly being isolated in a new, unknown place and Ann still living in the valley, Ann had much better shelter then Chuck. Ann had many different types of shelter. She had her house that her and her family lived in, the church, a tree with a large hollow trunk, the Klein’s store and living quarters above the store, the barn and shed. Ann also had a small cave in the mountains that was useful many times in the book, for especially when Mr. Loomis arrived in the valley. The time that she is most thankful for the cave is when Mr. Loomis started to act strange. Ann stated this the first time he acted strange, writing this in her diary on the 30th of June, â€Å"I am living in the cave again, and I am glad now that never told Mr. Loomis about it or where it was† (Page 126). Ann had many different types of shelter compared to Chuck. Chuck had very little shelter. Also the shelter was only the lifeboat, which is not very useful and broke within the first few days. Also chuck had a cove but it was small with minimal space, making it difficult to move around in. So it’s clear that Ann had better shelter compared to Chuck. Both Chuck and Ann had many resources; both of them had different type of resources, but had had more useful resources. Ann had very useful resources, such as a gun and bullets, to use for protection. She had a tractor and petrol that was used for farming, such as ploughing, fertilising and transportation. She also had natural resources such as a pond for water, fruit trees also many animals such as cows and chickens and land to cultivate. Ann also had the Klein’s store, in the store there was food, clothing, candles, matches and many other resources. In her house, she had many resources such as laundry tub, stove and lots of bedding. Finally when Mr. Loomis came, he brought a safe suit, the suit could withstand radiation. A Geiger counter, that measured the amount of radiation in the air. Finally a tent that can also withstand radiation, all of these are also helpful resources. On the other hand, Chuck had very little resources. He had packages that he opened. In the packages he found ice skates that he used as rope and knife, a volley ball, which became a companion, a dress, video rapes, paper, bubble wrap and cardboard. Chuck also had natural resources on the island such as rocks, trees, shells and leaves. This show that Ann had better and also more resources compared to Chuck. With both characters with minimal companionship, it was hard to deal with the loneliness but Ann had it better off. For the first year that Ann was alone, she only had the radio for a short amount of time, telling her what has happened out of her town. Her diary was used to keep track of what events happened and the animals that broke the silence. When Mr. Loomis came Ann was excited, but scared that someone was still alive. Throughout the book their friendship changes, it has its ups and down. In the end, she wishes that Mr. Loomis had never come. On the other hand, Chuck had no human companionship. He only had a volleyball that he made into a face and named it Wilson, a whale when he was floating in the sea and a photo of Kelly, his girlfriend. Ann didn’t have better companionship to Chuck, even though Chuck didn’t have human companionship he was close to the ball. It is clear that Ann was in a much better position compared to Chuck. She had better food, with more variety and convenience, more and safer shelter, greater and more reliable resources. Even though her companionship wasn’t the best, her living conditions were much better. If their isolation was long term, Ann would be in a more sustainable position.

How to Analyze a Free Falling Body Problem

How to Analyze a Free Falling Body Problem One of the most common sorts of problems that a beginning physics student will encounter is to analyze the motion of a free-falling body. Its helpful to look at the various ways these sorts of problems can be approached. The following problem was presented on our long-gone Physics Forum by a person with the somewhat unsettling pseudonym c4iscool: A 10kg block being held at rest above the ground is released. The block begins to fall under only the effect of gravity. At the instant that the block is 2.0 meters above the ground, the speed of the block is 2.5 meters per second. At what height was the block released? Begin by defining your variables: y0 - initial height, unknown (what were trying to solve for) v0 0 (initial velocity is 0, since we know it begins at rest) y 2.0 m/s v 2.5 m/s (velocity at 2.0 meters above ground) m 10 kg g 9.8 m/s2 (acceleration due to gravity) Looking at the variables, we see a couple of things that we could do. We can use conservation of energy or we could apply one-dimensional kinematics. Method One: Conservation of Energy This motion exhibits conservation of energy, so you can approach the problem that way. To do this, well have to be familiar with three other variables: U mgy (gravitational potential energy) K 0.5mv2 (kinetic energy) E K U (total classical energy) We can then apply this information to get the total energy when the block is released and the total energy at the 2.0 meter above-the-ground point. Since the initial velocity is 0, there is no kinetic energy there, as the equation shows E 0 K 0 U 0 0 mgy 0 mgy 0E K U 0.5mv2 mgyby setting them equal to each other, we get:mgy0 0.5mv2 mgyand by isolating y0 (i.e. dividing everything by mg) we get:y0 0.5v2 / g y Notice that the equation we get for y0 doesnt include mass at all. It doesnt matter if the block of wood weighs 10 kg or 1,000,000 kg, we will get the same answer to this problem. Now we take the last equation and just plug our values in for the variables to get the solution: y0 0.5 * (2.5 m/s)2 / (9.8 m/s2) 2.0 m 2.3 m This is an approximate solution, since we are only using two significant figures in this problem. Method Two: One-Dimensional Kinematics Looking over the variables we know and the kinematics equation for a one-dimensional situation, one thing to notice is that we have no knowledge of the time involved in the drop. So we have to have an equation without time. Fortunately, we have one (although Ill replace the x with y since were dealing with vertical motion and a with g since our acceleration is gravity): v 2 v 0 2 2 g( x - x 0) First, we know that v0 0. Second, we have to keep in mind our coordinate system (unlike the energy example). In this case, up is positive, so g is in the negative direction. v2 2g(y - y0)v2 / 2g y - y0y0 -0.5 v2 / g y Notice that this is exactly the same equation that we ended up with in the conservation of energy method. It looks different because one term is negative, but since g is now negative, those negatives will cancel and yield the exact same answer: 2.3 m. Bonus Method: Deductive Reasoning This wont give you the solution, but it will allow you to get a rough estimate of what to expect. More importantly, it allows you to answer the fundamental question that you should ask yourself when you get done with a physics problem: Does my solution make sense? The acceleration due to gravity is 9.8 m/s2. This means that after falling for 1 second, an object will be moving at 9.8 m/s. In the above problem, the object is moving at only 2.5 m/s after having been dropped from rest. Therefore, when it reaches 2.0 m in height, we know that it hasnt fallen very fall at all. Our solution for the drop height, 2.3 m, shows exactly this - it had fallen only 0.3 m. The calculated solution does make sense in this case. Edited by Anne Marie Helmenstine, Ph.D.

Motivation Towards Becoming a Physician Assistant Personal Statement

Motivation Towards Becoming a Physician Assistant - Personal Statement Example On other occasions, I attend a postpartum mother in disseminated intravascular coagulation, a heart surgery that has gone bad, or a severe gastrointestinal bleeder. I handled different cases like these every day and it has not only taught me how to manage a situation in a stressful environment but also the importance of working together in a medical team. However, as soon as the physician ceases issuing orders, the interaction I had with a patient stops. Every patient then becomes just another sample and a name. Despite the satisfaction I derive from being a part of a recovery team, my role leaves me with questions about the patient's conditions and recovery, to which I receive no answers. This imbibed a feeling within me that I should do something more than just the mechanical duties. I wanted also to experience the humanitarian part of actually caring for a patient. Even though labs play a crucial role in diagnosis, I still feel that I am not contributing much towards the caring aspect in the performance of my duties as a health worker. Therefore, I started volunteering in the emergency and neonate intensive care unit where I worked.

Orange Juice Titration Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Orange Juice Titration - Essay Example Ascorbic acid ascorbic acid (also known as Vitamin C) is antioxidant and in presence of oxidizing agent it turns into dehydro-ascorbic acid [2]. Earlier experiments have shown that exposure of orange juice to oxygen lead to decrease in amount (concentration) of ascorbic acids and browning of orange juice [3]. No such effect is observed when orange juice is exposed to light [3]. While another research showed that the oxygen does not accelerates non enzymatic browning of orange juice [4]. This research paper tries to analyze the effect of oxygen and light on orange juice and thereby tries to resolve the ambiguity. Hypothesis Null Hypothesis 1: Oxygen does not affect the lifespan of orange juice or vitamin C in the juice. Alternate hypothesis: Oxygen affects the lifespan of orange juice or vitamin C in the juice Null Hypothesis 2: Exposure to light does not affect the life span of orange juice or vitamin C in the juice. Alternate hypothesis: Exposure to light affects the lifespan of ora nge juice or vitamin C in the juice. Claim Exposure to oxygen reduces the shelf life of orange juice. Exposure to light reduces the shelf life of orange juice. ... exposed to air (not exposed to light) 7.666667 10 7 Fresh 0.1. exposed to light 18.66667 23 14 Concentration values of ascorbic acid of different samples achieved from titration (concentration = x*10^-4) P values (T-Test) Fresh OJ. (not exposed to light) Vs. Non-fresh OJ. exposed to air (not exposed to light) – Hypothesis 1 0.00377 Fresh OJ. (not exposed to light) Vs. Fresh 0.J. exposed to light – Hypothesis 2 0.0212 Non-fresh OJ. exposed to air (not exposed to light) Vs. Fresh 0.J. exposed to light 0.03491 Probability of type 1 error while rejecting null hypothesis using students T-test. Bar graph depicts minimum, mean and highest observed concentrations of ascorbic acid in the three samples of orange juice. Evidence It was observed that the mean concentration of ascorbic acid in fresh OJ (0.00320) was much higher than the mean concentration of ascorbic acid in non-fresh OJ (0.00077). Mean concentration of ascorbic acid in fresh OJ exposed to light (0.00187) was more t han mean concentration of ascorbic acid in both non fresh OJ and less than fresh OJ. The variation in concentration of ascorbic acid was highest in Fresh 0.J. exposed to light (2.03333E-07) and was lowest in Non-fresh OJ exposed to air (not exposed to light) (4.33333E-08). T test showed that population Fresh OJ (not exposed to light) and population Non-fresh OJ exposed to air (not exposed to light) were not same. This could be stated with more than 99% accuracy. T test also showed that population Fresh OJ (not exposed to light) and population Fresh 0.J. exposed to light were not same. This could be stated with almost 98% accuracy. Conclusion It was found that the ascorbic acid concentration in orange juice decreased when it was exposed to both light and