01 Jun M4 (BW) Response
NEED FOLLOW-UP RESPONSE TO PEER STUDENT:
RESPONSE NEEDS TO BE A MINIMUM OF 2 PARAGRAPHS AND 1 REFERENCE:
ORIGINAL TOPIC:
Marketing, operations, and human resource management are core areas of business. An international setting provides unique challenges in each of these areas.
Research the topic using your textbook, Argosy University online library resources, and the Internet. Respond to the following:
- Consider a foreign company marketing its products in the United States, such as the Mexican company Cerveceria Modelo that markets Corona beer in the USA. Analyze the complexities of one of the following:
- Developing product strategies (including cultural differences)
- Assessing the promotional strategies
- Developing distribution methods
- Assessing pricing strategies
- Next, consider operational issues in the U.S. market and analyze the complexities of one of these following issues:
- Production strategies
- Accessing physical resources and managing inventory
- Maintaining quality
- Financing the operations
- From the perspective of a small company venturing into international operations for the first time, discuss what you feel are the three most difficult issues that must be overcome in recruiting, selecting, and training workers. Explain how each difficulty might be overcome.
STUDENT RESPONSE:
Consider a foreign company marketing its products in the United States, such as the Mexican company Cerveceria Modelo that markets Corona beer in the USA. Analyze the complexities of one of the following:
I think that if a foreign company is going to market their product in the United States, they need to segment the market. Segmenting the market based on ethnic diversity may allow the company to increase market share previously untapped. “Studies have found that ethnicity has a significant impact on consumption patterns, media usage, and responses to marketing among ethnic consumers, and suggest segmenting the minority markets using ethnicity-related variables” (Donthu and Cherian, 1994; Valencia, 1989). If the company learns what different ethnic minorities’ value, how they invest and save their funds, they can develop and position their products in these specific communities. It is important that the organization understand what these divers customers view as important, developing the right product that delivers the precise value. According to Cui and Choudhury (2002), “unique cultural experiences often result in differences in consumer motivations and responses…. Hence, uncovering the underlying psychographic motives of ethnic consumers such as their values and attitudes is one step further in ethnic segmentation” (p. 54). Though segmentation, the organization can develop specific products geared toward delivering greater more personalized value, something that will drive greater brand loyalty from the customer.
Next, consider operational issues in the U.S. market and analyze the complexities of one of these following issues:
An organizations brand, its value to consumers, needs to be rigorously dependable throughout the customer experience. If an organization has developed a powerful, high quality, innovative and reliable product, their brand is viewed and linked to these qualities; this becomes something that is tangible to its customers. It is quality above everything that is a key element in creating a valued brand; quality in service, materials, production, delivery, and especially being able to sustain this quality. Spence (2006) believes that the key to high brand equity is directly correlated to the organizations congruence. This comes down to serving and delivering high quality across the board, from the initial customer contact, to purchase, to its use and reuse. When working in a foreign country this comes down to training, coaching, and mentoring the employees. The more employees are trained and coached the more aligned they will be with the organizations mission, vision, and goals.
From the perspective of a small company venturing into international operations for the first time, discuss what you feel are the three most difficult issues that must be overcome in recruiting, selecting, and training workers. Explain how each difficulty might be overcome.
A risk expansion brings is the availability and ability to obtain a workforce to build, run, and manage the new subsidiary. In many developing markets there is less availability of a skilled workforce. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) International Labor Office (2011) Latin American countries have experienced a rapidly declining unemployment rate. This coupled with a less qualified technology skilled workforce is a serious issue. According to Trucano (2011), “only 2% of students report having daily access to the Internet at school…. together with insufficient technological skills, basic access to technology is still seen as a challenge (and this challenge is a barrier to the development of such skills)” (¶ 10). The same can be said for Asia, in the past Asian countries offered an abundance of cheap labor that attracted many companies to establish subsidiaries. According to Qu and Cai (2011), this is no longer the case, with continued development; labor costs in these countries is constantly growing. This coupled with a current workforce lacking in competitive skills (e.g., higher education, technology skills) can make it difficult for a company to choose where to expand. For this reason, it is critical that any company expanding internationally offer competitive pay, as well as offer employee development. This will attract the best candidates and it will allow the company to source employees from among the most qualified and skilled; also, by continuing to develop their employees, the company will be able keep them happy and decrease turnover.
Secondly, if a company wishes to succeed globally, they need to adjust their corporate culture. Zvobgo and Melewar (2011) talk about the importance of incorporating the cultures of subsidiary countries into the overall culture of the corporation in order to maintain a strategic and coordinated message across all corporate branches; this practice mitigates conflict and delivers a uniform message of what the brand represents. It is essential that a company incorporate the essence of the cultures in the home countries of their subsidiaries in order to truly encompass and eventually attract the best candidates to fill their open positions.
The company must also adapt to the country’s culture in order to train employees. According to Javidan, Dorfman, Sulley de Luque, and House (2006) adaptation to the culture is necessary in order to lead a team successfully. They describe the importance of two very specific actions a leader in a foreign country needs to implement. First, they state the importance of sharing information of both cultures. Most cultures, due a certain amount of stereotyping associate different culture with certain behavior or attitudes. It is important all individuals share information about their culture in order to overcome and move past these stereotypes that may influence their interactions negatively. Secondly, it is important the leader bridge the gaps in culture. There has to be striving toward communicating more effectively. The researchers believe the findings will only benefit an individual who shows the dexterity to acclimate to a foreign environment.
References:
Donthu, N. and Cherian, J. (1994), “Impact of strength of ethnic identification on Hispanic shopping behavior”, Journal of Retailing, Vol. 70 No. 4, pp. 383-93.
Javidan, M., Dorfman, P. W., Sully de Luque, M., & House, R. J. (2006). In the eye of the beholder: Cross-cultural lessons in leadership from project GLOBE. Academy of Management Perspectives, 20(1), 67–90. (ProQuest Document ID: 210508688) Retrieved from: http://search.proquest.com.libproxy.edmc.edu/docview/210508688? accountid=34899.
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. (n.d.). Economic Surveys Brazil. Retrieved from http://www.oecd.org.
Qu, Y., & Cai, F. (2011). Understanding china’s workforce competitiveness: A macro analysis.
Journal of Chinese Human Resources Management, 2(1), 8-22. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/20408001111148702.
Spence, J. (2006). The importance of brand congruence. Achieving Business Excellence with John Spence. Retrieved from blog.johnspence.com/2006/08/post-3/.
Trucano, M. (2011). Surveying ICT use in education in Brazil. EduTech A World Bank Blog on ICT use in Education. Retrieved from http://www.blogs.worldbank.org//edutech/TIC-Education-2010.
Zvobgo, M., & Melewar, T. C. (2011). Drivers of Globally Integrated Marketing Communications: A Review of Literature and Research Propositions. Journal of Promotion Management, 17(1), 1-20. doi:10.1080/10496491003595726.
NEED FOLLOW-UP RESPONSE TO PEER STUDENT:
RESPONSE NEEDS TO BE A MINIMUM OF 2 PARAGRAPHS AND 1 REFERENCE:
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