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International Cross Culture & Diversity Management (EDL 412)-Semester IV

Case Study

An AGFA case study

This case study looks at how AGFA, a leading player, is taking full advantage of the digital revolution. The company is using the new technology as:

• an engine for growing its business

• a means of providing its customers with better product possibilities and with greater flexibility and choice.

Agfa

Agfa is a leading name in the imaging industry. The Agfa-Gevaert Group de-velops, produces and distributes an extensive range of analogue and digital imaging systems. Agfa has divided its operations into three segments.

Agfa’s operations involve a high level of innovation. The company’s willingness and ability to work at the leading edge of technology help to make it a leader in its field. For Agfa to remain a market leader, its managers must concern themselves with the future and ask themselves:

• Where is the industry heading?

• What are our competitors likely to do next?

• Where do we go from here?

With imaging, the answers currently are:

• The industry is heading towards greater use of digital imaging.

• Our competitors will invest in research and development aimed at enhancing quality at affordable prices.

• We look to get there first, with better products to sell to customers who are prepared for using them.

This approach requires a willingness to invest heavily in new projects that maximise the benefits of new technology.

Every proposed project undergoes investment appraisal. This procedure establishes whether a particular project is worth taking forward. Managers will ask key questions about a proposal, including:

• How expensive are the initial outlay and the final total outlay likely to be?

• For how long are we likely to be spending money without any financial return?

• How long is it likely to be before we recover, from sales, all the money we have invested?

• What return can we reasonably expect from our investment in the long term?

• How big are the risks? What events over which we have little or no control could cause this project to falter or fail? How likely are they?

Risks for the imaging industry include:

• a significant rise in the cost of borrowing to finance investment

• a downturn in business activity worldwide that persuades industrial customers to postpone their own purchase of new plant and equipment

• poorer job prospects for the general public that deter private consumers from spending on the latest products.

Large scale investment

Agfa must consider these factors as it contemplates large scale investment in new digitally based technologies.

During 2000 Agfa invested around 224 million Euros (equivalent to 4% of its sales revenue) in research and development. Part of this involved working with external partners eg universities and leading research centres.

Much of the work reflected the need to move forward in:

• developing the transition from analogue to digital solutions

• meeting a wider variety of customer needs

• helping Agfa to create new market sectors and to enter them profitably.

• Digital technologies are changing the way in which people take, process and use images. New processes allow customers to work with images quickly and efficiently, without requiring extensive expertise and knowledge. Take, for example, the newspaper world. With newspapers, speed is vital and editors want the best pictures to go with the latest stories.

• Digital technology is transforming newspaper production. For example, sports photographers no longer have to dash back to the office to develop prints, wondering anxiously what they have captured. They know immediately the quality of the image they have and they can despatch it immediately too. As a result, the publisher soon has on sale a comprehensive local Saturday night ‘sports special’ carrying action photos of spectacular moments that occurred hundreds of miles away just a short time earlier.

• The new technology is also transforming photography for the general public. For example, crystal clear photos of a baby can now be available to proud, anxious grandparents thousands of miles away within a few minutes of an infant’s birth.

• Technological advance does have a downside, in that demand for new products affects sales of older ones. As a market, analogue photography has almost reached maturity. It is still

Today’s businesses and management are quite complex due to the globalization and to the fact that in a company there might be several people from several different backgrounds and variety cultures. But still, I would say that the most important thing in order to manage well is to Communicate and have the need for communicate well to each other and most importantly have an effective intercultural communication between co-workers. This is why the management today must ensure that they are understanding and being understood across cultural boundaries. As I was working for the clothing company in Finland which did business Italian company and ordered cloths from Italy there were several problems in communication and concepts.

The Intercultural management problem: When thinking about all the cultural differences mentioned above and acknowledge the situation; The Finnish Company ordered clothes from Italy in their strict deadlines, ordering dates and expectations that the goods will be delivered on time. The manager told to two of our employees to make sure that the orders are done and delivered. The employees contacted the persons in Italy made example were order and agreed on the deadlines, due dates of the payments and delivery dates. Everything the well. But when the delivery date came, no goods were delivered or even sent from Italy yet, even we in Finland already had promised the goods to be in the boutique for customers. The manager in Finland blamed the two employees for not doing their task well and contacted the people in Italy. getting The same chain of events happened often always something fast late from the deadline, phone meetings were late, and if there was a meeting organized in Italy or Finland, it didn’t go well.

Our Finnish manager wanted to go straight to Business and talk about the orders when the Italians wanted to have a dinner and take the time for get together first. Our manager explained to his employees how rude the Italians were because they came physically very close in the meetings and didn’t stick to the point, and was overwhelmed even from his employees that why the wanted to continue the meeting. All in the entire situation was chaotic and the cultural differences were too much for our Finnish manager. He had been used to do business only in Finland before and didn’t have a clue how different the business between two different countries can be. This situation kept on going because the Finnish manager didn’t want to change his habits and the Italians didn’t even know that something was wrong. When I started my job in this company the situation was very bad, and in the end, our manager quit his job. We got a new manager, and after that everything started to go well and the connections and communications between our employees in Italy and Finland were good.

The problems mentioned above are related to the problems when a person cannot adjust and adapt to the other cultures, and the same happens if a worker changes a country where to work, The cultural differences can be too much to handle which effects to the results of the work. The same happened here for the manager but in his own country working with people abroad. That the importance of intercultural training is crucial. In the article, it is also mentioned that working in a foreign country or with foreign cultures is a big challenge for any company.

Discussion:

At first, I would like to give some background information of Finland and Italian business habits in order to understand the problem. Emeritus Professor Geert Hofstede from Maastricht University has completed many studies concerning cross cross-culturalrences. His goal was to find an understanding and similarities between cultures. In order to do so, Hofstede came up with five different dimensions for collecting the relevant findings under mutual nominators. Italy and Finland are an example of cultures which are quite different in his scale. First I would like to mention as a theoretical background the two diagrams one from Finland and one from Italy and explain some important point from them.

From the above diagrams it’s revealed that Finland is a quite feminine country when Italy is a masculine country. The Individuality rate is about the same meaning that there is a strong importance for the opinion of an individual but as a matter of fact in Finland the Individuality for man and a woman is more equal and also the relationship between parent and a child or employer and employee is based on the mutual advantage, not on the hierarchy like it is more normal in Italy. From the diagram it’s easy to see the difference in Power distance. Italian culture is more High Power distant because, for example, the organization has its leaders and the members of it will follow them. The division of power is also quite centralized as well as centralized fairly. On the other hand, the core values in Finland are equality between people and responsibility. That refers to the point that Finland is Low Power Distant country. It is common to speak openly in a social context, and privileges and status are frowned upon. The difference between less and more powerful people high context. The factor in the diagram Uncertainty avoidance is higher in Italy and Lower in Finland; this might be related to the old traditions in Italy and to the fact that the Finns are more open to new opportunities than the Italians. All in all, I wanted to describe the cultural differences between these two countries and show that even in the daily life there are huge differences.

The point what I would like to rise up is the importance of intercultural training and the fact that the concept of time and space are crucial to understanding that they vary a lot between countries. Edward T. Hall is an American cross- cultural researcher and anthropologist, who examined the different cultures of the world and created the concepts of high context culture, polychromic time and meaning of space. He found that these factors varied according to culture and throughout his findings, he was also able to categories countries according to these means. In the Intercultural management problem I think the main issues were Time and Space. Especially time.

Edward T. Hall is an American cross- cultural researcher and anthropologist, who examined the different cultures of the world and created the concepts of high context culture, polychromic time and meaning of space. He found that these factors varied according to culture and throughout his findings, he was also able to categorize countries according to these means. The next theory has been gathered from Edward T. Hall’s literature “The Silent Language” and “Beyond Culture”.

Conclusion:

The Intercultural management problem which I discussed above was really common I think nowadays but also very harmful for the company, employees and managers. The management of the company suffers and also the business partners etc. In fact after discussing and having some theoretical background to the topic I would say that the main reason for the problem when thinking about the theory part Hofstedes and Halls theories for example were the misunderstanding of concepts like time, space and even business etiquette and the differences. The point that the manager didn’t have enough knowledge of managing a company with international partners was most crucial part. As a solution mentioned above in the text I would recommend Intercultural training and flexibility in cultural differences for the whole company from employees to managers. My message concerning the intercultural problem here is that nowadays in our globalizing world it is the most important factor when doing international business to be aware of the countries and cultures around you.

Question 1 : Businesses and management are quite complex due to the ____

Select one:

a. Trend

b. Economy

c. globalization

d. World war

Question 2

core values in Finland are equality between people and ____.

Select one:

a. Position

b. power

c. Time

d. responsibility

Question 3

Edward T. Hall is an American cross- cultural researcher and ___

Select one:

a. Physiologist

b. anthropologist

c. both a & b

d. Social worker

Question 4

Emeritus Professor Geert Hofstede goal was to find an understanding and _____ between cultures.

Select one:

a. Dissimilarities

b. similarities

c. both a & b

d. only a

Question 5

Finland is __Power Distant country.

Select one:

a. Low

b. High

c. both a & b

d. all of the above

Question 6

Hofstede came up with___ different dimensions for collecting the relevant findings under mutual nominators.

Select one:

a. one

b. five

c. two

d. four

Question 7

In the Intercultural management problem the main issues were Time and __

Select one:

a. Space

b. value

c. money

d. none of the above

Question 8

Italian culture is _____High Power distant

Select one:

a. less

b. more

c. equal

d. both a & b

Question 9

The factor in the diagram Uncertainty avoidance is ____ in Italy and Lower in Finland

Select one:

a. lower

b. unequal

c. higher

d. more

Question 10

theory has been gathered from Edward T. Hall’s literature “The Silent Language” and _____

Select one:

a. Beyond Culture

b. Art

c. Literature

d. none of the above

10/10

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2 Module Assesment

In summer 2000 I left Switzerland for three months with the aim to take a film course in New York. Even though I was used travelling with others, this time I went alone which gave the trip a somehow adventurous flair. I had organised myself a place to live before I left home, but didn’t know at all how it would be or look like. As I arrived at the airport I took a cab to Avenue C, in the East Village of downtown Manhattan and was somehow shocked when the cabdriver stopped in front of a totally battered door in a dark street. It looked like one of this muddy gutters in the Bronx that I had seen on television. A little bit unconfident I took my luggage and went to the door. There was no doorbell therefore I knocked. The door was opened by a Peruvian man, who turned out to be Carlos, the landlord of the house. I was welcomed warmly into the spacious living room, in which at least eight young people sat, having a small party. The house turned out to be a very warm and friendly place where many international students were renting their rooms. A middle-aged actor out of engagement was living there, too. His name was Philippe, half Swiss half British, who had been living in New York already for several years.

I swiftly adapted to that house and I started to love the East Village immediately. It is a very international part of the city, a truly cross-cultural place. Most of the inhabitants come from Puerto Rico, but also a lot of African Americans and in addition, many people with an extraordinary lifestyle, artists, musicians and actors are living there. For me, who was used to very well organised and tidy Swiss mentality, it was a totally different way of life.

In the house, we cooked together many times and it was after one of these meals when Philippe, the actor, started to bring the discussion to Switzerland. Being half Swiss he was very interested in everything that concerned the country and he was happy to have me there to talk to. At the time, the big discussion in the media about Switzerland’s behaviour in the Second World War was an ongoing issue. Ed Fagan, an American reparations lawyer, had sued the Swiss banks on behalf of Holocaust victims. The Swiss banks settled the claims outside of the court, agreeing in a payout of 1,25 billion US-Dollars for the Jewish descendants. Since New York is known for having a big Jewish community and because of the numerous reports in the US-media, the issue was an ongoing discussion in the City.

Philippe started the conversation with the focus on the dubious role of the Swiss banks. He argued that the banks were to blame for the destiny of many Jewish descendants who had to start a new life in the United States without any money. In his point of view, the banks had deliberately avoided any confrontation and had wanted to hog insurable values for themselves. Since at that time the discussion in Switzerland had already turned into an overflow, I was not very much interested in a profound conversation. However, I tried to explain my point of view and made the mistake not to admit immediately the guilt of the banks. I actually wanted to make clear that there were many other factors that led to this behaviour. Of course, Philippe just wanted to make his point clear but he actually started to blame the whole Swiss society for being very greedy for money. I felt deeply offended by that and finally committed myself to the argument. But at this point a normal discussion was not possible any more. The two of us got really angry at each other. I tried to vindicate my country like a defence lawyer standing in front of a court. At one point Philippe asked why I was feeling so offended by that discussion and at that point I stopped and went angrily into my room. Laying on my bed, I still felt very insulted and sad. But after a while I started to reconsider the issue. Actually, Philippe was right asking why I felt offended, because I couldn’t find a reason myself. In fact, I didn’t agree at all with the behaviour of the Swiss banks concerning the insurable values from the time of the Second World War. What made me angry was the fact that the whole international press was picking at Switzerland like it was the only country who ever did something wrong. At the time, Switzerland had reacted already on the international critics. The Swiss government had installed the Independent Commission of Experts to bring light into the Swiss past. But this fact hadn’t made it into the headlines of the international press.

I will describe a cross-cultural encounter in which I was an observer for almost two years. This extended “critical incident” took place in Mexico City, where I had my last job at the United Nations Environmental Programme before coming to study in Switzerland. The people involved in this long-suffered story are mainly my former boss, Mr. Griffith, (I work for him as his assistant) and colleagues from different nationalities such as a Cuban Regional Director, high officers from Chile, Panama, Uruguay, Japan, Great Britain, and of course Mexico.

Mr. Griffith came from a Caribbean-English style background and had lived in Nairobi, Kenya working at the headquarters for the same United Nations Environment Programme for more than seven years. Unexpectedly, he was appointed to accomplish a mission in Mexico City for a smaller branch office in the Latin America region without knowing a single word of Spanish, and was pulled out from his usual English way of living and thinking, and driven to a Latin American environment wholly unknown and unusual for him.

So, this cross-cultural encounter had two immediate repercussions at the personal level for Mr. Griffith but mostly at the operative and managerial level. At this last level, even though the whole United Nations system is supposed to be organized with the same rules and manuals around the world (I was aware that every local office refines the model system according to their local office logistics), it was very difficult for Mr. Griffith to understand and adapt to this local culture where the organization operates. The most critical aspect for him was the fact to understand the easy-going Latin personality and moreover the concept of time. It is also important to mention that he had two deal with different forces or mentalities such as the one from the Cuban Director, resembling a more dictatorial managerial style; then the one from the officers at his same level with a more American or Latin American way of thinking, together with a very bureaucratic administration.

Mr. Griffith’s responsibilities were mainly to develop, implement and finance environmental projects for the Latin American and Caribbean countries. But frequently, his work was blocked by this bureaucratic administration. Things were not as smooth as working directly in the headquarters. He felt committed to the countries to fulfill their demands, but he was not able anymore to assist them as he did in his former office while working with nations from other regions. The same happened with his colleagues; he would expect to have a faster input from them when asking for advice on certain shared issues. But at the same time, it was challenging for him to assimilate his sudden change of office, he was not willing to adapt to the other’s colleagues way of working, and wanted to keep the same rules and conditions defined in the organization and management of his former office.

He never felt integrated into the staff community at the social level, but he did not make an effort to become part of it, as the other international colleagues were already adapted in a Mexican environment. He kept on comparing and criticising our culture creating an uncomfortable environment not only for national but also for global staff, sometimes showing some ethnocentric characteristics.

He was not interested in building any social or professional relations, so this behavior created a hostile situation among the colleagues and had immediate repercussions in his everyday work as he did not feel the necessary support he needed from his colleagues in shared activities or projects. It was difficult for him to approach his colleagues to ask for their comments and advises.

Specifically, at the cultural level, he made the great mistake of not learning Spanish, even though Spanish lessons were paid for him, he was never interested in this local language or the Mexican culture. So he always depended on translations or interpretation for the meetings. It seemed like he did not want to be introduced or exposed to a new culture, and was afraid of this “foreignness.” In everyday life, he lost small but meaningful discussions or comments from his colleagues whenever English was not spoken.

Personal Interpretation

As it can be seen, this cross-cultural encounter does not describe a specific situation, but clearly, depicts a complex and problematic work situation due to cultural shock reasons.

According to what I saw in two years of working together with Mr. Griffith, I can say that his Latin American experience has been almost like a nightmare for him, but unfortunately, I consider that he was unable to use cultural diversity as a competitive tool for his international working experience.

Finally, I consider that in order to successfully interact with a foreign culture in the business world or as in this case with an international organization dealing with a multicultural staff; one should be aware of being critical enough to understand and analyze the similarities and differences between cultures which are hidden or difficult to visualise at first sight. Then, this knowledge could also be used to feel more comfortable by understanding the behaviors of the foreign partner, and at the same time showing respect for the host society could also create a solid basis for the beginning of effective intercultural communication.

Question 1: Case is based on Cross culture encounter which took place in __

Select one:

a. Mexico

b. America

c. Norway

d. Spain

Question 2

cross-cultural encounter does not describe a ____situation

Select one:

a. Common

b. Unique

c. specific

d. none of the above

Question 3

Ed Fagan, an American reparations lawyer, had sued the Swiss banks on behalf of ______victims.

Select one:

a. American

b. Child

c. Holocaust

d. none of the above

Question 4

Mr. Griffith came from a ____-English style background and had lived in Nairobi

Select one:

a. Caribbean

b. European

c. Russian

d. Indonesian

Question 5

Mr. Griffith’s responsibilities were mainly to develop, implement and finance environmental projects for the Latin American and___countries

Select one:

a. European

b. Caribbean

c. Only b

d. Both a & b

Question 6

New York is known for having a big ___community

Select one:

a. Jewish

b. American

c. Italian

d. Iranian

Question 7

one should be aware of being critical enough to understand and analyze the similarities and differences between ______which are hidden or difficult to visualise at first sight.

Select one:

a. Norms

b. Ethics

c. values

d. cultures

Question 8

Philippe started the conversation with the focus on the dubious role of the _____

Select one:

a. American Government

b. Swiss banks

c. Both a & b

d. all of the above

Question 9

Swiss banks concerning the _____values from the time of the Second World War.

Select one:

a. Assurable

b. core

c. national

d. Insurable

Question 10

The Swiss government had installed the Independent___ of Experts to bring light into the Swiss past

Select one:

a. Board

b. Panel

c. Both a & b

d. Commission

10/10

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3rd Module Assessment

Introduction

The topic treated in this paper came to my mind talking with my friend Ciro. He is a Swiss event manager working for an important international hotel chain. After working in Switzerland for over ten years with great success, his company moved him to Egypt, as responsible for events in their resort on the red sea. No specific instruction was given to him regarding how to manage the intercultural differences he would necessarily encounter. And indeed he did. His new boss was Swiss, but all of his subordinates and most of his peers, Egyptians.

One of the first things that struck him in his new work environment was how his Egyptian peers treated their subordinates. Orders were given in a very unfriendly manner, and if the work was not completed in an adequate way they would shout and threaten the neglectful.

Ciro was well known in Switzerland for being a very gentle and polite boss, his subordinates most appreciated his relational qualities, the way he treated them as equals and how he always took into consideration their ideas and remarks.

He talked about his perplexities with his Swiss ethnocentric boss, who simply replied: “Egyptians are lazy if you don’t treat them this way they will not work”. Unhappy with this answer, Ciro decided to try out his usual egalitarian management style in Egypt. He then held his first meeting with his direct reports and asked them to express the ideas they had about possible events to organise in the next future, but everybody kept silent. When he finally came up with a banal idea, everybody supported it without further discussion. This meeting model repeated itself, again and again, nobody ever seems to have initiative.

Despite his discouragement, Ciro had friendly manners with his subordinates and once he dispatched the work he didn’t continuously check it up, convinced that personal responsibility would be sufficient.

He soon realised that work wasn’t completed, that his friendly manners were interpreted as weakness and that he was the one expected to have ideas, as he was the boss. Ciro finally understood the importance and the extent of cultural differences existing between Egypt and Switzerland.

Ciro’s experience is not an isolated case, and lack of awareness of cultural differences have caused serious issues when not addressed correctly. Malcolm Gladwell, in his book “Outliers: The Story of Success”. (2008) gives an intercultural interpretation of the repeated crashes of Korean Air in the 1990s. Boeing and Airbus design aeroplanes where pilots and co-pilots are meant to act as equals in the cabin, but Korean culture doesn’t permit co-pilots to correct errors done by hierarchically superior pilots, and if an irreverent co-pilot dared criticise a pilot, he probably wouldn’t be heard. According to Malcolm Gladwell, cultural difference in Korean culture is at the origin of the repeated air crashes and losses of hundreds of lives. Korean Air finally figured out the nature of their problem and fixed it.

On the other hand, in the academic field, there is a great deal of research done on intercultural management and debates are intense. Geert Hofstede has been one of the most influential researchers in this field. In the early 1980’s he conducted a study on how values in the workplace are influenced by culture. His study was first conducted in IBM covering 70 countries. Subsequent researchers have covered other multinational firms and countries.

Hofstede (1980) developed a model that identifies four primary dimensions to assist in differentiating cultures: power distance, individualism/collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, and masculinity/femininity. According to Hofstede (1991), culture refers to the collective programming of the mind, which distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from another. Each dimension is based on a continuum, so those actual situations are not just polarised between high and low but may be anywhere in between.

Actually, Hofstede’s dimensions validate our examples. Power distance is defined as “the extent to which the less powerful members of organisations and institutions accept and expect that power is distributed unequally. This represents inequality but defined from below, not from above. It suggests that a society’s level of inequality is endorsed by the followers as much as by the leaders.”(Hofstede, 1980). Ciro comes from Switzerland, where the power distance indicator is very low, 34, while Egypt stands at the other end of the rule, scoring 80. This difference in power distance is a possible and plausible explanation of the difficulties encountered by Ciro in his new job. South Korea’s power distance indicator stands in between, rating 60 but it comes with a very high uncertainty avoidance index: 85, indicating the society’s low level of tolerance for uncertainty. When these two dimensions are combined, it creates a situation where leaders have virtually ultimate power and authority, and the rules, laws and regulations developed by those in power reinforce their own leadership and control. It is, therefore, understandable that the situation in the cockpit between pilot and co-pilot was not at all egalitarian, as the designer of the aeroplanes supposed it was.

Numerous subsequent studies have used one or more of Hofstede’s dimensions to measure cultural distance and other researchers such as Cameron & Quinn (1983) or Trompenaars (1993) have developed different models. More recently the extensive GLOBE study (2004) determined how leadership values are culturally contingent.

Another influential researcher in intercultural management is Nancy Adler (1991). She asks whether organisational culture can moderate or even erase the influence of national culture. Her researches demonstrate that organisational culture, on the contrary, magnifies national cultures, making the latter’s impact on work behaviours more pronounced. Adler’s observations support the conclusion that national culture outweighs organisational culture.

All these studies tend to demonstrate that in international business, relations between colleges, with competitors and with clients are highly dependent on cultural values.

Nevertheless, despite the effects of cross-cultural differences on international business are widely acknowledged, international firms continue to experience costly failures when venturing overseas. Indeed, according to academic and non-academic literature, companies are struggling to succeed in the global multicultural environment. A high number of failures have been documented in areas such as international joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions (Rottig, 2007; Arikan, 2004) and expatriate assignments (Hill, 2001; Storti, 2001;). In many cases, a lack of intercultural competence appears to be the prime cause of the failure.

Discussion

Keiretsu News (2006) reports that “There is a startling high failure rate for newly acquired or merged businesses. Within 18 months of closing, 80% of large cap, 50% of small cap, and 80% of micro cap transactions fail to meet stakeholder objectives. Separately, Mergerstat.com spent two years tracking results from the 8,224 domestic transactions conducted in 2001. The study estimates that a staggering $560 billion of business value was destroyed due to M&A failure.”. Doug MacDonald (2005) points out that failures in mergers and acquisitions and joint ventures rate somewhere between 40 and 80%.

Daniel Rotting conducted a study aimed to identify key difficulties that may cause such high failure rates of cross-border mergers and acquisitions, and developed a typology of strategies to facilitate the management of these problems His study indicates that cultural distance alone cannot define international acquisition performance. He argues that the consequences of culture on international acquisition performance are of a more complex nature and that “it is not cultural distance per se, but the ineffective management of cultural differences that may be the main reason for the high failure rates of international acquisitions.” (Rotting, 2007, p2.).

Apud, Lenartowicz and Johnson (2003) conducted a three-stage study to establish the extent of academic research in cross-cultural issues in international business; the degree to which top business schools incorporate these issues in undergraduate and graduate business programs; and the awareness of and responsiveness to these issues by practitioners. They found a low level of intercultural competence among business practitioners and consultants and an apparent failure in the dissemination of existing intercultural knowledge in business schools and by corporate in-house and external trainers.

In addition, until a few years ago it was widely acknowledged that intercultural competence was necessary for expatriates leaving their homeland and facing new situations abroad. Recent articles in the business literature suggest that in today’s hypercompetitive global marketplace intercultural competence should be spread out to all levels of the organisations. Martha Frase’s puts it in these words: “Increasingly, companies will find that to grow, they will have to expand into international markets and be able to function effectively in cultures that may be little-known to them. Such companies will have to elevate their familiarity with other customs and languages, and their newfound cross-cultural awareness will have to permeate not only corporate ranks but all the levels below down to the employees who carry on the enterprise day after day, dealing with counterparts in other countries without even visiting those places.” (Frase, M., 2007)

From current academic and non-academic literature, it is clear that many multinational firms fail in their overseas assignments due to intercultural communication problems: academic and business authors have identified a lack of intercultural competence as a key factor in the failure of international business. This paper intends to identify possible solutions to improve intercultural competencies in international business, but in order to pursue, we first need to clarify the concepts of culture and intercultural competence.

Culture is often seen as a shared meaning system. Researchers such as Hofstede and Trompenaars have built their models on a classic concept of culture, where culture is seen as homogeneous inside a nation and stable. As pointed out by Søderberg and Holden (2002), “culture is seen as something that members of a community (e.g. an organisation or a nation) “have” or “belong to”. In such a picture, cultural differences are inevitably seen as sources of conflict, problems and misunderstandings.

This limited view of individuals belonging preeminently to a given culture, where people are classified according to a single criterion and thus have a single dimension, is nevertheless criticised by numerous researchers in the intercultural communication field. Amartya Sen (2006), for instance, proposes a more complete model, where individuals belong simultaneously to numerous groups, such as « Woman », « vegetarian », « lawyer », « lover of jazz » and « heterosexual ». Identity is multidimensional and cannot be reduced to a single aspect. We are different in different ways and we are capable of interacting in a variety of ways. For Amartya Sen, our identity is not defined by destiny, given by birth, nationality or religion. On the contrary, each person is free to compose his own identity according to multiple dimensions. Belonging to a community may determine an essential part of this identity, but it may not define ultimately a person.

Furthermore, nations are not as stable and totally separated one from another as Hofstede’s model supposes. Important internal dynamics occur, and the official culture is always in competition with alternative cultures present in the country or organisation. The competition with alternative cultures eventually alters the official culture which is therefore in constant evolution. The presence of diversity is the seed for future change, and a rigid view of culture does not correspond to reality. Besides, the notion of multicultural nations is widely amplified in our fast globalising world.

In this context, culture is not only a source of misunderstanding and conflict, but a source of competitive advantage, and intercultural competencies, are not confined to enhancing intercultural or cross-cultural awareness and negotiation skills but they are the necessary skills

to “facilitate and direct synergistic interaction and learning at interfaces, where knowledge, values and experience are transferred into multicultural domains of implementation” (Søderberg and Holden, 2002, p113).

With these concepts in mind, let us now try to identify possible solutions to the lack of effective intercultural competence in an increasingly interdependent and culturally diverse business world. Many articles indicate training as the main area of improvement, but while training is based on outdated concepts of culture, its efficiency is necessarily limited.

Apud, Lenartowicz and Johnson (2003), give an alternative explanation: failure can be ascribed to an ethnocentric perspective. Ethnocentrism affects intercultural competence, such that strong ethnocentrism inhibits effective intercultural communication. For this, they argue, “there is no quick fix available. No amount of individual training will get managers beyond the awareness and understanding stages if there is an organisational culture that fails to promote the merits of developing global expertise.”

Lowe, Moore, and Carr (2007) go further, according to them, “all knowledge contributions are captive of one privileged view, tolerant of a second marginalised view and denigrative or ignorant of a third view. In other words, all knowledge is captive of blind prejudices.”

The solution proposed in this paper includes learning of intercultural competence, avoids single- paradigm myopia and, if well managed, can be a strategic resource for success. This solution was not only inspired by current academic and business literature, but also by the initial example of Ciro, our Swiss manager in Egypt. After a few months of frustrating work, Ciro finally decided to gradually modify the structure of his group. As people left or were transferred to other units of the hotel, he hired people to form totally different backgrounds also considering the diversity of the clientele. Besides, he paid attention to gender, academic backgrounds and age brackets, ending up with a highly diverse team. At the beginning, managing this team resulted difficult because misunderstandings and discussions were frequent, but after a year the group had created its own norms and values, every individual was accepted and appreciated as a positive feature of the team. Discussions were always frequent, but with time they became more and more constructive. The team ended up being very creative and successful.

We argue in this paper that the most effective solution for building and spreading intercultural competence is the creation of multicultural project teams at all levels of organisations.

Multicultural teams provide the highest learning potential for intercultural competence. Cooperation and daily work in such teams create tacit knowledge. Diverse teams have intrinsic multiple views and as problems must be discussed until a solution is found, this forces to consider the existence of differences in mentalities and to build consensus. Intercultural learning does not consist in changing one’s own culture, but in understanding that other ways of seeing are also valid and that for effective interaction, a compromise needs to be found.

Anne Bartel-Radic (2006) investigated under what conditions people develop intercultural competencies in a business context. Her findings confirm the strong link between intercultural interaction in a global team and the acquisition of Intercultural competence, while interaction with foreign customers, for instance, does not create intercultural competence. Anne Bartel- Radic explains her results: “simply meeting people from other cultures is far from being a sufficient condition for the acquisition of intercultural competence. The acquisition of intercultural competence is encouraged by positive emotion and the desire to learn. Critical reflection on one’s own culture is also necessary, which means a profound change in mindsets occurs.” In global teams, interaction takes place in a common context, among equal team members, over a long period of time, and it is unplanned. People are forced to open their eyes, to see, to understand that the others exist and that they have competencies. Values eventually change, moving toward elements of intercultural competence, such as tolerance and an acceptance of difference.

Søderberg and Holden (2002) have similar findings, asserting that: “The key engine of learning is the multicultural team, out of whose diversity comes an eclectic set of perspectives, a set of interchangeable lenses.”

Multicultural teams, because of the different perspectives they contain and broader cognitive frame, are also better prepared for problem-solving compared to homogenous groups (Hong, L.& Page, S.E., 2002). For the same reasons, highly diverse teams possess increased creativity and flexibility.

Other researchers have tried to find a direct correlation between team heterogeneity and performance, but the relation seems to be more complicated. Earley and Mosakowski (2000) studied the effects of heterogeneity in trans-national teams through a qualitative field study. The results demonstrate that highly heterogeneous teams (where no clear sub-identities exist) are outperformed in the short term by more homogenous groups but on the long run, the high heterogeneous groups which are able to create a third culture outperform all the others. Thereby, there are two supplementary factors that play an important role: time and the capacity to create a third culture.

A common understanding is constructed over time through interaction, which makes for the group a “community of interpretation”. The third culture or hybrid team culture “consists of an emergent and simplified set of rules and actions, work capability expectations, and member perceptions that individuals within a team develop, share, and enact after mutual interactions.”(Earley and Mosakowski, 2000) This emergent shared culture offers a common sense of identity and facilitates individual and team performance, communication and learning. For this third culture to emerge, the team must have very clear goals and objectives, and these must be shared by all members of the group.

As we have seen, high diversity in business teams presents interesting advantages, but let us analyse the drawbacks of such teams. A common saying states that “too many cooks spoil the broth”, what is the truth in this saying?

Heterogeneous groups certainly are more difficult to manage that homogeneous groups, at least initially. Even language can become an issue, and understanding each other might not always be immediate. Furthermore many basic concepts, such as time or holding a meeting, will need to be clarified, while within a homogeneous group these concepts would be implicit. Roles and responsibilities need to be extremely clear because of possible different interpretations. As Marie-Therèse Claes (2009) noted, Dr. Carol Kovach researches demonstrate that cross-cultural groups represent the most effective groups, but at the same time, they also represent the less effective ones. Diversity can cause lack of cohesion, mistrust and miscommunication. Sub-groups can appear in a heterogeneous group, compromising the team’s identity and in multicultural groups conflict appears to be a logical outcome.

This fault line can eventually be turned into positive. A conflict is a particular form of interaction including destructuration and restructuration and plays an important role in gaining awareness. In this sense, conflict, going with positive conflict management, is seen as valuable and constructive.

Conclusion

Although multicultural teams are more complex to manage than homogeneous teams, they present real advantages for the acquisition of intercultural competencies. Diversity, if correctly managed, appears to be a valuable resource to face our globalised and hypercompetitive business world, and our multicultural societies turn up to be an unsuspected reservoir of talents.

Managing diversity efficiently implies the emergence of a third culture which ultimately defines the team identity and helps to manage the process. Investing in the management of multicultural teams is worthwhile. It will give multinational companies a strategic and competitive advantage, and an excellent return on investment.

Question 1: A _____ is a particular form of interaction including destructuration and restructuration and plays an important role in gaining awareness.

Select one:

a. Ressolution

b. Structure

c. Both a & b

d. conflict

Question 2

Cooperation and daily work in Multi cultural teams create _____knowledge.

Select one:

a. Deep

b. tacit

c. Skilled

d. Sound

Question 3

Diverse teams have____multiple views and as problems must be discussed until a solution is found

Select one:

a. Extrinsic

b. intrinsic

c. Both a & b

d. none of the above

Question 4

Highly diverse teams possess increased creativity and _____

Select one:

a. flexibility

b. Innovation

c. Adaptability

d. Uniqueness

Question 5

multicultural teams are more complex to manage than ____ teams.

Select one:

a. homogeneous

b. Hetreogeneous

c. Both a & b

d. all of the above

Question 6

shared culture offers a common sense of identity and facilitates individual and team performance, and _____learning.

Select one:

a. Networking

b. communication

c. Technology

d. Machine

Question 7

The acquisition of___ competence is encouraged by positive emotion and the desire to learn.

Select one:

a. organizational

b. intercultural

c. cultural

d. both a & c

Question 8

The key engine of learning is the multicultural team, out of whose diversity comes an ___of perspectives, a set of interchangeable lenses

Select one:

a. bunch

b. umbrella

c. skill

d. eclectic set

Question 9

____on one’s own culture is also necessary, which means a profound change in mindsets occurs.

Select one:

a. Critical reflection

b. Reflection

c. Flexibility

d. Adaptability

Question 10

_____researches demonstrate that cross-cultural groups represent the most effective groups

Select one:

a. Drucker

b. Fayol

c. Dr. Carol Kovach

d. Dr.Keith

10/10

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4th Module Assessment

It present the inter-religious conflict related to the Temple Mountain in Jerusalem, involving Jews and Muslim. Two questions will be at stake: the sovereignty on the place, and the right of archaeological digging.

The origin or the reasons of the conflict are bounded with the name that Muslim and Jews give to that place. The Temple Mount is the Hebrew name and indicates the place where the holy Temple of Jerusalem was placed, before its disruption in 70a.C. According to Jewish the Messiah will come back and re-build the temple. No Jewish can enter the Temple Mount for two precise reasons:

(1) to enter the place of the Temple a Jewish must make a sacrifice first, but since the Temple has been destroyed and the priests class does not exist anymore (priests gave services only in the Temple of Jerusalem, the only Jewish temple), a Jewish cannot be purified and enter the area;

(2) while walking on the Temple Mount could happen that a Jewish step on the place where once there was the “Saint of Saints” room, the holiest place of the Temple where is present the Spirit of God. Stepping on it is a terrible sin. For Jewish that is the place of the Temple and the fact that nowadays there are to Mosques is only temporary.

The Name of the Place according to Muslims: the Noble Enclosure In Arab the name of the same place can be translated as the Noble Enclosure (il Nobile Recinto), and it means the enclosure containing the two mosques: Al aqsa and the Dome of the Rock (la Cupola della Roccia). For Muslims, the place is holy because Mahomet has done a night trip from Mecca to Jerusalem and according to a non Koraninc text rose to the sky and talk to angels.

For the Waaqf, the board for the administration and the custody of Islamic holy places, that place is the mount of the Mosques, furthermore, the Waaqf claims that the Jewish Temple was NOT situated there and that the Noble Enclosure is a holy place only for Muslim.

Archaeology as an Ideological Tool

These standpoints bring to continuous inter-religious tensions. Archaeology has a big role in this difficult situation. In fact, the first question arising is “What is there, under the ground?” Before starting exposing the interconnected situation of the archaeological sites in the area, it has to clarify that in Israel and in Palestine archaeology is used as an ideological tool, that is whoever digs, he/she digs to find its own evidence and to cancel the evidence of the opposite part.

Now, let us try to tackle the conflict from an archaeological point of view. Most of the archaeologists’ community assumes that that is the actual place of the Temple; however, the topography of the Ancient Jerusalem is not completely clear. The argument defended by archaeologists is that the Mount is the most plausible place for the Temple. However, to have the certainty of this the only way would be to dig and discover the ruin of the Temple.

But carry on an archaeological project is impossible because no one has the right to do it and it would cause a re-exacerbation of the Israeli- Palestinian conflict. To complicate the situation, the area of the Mount is part of Israel, but it was conquered during the war of the 6 days, therefore officially is an “occupied territory”. Therefore its statute is not defined. The block is a Jewish block, however on the mount, there is Palestinian police, people (not Muslims) can enter the Mount but not the Mosques. Although Israel retains formal sovereignty over the Temple Mount, the site is governed by an Islamic trust that allows non-Muslims to visit the compound during limited hours and prohibits Jewish or Christian worshipers from reading prayers aloud.

The international community decided that no one has the right to dig in the area, nor the Palestinian or the Israeli. However, no one respects this decision and everyone digs in secret.

An Explosive Debate

To understand the explosiveness of the situation let us think to the last straw that causes the second intifada in 2000. On September 28th, 2000 Sharon “had a walk” with 1000 policemen on the Mount. In those days there was the rumour that Muslims were digging in secret on the Mount. The Sharon’s walk had a specific meaning: stop digging because we are the owners of this land. This was the start of the second intifada.

The problem of archaeological digging is now exacerbating once more. Israeli dug already along the perimeter of the Mount there is an archaeological site around the Mount. Now a new catwalk has to be built, and the Muslims accuse the Jewish to be digging under the Mount. The tragedy is that each one when digging throws away everything belonging to the other culture.

The proposal of the Vatican

In this difficult situation, the Vatican suggested a proposal to solve the conflict, proposal that was accepted by the entire international community. The proposal suggested considering Jerusalem as an extraterritorial zone, to be ruled by the UN. According to this proposal, the archaeological work should have been carried on by a third party.

Both Israeli and Palestinian did not accept the proposal: the value at stake is the sovereignty on the area, more than the willingness of knowing what actually lay under the ground. It is at this point that the religious discourse overlaps with the political one. However, I will not try here to divide the two, since, as we have been told throughout all the master curriculum, splitting politics from religion is a characteristic of the Western culture, and it is an attitude not shared in many parts of the world, and certainly it is not shared by the Islam thought. The issue is even more complicated since the power to decide about the Mosques is not a right of the Palestinian but of Islam in general, therefore Palestinian on the particular case of holy places do not have the power of negotiating.

In regard to the state of Israel, that is a laic state, it can be said that it is a laic state of Jewish, and the Jewish identity is grounded on religion.

As I said, the proposal was not accepted by the parties and, without a previous agreement between the parties, UN blue helmets cannot be sent in a country.

Question 1: Argument defended by archaeologists is that the Mount is the most ___place for the Temple

Select one:

a. Holy

b. Pure

c. plausible

d. Boyh a & c

Question 2

Israeli dug already along the perimeter of the Mount there is an___ site around the Mount

Select one:

a. Old

b. beautiful

c. archaeological

d. New

Question 3

Noble Enclosure In Arab means the enclosure containing the two mosques: Al aqsa and the ____of the Rock

Select one:

a. Square

b. Rectangle

c. Dome

d. Both a & b

Question 4

On September 28th, 2000 Sharon ___ with 1000 policemen on the Mount.

Select one:

a. had a walk

b. Interacted

c. Walked

d. Both b & c

Question 5

Splitting politics from ____is a characteristic of the Western culture

Select one:

a. Culture

b. Caste

c. nationality

d. religion

Question 6

The Sharon’s walk had a specific meaning ____

Select one:

a. Stop

b. stop digging

c. Prayer

d. Almighty

Question 7

The Temple Mount is the ___name

Select one:

a. Saint

b. Hebrew

c. Both a & b

d. none of the above

Question 8

The tragedy is that each one when digging throws away everything belonging to the ____culture.

Select one:

a. other

b. Different

c. Unique

d. all of the above

Question 9

The value at stake is the___ on the area,

Select one:

a. sovereignty

b. Holy

c. New

d. Culture

Question 10

____room, the holiest place of the Temple

Select one:

a. Saint

b. Holy

c. Pure

d. Saint of Saints

10/10

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5th Module Assessment

INTER-RELIGIOUS CONFLICT

The fact that it became possible for women to become a priest was one of the biggest changes in Lutheran church for the last few decades. Nowadays there is all the time more and more parishes are accepting women as priests, but in fact, there are many problems still. In Finland, women were accepted in the year 1996, and at the moment an average of 27% of the priests are women. Even this issue has formally been accepted; it is still a topic of argumentation.

Twenty-one years after the Lutheran Church of Finland allowed women to become pastors or priests, a small but vocal group of male clergy remained opposed to their ordination, embarrassing the Church as it tries to halt declining membership.

The problem is not anymore should a woman be a priest, the problem is what we can do about the people who are against women as a priest? And what to do with the priest who does not want to work with the woman priests? Also in the media, this has been an issue, and for example, some men working as a priest have been fired for not working with a woman priest. The issue has gone so far that one priest who was a man, decided to change his gender in Eastern-Finland and got fired after returning to work as a woman. Additionally, several female pastors also filed police complaints about discrimination.

The problem seems small, but in fact, because the Scandinavian, and especially the Finnish culture is so equal the gap between church´s opinion and the way culture sees the situation is huge. There have even been people who have decided to leave the church because a woman was a priest, but still, for them, it is normal to have a woman as a president. This issue is sensitive, and inside of the religion, it has raised up a lot of problems.

When thinking about the near future, Lutheran Church will have problems, because, for the last year’s students who have graduated from being a priest, half of them have been women. So the inter-religious conflict continues should the Lutheran church loose people from the parish because some women want to be priests or should they start campaigns to support women a priest. According to the association “The Free Thinkers,” who have created a website in which people withdraw from the Church, every time the debate on women pastors comes up in the media the number of withdrawals increase. Some 100 people a day have withdrawn their church membership in recent weeks.

There is a long in equality for the Lutheran church in Scandinavia because the level of the normal equality is so high. The value positions at stake are that the church might lose members, the culture and the church will disagree and create a big conflict between opinions, and maybe for the universities to stop educating so many women to be a priest because the church might not be able to give them work. Because it has already happened that people leave their parish and change to another where there is a man priest.

MEDIA AND CHURCH

Because there is a huge gap between the ideologies of the church and the normal culture, there are nowadays groups of women priests, and they are very intensive and even aggressive sometimes. They want to keep alive the ideology that woman is not meant to be a leader, and this is again the topic what the normal society does not understand. It was expected that when time goes by, the new generation will accept the women priests and the problem will disappear, but it ever happened. The groups which do not accept women priests are active and alive still after 20 years.

Media has raised up so much the issue of women priests that it seems now that Media has increased the number of the people who are against and Media has made it easier for these people to meet and create groups. Even nowadays the churches and parishes need publicity, the publicity which they have gotten has made the situation worse. To be able to talk about this issue in media, the church has to play with the rules of media. And the Lutheran church hasn’t been able to express themselves, and meanwhile, in the media, the people against women priest have raised up discussions to get more people to their side.

SOLVING THE INTER-RELIGIOUS CONFLICT

The problem is hard to solve because most of the people living in Finland, for example, are used to equality and support even the president to be a woman. The problem is more related to the case that people who do not accept women priest do not take it because of the Bible, and this is an issue which is hard to change, their beliefs. In the case, Media would start promoting women priests and show that they do their job as well as the men it might get better. Moreover, the Media should stop interviewing the people against women priests and start supporting the women priests in order the Finnish culture and church to co-exist. Solving these problems and issues might take even a decade, but it is possible with the help of Media and for the young generations to be as equal in their religion as they are in their daily culture.

CONCLUSION

A century ago, Finland became the world’s first state to grant women full voting rights. It is one of the most gender-equal countries in the world. Finland has a woman as a president and also the world’s most female-dominated cabinet. Still, the inter-religious conflict is related to women working as a priest and pastor. The problem seems ridiculous but is in fact complicated.

All in all my opinion to solve this issue is for everyone in the Lutheran church to remember that we all have the option to choose our opinions and religions, but we have to respect the fact that Scandinavia and Finland are equal countries and our culture accepts women as priests. It is natural that everyone does not agree. If the problem will not solve shortly, maybe it would be a good idea to start establishing parishes with women priests only and other parishes with men as priests. But again this would fight with our culture of equality.

Question 1: Finland and the whole Scandinavia are extremely equal countries towards __

Select one:

a. men

b. women

c. Both a & b

d. none of the above

Question 2

Finland became the world’s first state to grant women __

Select one:

a. full voting rights

b. Voting Rights

c. half voting rights

d. Both b & c

Question 3

Finland has the world’s most ___ cabinet

Select one:

a. male dominated

b. Gender equal

c. Biased

d. female-dominated

Question 4

Groups which do not accept women priests are active and alive still after __

Select one:

a. 20 years

b. 23Years

c. 25 Years

d. 19 years

Question 5

Huge gap between the _____of the church and the normal culture

Select one:

a. Culture

b. Norms

c. Ideologies

d. Beliefs

Question 6

Inter-religious conflict is about women working in the profession of a _____

Select one:

a. Saint

b. priest

c. Both a & b

d. Only b

Question 7

The issue has gone so far that one priest who was a man, decided to change his gender in ___

Select one:

a. Eastern-Finland

b. Western-Finland

c. Northern Finland

d. Southern-Finland

Question 8

The value positions at stake are that the church might lose members the culture and the church will disagree and create a big conflict between ____

Select one:

a. perception

b. thoughts

c. opinions

d. beliefs

Question 9

women to become a priest was one of the____ in Lutheran church for the last few decades

Select one:

a. Change

b. Drastic Change

c. biggest changes

d. Challenge

Question 10

______who have created a website in which people withdraw from the Church, every time the debate on women pastors comes up in the media the number of withdrawals increase

Select one:

a. Media

b. Advertisement agencies

c. both a & b

d. The Free Thinkers

10/10

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Assignment 2

This is about a conflict which has been going on in Finland and also in Sweden. This inter-religious conflict is about women working in the profession of a priest. The Lutheran church in Scandinavia has had a conflict which got quite large in the past few years. Finland and the whole Scandinavia are extremely equal countries towards women, and the problem related to that because the church couldn’t agree on the same level than the culture of the countries. This became a conflict because the culture is so equal, but the church is not able to stay in the same level of equality. The reason I chose this topic, is because it’s quite resent conflict and also it is related to culture. Of course, there are much worse inter-religious conflicts around the world, but as Scandinavia is really peaceful, this is an inter-religious problem which we have had in the near future.

On March 17th, 2008 Switzerland’s Elektrizitätsgesellschaft Laufenburg EGL signed a 25- year contract with the state-owned National Iranian Gas Export Company NIGEC for the delivery of 5,5 billion cubic meters of gas per year. Joachim Conrad, the member of the executive board within EGL named the deal a milestone for the natural gas business of the company. As he declared in a media release: “Natural gas from Iran is necessary to the opening of a fourth gas transportation corridor to Europe”1. The signing of the contract took place in presence of representatives of the two governments, Iranian Prime Minister Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, foreign minister Manuchehr Mottaki and Swiss foreign minister Micheline Calmy-Rey. International newspapers reported on the huge deal worth between $28 billion and $42 billion2. Iran State Television showed the meeting between Ahmadinejad and Calmy-Rey, both laughing, her wearing a Muslim veil. The contract had required a long preparation time for EGL. Early in the stage, the company asked for help from the Swiss government to accompany the negotiations.

The successful deal didn’t stay untouched for long. On the same day as international newspapers reported on the happenings, the US-department for foreign affairs made an intervention. It questioned if the deal didn’t possibly violate the UN Security Council resolutions over the Iranian uranium-enrichment program. One day later, Jewish organisations followed. As Jerusalem Post titled: “Swiss selling principles for Iranian gas”. Israeli administration officials called the business deal an “unfriendly” act towards Israel. “Iran assists extremist organisations, tramples human rights and it denies Israel its right to exist”, Israel’s Rafi Barak, director-general in charge of Israel’s Western European department, said in a meeting with Swiss ambassador Walter Haffner. Shortly after, the World Jewish Congress placed its critic as well and called the deal a “propagandistic triumph for the mullahs”. Micheline Calmy-Rey laughing and wearing a veil was interpreted as a sign of taking sides. Only two days after the contract was signed it looked like it was becoming already unstable. The US claimed the contract to examine the content according to the UN-sanctions.

In Switzerland, too, the case met with severe criticism. The Swiss conservative party SVP even placed an ad in newspapers showing the socialist politician Calmy-Rey wearing the veil, sitting in a chair under the picture of Ayatollah Khomeini, a photograph that was taken during the meeting of the two governments in Teheran. The latest accusation comes from the US-Jewish organisation Anti-Defamation League ADL. An ad that was placed in several international newspapers accuses Switzerland of supporting and financing terrorism.

In the wake of these large international critics, the gas deal, which was so carefully prepared and which is highly important for Europe’s energy supply is put in danger.

The Company

EGL is a European energy trading company, member of the Swiss AXPO Group. It trades in electricity, natural gas and energy-related financial products. Through its subsidiaries, the company is present in major European markets. Besides its trading activities, EGL holds interests in Swiss power plants and owns a gas-fired combined-cycle power plant in Italy. The gas division is relatively new for the company. It started only in 2003 to implement natural gas activities as an additional business field. Increasing demand for natural gas throughout Europe has led to this decision.

The Gas deal with Iran is not a single project within this region. EGL is the developer of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline, also known as TAP. This project consists of the building of a enormous pipeline from the Caspian and the Middle East into Western Europe. To realise this gigantic project EGL has established an equally owned joint venture with Norwegian StatoilHydro to develop, build and operate the TAP. Next to gas from Russia, the North Sea and Northern Africa TAP will open a fourth transportation corridor for gas trading. It is supposed to diversify natural Europe’s gas supply and equally minimise dependence from Russia. Many European countries will benefit from the pipeline and therefore the project is co-financed by the European Union.

Hence, the gas deal with Iran is just a first important step to guarantee gas resources for Europe. According to EGL, negotiations for the deal took a long time. Early in the stage, the Swiss government was involved since the Iranian partners belong to a state-owned company. Connections had to be built and since Switzerland’s government already had the contacts to Iranian administration circles it was only consequential, to involve high-rank Swiss officials.

Question 1: EGL has established an equally owned joint venture with ___to develop, build and operate the TAP.

Select one:

a. America

b. Norwegian StatoilHydro

c. Seilt

d. Sessro

Question 2

EGL holds interests in Swiss power plants and owns a gas-fired combined-cycle power plant in __

Select one:

a. Paris

b. Italy

c. Rome

d. UK

Question 3

EGL is a European energy trading company, member of the Swiss ____Group

Select one:

a. APXO

b. PXAO

c. AXPO

d. OPXA

Question 4

Israeli administration officials called the business deal an _____ act towards Israel

Select one:

a. Friendly

b. Unknown

c. Both a & b

d. unfriendly

Question 5

Joachim Conrad, the member of the executive board within EGL named the deal a milestone for the__ business

Select one:

a. natural gas

b. NIYH

c. CGEA

d. GINS

Question 6

Natural gas from Iran is necessary to the opening of a___ gas transportation corridor to Europe

Select one:

a. Second

b. fourth

c. First

d. Third

Question 7

The signing of the contract took place in presence of representatives of the ____governments, Iranian Prime Minister Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, foreign minister Manuchehr Mottaki and Swiss foreign minister Micheline Calmy-Rey.

Select one:

a. Three

b. One

c. Four

d. two

Question 8

The US claimed the contract to examine the content according to the_____ -sanctions.

Select one:

a. UK

b. Europe

c. UN

d. Asia

Question 9

witzerland’s Elektrizitätsgesellschaft Laufenburg EGL signed a 25- year contract with the state-owned National Iranian Gas Export Company __

Select one:

a. NIGEC

b. NIYH

c. CGEA

d. GINS

Question 10

__director-general in charge of Israel’s Western European department

Select one:

a. Israel’s Rafi Barak

b. Rafi Muhammod

c. barak Ismail

d. Israil

10/10

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Global Business Operation (EDL 413)-Semester IV

1st Module Assessment

Case Study

A Cadbury Schweppes Case

Why did Cadbury Schweppes choose Poland as its point of entry into the Central and Eastern European confectionery markets? Because there was a number of significant developments taking place there.

The Central and Eastern European countries can be divided into two groups: those which fell originally within the Soviet Union, and others.The key difference is that the countries within the latter group only had communist regimes for 45 years and free enterprise still existed to some degree.

The four most advanced countries within this group were Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, of which Poland had the largest population and percentage of private sector business, as well as a strong consumer market. It also had good prospects for investment, offered a skilled labour force and faced neither ethnic strife nor border disputes.

Having developed a stable parliamentary democracy and signed an association agreement with the European Union, Poland recognised that to shed its former communist image and face market forces with a proactive, commercial approach would require major changes in its culture and attitude. One way in which it could do this was to encourage development in Poland by its European partners, and Poland already had a good relationship with the UK, which has a Polish community of some 150,000.

These rapidly changing political, economic and social factors were key influences in Cadbury Schweppes’decision to enter Poland’s developing market. Another strong factor was that, despite Poland having, at that time, one of the largest confectionery markets in Central and Eastern Europe, none of Cadbury Schweppes’ major international confectionery competitors had established strong businesses there.

Although the Company could have taken a ‘wait and see’ approach (running the risk of missing a vital opportunity to develop an early market lead), it decided that there were sufficient indicators to justify an investment in Poland.

Cadbury Schweppes had three ‘route to market’ options to consider in order to respond to Poland’s market needs. The options were:

• export from other Cadbury Schweppes companies

• acquire or form a joint venture with a local Polish company

• establish its own factory locally.

When Poland first left the communist regime the government pursued a policy of open trade which resulted in a flood of imports. To protect local industry the Polish government established import duties which were particularly high on goods such as confectionery.

Under these conditions, exporting to Poland was not an economically viable option to Cadbury Schweppes. Cadbury Schweppes evaluated the leading Polish confectionery companies to assess their suitability for acquisition or joint venture. However, several problems, such as over-staffing or lack of investment, were found to be common across all of them.

So, having rejected the first two options, Cadbury Schweppes decided to explore local manufacture as the most appropriate route into the Polish market.

Although the confectionery market in Poland was known to be large, market research was conducted to determine whether that market would be suitable for Cadbury Schweppes’ products.

Tastes in confectionery vary the world over and Cadbury chose to manufacture products from its existing range which would particularly suit the Polish taste. It also decided to manufacture a range of budget-priced products under the name of Piasten, Cadbury Schweppes’ brand in Germany.

Having identified the product range and its acceptability to Polish consumers it was then possible for Cadbury Schweppes to forecast the potential sales which could be achieved in Poland.

This information, together with estimates of the costs involved in setting up and running the manufacturing operation, enabled the Company to determine that the project was financially viable. In 1993 Cadbury Schweppes took the decision to invest more than £20m in building a factory and developing a new confectionery business on a greenfield site in Poland.

Cadbury Schweppes began by visiting Poland to evaluate sites in several locations to improve its understanding of the Polish infrastructure and administration procedures, and to assess the general employment situation and skills availability.

The decision to develop a greenfield site at Kobierzyce, near Wroclaw in south west Poland, was based on a number of criteria:

• overall cost

• geographical location

• climatic conditions

• availability of mains services

• access to highways and trunk roads

• distance from competitors

• large regional population.

A further factor was people. Cadbury Schweppes would be joining a local community and would work closely with the local mayor and his staff at Kobierzyce, who welcomed the new investment.

It is not an easy task to build a factory in a foreign country. It requires careful co-ordination and considerable expertise.

Cadbury Schweppes appointed a team of engineering consultants to oversee all stages of the project, from selection of the contractors via a process of tendering, through to the completion of the factory construction.

The construction process was extremely challenging as the factory and offices, covering 9000 square metres, had to be completed, and production ready to start, within one year in order to meet the confectionery selling season of autumn to spring.

Time was not the only challenge. Temperature within a chocolate manufacturing plant is a major consideration in a country such as Poland, where the weather varies from -15 degrees C in winter to 33 degrees C in summer. The air conditioning, refrigeration and heating of the plant were key issues, all of which had to comply with local quality, hygiene, safety and environmental standards. The local community also had to construct water pipes, electrical power lines and telephone lines to the factory, and all were completed on time.

Building a factory is only one step in the implementation of a production facility. It is important to consider how it will operate, what production techniques it will use and what products it will manufacture. Cadbury Schweppes formed a technical team to design, engineer and procure all of the process plant and machinery required for the manufacture of the chosen product range. Also required is a team of company experts who specialise in the business of making chocolate and who understand the technical complexities of making quality products. Just as there are challenges in building a factory in an unfamiliar country, so there are challenges in filling all of the jobs necessary to run that factory.

A recruitment strategy had to be designed to meet those challenges: Should Cadbury Schweppes transfer expatriates to Poland? If so, how would they cope with the language barrier and the fact that there were no local English-speaking schools for expatriates’ children to attend? Could quality local candidates be found? If not, would potential managers relocate to Wroclaw from Warsaw and other major cities? How important was experience within Cadbury Schweppes versus knowledge of the Polish market? Cadbury Schweppes’ human resource management strategy for the Polish project was to identify local candidates wherever possible. This would give Polish individuals a sense of freedom to manage their business within a familiar environment and according to local needs, supported by resources and experience from other parts of the Cadbury Schweppes global company.

However, there was a known shortage of experience locally, particularly in the finance and marketing functions, so the company anticipated that it would need to have a fair amount of expatriate involvement, particularly in the early stages of getting the Polish business operational.

A multi-disciplinary team was formed to:

• identify the key management roles to be filled within the Polish operation

• devise a recruitment plan to attract the best quality candidates

• prepare an induction and training process for new employees.

A structure for the top management team was devised. Job descriptions were then written for the key management roles. To do this, decisions about the degree of functional expertise required had to be traded off against knowledge of Cadbury Schweppes and its operations, local Polish experience and general ‘know-how’.

A recruitment consultancy was then chosen to identify a shortlist of candidates for the key positions. The consultancy used a combination of headhunting (where candidates are approached on a company’s behalf) and job advertisements in Poland and the UK. Bearing in mind that Cadbury Schweppes was new to Central and Eastern Europe, this was very much a learning process for the team members concerned, as they knew little about Polish recruitment practice or what to expect in terms of quality and experience of candidates.

Some interviews were conducted via an interpreter, which added another level of complexity to assessing candidates. And, before making offers of employment, research was carried out to determine the salary and benefit levels which would attract the best candidates to join the company. The final decisions on recruitment were taken by the European Managing Director and the Managing Director of Cadbury Schweppes’ German company, Piasten, who would be responsible for overseeing the development of the Polish company.

Development of an induction plan ensures that new employees deliver effective work performance as quickly as possible after joining the company. As part of its induction plan for the Polish operation, Cadbury Schweppes brought key Polish employees to the UK to provide an overview of the Group’s global operations, an introduction to the company’s philosophies, values and history and then the confectionery industry and Polish market. The Polish team was also introduced to colleagues established businesses elsewhere in the Group, who would be able to provide information and advice when needed.

In new ventures such as this, there is a real demand for company knowledge and experience, particularly in the early stages of development. Such opportunities are often taken up by existing Cadbury Schweppes managers who are encouraged to move internationally within the Group to gain wider experience, while transferring their knowledge newcomers.

Cadbury Schweppes offers a series of career programmes for junior and senior managers to gain such experience and managers from the Polish business are already moving elsewhere within the Group!

A new business brings many benefits to the local community. One of the benefits derived from this project was that the funds generated by the sale of land to Cadbury Schweppes helped to enable a new school to be built in Kobierzyce.

Another key benefit was that, in an area of high unemployment, local applicants secured many of the factory jobs. Cadbury Schweppes is also committed to actively contribute to the communities in which it operates and to improve the environment in which people live and work. Its operating units support community activity through locally targeted programmes throughout the world. This may include financial support, commercial sponsorship and the provision of local facilities.

Question 1: Building a factory is only one step in the implementation of a___ facility

Select one:

a. operation

b. manufacturing

c. production

d. both a & b

Question 2

Cadbury Schweppes had___ ‘route to market’ options to consider in order to respond to Poland’s market needs

Select one:

a. three

b. four

c. eight

d. six

Question 3

Cadbury Schweppes offers a series of career programmes for__ and senior managers

Select one:

a. senior

b. new joinees

c. junior

d. All of the above

Question 4

Company could have taken a __ approach to develop an early market lead

Select one:

a. wait and watch

b. watch and wait

c. see and wait

d. wait and see

Question 5

Development of an ____ plan ensures that new employees deliver effective work performance

Select one:

a. orientation

b. induction

c. both a & b

d. none of the above

Question 6

Temperature within a chocolate manufacturing plant is a major consideration in a country such as Poland, where the weather varies from -15 degrees C in winter to __degrees C in summer

Select one:

a. 33

b. 42

c. 32

d. 32

Question 7

The consultancy used a combination of headhunting and job advertisements in ___and the UK

Select one:

a. Poland

b. Europe

c. Hongkong

d. Germnay

Question 8

The decision to develop a greenfield site at Kobierzyce, near Wroclaw in south west Poland, was based on a number of criteria:

Select one:

a. overall cost

b. geographical location

c. climatic conditions

d. All of the above

Question 9

The final decisions on recruitment were taken by the___ and the Managing Director of Cadbury Schweppes’ German company, Piasten.

Select one:

a. Managing Director

b. European Managing Director

c. Manager

d. All of the above

Question 10

These rapidly changing political, economic and social factors were key influences in __Schweppes’decision to enter Poland’s developing market.

Select one:

a. Dairy milk

b. Schmittens

c. both a & b

d. Cadbury

10/10

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2nd Module Assessment

Case Study

A UNISON case study

UNISON is Britain and Europe’s biggest public sector trade union, representing more than 1.3 million members working in public services. Job roles they represent in the public sector include, for example:

• librarians

• Human Resources, IT and finance workers

• teaching assistants and early years nursery staff

• secretaries

• cleaners, caretakers and school meals supervisors

• care workers, social workers and nurses.

UNISON campaigns on a variety of issues relevant to its members. Currently, it is running the Migrant Workers Participation Project. This campaign focuses on the issues faced by migrant workers in the UK. Migrant workers are employees who have moved from overseas to the UK to find work. They form an important and growing part of the workforce in both the private sector and public sector.

These workers are at particular risk of being exploited in the workplace. This may be due to lack of knowledge of their rights, their limited command of the English language and the fact that they are often reluctant to complain about their treatment by employers. They may also be exploited because of racist attitudes. UNISON believes that the best way of preventing exploitation is through trade union representation in the workplace. One of the objectives of the current UNISON campaign is to increase the number of migrant workers who are part of the union.

When making decisions, a business needs to take account of internal and external factors:

• Internal factors are ones that are within its control. Examples include how many staff the business employs, the number of machines it uses and how much money owners choose to invest in the business.

• External factors are those that are outside of its control. These may be direct or indirect influences. Direct influences include suppliers, customers and competitors. Indirect influences include legislation, the economy or technology.

These external influences are summarised by the mnemonic PEST. This stands for Political, Economic, Social and Technological influences.

UNISON looks at a range of issues to assess the external factors it needs to take account of when considering the needs of its members. UNISON considered these factors when setting its aims and objectivesfor protecting the rights of migrant workers. An understanding of many external factors helped it to decide which strategies and tactics were best for achieving these objectives.

Political factors include government policies, legislation and foreign influences, particularly from the European Union (EU). Several political factors surround the issue of immigration. Legislation on immigration comes both from the UK government and from the EU. For example, workers from all EU countries, except Romania and Bulgaria, have the right to live and work in the UK. Since the expansion of the EU in 2004, around 700,000 Polish workers have registered to work in the UK, boosting the UK workforce, enabling the economy to expand.

Immigration is an emotive issue, which often generates sensational headlines in tabloid newspapers. These include allegations that migrant workers ‘take’ British jobs or that they ‘undercut’ pay levels, working for less than British workers. The data available does not support these allegations. UNISON believes that if migrant workers are part of a trade union membership and can benefit from properly negotiated pay rates, this type of misinformation will not arise.

As part of its campaign, UNISON aims to dispel the negative views on migration. Migrant workers play an extremely important role in providing many needed services. This provision would not be possible without migrant workers. Government statistics prove that the overall effects of net migration into the UK have been positive for UK businesses and the economy.

In areas of high migrant populations, there are greater pressures due to, for example, insufficient housing and health provision. The migrant workers population is not evenly spread across the UK – the majority of migrants are in London and the South East, according to government statistics.

In addition, because of the short-term nature of much of the work, the pattern of migrant workers is not easy to track. Government and local authorities need to be able to invest in services sufficiently quickly to meet the demand. It is important to understand that the same pressures on services would occur if large numbers of UK workers suddenly moved to an area.

One of the most important political factors in UNISON’s external environment is employment legislation. UNISON aims to ensure that these laws meet the needs of workers by lobbying the government when it feels the law needs changing. In a recent report, the Trade Union Congress (TUC) found that many employers were ignoring employment law. Some companies were not paying their workers the minimum wage, while others forced workers to work longer than legally permitted under the working time directive. It can be very difficult for migrant workers to get legal advice when they have problems at work. This is partly due to language barriers. Many also fear losing their jobs if they complain.

Like other low-paid workers, they rely on legal advice, paid for by the government through legal aid. Reduced funding for legal aid and for immigration advice in particular has resulted in fewer solicitors taking on legal aid cases. Many migrant workers seeking help have been turned away. As a result, UNISON has put in place legal advice and information services to help migrant workers understand their rights

Most migrants come to the UK from countries that are less economically developed. They can earn a better wage in the UK than in their home country. For example, the average monthly salary in the UK in 2007 was almost £2,500 whereas in Poland it was £500. This difference in wages allows the migrants to enjoy an improved standard of living. The migrant workers are also able to send money back to their families who remain in their home countries.

However, as well as the economic benefits migrant workers receive themselves, they are also an important part of the UK economy, both in public and private sectors. According to government figures, the working output of new migration adds 0.5% to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In 2006, this was equivalent to adding an extra £6 billion to the economy.

One of the reasons why migration improves the economy is that it increases the size of the total labour market. Migrant workers to the UK replenish a decreasing workforce. In 2006, 400,000 people left the UK and 590,000 people arrived, 157,000 of these came to study. Migrant workers fill several areas of the labour market where there are skills shortages or they do jobs that people in the UK do not want to do because the working conditions may be poor or wages low. Often migrant workers are ‘de-skilled’ because they take work in different industries at a lower skill level than the one for which they are qualified. These industries include agriculture, hospitality and food packing.

Many business leaders express the view that migrant workers often have a more positive work ethic than domestic workers. Employing workers who not only have the necessary skills but who are also keen to work allows many businesses to achieve a competitiveadvantage. UNISON recognises the benefits to the economy that migrants bring. It has worked hard to ensure that workers receive fair pay and valid career opportunities to keep attracting migrant workers to the UK.

A number of social factors have increased the flow of workers into the UK. Many migrants moved to the UK to improve their standard of living. Social factors in the UK also contribute to the demand for migrant workers in the UK. The UK has an ageing population. Without immigration, the labour force would be shrinking. As a result, there is a smaller labour force supporting the growing population of retired workers. This is forecast to get worse over the next 20 years. There are also specific vocational areas where the UK has a skills shortage. For example, 16% of all care workers are migrant workers. These workers are skilled workers who have trained in their home nations. Without them, the range of care provision would be less.

Many social issues may affect migrant workers whilst they are in the UK. For example, UNISON is aware that many migrant workers have difficulty communicating in English. This creates problems with understanding important documents such as contracts of employment, company rules and notices. Migrant workers are often unaware of their rights in the workplace.

The language barrier also affects migrants outside the workplace. It causes difficulties in shops, accessing housing and education and understanding the welfare system. Not being able to understand cultural issues such as behaviour and customs is another big factor. Together these problems make many migrant workers feel socially excluded from English-speaking co-workers.

UNISON has helped many migrant workers overcome these issues in different ways:

• It produces workers’ rights leaflets in 11 different languages.

• It also works with community groups like the ONNS (Overseas Network of Nurses in Scotland). These groups provide advice and social communities for overseas workers.

• UNISON has provided information on welfare and tax so workers can understand what they need to pay and any benefits they can receive.

• Recently it has developed a dedicated migrant workers” section on its website where key information is available in a range of languages.

• It is also running ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) courses to help migrant members learn English.

As part of UNISON’s bargaining agenda, it is seeking to make employers aware of the issues that are important to migrant workers. For example, it wants employers to print health and safety rules in other languages and to provide migrant workers with a welcome pack that gives information about local services and sources of information. It also aims to persuade employers to provide paid time off and pay course costs for workers attending language courses. Because migrant workers are better able to identify the bargaining issues that are important to them, UNISON believes it is important for them to be members and actively involved in the union.

Changes in technology, including a rise in automation in the workplace and the development of the internet, have transformed the way in which many businesses work:

• Automation of production processes in factories means less-skilled workers are needed.

• The internet has opened up a need for information processing in purchasing and data management areas, for example, in online shopping. Many migrant graduates have come to fill these more specialised vacancies.

• The biggest technological factor affecting migration has been the increased availability and reduced cost of transport. Over 75% of migrants fly into the UK, most using budget airlines.

• Advances in online money transfers enable migrant workers to send money home easily and securely. This makes them more willing to migrate.A United Nations statistic shows that migrant workers send home over twice the amount given in international aid to developing countries.

• Improvements in telecommunications have made it easier for potential migrants to discover what job opportunities are available. Through online chat rooms, they gain information and advice from other migrants from their own country and can keep in contact with friends and family in their home countries.

UNISON’s website is an important means of communicating with members. For example, it has welfare pages providing migrants with information about the benefits they can receive. The site provides access to leaflets in a range of different languages. These give advice on their rights at work and information about health and safety. This greatly improves the livelihood and work experience of UNISON members.

UNISON aims to improve the working lives of migrant workers by increasing their level of trade union representation.

PEST analysis is a useful tool for analysing the external environment surrounding migrant workers. It also helps to identify and understand the reasons why migrants come to the UK and the issues they face. UNISON has worked hard to raise awareness of the economic benefits migrant workers bring to the UK economy.

UNISON greatly supports migrant workers. It has provided them with a range of advice and assistance. This has made it easier for them to settle in the workplace.

UNISON has an ongoing role in persuading employers and the government to implement policies to benefit migrant workers. This has enabled the UK economy to benefit from the increasing number of workers migrating here. Migrants provide an increasingly skilled workforce necessary to maintain the growing number of services demanded by the UK’s growing economy.

Question 1: ESOL stands for English for __ of Other Languages

Select one:

a. Speakers

b. Speak

c. skilled

d. support

Question 2

Improvements in ___ have made it easier for potential migrants to discover what job opportunities are available.

Select one:

a. Media

b. telecommunications

c. Technology

d. Infrastructure

Question 3

Migrant workers are employees who have moved from overseas to___ the to find work

Select one:

a. US

b. London

c. UK

d. Honkong

Question 4

migrant workers are ____because they take work in different industries at a lower skill level than the one for which they are qualified

Select one:

a. de-skilled

b. unskilled

c. skilled

d. unemployed

Question 5

One of the objectives of the current UNISON campaign is to increase the number of ___workers who are part of the union

Select one:

a. migrant

b. actual

c. unskilled

d. both b & c

Question 6

Over___ of migrants fly into the UK, most using budget airlines.

Select one:

a. 78%

b. 74%

c. 74.60%

d. 75%

Question 7

PEST stands for Political, Economic, Social and ___

Select one:

a. Tactics

b. Time

c. Both a & b

d. Technological influences.

Question 8

PEST analysis is a useful tool for analysing___ the environment surrounding migrant workers.

Select one:

a. Internal

b. external

c. Both a & b

d. all of the above

Question 9

UNISON greatly supports ___workers

Select one:

a. uskilled

b. semi-skilled

c. migrant

d. US

Question 10

UNISON is Britain and Europe’s biggest public sector ____

Select one:

a. Union

b. trade union

c. Both a & b

d. None of the above

10/10

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3rd Module Assessment

Case Study

In September 2015, US-based Nike, Inc. the world’s leading designer, marketer, and distributor of athletic footwear, apparel, equipment, and accessories, announced that the sales of its footwear in Greater China had increased by 36% and that of its apparel by 22% during the quarter ending August 2015. The news sent Nike’s stock surging by 9%. Orders scheduled for delivery between September 2015 and January 2016 grew by 30% in China.

Nike projected that its Greater China business would grow at an average of 15% a year to achieve sales of US$ 6.5 billion by 2020 while its global sales would reach US$ 50 billion. Experts said that with the Chinese government mandating sports as a growth category, Nike was all set to grow further in the market. The news of Nike performing well in a country that was undergoing macroeconomic changes and where several other companies were reporting declining revenues came as a surprise to the industry experts…

Nike was founded by a track athlete, Philip Knight (Philip), and a track coach at the University of Oregon, Bill Bowerman (Bill) in 1964. In 1957, Philip was studying at the University of Oregon and it was here that he met Bill who was the athletics coach. Philip and Bill realized the need for a low cost but good quality running shoe. At that time, leading track shoes were being produced by European companies. These shoes were made of leather, had very bad cushioning, and used steel spikes for traction. Philip and Bill started to design shoes that were lighter, better padded, and featured waffle like patterns in their rubber soles. These models didn’t see much commercial success. Later, when Philip was doing his MBA at Stanford University, he did a marketing research dissertation on the US shoe manufacturing industry.

He proposed in his dissertation that low cost, high quality running shoes could be imported from Asian countries like Japan, where labor was cheaper, and sold in markets like the US. Philip was confident that cheaper shoes that were of good quality would be highly successful in the US market and could end the domination of German companies in the industry…

Philip had always thought China was a market which held huge potential for Nike. In the 1970s, when Nike started a subsidiary in Taiwan, it was given Nike’s original name ‘Blue Ribbon Sports’. This was because Philip was not keen on using the name Nike in Taiwan, as China considered Taiwan to be a renegade province.

Nike started manufacturing in China during the 1970s. Philip visited China in 1980, when the country was emerging out of the Cultural Revolution. At that time, Nike’s sales were US$ 150 million and the company was all set to go in for an IPO. At that time, China had not yet become the manufacturing hub for the world and was nowhere close to becoming the fastest growing market in the world. Philip, however, felt that China offered several opportunities, with its low wages and talented manpower. He was of the view that with some up gradation, the factories would be able to produce what Nike wanted. Within a year he started negotiating with the Chinese Communist party. At that time, the government was moving slowly toward economic liberalization. Deng Xiaoping, who succeeded Mao Zedong was looking at doubling China’s GDP by the end of the 1980s…

NIKE FOR CHINESE

Nike’s consumer presence in China started in the 1980s. In 1981, it opened a small marketing office in the country with six employees. It started to make its presence felt in the market by sponsoring several sports related events, including professional leagues. Nike launched professional sporting leagues, and was instrumental in building the American ‘streetball’ culture in China…

NIKE GROWS WITH CHINA

In 2000, top officials of Nike China met to decide on their strategy for the Olympic Games of 2008. At that point, Beijing was competing with other cities – Toronto, Paris, Istanbul, and Osaka – to host the Games. Earlier, Beijing had lost out to Sydney in its bid to host the 2000 Games, and the Chinese government was determined to succeed this time around. This required the International Olympic Committee to select a host city. Each member of the IOC had one vote. The members voted for the cities and several rounds were conducted until one city received a majority of the votes (The city that received minimum votes in each round was eliminated)….

THE FALL

After the Olympic Games of 2008, there was a growing demand for athletic gear and athletic footwear. Several brands invested heavily anticipating high sales, but the demand was short lived, and several companies were forced to close down their stores. ..

THE REJIG

In 2013, Nike adopted the ‘Reset’ strategy in China in order to achieve profitable and sustainable growth and reposition the brand in the market. Under this strategy, Nike applied the insights it had gained from the ‘Category offense’ strategy it had used in the North American market in the Chinese market. This was a part of Nike’s plan to translate its key strategies into locally relevant executions. ..

LOOKING AHEAD

Experts said Nike had managed to turn its fortunes around by repositioning itself as a high-end brand targeting the upper middle class, instead of a mass market brand. They said with the changes in the Chinese economy, those companies that catered to the mass market were struggling, whereas high-end products were gaining ground by finding acceptance among the consumers.

Question 1: Each member of the IOC had ___ vote

Select one:

a. two

b. three

c. one

d. five

Question 2

Nike adopted the___ strategy in China in order to achieve profitable and sustainable growth and reposition the brand in the market

Select one:

a. Market

b. Corporate

c. Reset

d. Niche

Question 3

Nike applied the insights it had gained from the ___ strategy

Select one:

a. insight

b. niche

c. both a & b

d. Category offense

Question 4

Nike had managed to turn its fortunes around by repositioning itself as a high-end brand targeting the____instead of a mass market brand.

Select one:

a. Lower class

b. Middle class

c. Both a & b

d. upper middle class

Question 5

Nike projected that its Greater China business would grow to achieve sales of US$ 6.5 billion by __

Select one:

a. 2020

b. 2021

c. 2022

d. 2023

Question 6

Nike projected that its Greater China business would grow at an average of __a year

Select one:

a. 14%

b. 12%

c. 15%

d. 17%

Question 7

Nike started a subsidiary in Taiwan, it was given Nike’s original name __

Select one:

a. Blue Ribbon Sports

b. Blue bells

c. Yellow ribbons

d. Red ribbon sports

Question 8

Nike was founded by Philip Knight and ___ in 1964.

Select one:

a. Bill jones

b. Bill Bowerman

c. John Davidson

d. Philip stewart

Question 9

Nike’s consumer presence in China started in the __

Select one:

a. 1980

b. 1985

c. 1987

d. 1982

Question 10

Nike’s sales were US$ 150 million and the company was all set to go in for an ___

Select one:

a. OPI

b. IPO.

c. IRO

d. RIO

10/10

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4th Module Assessment

Case Study

Lenovo : Challenger to Leader

Beijing-based multinational technology giant, Lenovo Group Limited (Lenovo), recorded a market share of 16.7 percent in the global personal computer (PC) market in the first quarter (Q1) ended June 30, 2013, emerging as the clear leader in the market, according to both International Data Corporation (IDC) and Gartner Inc. (Gartner). While IDC said that Lenovo had recorded a growth of 15 percent from the Q1 of 2012, Gartner put the growth from Q1 of 2012 at 14.9 percent. Experts said this was the first time that both IDC and Gartner had given the top spot to Lenovo.Founded in 1984 as Legend Holdings Limited, Lenovo sold computer products of branded PC makers such as Dell Inc. (Dell), Hewlett-Packard (HP), and Compaq Computer Corporation in its initial years.

Sensing the potential in the lucrative Chinese PC market, the company started selling its own brand of desktop PCs in 1990 and emerged as the leader in the Chinese PC market in 1996. In 2005, the company acquired the PC division of US-based multinational technology giant, International Business Machine (IBM). This gave the Lenovo brand global recognition in addition to making it the third largest PC maker in the world by volume behind HP and Dell. For the financial year (FY) ended March 31, 2013, Lenovo recorded sales of US$ 34 billion, a Year on Year (YoY) increase of 15 percent.

The history of Lenovo dates back to 1984 when it was started as New Technology Developer Inc., the predecessor of the Legend Group Ltd. (Legend) by Founder and Chairman, Liu Chuanzhi (Chuanzhi) along with ten colleagues at the government-owned Computing Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) with US$ 25000 in cash. The company was started with the aim of commercializing the research and development (R&D) activities conducted at CAS.

In 1985, as its first business deal, the company took over the responsibility of receiving, checking, and maintaining IBM computers imported by CAS and training the staff of the CAS.

The company invested its profits of US$ 146,583 it received from servicing the IBM computers into the design, production, and marketing of its first product – the Chinese character card – HanCard. The Chinese character card that translated English operating software into Chinese characteristics was based on the original concept developed by the Institute of Computer Technology (ICT) of CAS. At that time, foreign vendors could not come out with such an operating system for PCs in China. The successful launch of the Chinese card boosted Lenovo’s growth in the early 1990s

Globalization Strategies

Lenovo believed that in order to become a global brand, it was not enough to just be identified as a global firm. Establishing a presence in more developed and highly globalized areas such as the US and Europe was essential for Lenovo’s overall strategy. During this time, in 2002, the Chinese government announced its ‘go global’ policy. This policy encouraged Chinese companies that had the capability and expertise to expand abroad.

Lenovo was quick to respond to this government initiative. However, the company soon realized challenges to its global expansion: it did not have a brand name that was recognizable worldwide, a strong presence in the world market, or the human talent to run and manage a global company.

Ruling The China Market

In the 1990s, Lenovo was the first company to introduce the home computer concept in China and grew into a national company cornering a market share of 27 percent in the domestic market. Lenovo’s competency stood in its deep understanding of the domestic market and quick response to local demands of the consumers……..

Protect And Attack Strategy

Despite ruling the Chinese PC market, Lenovo suffered a setback due to the global economic slowdown in mid-2008 which led to Lenovo posting a loss of US$ 226 million. During this time, the company’s CEO William Amelio stepped down in favor of Yuanqing, who took over as CEO, while Chuanzhi returned assuming the role of Chairman

The company’s Protect and Attack strategy started reaping benefits in 2010. The company said that for the FY ended March 2011, its profits had risen to US$ 273 million from US$ 129.4 million in 2010. The company’s global sales also increased by 30 percent to US$ 21.6 billion during the same period. While China contributed to 46.4 percent of its sales, or US$ 10 billion, other emerging markets contributed 17.9 percent, or US$ 3.9 billion. ……

According to a survey in 2009 by Shaun Rein, head of China Market Research Group, on Chinese consumers’ brand perceptions, “Five years ago, consumer satisfaction rates of Lenovo were extremely high–consumers felt proud that China had a global brand in consumer electronics that they felt was better than Dell and HP and closer to the Chinese consumer.” But as Lenovo neglected the Chinese market to focus on other markets from 2006-2009, domestic consumer satisfaction rates began to decline……

In April 2013, Lenovo restructured itself into two business groups – Lenovo Business Group and Think Business Group –in a bid to target mainstream (PC, laptop, and tablet) and high-end segments respectively. According to Yuanqing, the restructuring aimed at streamlining operations and management to better fit the company’s expanding business worldwide. The company positioned the Think brand to compete against Apple and planned to open fancy showrooms like Apple’s.

Question 1: CAS stands for Chinese ___of Sciences

Select one:

a. Association

b. Acquisition

c. both a & b

d. Academy

Question 2

CEO of Lenevo ___

Select one:

a. Ynaguin

b. Yuanging

c. Yuanhiqng

d. Yuanqing

Question 3

in 2002, the Chinese government announced its ___ policy

Select one:

a. Economic

b. Technological

c. go global

d. Both a & c

Question 4

In 2005, the company acquired the PC division of US-based multinational technology giant ___

Select one:

a. TCS

b. Japan

c. International Business Machine (IBM)

d. None of the above

Question 5

Lenovo restructured itself into two business groups – Lenovo Business Group and ___

Select one:

a. Master group

b. Think Business Group

c. both a & b

d. None of the above

Question 6

Lenovo suffered a setback due to the global ___ in mid-2008

Select one:

a. Approach

b. economic slowdown

c. Policy

d. Strategy

Question 7

Lenovo was the first company to introduce the home computer concept in __

Select one:

a. China

b. Japan

c. Singapore

d. Poland

Question 8

The Chinese character card was based on the original concept developed by the ___of CAS

Select one:

a. Institute of Computer Technology (ICT)

b. Government

c. both a & b

d. All of the above

Question 9

The company positioned the Think brand to compete against ___

Select one:

a. Dell

b. HP

c. Apple

d. All of the above

Question 10

The successful launch of the Chinese card boosted Lenovo’s growth in the early ___

Select one:

a. 1990

b. 1998

c. 1894

d. 1992

10/10

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5th Module Assessment

Case Study

Aldi in the UK: Cost Leadership through Operational Excellence

In September 2014, Germany-based discount retailer Aldi announced that its pre-tax profit in the UK and Ireland had increased by 65 percent in 2013 from the £157.9 million it had registered in 2012. Aldi’s share in the retail segment in the UK was 4.8% as of April 2104 and its growing clout was a cause for concern for the ‘Big Four’ retailers – Tesco , Sainsbury’s , Morrisons , and Asda . In addition, Aldi also announced that it would increase its number of stores in the country to about 1,000 by 2022 from 500 in 2014.

Experts said that move was likely to increase the competition further. According to Lloyd Harris, Professor of Marketing, Warwick Business School, “Could the results of Aldi reflect the start of a slow demise for the Big Four? It might just be…If the market trends continue, the Big Four food¬retailers are going to find themselves squeezed.” Aldi was known for its distinctive business practices and was considered a pioneer in discount retailing in Germany. It was the third most respected corporate brand in Germany behind BMW and Siemens.

It operated in several countries in Europe and entered the UK in 1990. Aldi struggled in its initial years in the UK. However, it stuck to its goal of ‘providing customers with the products they buy regularly and ensure that those products are of the highest possible quality at guaranteed low prices’. It started attracting middleclass shoppers in the UK by offering better products at a lower price. The shoppers from the Big Four and other retailers also gradually shifted toward discount retailers, and the basket size of the shoppers went on increasing. The popularity of the chain increased during recession, specifically among the middle class shoppers who were looking for good quality products at affordable prices. …….

Based in Germany, Albrecht Discount, abbreviated as Aldi, evolved over the years from a small grocery store into a leading super market retail chain. It was founded by two brothers, Karl Albrecht (Karl) and Theo Albrecht (Theo). Their father, a miner, had to give up his job owing to ill health. In 1913, their mother started a food store in their family home in Schonnebeck area, Essen, Germany, in order to meet the family’s needs.

The brothers were a part of the Wehrmacht (unified armed forces of Germany) and took part in World War II, during which they were taken prisoner of war. After they returned from the prisoner-of-war camps they found that their mother’s store was among the few remaining structures that had survived the bombings in Essen city, which was razed during the war. The brothers took over the store.

There was a swift growth in their business after that and the two started opening stores across the city selling milk, bread, butter, and other necessary items. The brothers kept the operation of the stores very simple with an uncomplicated layout, limited range of goods in stock, and no extra services. The prices they charged were thus also lower. Albrecht Discount Company was incorporated in the year 1948 and had about 13 stores operating in the Ruhr area. The store’s figures kept escalating to reach 50 stores in 1954…..

Strategies In The UK

Aldi entered the UK in 1990 and opened its first store at Birmingham. At that time, consumers in the UK were not used to shopping at discount stores, which offered a small range of goods (mostly own-brands or private labels). Aldi’s strategy in the UK was to target the gap in the lower segment of the market and compete with discount retailers like Kwik Save. In the UK, as in the other markets, Aldi operated on the principles of standardization, simplicity, and continuous improvement.

Aldi continued with its model of providing high-quality, exclusive products at the lowest possible prices, and maintaining a limited range of products in the UK too. According to company insiders, Aldi managed without budgets and targets. The products to be stocked in a store were not decided by the central marketing department, as was the case with most of the top retailers. Instead, Aldi started new stores with some of the basic products that consumers would need and stocked them on a trial basis. It then took about a year to finalize the list of products.

Unique Business Model Of Aldi

Each Aldi store occupied around 1,000 sq. meters. The stores were located in areas on the edge of town with good visibility. For opening a store, Aldi needed the population of that area to be around 30,000. It ensured that the store was well connected to the public transport and a number of parking spaces were available at the store.The layout was simple to provide a quick and convenient shopping experience. The checkouts were spacious. All the products had bar codes at three places to enable faster scanning and billing. A double guarantee was offered on all Aldi products and the customers could easily get refunds along with a free replacement for their purchases at the stores. Shoppers were encouraged to bring their own shopping bags. ………

The Road Ahead

Summing up Aldi’s strategy in the UK, Roman Heini, group managing director of Aldi UK, said, “We keep prices constantly low while keeping product quality consistently high, which is exactly what shoppers want. They had become used to thinking you have to pay more for better products. We’ve shown them this doesn’t have to be the case. We work efficiently and responsibly to reduce operational costs. Rather than use these savings to boost margins, we lower prices at the checkout. Shoppers appreciate this and know that, while they’re paying less at Aldi, they’re getting much more for their money.

Question 1: Albrecht Discount Company was incorporated in the year ___

Select one:

a. 1945

b. 1948

c. 1956

d. 1957

Question 2

Aldi entered the UK in 1990 and opened its first store at ___

Select one:

a. Birmingham

b. UK

c. Poland

d. Brazil

Question 3

Aldi needed the population of that area to be around __

Select one:

a. 320000

b. 30,000.00

c. 31000

d. 350000

Question 4

Aldi operated on the principles of standardization, simplicity, and ___

Select one:

a. continuous improvement.

b. Improvemnet

c. Motivation

d. Involvemnet

Question 5

Aldi was known for its distinctive ___

Select one:

a. Features

b. Strategy

c. business practices

d. Policies

Question 6

Aldi’s share in the retail segment in the UK was -__ as of April 2014

Select one:

a. 4.80%

b. 4.90%

c. 4.70%

d. 4.60%

Question 7

Aldi’s strategy in the UK “We keep prices constantly low while keeping product quality consistently___ , which is exactly what shoppers want”

Select one:

a. low

b. medium

c. high

d. none of the above

Question 8

consumers in the UK were not used to shopping at ___

Select one:

a. Stroes

b. discount stores

c. New stores

d. none of the above

Question 9

Shoppers were encouraged to bring their own ____

Select one:

a. bags

b. carriers

c. both a & b

d. shopping bags

Question 10

__was unified armed forces of Germany

Select one:

a. Werhmht

b. Werhtmacht

c. both a & b

d. Wehrmacht

10/10

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Assignment 2

Significant in size with almost 70% of the market. However, with plenty of scope for further product developments and for repeat business. The growth of digital technology has not deterred Agfa and its competitors from bringing out new, improved products for use with ‘old’ technology.

• The real difference between analogue and digital lies in how images are recorded and processed. Analogue photography uses traditional cameras to expose silver-halide film. This still remains the most widely used way to capture images. Customers are well served with a variety of excellent products, from traditional slide and print films to Advanced Photo Systems (APS) films and single-use cameras with enhanced capability.

• Compared with digital systems, recent analogue advances are ‘low tech’, but so too is their cost. Image quality is excellent, and represents optimum value. The technology can also be applied widely; even single-use cameras take good pictures. However, analogue images cannot be viewed instantly, take time to enlarge or reduce and are on prints or negatives that cannot be re-used. Negatives need optimum storage conditions to remain in good condition long term. The chemicals used in processing also raise some environmental issues. Digital technology represents a genuine advance because it removes many of these difficulties.

• Digital images

• Digital images are based upon a grid or matrix. They vary in the quality of their resolution, which is expressed in pixels or dots per inch (dpi) or millimetre. The higher the resolution, the better the picture, and the more expensive the equipment producing it.

• There is a wide range of affordable digital cameras on the market now, offering varying levels of quality, capabilities and prices. There are also thousands of commercially available CD-ROMs offering images, graphics and more, all at different quality, sophistication and price levels. Consumers can also turn to the Internet, where millions of images are available for downloading to a PC.

• Digital offers some real advantages. Images are held in a digital file and are available for use immediately. They can be transferred immediately from camera to PC, where they can be compressed, amended, altered and despatched using e-mail, fast ISDN lines and the internet. They can be downloaded and printed or transferred to CDs using recently developed copying equipment that retains image quality at a high level.

• Consumers can take CDs to an Agfa Image Center where the quality, format and resolution can be chosen. Digital images have transformed access, ease of use and transmission of images to provide a flexible series of solutions for customer needs. With instantaneous image capture, digital images require only minimal storage facilities. Images can also be manipulated and altered and only the chosen images need to be put into print format.

• However, at the present stage of development, really high quality digitally produced images do not come cheap; the equipment required is expensive. Professional users face high set-up costs, but in industries where speed, quality, and flexibility in use really matter, the price is worth paying. Imaging is an industry where copyright is jealously guarded, and ease of transfer brings with it problems of security and copyright protection. Digital files can also be lost or become corrupted, so some form of back-up is vital. Agfa is aware of these additional consumer and business needs and continues to work on ways of meeting them.

• The imaging industry now has two main product markets: analogue and digital. Each product has strengths and weaknesses, the importance of which varies according to customer needs and requirements.

• There remains a need for both analogue and digital imaging, depending upon the requirements of client groups. For example, during construction, gas and oil pipelines need their joints X-rayed with periodical follow-up checks so that cracks and defects can be detected. This is a job for tried and tested analogue systems.

On the other hand, digital technologies have helped to transform the work of hospital radiologists. For example, a software package developed by Agfa called MUSICA (Multiscale Image Contrast Amplification) enables radiologists to manipulate X-ray images in various ways. Edges can be sharpened up to reveal key details, and images can be rotated to offer alternative perspectives. Users can zoom in on details, and select and sort images in a search for recurring patterns. Images can be shared across a number of hospital workstations and can also be transmitted for immediate expert analysis elsewhere.

The best investment programmes are supported by painstaking research: market research into what consumers require and product research to establish what the new technology can and cannot do for them. Agfa is at the heart of changes in imaging brought about by new technology. It is leading. It is also listening and learning. In a highly competitive industry, Agfa’s thorough approach is enabling it to retain important competitive advantages over its closest and fiercest rival

Question 1: Agfa’s operations involve a high level of ___

Select one:

a. Creativity

b. Uniqueness

c. innovation

d. authenticity

Question 2

Consumers can take CDs to an Agfa Image Center where the quality, format and ____can be chosen.

Select one:

a. resolution

b. Pattern

c. Both a & b

d. None of the above

Question 3

Digital images are based upon a ____

Select one:

a. grid

b. metrix

c. perception

d. light

Question 4

Digital technologies are changing the way in which people take ___and use images

Select one:

a. Pictures

b. Images

c. Both a & b

d. process

Question 5

Digital technology is transforming __

Select one:

a. newspaper production

b. Education

c. people

d. Communication

Question 6

Negatives need ___ storage conditions to remain in good condition long term

Select one:

a. more

b. less

c. Both a & b

d. optimum

Question 7

The Agfa-Gevaert Group de-velops, produces and distributes an extensive range of analogue and ____

Select one:

a. digital

b. Light rays

c. diode

d. digital imaging systems

Question 8

The best investment programmes are supported by ___ research

Select one:

a. Marketing

b. painstaking

c. Cross-sectional

d. Longitudinal

Question 9

The imaging industry now has two main product markets: ___and digital

Select one:

a. Customer driven

b. analogue

c. Corporate

d. All of the above

Question 10

The real difference between analogue and digital lies in how images are___ and processed

Select one:

a. Looked

b. recorded

c. Seen

d. both a & b

10/10

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Foreign Trade Policy (EDL 411)-Semester IV

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (Wal-Mart) entered Japan in March 2002, through an alliance with Seiyu Limited (Seiyu), Japan’s fifth largest retailer in 2002. There were mixed reactions from analysts.

Some cited macro-economic factors like the low rate of growth4 and an aging population that made Japan’s retail market less than attractive. However, others felt that despite these factors, Japan’s $451 billion retail industry was sufficiently large to justify Wal-Mart’s interest.

As soon as it entered Japan, Wal-Mart brought in its best practices in retailing like Every Day Low Prices5 (EDLP) and Rollback,6 for which the firm was renowned. It also attempted to introduce substantial changes to the management of Seiyu stores by revamping its store layouts, and implementing Retail Link,7 its widely appreciated supply chain management software. Despite these efforts, Seiyu registered consecutive losses in 2003 and 2004.

Some experts commented that Wal-Mart’s retailing model was not suitable for Japan. They pointed out that Japanese consumers preferred conveniently located stores within the city and were not visibly price-conscious. They added that foreign retailers had trouble with procurements due to the multi layered network of suppliers and retailers in the Japanese retail sector.

Experts began to compare Wal-Mart’s experiences in Japan with its experiences in other countries such as Mexico and Germany. While Wal-Mart had a shaky start in Mexico, it later emerged as a market leader in the country. In Germany, however, it could not overcome initial setbacks and was still struggling. Experts wondered whether the Japanese venture would replicate the Mexican success story or the German misadventure. In August 2005, Wal-Mart announced that it was contemplating launching stores with its own brand name in Japan. This seemed like a bold move by Wal-Mart, especially since another big foreign retailer – Carrefour8 – had exited the Japanese market just a few months earlier in March of the same year, after struggling to establish itself for six years.

Despite its troubles with Seiyu, Wal-Mart also made a bid to acquire Japan’s fourth largest retailer Daeiei in 2004, when it was being restructured through a bailout. However, Wal-Mart’s bid for Daeiei was rejected in September 2005, dealing a big blow to its expansion plans in Japan. Had the bid been successful, Wal-Mart could have emerged as the second largest retailer in Japan after Ito Yokado.

In 1962, Sam Walton (Walton) and his brother James Lawrence “Bud” Walton opened the first Wal-Mart store in Rogers (Arkansas), USA. In the first year of its operations, the store registered sales of over $1 million. Initially, the Waltons concentrated on opening stores in small towns and introduced innovative concepts such as self-service. By 1967, Wal-Mart had 24 stores with sales of $12.6 million.

Encouraged by the early success of Wal-Mart, Walton expanded Wal-Mart’s operations to Oklahoma and Missouri in 1968. In the following year, Wal-Mart was incorporated as a company under the name Wal-Mart Stores Inc. In 1970, Wal-Mart established its first distribution center in Bentonville, Arkansas. The same year, it was also traded for the first time as a public limited company in over the counter9 stock trading. In 1972, Wal-Mart was listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Wal-Mart continued to grow in the 1970s, benefiting from its highly automated distribution system, which reduced shipping costs and time, and its computerized inventory system, which speeded up the checkout and reordering of stocks.

By 1975, there were 125 Wal-Mart stores in operation with sales of $340.3 million and 7,500 employees. The famous ‘Wal-Mart Cheer’ was introduced by Walton in the same year to foster cooperation and team spirit among employees (Refer Exhibit II for the Wal-Mart Cheer). In 1978, Wal-Mart purchased the Hutcheson Shoe Company, and later set up pharmacy, auto service center, and jewelry divisions.

By 1980, Wal-Mart had 276 stores with annual sales of $1.4 billion and by 1984 the number of stores increased to 640 with annual sales of $4.5 billion and profits of over $200 million. In the 1980s, strong customer demand in small towns led to the rapid growth of Wal-Mart.

Wal-Mart succeeded in smaller towns because it offered low prices and catered to the specific needs of small towns. It offered the kinds of products that were most in demand by customers and fixed the store’s business hours according to its customers’ convenience. This made Wal-Mart more popular than the local stores which offered limited selection and had high mark-ups…

In early 1990s, Wal-Mart announced that it would go global. It wanted to look for international markets for the following reasons:

» Wal-Mart was facing stiff competition from K-mart and Target , which had adopted aggressive expansion strategies and had started eating into Wal-Mart’s market share.

» Although Wal-Mart had the scope to expand in the US, it was becoming difficult for the company to sustain its double digit growth rate. Wal-Mart was suffering from soft sales and rising inventories, especially in respect of its Sam’s Club divisions.

» Wal-Mart also realized that the US population represented only 4% of the world’s population and confining itself to the US market would mean missing the opportunity to tap potentially vast markets elsewhere.

» In the early 1990s, globalization and liberalization opened up new markets and created opportunities for discount stores such as Wal-Mart across the world.

During the first five years of its globalization initiative (1991-1995), Wal-Mart concentrated on Mexico, Canada, Argentina and Brazil, which were close to its home market.

It started with Canada and Mexico due to the similarities in people’s habits, culture and the business environments in these countries and also because the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) made it easier for US companies to enter these markets.

Wal-Mart’s decision to enter Argentina and Brazil was based on the high growth rates of the Latin American markets…

In the 1990s, real estate prices in Japan declined, prompting many foreign retailers to enter the country. Wal-Mart started exploring the Japanese market in 1997. Other major foreign retailers Costco and Carrefour entered the Japanese market in 1998 and 1999 respectively (Refer Table V for foreign retailers in Japan). Costco and Carrefour entered Japan without a local partner and faced difficulties from the very beginning. This convinced Wal-Mart that it should partner with a Japanese company so as to enable it to understand the peculiarities of the Japanese market…

Wal-Mart and Seiyu identified IT and distribution as the key areas for reforming the retail business of Seiyu. During 2002-03, Wal-Mart also conducted extensive focus group researches and studied retailers in Japan so that it could apply this insight to the management of Seiyu’s stores. Seiyu launched a five-year plan in December 2002, called as the “New Seiyu”program. Through this Seiyu wanted to implement the best practices offered by the Wal-Mart model. In line with the above program, in August 2003, Seiyu began the roll out of Wal-Mart’s store information system called as “Smart System”.

As of 2005, Seiyu said that it did not hope to make any profits till 2006. The opening of the next Super Center would also be taken up only after 2006. The company had realized that it was not able to cut costs enough to allow it to offer really heavy discounts necessary to make customers shop regularly at its stores.

In Japan, as compared to the US market, Wal-Mart was still to achieve big efficiencies by leveraging Retail Link and increasing its purchasing. As Marra remarked, “In the U.S., Wal-Mart’s information technology and huge buying power allows the company to undercut rivals by some 15% across the board…

Question 1: Foreign retailers ____ and Carrefour entered the Japanese market in 1998 and 1999

Select one:

a. Zoomberg

b. Costco

c. Both a & b

d. All of the above

Question 2

Seiyu began the roll out of Wal-Mart’s store information system called as ______

Select one:

a. Technical zone

b. Tricky system

c. Both a & B

d. Smart System

Question 3

Wal-Mart also made a bid to acquire Japan’s fourth largest retailer ____in 2004,

Select one:

a. Zooiai

b. Chingai

c. Buzferrr

d. Daeiei

Question 4

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (Wal-Mart) entered ___ in March 2002

Select one:

a. Korea

b. Japan

c. Russia

d. Europe

Question 5

Wal-Mart succeeded in smaller towns because it offered ___ and catered to the specific needs of small towns

Select one:

a. low prices

b. High Prices

c. Both a & B

d. None of the above

Question 6

Wal-Mart was facing stiff competition from K-mart and ____

Select one:

a. Local Players

b. National Players

c. Both a & b

d. Target

Question 7

Wal-Mart was listed on the _____

Select one:

a. Europe Markets

b. US Markets

c. New York Stock Exchange.

d. Bombay Stock Exchange

Question 8

Wal-Mart’s decision to enter Argentina and Brazil was based on the ___ growth rates of the Latin American markets

Select one:

a. Medium

b. Low

c. high

d. All of the above

Question 9

Wal-Mart’s information technology and huge buying power allows the company to undercut rivals by some ____ across the board…

Select one:

a. 15%

b. 12%

c. 10%

d. 14%

Question 10

Walton expanded Wal-Mart’s operations to Oklahoma and Missouri in ___

Select one:

a. 1968

b. 1984

c. 1965

d. 1986

10/10

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2nd Module Assessment

In January 2004, leading global automobile company and Japan’s number one automaker, Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota), replaced Ford Motors (Ford), as the world’s second largest automobile manufacturer; Ford had been in that spot for over seven decades. In 2003, Toyota sold 6.78 million vehicles worldwide while Ford’s worldwide sales amounted to 6.72 million vehicles (General Motors, the world’s largest car manufacturer sold 8.60 million vehicles).

According to reports, while Toyota’s market share in the US increased from 10.4% in 2002 to 11.2% in 2003, Ford’s declined from 21.5% to 20.8% during the same period. Reaching the No.2 slot was a major achievement for Toyota, which had begun as a spinning and weaving company in 1918. Ford was reportedly plagued by high labor costs, quality-control problems, lack of new designs and innovations, and a weak economy during the early 21st century, which made it vulnerable to competition. Toyota, aided by its new product offerings and strong financial muscle had successfully used this scenario to surpass Ford and affect a dramatic increase in its sales figures. In November 2003, Toyota announced its financial results for the half-year ended September 30, 2003.

The company reported a 23% increase in net income (as compared to the corresponding period of the previous year) to $4.4 billion on revenues of $69.7 billion. This took Toyota way ahead of World’s top three automobile makers (at that time) by sales, General Motors (GM), Ford Motors (Ford) and Daimler Chrysler. Its market capitalization of $110 billion (on November 05, 2003) was more than the combined market capitalization of these three players. (See Table I).

Given the fact that in 2003, these top three companies were struggling to maintain their sales and profitability targets, Toyota’s performance was termed remarkable by industry observers (See Exhibit I for the company’s financials). Toyota had emerged as a formidable player in almost all the major automobile markets in the world. Interestingly, one of its strongest markets was the US, the world’s largest automobile market and the home turf of Ford and GM. Toyota had emerged as a strong foreign player in Europe as well, with a 4.4% market share. In China, which the company had identified as a strategic market for growth in the early 21st century, it had a 1.5% market share.

The other major markets in which the company was fast strengthening its presence were South America, Southwest Asia, Southeast Asia and Africa.3 Back home in Japan, it enjoyed a market share of over 43%. Analysts attributed Toyota’s growing sales across the world to its aggressive globalization efforts that began in the mid-1990s.

The company constantly strived to ensure that each of its market segments – Japan, North America, and Europe and other markets – generated one-third of the annual sales (See Exhibits II and III for revenues and revenue growth data in its core markets). This goal was at the heart of Toyota’s three globalization programs – New Global Business Plan (1995-1998), Global Vision 2005 (1996-2005) and Global Vision 2010 (2002-2010). In the light of Toyota’s intensifying globalization efforts, Toyota’s competitors themselves stated that Toyota could not be taken lightly. GM’s Chairman, John F. Smith Jr., said, “I would not say they will not make it. Toyota is an excellent company. They are very focused on what they do and they do it well, and that is what makes them great.”4

Toyota’s history dates back to 1897, when Japan’s Sakichi Toyoda (Sakichi) diversified from his traditional family business of carpentry into handloom machinery. He founded Toyoda Automatic Loom Works (TALW) in 1926 for manufacturing automatic looms. Sakichi invented a loom that stopped automatically when any of the threads snapped.

This concept (designing equipment to stop so that defects could be fixed immediately) formed the basis of the Toyota Production System (TPS) and later became a major factor in the company’s success. In 1933, Sakichi established an automobile department within TALW and the first passenger car prototype was developed in 1935. Sakichi’s son, Kiichiro Toyoda (Kiichiro), convinced him to enter the automobile business, and this led to the establishment of Toyota in 1937. During a visit to Ford to study the US automotive industry, Kiichiro saw that an average US worker’s production was nine times that of an average Japanese worker. He realized that to compete globally, the Japanese automobile industry’s productivity had to be increased…

In June 1995, Toyota announced the ‘New Global Business Plan,’ aimed at advancing localization (of production) and increasing imports (through collaboration with foreign automobile companies) over a three year period. A major objective of this plan was to increase Toyota’s offshore production capacity to 2 million units by 1998.

As part of the localization efforts, Toyota focused on increasing overseas production significantly by establishing new plants and expanding the capacity of the existing plants (See Table II for major initiatives taken under the New Global Business Plan).

Apart from this short-term global business plan, Toyota also came up with a long-term global business vision in June 1996, named the ‘Global Vision 2005.’ The major components of “Global Vision 2005″were, asserting a competitive edge in technology and accelerating globalization, while sustaining market leadership in Japan, by reclaiming its above 40% market share.

As part of its globalization efforts, the company focused more on increasing the production of automobiles in the areas where they were sold…

According to industry observers, the above scenario was due to a host of reasons such as excessive capacity, choosy customers, surplus workforce and intensified competition within Japan. In 1998, Japan sales accounted for a mere 38% of the company’s total sales, as compared to 52% in 1990.

Also, Toyota’s Japan sales contributed to a very small share of its total profits. US sales contributed to the majority share (80%) of the profits, followed by Europe. By the late 1990s; young buyers accounted for 30% of the customer base as compared to over 45% in the late 1980s. In 1998, models from rival companies such as Honda and BMW were more popular than the ones offered by Toyota. According to reports, Japanese youngsters felt that Toyota cars ‘lacked attitude.’ Toyota realized that by losing its young customers to other companies, it ran the risk of losing its future market as well. Analysts claimed that despite its efforts to cater to the young, the company had failed to give them zippy compact minivans and sports utility vehicles…

Cho decided to focus more on localization – he believed that by doing so, Toyota would be able to provide its customers with the products they needed, where they needed them. This was expected to help build mutually benefiting, long-term relationships with local suppliers and fulfill Toyota’s commitments to local labor and communities. Cho defined globalization as ‘global localization.’ Therefore, besides focusing on increasing the number of manufacturing centers and expanding the sales networks worldwide, Toyota also focused on localizing design, development and purchasing in every region and country…

In April 2002, Toyota announced another corporate strategy to boost its globalization efforts.

This initiative, termed the ‘2010 Global Vision’ was aimed at achieving a 15% market share (from the prevailing 10%) of the global automobile market by early 2010, exceeding the 14.2% market share held by the leader GM.

The theme of the new vision was ‘Innovation into the Future,’ which focused on four key components: Recycling Based Society; Age of Information Technology; Development of Motorization on a Global Sale; and Diverse Society (See Table III)…

By mid-2003, Toyota was present in almost all the major segments of the automobile market that included small cars, luxury sedans, full-sized pickup trucks, SUVs, small trucks and crossover vehicles. According to reports, while global vehicle production increased by 3.3 times since the early 1960s, Toyota’s production had increased by 38 times. As a result of its localization initiatives, Toyota had 45 manufacturing plants in 26 countries and regions by this time, and sold vehicles in 160 countries

By the end of 2003, Toyota seemed to be well on its way to achieving its globalization goals – worldwide sales of 6.57 million units in fiscal 2004; sales of 2.12 million units in North America by 2004; a 5% market share (800,000 units sales) in Europe by 2004; a 15% market share in the global market and a 10% market share in China by 2010.

Analysts felt that the following factors were helping the company in its quest to become a truly global automobile major: strong financial condition, globally efficient production system, unique corporate culture, and the ability to develop a product range that met the unique needs and desires of customers in different regions…

Question 1: 2010 Global Vision’ was aimed at achieving a___ market share

Select one:

a. 12%

b. 13%

c. 15%

d. 18%

Question 2

company focused more on ____ the production of automobiles

Select one:

a. Decreasing

b. increasing

c. Both a & b

d. None of the above

Question 3

Japanese youngsters felt that Toyota cars ___

Select one:

a. Expensive

b. Outdated

c. Both a & b

d. lacked attitude

Question 4

major objective of this plan was to increase Toyota’s offshore production capacity to 2 million units by___

Select one:

a. 1997

b. 1999

c. 2001

d. 1998

Question 5

The theme of the new vision was Innovation into the __

Select one:

a. Future

b. Present

c. Past

d. Both a & b

Question 6

Toyota had 45 manufacturing plants in ___ countries

Select one:

a. 45

b. 23

c. 26

d. 34

Question 7

Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota), replaced Ford Motors (Ford), as the world’s ___ largest automobile manufacturer

Select one:

a. second

b. Third

c. First

d. Fourth

Question 8

Toyota seemed to be well on its way to achieving its _____goals

Select one:

a. globalization

b. Organizational

c. Both a & b

d. None of the above

Question 9

Toyota way ahead of World’s top three automobile makers by sales, General Motors (GM), Ford Motors (Ford) and ____.

Select one:

a. Toyota

b. Bugaati

c. Daimler Chrysler

d. All of the above

Question 10

_____invented a loom that stopped automatically when any of the threads snapped.

Select one:

a. Zaikuu

b. Sakichi

c. qashiin

d. All of the above

10/10

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3rd Module Assessment

In July 2003, Saudi British Bank (SABB), the Saudi Arabian associate of global financial services and banking major HSBC, won two prestigious international awards at the annualEuromoney 1 ‘Awards for Excellence 2003’ ceremony held in London. SABB was adjudged the ‘Best Bank’ and the ‘Best Equities House’ in recognition of its value added customer services and banking products.

The company was lauded as the most innovative banking products and services provider in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. SABB Chairman Sheikh Abdullah Mohammed Al-Hugail was of the opinion that the award represented the recognition of the bank’s customer-first policy, “The recognition conferred on SABB is a reflection of the emphasis placed on providing high quality service to its customers, which has always been its top priority.”2 Geoff Calvert (Calvert), Managing Director, SABB said that the awards were, “A recognition of the bank’s efforts across a broad spectrum of areas, including customer service, recruiting and training Saudis to use state-of-the-art technology that facilitates a wide range of financial products and services.”3

SABB was also applauded for the successful execution of Saudi Telecommunication Company’s (STC) initial public offering (IPO). Reportedly, SABB was entrusted with this task by the Public Investment Fund (PIF), the investment division of the Ministry of Finance, Saudi Arabia, because of its technical capabilities and industry expertise. SABB was also the top broker on the Saudi Stock Exchange in 2002. Many industry observers felt that no other bank in Saudi Arabia matched HSBC’s expertise in offering localized financial services/products.

In fact, it was its customer-centric product development policy that helped HSBC establish itself firmly in the Saudi Arabian banking industry through SABB. The bank’s impressive financial performance over the years stood as a testimony to its success (Refer Exhibit I for SABB’s financial highlights for the period 1998-2002). SABB posted a net profit of SAR (Saudi Riyal4) 565 million during the six month period ended June 30, 2003. The bank recorded an increase of 16.1% over the income earned during the corresponding period in 2002 (SAR 487 million). Customer deposits at the bank also increased from SAR 33.1 billion on June 30, 2002 to SAR 36.5 billion on June 30, 2003 (Refer Exhibit II for details).

HSBC’s origins can be traced back to 1865, when Thomas Sutherland, the Hong Kong Superintendent of the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company, realized the need for local banking facilities in China and Hong Kong. The bank was established as The Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited in March 1865 with support from investors from Hong Kong, American, European and Indian firms. Offices were opened in both Shanghai and London in April 1865. In 1866, the bank formally adopted the name HSBC.

During the rest of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, the bank expanded rapidly in the Asia-Pacific region through organic growth as well as by entering into various strategic alliances. HSBC opened branches in Japan (in 1866, where it acted as a banking advisor to the government), Thailand (in 1888, where it printed the country’s first banknotes), India (1867), Philippines (1875), Singapore (1877) and other geographical locations which are now recognized as Malaysia, Burma, Vietnam and Sri Lanka. By the 1880s, HSBC became the banker for the Hong Kong Government and the only joint banker for British accounts in Japan, Singapore, China and Penang.

By 1902, HSBC had become the foremost financial institution in Asia and was regarded as the pioneer of modern banking practices in the Asia-Pacific region.

In spite of the disruption caused by the First World War to international trade, HSBC prospered and continued expanding within Asia. It opened new branches in Bangkok (1921), Manila (1922) and Shanghai (1923).

In 1946, after the Second World War, HSBC played an important role in reconstructing the Hong Kong economy.

HSBC’s support to skilled and experienced entrepreneurs contributed greatly to the revival of the manufacturing sector in Hong Kong. By the mid-1950s, HSBC’s total assets stood at HK$36 billion (Hong Kong Dollar). However, the company’s board realized that HSBC’s future growth prospects would be limited if it restricted its operations to Hong Kong and China. Thus, HSBC decided to diversify both its business and its geographical spread through a series of acquisitions and alliances. From 1953 onwards, HSBC expanded its operations mainly by acquiring other banks and forming alliances

HSBC’s decision to enter the Gulf region was a part of the group’s thrust on globalization in the 1950s. In 1959, the company commenced its operations in the Middle East by purchasing the British Bank of the Middle East. Originally known as the Imperial Bank of Persia, the British Bank of Middle East had pioneered banking operations in several Gulf regions during the 1940s and 1950s.

HSBC renamed the company HSBC Bank Middle East Limited. After this, HSBC began operating in places such as Aden, Libya, Sharjah, Qatar, Tunisia, Abu Dhabi, Morocco and Saudi Arabia. During the 1960s, the banking industry in the Middle East was going through a phase of nationalization. As a result of this, HSBC had to close operations in Aden, Libya, Syria and Iraq. However, the company reinforced its branch network in the oil rich countries and formed new alliances with local banks. In 1978, HSBC established the Saudi British Bank (SABB) as a joint stock company under Saudi Arabia’s royal decree. SABB was formed to take over the British Bank of Middle East’s branches in Saudi Arabia…

From 2000 onwards, SABB introduced several innovative products and services to compete with large-sized banks in the kingdom. The new Islamic banking products and services it offered were in line with the government’s policy of ‘Saudisation,’ which was aimed at encouraging the Islamic way of doing business and creating more employment/business opportunities for Saudi nationals.

In July 2000, SABB introduced ATMs in Riyadh and Makkah for the convenience of visually impaired customers. The first of its kind in Saudi Arabia, these ATMs allowed visually impaired customers to conduct transactions independently with complete privacy and security. In November 2000, SABB launched financial planning services which were similar to insurance policies. The bank offered two plans, Al Amal and Al Manar, aimed at helping customers plan for their future financial security. Under Al Amal, customers could take a policy for a specific amount for a specific duration. They paid a specified premium to the bank, which was credited to an Education and Protection fund. The amount in this fund was withdrawn by the customer at the maturity of the policy or after death, whichever occurred earlier…

SABB’s efforts towards introducing a new, unique banking experience to Saudi Arabian customers were rewarded not only through improved financials but also through growing clout in the country’s business scenario.

In 2002, SABB was ranked 10th among the top 100 companies in Saudi Arabia, an improvement from its 12th rank in 2000(Refer Exhibit V).

Industry observers said that this achievement was indeed noteworthy since SABB was the only bank from the medium-sized category to feature in the top 10 list.

A customer survey conducted by SABB in early-2003 revealed that the Islamic banking products and services launched through the Al Amanah Banking division were very well received and enhanced customer satisfaction.

This prompted the company to launch more such products: the Al Tomooh Account (May 2003) and the Al Mutamayazah Gold program (June 2003).

The Al Tamooh Account was a savings account designed for children below 18 years. Though children could not operate these accounts, they were issued ATM cards on request, with appropriate guidance from guardians…

Question 1: Al Amal, customers could take a policy for a specific ___ for a specific duration.

Select one:

a. amount

b. Time

c. Both a & b

d. None of the above

Question 2

Al Amanah ___ were very well received and enhanced customer satisfaction.

Select one:

a. Garments

b. Food

c. Both a & b

d. Banking division

Question 3

HSBC had become the foremost financial institution in ____

Select one:

a. Asia

b. Russia

c. Paris

d. Germany

Question 4

SABB Chairman Sheikh Abdullah Mohammed ___

Select one:

a. Al-Hugail

b. Mubaraq

c. Both a & b

d. All of the above

Question 5

SABB introduced ATMs in Riyadh and Makkah for the convenience of ______customers

Select one:

a. Blind

b. Deaf

c. visually impaired

d. All of the above

Question 6

SABB launched financial planning services which were similar to __ policies.

Select one:

a. Other State

b. National

c. Both a & b

d. insurance

Question 7

SABB was also applauded for the successful execution of Saudi Telecommunication Company’s (STC) _____

Select one:

a. Uganmmm

b. Marjinaah

c. initial public offering (IPO)

d. Riyaadh

Question 8

SABB was formed to take over the _____of Middle East’s branches in Saudi Arabia.

Select one:

a. WTO

b. British Bank

c. European Bank

d. Asian Bank

Question 9

The Al Tamooh Account was a savings account designed for children below ____

Select one:

a. 15 years

b. 18 years

c. 14 years

d. 21 years

Question 10

____was aimed at encouraging the Islamic way of doing business and creating more employment/business opportunities for Saudi nationals.

Select one:

a. Policies

b. Saudisation

c. Globalization

d. None of the above

10/10

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4th Module Assessment

In early 2004, Bumrungrad Hospital Public Company Limited (Bumrungrad) in Bangkok (Thailand) was named the ‘Best Small Cap Company,’ by the Singapore-based magazine Asiamoney.

The award was given on the basis of a 2003 poll conducted on more than 3000 fund managers, chief investment officers and heads of research at fund management firms, insurance companies and brokerage houses in the Southeast Asian region.

Bumrungrad (market capitalization of under US$500 mn) was selected from over 180 companies considered for the award.

On Bumrungrad’s remarkable achievements, Philip Owens, the Managing Director and Publisher of Asiamoney said, “This represents the first time that this award has been made to a hospital company in the twelve-year history of the poll.

One glance at our best-managed companies on our 2003 poll reveals that they have one talent in common – the ability to recover fast. Bumrungrad Hospital in Thailand certainly fits this description with its remarkable success story.”

On receiving this honor, Curtis Schroeder (Schroeder), CEO of Bumrungrad said, “We’re very happy to be recognized in this year’s poll.

Bumrungrad has made a remarkable recovery from the dark days of the Asian economic crisis through an effective restructuring and has emerged as the dominant regional player in the Southeast Asian healthcare care market for cost-effective international medical care.

This award is a wonderful capstone to the efforts of our management and employees.”4 Believed to be Southeast Asia’s largest privately managed hospital, the 554-bed Bumrungrad Hospital treats both Thai nationals and foreign patients. The hospital is becoming increasingly popular with foreign patients. In 2002, out of the 850,000 patients treated in Bumrungrad, there were 250,000 foreign patients, coming from over 130 countries across the world.

Since the mid-1990s, Bumrungrad has come a long way to emerge as a leading healthcare brand in the world. In 1997, when Thailand was hit by the Southeast Asian currency crisis5, Bumrungrad was among the several healthcare companies in Thailand that were severely affected. A vast majority of Thai patients moved away from private hospitals to government-run ones. However, Bumrungrad perceived this adverse situation as an opportunity for growth and followed an aggressive marketing strategy that targeted foreign patients to the hospital. Though Bumrungrad has been largely successful through its focus on foreign patients since mid-1997, the hospital faces a few important challenges in early 2004.

Bumrungrad faces fierce competition from leading hospitals in Thailand and other neighboring countries like Singapore and India, which are targeting the same clients by offering similar world-class healthcare facilities. Bumrungrad, therefore, has to discover new ways and means to differentiate its healthcare services from those of its competitors.

Established in September 1980, Bumrungrad6was initially a 200-bed facility. The initial investment for setting up the hospital was Thai Baht7 90 mn.

The hospital was jointly owned by Bangkok Bank and the Sophonpanich family, one of Thailand’s leading business families.

In 1989, ungrad went public and its shares were listed on the Thai Stock Exchange. Over the next decade, Bumrungrad adopted several innovative practices to emerge as the best privately managed hospital in Thailand.

The significant increase in the number of domestic patients in its care over the years led to many fold increase in its revenues. In January 1997, Bumrungrad shifted to its new facility located at the centre of Bangkok. Constructed at an estimated cost of $110 mn ($60 mn raised through offshore loans), the 12-floor building had 554 beds and 21 operation theatres…

In the late 1990s, Bumrungrad participated in an international road show organized by the export promotion department of Thailand commerce ministry. It was around this time that Thailand began promoting medical tourism as an ‘export’ product – one which could earn valuable foreign currency for the country (Refer Exhibit I for the medical tourism industry scenario in Thailand).

Soon, Bumrungrad opened representative offices in Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam), Yangon (Burma), Dhaka (Bangladesh) and Laos (Cambodia).

The offices provided assistance to foreigners, helping them to procure visas and make travel arrangements, and providing cost estimates to patients intending to get treated.

They even coordinated arrangements for picking up and dropping off patients at Bangkok airport with the Bumrungrad hospital staff. Sales representatives were sent to other Asian countries to create awareness and promote Bumrungrad…

Bumrungrad had a western-style ambience in the hospital to woo foreign patients. The lobby of the hospital resembled a five-star hotel, with a ceiling as high as two floors, teak pillars and plush sofas and armchairs. Attractive oriental carpets covered the marble floors, while flowering trees and shrubs were tastefully arranged around…

Well-planned pricing was a major contributor to Bumrungrad’s success. The healthcare costs at Bumrungrad were significantly cheaper than those at similar medical facilities at Hong Kong, Singapore and the US

On the importance of pricing, Schroeder said, “If you’re flying several thousand miles, the issue is the combination of quality and price. As long as quality is held to be as good or better, price is the most compelling factor.” The room rent included nursing care and general medical services….

By 2002, Bumrungrad’s strategy of wooing foreigners reaped rich dividends with the hospital witnessing more than three-fold growth in the number of foreign patients between 1997 and By 1999, foreign patients accounted for 28% of its total customers compared to 11% before the 1997 crisis…

In February 2003, Bumrungrad opened an outpatient pediatric centre, called Kids’ Village. Constructed at an estimated cost of 20 mn Baht, the centre was the largest children’s medical care center in Thailand.

The center aimed to attract 30,000 children per month compared to the current influx of nearly 10,000 children every month. The centre had 48 qualified pediatricians, representing different pediatric disciplines such as allergy, nephrology, endocrinology, psychiatry and so on.

The center offered several medical services in a kid-friendly environment as it was painted with blue skies, clouds, etc. and had colorful treatment rooms and an entrance center, to make kids feel relaxed.

It had a Well-Baby center, with a separate entrance and waiting room for kids with immunizations and who were likely to be sick…

With its state-of-the-art medical and other infrastructural facilities and its world class healthcare services standards, by early 2004, Bumrungrad has emerged as one of the best-managed hospitals in the world.

Having achieved this remarkable growth in its business resulting in significantly improved financial performance over the past five years, Bumrungrad’s main challenge will be to sustain this growth in future, especially in the light of tough competition from local players in Thailand as well as hospitals from other emerging healthcare destinations in the world (Refer Table IV).

In 2004, Bumrungrad faces tough competition from local players, who are upgrading their services and infrastructural facilities to be on par with those at Bumrungrad. Industry analysts say that it may not be difficult to imitate the unique services offered by Bumrungrad…

Question 1: Bumrungrad faces tough competition from _____

Select one:

a. Globalized players

b. National Competitors

c. local players

d. All of the above

Question 2

Bumrungrad had a ______ ambience in the hospital

Select one:

a. European

b. Russian style

c. both a & b

d. western-style

Question 3

Bumrungrad has come a long way to emerge as a leading ____brand in the world.

Select one:

a. healthcare

b. Food zone

c. Mobile

d. None of the above

Question 4

Bumrungrad has made a remarkable recovery from the dark days of the ____ economic crisis

Select one:

a. Asian

b. German

c. Indonesian

d. South African

Question 5

Bumrungrad Hospital Public Company Limited (Bumrungrad) in Bangkok (Thailand) was named the ____ by the Singapore-based magazine Asiamoney

Select one:

a. Small Force

b. Justice premise

c. both a & b

d. Best Small Cap Company

Question 6

Bumrungrad Hospital treats both ___ nationals and foreign patients

Select one:

a. Europe

b. US

c. UK

d. Thai

Question 7

Bumrungrad opened representative offices in Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam), Yangon (Burma), _____ and Laos (Cambodia).

Select one:

a. Dhaka (Bangladesh)

b. Nepal

c. both a & b

d. None of the above

Question 8

Thailand began promoting medical tourism as an _____product

Select one:

a. Unique

b. National

c. ‘export’

d. Import

Question 9

_____CEO of Bumrungrad

Select one:

a. Dr. Ranaio

b. Curtis Schroeder (Schroeder)

c. James

d. None of the above

Question 10

_____was a major contributor to Bumrungrad’s success.

Select one:

a. Marketing

b. Well-planned pricing

c. Advertisement

d. None of the above

10/10

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5th Module Assessment

From January 1, 2006, the University of Michigan in the US put on hold the sale of the products of The Coca-Cola Company (Coca-Cola) in all its campuses, thus becoming the tenth US University to do so. The ban was the outcome of a relentless campaign by student activists and trade union groups, who accused Coca-Cola of violent labor practices in Colombia and of creating environmental problems in India.

The University of Michigan issued the orders for the ban based on the recommendation of its University Dispute Board. This was following the inability of Coca-Cola to meet the deadline of December 31, 2005 that required agreeing on a protocol on the findings of the commission formed by a set of universities in the US.

The commission had offered to investigate the company’s labor practices and that of its bottlers in Colombia.

Coca-Cola did not want the findings of the commission to have any legal consequences but the attorneys in an earlier lawsuit against Coca-Cola and its bottlers in Colombia insisted that the findings should be legally admissible in court of law in the US.

Other prominent US universities that had banned Coca-Cola on similar grounds were the New York University, the largest private university in the US, Rutgers University in New Jersey, and the Santa Clara University in California. The University of Michigan and The New York University were Coca-Cola’s largest campus markets in the US.

 Coca-Cola’s annual contracts with the University of Michigan, which had over 50,000 students, were worth around US$ 1.4 million in sales in 2005. The campaign by student activists and trade union groups to ban Coca-Cola had been going on for several years in different countries. Coca-Cola was accused, along with its bottling partners, of hiring paramilitary death squads in Colombia to kidnap, intimidate, or kill its union leaders and other workers at its bottling plants. Since 1989, around eight union leaders of Coca-Cola’s plants in Colombia had been murdered and many others abducted and tortured. In India, Coca-Cola had to face opposition from the local people around its factory in Plachimada, Kerala,4 who charged that the company was responsible for the draining of the underground water table.

In 2003, a BBC5 report revealed that Coca-Cola was distributing improperly treated sludge containing toxic carcinogens and heavy metals like cadmium and lead, as fertilizer to farmers in the region. Coca-Cola shut down this plant in March 2004 owing to mounting pressure. The company then decided to shift its operations to a nearby industrial zone, the Kanjikode Industrial Area.

There were also protests at Coca-Cola’s Mehdiganj plant in North India over similar issues. In addition to these accusations, in 2003, the Center for Science and Environment (CSE),6 made public the findings of its study wherein it reported that the products of both Coca-Cola and PepsiCo Inc. (Pepsi) that were sold in India, had a cocktail of harmful pesticide residues in them.

In an official statement, Coca-Cola denied that it had used death squads in Colombia. The company said that two judicial investigations in the country had not found any evidence in support of such allegations. Coca-Cola also claimed that there was no evidence linking it or its bottlers with the groundwater problems at its factory locations in India…

The Coca-Cola drink, popularly referred to as ‘Coke’, is a kind of cola, a sweet carbonated7 drink containing caramel8 and other flavoring agents. It was invented by Dr. John Smith Pemberton (Pemberton) on May 8, 1886, at Atlanta, Georgia in USA.

 The beverage was named Coca-Cola because at that time it contained extracts of Coca leaves and Kola nuts.9 Frank M. Robinson (Robinson), Pemberton’s book-keeper and partner, who came up with the name for the drink, suggested that it be spelt Coca-Cola rather than Coca-Kola because he thought the two C’s would look better while advertising. Robinson designed the now world famous Coca-Cola trademark as well. Pemberton later sold the business to a group of businessmen, one of whom was Griggs Candler (Candler). By 1888, several forms of Coca-Cola were in the market competing against each other. Candler acquired these businesses from the other businessmen and established The Coca-Cola Company in 1892. He aggressively marketed the product through advertising, distribution of coupons and souvenirs, and promoted the brand name Coca-Cola…

Coca-Cola had always believed that it conducted its business with responsibility and ethics. The company’s business practices were aimed at creating value at the marketplace, providing excellent working conditions, protecting the environment, and strengthening the communities in the places of operation.

Commitment to quality and a code of business conduct were evolved to ensure good business practices. According to Coca-Cola, its commitment to quality was reflected in every facet of its business. These included commitment to product quality, quality in business processes, and in its relationships with suppliers and retailers.

The quality system was reviewed constantly so that the performance bar for these standards was always kept high. The quality guidelines were communicated to all business units and their implementation reviewed. The company introduced the Coca-Cola Quality System (TCCQS) to achieve these quality objectives (

Colombia is widely considered as one of the most dangerous countries in the world for trade union activists and union leaders. The country was in the midst of a four-decade-old civil war involving leftist guerrillas, right-wing paramilitary groups, and government forces.

 The civil war claimed approximately three thousand lives a year including those of many trade union leaders and workers. It was reported that in 2000, three out of every five trade unionists killed in the world were from Colombia. In 2001, SINALTRAINAL, a Colombian labor union, charged that Coca-Cola and its bottlers Panamerican Beverages (Panamaco), Bebidas y Alimentos De Uraba, and Coca-Cola Femsa, were linked to the violence against its union members in Colombia. Around eight union leaders of Coca-Cola’s plants in Colombia had been murdered since 1989, and many others had been abducted and tortured. Coca-Cola was accused of hiring paramilitary death squads to kidnap, torture, or kill union leaders and intimidate worker union activists at its bottling plants…

Mexico was a very important market for Coca-Cola as the country was second, after the US, in terms of per capita consumption of soft drinks in the world. The Mexican market for soft drinks was estimated at US$ 6.6 billion for the year 2004. Over the years, some of the highest profit margins for Coca-Cola in its overseas operations came from Mexico. Coca-Cola was the number one seller of soft drinks in Mexico with a 70% market share. Coca-Cola’s largest bottler in Mexico was Coca-Cola Femsa (CCF) in which Coca-Cola had a 40% stake…

In India, Coca-Cola was accused of draining the underground water table, of releasing improperly treated industrial effluents, and of selling products containing pesticide residues above standard limits. The focal point of the environmental accusations in India was the Coca-Cola plant located in Kerala. Coca-Cola, through its subsidiary in India, The Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Pvt. Ltd., had established a bottling plant at Plachimada locality in Palakkad district in Kerala.

The unit was established in 1998-99 in a 40-acre plot that had previously been used for irrigation of paddy and other food crops. The factory site was located in the proximity of a main irrigation canal that drew water from a nearby barrage and reservoir…

In July 2001, SINALTRAINAL, with the help of United Steelworkers of America (USWA) and the International Labor Rights Fund (ILRF), filed a lawsuit against Coca-Cola and its Colombian bottlers at a court in Miami, Florida, under the Alien Tort Claims Act (ATCA) of the American Judicial System. It accused them of being responsible for a campaign of murder and intimidation against its unionized workers and charged that it was using right wing paramilitary groups for the purpose. The US judge dismissed these charges against Coca-Cola in Colombia but approved the charges against the local bottlers in Colombia…

Coca-Cola opened an exclusive website, www.cokefacts.org, to address these allegations, especially those related to Colombia and India. In an official statement featured on the website, Coca-Cola claimed that the allegations against the business practices in Colombia were false.

Two different judicial enquiries in Colombia, one by a Colombian court and the other by the Colombia Attorney General, had found no evidence against Coca-Cola or its bottlers linking them to the murders of the union members.

Coca-Cola also quoted a judgment in the lawsuit at Miami, Florida, wherein the judge had dismissed the charges against Coca-Cola, Columbia…

Question 1: ____ was a very important market for Coca-Cola

Select one:

a. Mexico

b. US

c. UK

d. Both a & c

Question 2

Coca-Cola shut down this plant in March ___ owing to mounting pressure

Select one:

a. 2008

b. 2004

c. 2009

d. 2003

Question 3

 SINALTRAINAL, with the help of United Steelworkers of America (USWA) and the ______, filed a lawsuit against Coca-Cola

Select one:

a. Labour Welfare

b. Bank

c.  International Labor Rights Fund (ILRF)

d. All of the above

Question 4

Coca-Cola was the number one seller of soft drinks in Mexico with a ___market share.

Select one:

a. 56%

b. 67%

c. 235

d. 70%

Question 5

ATCA stands for ___

Select one:

a.  Alien Tort Claims Act

b. All Transport Casual accomodtaion

c. All Total cost accquisition

d. none of the above

Question 6

The factory site was located in the proximity of a main irrigation canal that drew water from a nearby  ____and reservoir.

Select one:

a. Palace

b. Barrage

c. River

d. Dam

Question 7

The Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Pvt. Ltd., had established a bottling plant at ____ locality in Palakkad district in Kerala.

Select one:

a. US

b. Asian Markets

c. Plachimada

d. Munnar

Question 8

 The company introduced  to ___ achieve these quality objectives

Select one:

a. Globalization

b. Technical Upgradation

c. Both a & b

d. the Coca-Cola Quality System (TCCQS)

Question 9

 Coca-Cola was accused of hiring ___ squads

Select one:

a. paramilitary death

b. New

c. Both a & b

d. all of the above

Question 10

 The ___ University were Coca-Cola’s largest campus markets in the US.

Select one:

a. UK

b. New York

c. Europe

d. US

10/10

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Assignment 2

From January 1, 2006, the University of Michigan in the US put on hold the sale of the products of The Coca-Cola Company (Coca-Cola) in all its campuses, thus becoming the tenth US University to do so. The ban was the outcome of a relentless campaign by student activists and trade union groups, who accused Coca-Cola of violent labor practices in Colombia and of creating environmental problems in India.

The University of Michigan issued the orders for the ban based on the recommendation of its University Dispute Board. This was following the inability of Coca-Cola to meet the deadline of December 31, 2005 that required agreeing on a protocol on the findings of the commission formed by a set of universities in the US.

The commission had offered to investigate the company’s labor practices and that of its bottlers in Colombia.

Coca-Cola did not want the findings of the commission to have any legal consequences but the attorneys in an earlier lawsuit against Coca-Cola and its bottlers in Colombia insisted that the findings should be legally admissible in court of law in the US.

Other prominent US universities that had banned Coca-Cola on similar grounds were the New York University, the largest private university in the US, Rutgers University in New Jersey, and the Santa Clara University in California. The University of Michigan and The New York University were Coca-Cola’s largest campus markets in the US.

 Coca-Cola’s annual contracts with the University of Michigan, which had over 50,000 students, were worth around US$ 1.4 million in sales in 2005. The campaign by student activists and trade union groups to ban Coca-Cola had been going on for several years in different countries. Coca-Cola was accused, along with its bottling partners, of hiring paramilitary death squads in Colombia to kidnap, intimidate, or kill its union leaders and other workers at its bottling plants. Since 1989, around eight union leaders of Coca-Cola’s plants in Colombia had been murdered and many others abducted and tortured. In India, Coca-Cola had to face opposition from the local people around its factory in Plachimada, Kerala,4 who charged that the company was responsible for the draining of the underground water table.

In 2003, a BBC5 report revealed that Coca-Cola was distributing improperly treated sludge containing toxic carcinogens and heavy metals like cadmium and lead, as fertilizer to farmers in the region. Coca-Cola shut down this plant in March 2004 owing to mounting pressure. The company then decided to shift its operations to a nearby industrial zone, the Kanjikode Industrial Area.

There were also protests at Coca-Cola’s Mehdiganj plant in North India over similar issues. In addition to these accusations, in 2003, the Center for Science and Environment (CSE),6 made public the findings of its study wherein it reported that the products of both Coca-Cola and PepsiCo Inc. (Pepsi) that were sold in India, had a cocktail of harmful pesticide residues in them.

In an official statement, Coca-Cola denied that it had used death squads in Colombia. The company said that two judicial investigations in the country had not found any evidence in support of such allegations. Coca-Cola also claimed that there was no evidence linking it or its bottlers with the groundwater problems at its factory locations in India…

The Coca-Cola drink, popularly referred to as ‘Coke’, is a kind of cola, a sweet carbonated7 drink containing caramel8 and other flavoring agents. It was invented by Dr. John Smith Pemberton (Pemberton) on May 8, 1886, at Atlanta, Georgia in USA.

 The beverage was named Coca-Cola because at that time it contained extracts of Coca leaves and Kola nuts.9 Frank M. Robinson (Robinson), Pemberton’s book-keeper and partner, who came up with the name for the drink, suggested that it be spelt Coca-Cola rather than Coca-Kola because he thought the two C’s would look better while advertising. Robinson designed the now world famous Coca-Cola trademark as well. Pemberton later sold the business to a group of businessmen, one of whom was Griggs Candler (Candler). By 1888, several forms of Coca-Cola were in the market competing against each other. Candler acquired these businesses from the other businessmen and established The Coca-Cola Company in 1892. He aggressively marketed the product through advertising, distribution of coupons and souvenirs, and promoted the brand name Coca-Cola…

Coca-Cola had always believed that it conducted its business with responsibility and ethics. The company’s business practices were aimed at creating value at the marketplace, providing excellent working conditions, protecting the environment, and strengthening the communities in the places of operation.

Commitment to quality and a code of business conduct were evolved to ensure good business practices. According to Coca-Cola, its commitment to quality was reflected in every facet of its business. These included commitment to product quality, quality in business processes, and in its relationships with suppliers and retailers.

The quality system was reviewed constantly so that the performance bar for these standards was always kept high. The quality guidelines were communicated to all business units and their implementation reviewed. The company introduced the Coca-Cola Quality System (TCCQS) to achieve these quality objectives (

Colombia is widely considered as one of the most dangerous countries in the world for trade union activists and union leaders. The country was in the midst of a four-decade-old civil war involving leftist guerrillas, right-wing paramilitary groups, and government forces.

 The civil war claimed approximately three thousand lives a year including those of many trade union leaders and workers. It was reported that in 2000, three out of every five trade unionists killed in the world were from Colombia. In 2001, SINALTRAINAL, a Colombian labor union, charged that Coca-Cola and its bottlers Panamerican Beverages (Panamaco), Bebidas y Alimentos De Uraba, and Coca-Cola Femsa, were linked to the violence against its union members in Colombia. Around eight union leaders of Coca-Cola’s plants in Colombia had been murdered since 1989, and many others had been abducted and tortured. Coca-Cola was accused of hiring paramilitary death squads to kidnap, torture, or kill union leaders and intimidate worker union activists at its bottling plants…

Mexico was a very important market for Coca-Cola as the country was second, after the US, in terms of per capita consumption of soft drinks in the world. The Mexican market for soft drinks was estimated at US$ 6.6 billion for the year 2004. Over the years, some of the highest profit margins for Coca-Cola in its overseas operations came from Mexico. Coca-Cola was the number one seller of soft drinks in Mexico with a 70% market share. Coca-Cola’s largest bottler in Mexico was Coca-Cola Femsa (CCF) in which Coca-Cola had a 40% stake…

In India, Coca-Cola was accused of draining the underground water table, of releasing improperly treated industrial effluents, and of selling products containing pesticide residues above standard limits. The focal point of the environmental accusations in India was the Coca-Cola plant located in Kerala. Coca-Cola, through its subsidiary in India, The Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Pvt. Ltd., had established a bottling plant at Plachimada locality in Palakkad district in Kerala.

The unit was established in 1998-99 in a 40-acre plot that had previously been used for irrigation of paddy and other food crops. The factory site was located in the proximity of a main irrigation canal that drew water from a nearby barrage and reservoir…

In July 2001, SINALTRAINAL, with the help of United Steelworkers of America (USWA) and the International Labor Rights Fund (ILRF), filed a lawsuit against Coca-Cola and its Colombian bottlers at a court in Miami, Florida, under the Alien Tort Claims Act (ATCA) of the American Judicial System. It accused them of being responsible for a campaign of murder and intimidation against its unionized workers and charged that it was using right wing paramilitary groups for the purpose. The US judge dismissed these charges against Coca-Cola in Colombia but approved the charges against the local bottlers in Colombia…

Coca-Cola opened an exclusive website, www.cokefacts.org, to address these allegations, especially those related to Colombia and India. In an official statement featured on the website, Coca-Cola claimed that the allegations against the business practices in Colombia were false.

Two different judicial enquiries in Colombia, one by a Colombian court and the other by the Colombia Attorney General, had found no evidence against Coca-Cola or its bottlers linking them to the murders of the union members.

Coca-Cola also quoted a judgment in the lawsuit at Miami, Florida, wherein the judge had dismissed the charges against Coca-Cola, Columbia…

Question 1: ____ was a very important market for Coca-Cola

Select one:

a. Mexico

b. US

c. UK

d. Both a & c

Question 2

Coca-Cola shut down this plant in March ___ owing to mounting pressure

Select one:

a. 2008

b. 2004

c. 2009

d. 2003

Question 3

 SINALTRAINAL, with the help of United Steelworkers of America (USWA) and the ______, filed a lawsuit against Coca-Cola

Select one:

a. Labour Welfare

b. Bank

c.  International Labor Rights Fund (ILRF)

d. All of the above

Question 4

Coca-Cola was the number one seller of soft drinks in Mexico with a ___market share.

Select one:

a. 56%

b. 67%

c. 235

d. 70%

Question 5

ATCA stands for ___

Select one:

a.  Alien Tort Claims Act

b. All Transport Casual accomodtaion

c. All Total cost accquisition

d. none of the above

Question 6

The factory site was located in the proximity of a main irrigation canal that drew water from a nearby  ____and reservoir.

Select one:

a. Palace

b. Barrage

c. River

d. Dam

Question 7

The Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Pvt. Ltd., had established a bottling plant at ____ locality in Palakkad district in Kerala.

Select one:

a. US

b. Asian Markets

c. Plachimada

d. Munnar

Question 8

 The company introduced  to ___ achieve these quality objectives

Select one:

a. Globalization

b. Technical Upgradation

c. Both a & b

d. the Coca-Cola Quality System (TCCQS)

Question 9

 Coca-Cola was accused of hiring ___ squads

Select one:

a. paramilitary death

b. New

c. Both a & b

d. all of the above

Question 10

 The ___ University were Coca-Cola’s largest campus markets in the US.

Select one:

a. UK

b. New York

c. Europe

d. US

10/10

We Also Provide SYNOPSIS AND PROJECT.

Contact www.kimsharma.co.in for best and lowest cost solution or

Email: amitymbaassignment@gmail.com

Call/what’s app: +91 8290772200

Amity assignment solution help, Amity assignment answers help, Assignment Help