SWOT analysis is considered to be one of the most effective analytical tools used assess strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats associated with a business (Klein, 2007). The following table represents tushe summary of the SWOT analysis conducted for Sharp Corporation. Strengths: Diversified product portfolio Constant focus on research and development Strong brand Wide international market presence Weaknesses: Sluggish performance in key products such as PCs Heavy reliance on Japanese market Lack of scale of operations Opportunities: Increasing demand for technology Expansion into new emerging markets Growing mobile phones market in Asia Threats: Intense competition Availability of cheaper alternatives Growing environmental concern Strengths According to Johnson and Scholas (2006) diversification of product portfolio is important as it protects company against risk of exposure in any particular line of business. Therefore, Sharp is a relatively strong in this area as it has a diversified product portfolio. The company manufactures wide range of consumer electronics, home appliances, and audio-video and communication equipments. Moreover, by entering into electronic components market as manufacturer and supplier the company has balanced its consumer oriented business. Sharp has a strong international market presence as well as well-recognised brand. The company has more than 20 subsidiaries operating in over 25 countries across Europe, North America and Asia. The expansion of international market presence has allowed the company to reduce its reliance on Japanese market. In 2010, the revenue from international sales accounted for 39% of company’s total revenues (Datamonitor, 2010). Weaknesses Although Sharp’s international market presence has increased significantly in recent years, the fact that more than 60% of company’s sales account for Japanese market indicates that company is heavily dependant on Japanese market exposing its large proportion of operations to market risks in Japan. Compared to its competitors such as Sony and Toshiba,…
Red Bull GmbH is a multinational beverage company based in Austria that sells a famous Red Bull energy drink. The company sells its products in 162 countries, and 4,204 billion cans of Red Bull were sold during the year of 2010 alone (Company Figures, 2011, online). The company product range consists of Red Bull drink, Red Bull sugar free, Red Bull Cola and Red Bull energy shots. Its mission statement is: “We are dedicated to upholding Red Bull standards, while maintaining the leadership position in the energy drinks category when delivering superior customer service in a highly efficient and profitable manner” (Mission/Values, 2011, online) This article represents a report that presents analysis of marketing communication strategies of Red Bull in two countries – UK and China. The article comprises the review Red Bull’s current marketing communication strategy in UK and China and formulates recommendations for improvement and change for the company. Red Bull GmbH Report contains the application of the major analytical strategic frameworks in business studies such as SWOT, PESTEL, Porter’s Five Forces, Value Chain analysis and McKinsey 7S Model on Red Bull GmbH. Moreover, the report contains analyses of Red Bull’s business strategy, leadership and organizational structure and its marketing strategy. The report also discusses the issues of corporate social responsibility. Review of the Current Practice Red Bull’s Marketing Communication Strategy Usage of Marketing Communication Strategies by Red Bull Marketing has been identified as one of the most crucial aspects of the business by Red Bull along with many other businesses. Red Bull relies in marketing communication in order to conduct its marketing strategy. Marketing communication can be defined as “all communication activities an organisation undertakes to promote its agenda to its audiences” (Gillis, 2006, p.392). Marketing communication mix, on the other hand, has been defined as “a number…
Increasing forces of globalisation have turned mergers and acquisitions in an international level into a common business practice engaged in by multinational companies (Joshi, 2009). However, mergers and acquisitions between companies from different countries are associated with a set of challenges that relate to differences in legislation, organisational structures, corporate cultures etc. Unless these issues are addressed timely and effectively, the proposed joint-venture between the companies may fail which would result in negative consequences in many levels. This article represents an audit of the business environment of South Korean market the company operating in garment industry is planning to enter. The audit is undertaken from HR perspective and explores some of the related issues. Specifically, the article includes an analysis of key economic drivers is South Korea, a comparative analysis of HR systems in UK, Europe and US and a brief analysis of organisational, national and cultural issues that affect the development and implementation of HRM strategy. An Analysis of Key Economic Drivers in South Korea Ten global economic drivers are identified as food, shelter, clothing, government, transportation, communication, information processing, energy, industrial materials and entertainment (Drivers, 2011, online). While offering grounds for competitive edge for business operating within the country, economic drivers also attract foreign businesses that aim to use economic drivers of the country in order to obtain competitive advantage in the marketplace. At the same time, economic drivers have their implications for the development and implementation of HRM strategies as well. Lately, the broadband speed is seen as an alternative key economic driver and “South Korea is the winner, with an average speed of 22.47Mbps, but it is closely followed by Japan and countries in Eastern Europe and Scandinavia” (Dawson, 2010, online). Moreover, fuel cells have also been declared by South Korea as its key economic…
By John Dudovskiy
Category: HRM
Spanish Information Technology company ITEC is hugely successful in its local market partially due to its innovative business model – selling the franchises of its ‘Portal de tu Ciudad’ portal that provides information about various aspects of different cities within Spain. Franchisers are offered to sell advertising spaces through franchising a website through the portal that focuses on a specific city for the amount of investment of less than 15,000 Euros. In return they are offered high returns through an expanding business, and training and professional help related to the various aspects of the business. Currently, strategic level management is exploring its opportunities of entering UK market as a part of a global expansion plan. This article is intended to ITEC strategic level management and advices the company regarding its expansion plans into UK. The article is based on ITEC company and UK information technology market analyses that have been conducted through employing a range of relevant strategic tools. Moreover, the article recommends a strategy ITEC can apply in relation to its UK market entry plans. It needs to be stressed that along with franchising opportunities the company also offers a range of other products and services such as websites for companies and individuals, optimisation services on Google and other major search engines, reports and researches for companies and industries and others. However, it is mainly the franchising opportunities on the basis of ‘Portal de tu Ciudad’ portal the company is relying on in terms of ensuring success in UK market. Accordingly, the report mainly focuses on franchising offer of the company n terms of detailed analysis. ITEC Company Analysis ITEC needs to be analysed in detail in order to advice the company regarding its expansion plans in a most appropriate manner. SWOT analysis is found to be the…
“E-commerce, short for electronic commerce, is a business transaction that occurs over an electronic network such as the Internet” (Shelly and Vermaat, 2008, p.91). E-commerce has many forms and variations and online food and grocery retailing is one of them. A brief history of e-commerce and online shopping has to be mentioned briefly in order to explore the research topic more effectively. Using relevant information from the works of Liu (2007), Botha et al (2008), and Shelly and Vermaat (2008) the evolution of internet and e-commerce until the point when it became possible to buy food and grocery products online can be summarised into the following stages: Time and Period Evolutional Stage 1969 The creation of ARPAnet and the evolution of TCP/IP Beginning of 1980s Popularity of personal computers with decreasing costs and increasing processing power; WANs and LANs becoming necessity requirements. Mid 1980s Size of the internet becoming significant 1990 Introduction of WWW with HTTP and HTML Beginning of 1990s The creation of general browser technology and search engines Mid 1990s Business integration problems are solved through the introduction of intranets and extranets 1995 Dramatic popularity of online shopping with the introduction of amazon.com End of 1990s Online payment made easier with the introduction of PayPal and Google is introduced Beginning of 2000s Security measures of paying through credit cards are increased. Mid 2000s Introduction of YouTube and Google Checkout End of 2000s The amount mobile shopping is increased dramatically with the introduction of IPhone Zapalla and Gray (2006) mention the concept of “E-Business Adaptation Ladder” proposed by Nachira (2002) that divides the process of evolution of e-business to its current stage into the following six stages: Stage 1 – introduction of e-mail as one of the most efficient business communication methods Stage 2 – with the introduction of…
By John Dudovskiy
Category: E-Commerce
Reliability refers to the consistency of research results over time, while validity refers to the accuracy of the research in measuring what it is intended to measure. Both are essential for ensuring the quality and credibility of a study. On this page: What is Reliability? What is Validity? How to Ensure Reliability and Validity When to Address Reliability and Validity Aspect Reliability Validity Meaning Consistency of results Accuracy of measurement Key question Are results repeatable? Are we measuring the right thing? Focus Stability Correctness Risk Random error Systematic error Example Same survey → same results Survey measures actual concept Reliability vs Validity at a Glance Reliability is about consistency, whereas validity is about correctness. Reliability → If you repeat the study, do you get similar results? Validity → Are you actually measuring what you intended to measure? A study can be reliable but not valid — but it cannot be valid without being reliable. What is Reliability? Reliability refers to the extent to which the same answers can be obtained using the same instruments more than one time. In simple terms, if your research is associated with high levels of reliability, then other researchers need to be able to generate the same results, using the same research methods under similar conditions. It is noted that “reliability problems crop up in many forms. Reliability is a concern every time a single observer is the source of data, because we have no certain guard against the impact of that observer’s subjectivity” (Babbie, 2010, p.158). According to Wilson (2010) reliability issues are most of the time closely associated with subjectivity and once a researcher adopts a subjective approach towards the study, then the level of reliability of the work is going to be compromised. What is Validity? Validity of research can be explained…
Interpretivism is a research philosophy that focuses on understanding how individuals interpret and assign meaning to their experiences in social settings. Unlike positivism, which seeks objective and measurable facts, interpretivism emphasises subjective meanings, human experiences, and the socially constructed nature of reality. On this page: What is Interpretivism? Key Characteristics of Interpretivism When to Use Interpretivism Advantages and Disadvantages Aspect Positivism Interpretivism Nature of reality Objective, single Socially constructed, multiple Research goal Explanation, prediction Understanding meanings Data type Quantitative Qualitative Researcher role Independent Interactive Outcome Generalisable laws Context-specific insights The difference between positivism and interpretivism What is Interpretivism? Interpretivism, also known as interpretivist involves researchers to interpret elements of the study. Therefore, interpretivism integrates human interest into a study. It has been noted that, “interpretive researchers assume that access to reality (given or socially constructed) is only through social constructions such as language, consciousness, shared meanings, and instruments”.[1] Interpretivism is a research philosophy that emphasizes the subjectivity of human experience, the importance of meaning-making, and the social construction of reality. It stands in contrast to positivism, which emphasizes objectivity, quantifiable data, and causal relationships. The main objective of interpretivist research is to understand how individuals interpret and assign meaning to their experiences within social and organizational contexts. Rather than identifying universal laws or causal relationships, interpretivist studies aim to develop a rich understanding of complex social phenomena. In business and management research, this often involves exploring how managers, employees, customers, or entrepreneurs perceive and respond to organizational practices, workplace environments, or market changes. Development of interpretivist philosophy is based on the critique of positivism in social sciences. Accordingly, this philosophy emphasizes qualitative analysis over quantitative analysis. Moreover, interpretivism is “associated with the philosophical position of idealism, and is used to group together diverse approaches, including social constructivism, phenomenology and…
Founded in 1943 by Ingvar Kamprad, IKEA generated the sales of 23.1 billion Euros in 2010 through its operations in more than 38 different countries with 27 distribution centres. The IKEA Group has 280 stores in 26 countries and the remaining of the stores are run by franchisees (Berger, 2011). The business concept of IKEA involves selling high volume of mostly furniture products in low prices. Moreover, “with an aim of lowering prices across its entire offering by an average of 2% to 3% each year, its signature feature is the flat packed product that customers assemble at home, thus reducing transportation costs” (Profile:IKEA, 2011, online) The vision of the company reflects this strategy in an effective manner. “The IKEA vision is to create a better everyday life for many people. We make this possible by offering a wide range of well-designed, functional home furnishing products at prices so low that as many people as possible will be able to afford them” (Inter Ikea Systems B.V, 2011, online). As one of the leading retailers in a global scale IKEA is engaged in systematic environmental monitoring and analysis which serves to be an effective source of information for decision-making. Internal benchmarking is one of the main methods of environmental monitoring and analysis engaged in by IKEA. Benchmarking is “method of improving business performance by learning from other companies how to do things better in order to be the ‘best in the class’”(Janakiraman & Gopal, 2007, p.181). The Internal benchmarking practice engaged in by IKEA involves comparing different divisions and subsidiaries of the company and thus establishing the best practice and aspiring to it for the remaining divisions and subsidiaries of the company. Moreover, IKEA is engaged in extensive market research both in global and local levels that is conducted by marketers…
Some of the secondary data authors have formulated their recommendations for businesses in terms of engaging in CSR activities with an increased level of efficiency. Most noteworthy recommendations are proposed by Jonker and Witte (2006), Asongu (2007), Bacher (2007), Schreck (2009), Hawkins (2009), Schwartz (2011) and others. Reasoning about the importance of engaging in CSR activities for businesses Schreck (2009) states that “although beyond compliance firm behaviour might be a good indicator for socially responsible behaviour, it is critical to assume that CSR starts only where the law ends” (Schreck, 2009, p.11). Secondary data authors also highlight the importance of sources of CSR principles and policies for businesses. “Sources of corporate social responsibilities are, for example, business principles that were developed by supranational organisations or are derived from international conferences, such as the Caux Round Table Business Principles. These Codes of Conduct are not legally binding” (Bacher, 2007, p.9). Jonker and Witte (2006) formulate following recommendations for businesses in order to engage in CSR activities with an increased level of efficiency: a) Achieving increased level of cooperation between the various departments of the business in terms of achieving CSR related aims and objectives; b) Engagement in strategic use of social investment budget; c) Introducing CSR aspects of the business at the initial stages of the project and integrating it with long-term aims and objectives; d) Specifying the activities of stakeholder identification and engagement as a continuous process; e) Ensuring the existence of CSR skills in all employees within the organisation; f) Implementing an effective audit/review system in terms of improving the quality of CSR. Some of the authors of secondary data sources like Johnson et al (2008) and Mullerat (2010) stress the role of government in regulating CSR-related issues. A specific recommendation formulated in that aspect states that “governments have…
The concept of CSR has attracted a range of criticisms from some secondary data authors. It is important to note that “sceptics and opponents find their support in their assertion that beyond good intentions and turns of phase firms must account for reality. A reality characterised by hypercompetition and strong pressure to cut costs, compelling firms do search desperately for growth opportunities, leves no room for initiatives consistent with the CSR philosophy” (Perrini et al, 2006, p.6). Milton Friedman can be pinpointed as one of the most notable opponents of CSR concept. Schwartz (2010) mentions the Freedman’s (1962) viewpoint which states that “there is one and only one social responsibility of business – to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits so long as it stays within the rules of the game, which is to say, engages in open and free competition without deception and fraud” (Schwartz, 2010, p.52). Generally, criticism associated with the concept of CSR can be divided into the following five groups: Firstly, CSR allows businesses to project positive image by doing very little. Such type of criticism has been mentioned in the works of Mullerat (2009) and Aras and Crowther (2010). According to this viewpoint businesses can engage in CSR-related activities in a minimum manner, but still they can create highly positive brand image for the company by publicising their CSR efforts. Secondly, the level of publicity associated with the concept of CSR creates an impression that the majority of businesses are seriously engaged in CSR-related activities, whereas the reality is quite different. This issue has been discussed by Freitag (2008), Mullerat (2009), Aras and Crowther (2010) and others. Specifically, the authors state that increased level of coverage of CSR issues by various types of media tends to form an impression…