business unit 4 Flashcards
What is market saturation?
It occurs when a market no longer shows new demand for firms products. Product is entering decline stage and company has to innovate, add value, introduce new products in order to maintain competitiveness and remain in the market.
- reduced profit margins, increased competition, price pressure, less demand.
What is a merger?
When 2 or more businesses join together when operating overseas.
What is a joint venture?
a joint venture is when 2 or more independent businesses collaborate on a specific venture.
Benefits of a joint venture
+ it spreads risks and cost of investment
+ joint venture might understand the culture and language of certain country better and explain it to the other business
+ they might know business rules and regulations that can help guide the joint venture, and make it easier to get the venture going and avoid any difficulties
+ local partner may have an existing supply chain which reduces costs and time of finding a new one and doing a research which might be expensive.
+ local partners may have access to resources, legal patents or brand names which the MNC wishes to take advantage of
Drawbacks joint venture
- costs are shared, however profits as well
- there might be a clash of culture that causes difficulties and prevents efficient operations
- decision making may need to be jointly made, which can take time and result in conflicts
- some local partners may steal ideas from the MNC and set up as a rival business.
Takeover?
Takeover is when one business buys more than 51% share ownership of another.
Reasons for merging
- entering new markets
- securing resources
- maintaining/increasing global competitiveness
- reducing competition
- accessing supply chain
- sharing costs/risks
- economies of scale
- acquiring international brand names
Benefits of a merger
- share knowledge of local market, adapt products to meet customers needs, higher demand/market share
- share assets such as existing locations/machinery, it saves costs therefore higher profit margins
- quick way to enter a new market, it saves time and therefore getting first mover advantage, which increases competitiveness and gives customer loyalts.
Drawbacks of a merger
- have to share profit and revenue, resulting in loss of income therefore less chance to expand
- there might be a conflict between workers/managment which can result into staff turnover,, lowering productivity and performance
- communication problems, therefore culture clashes, mistakes are more likely to happen which can result in poor quality and bad reputation.
Push factors?
- conditions that make a business current location less desirable and may cause it to leave and move elsewhere.
- saturated markets
- high competition
- issues with quality production
- high labour costs
- restrictive and costly legislation
- weak economies
off shoring?
- the relocation of a business function, usually manufacturing or customer service, to a location overseas.
Pull factors?
- conditions that exist elsewhere that appear to be more beneficial and may cause a business to move to those areas to take benefits of them.
- cheap labour
- ease of doing business
- political stability
- trading blocks
- low tax rates
- government incentives
outsourcing?
- is where a business function is contracted out to a third party. It may or may not be relocated.
E.g. Nike hires a different company to produce their products, they dont own the factory, however they pay the third party to produce them
Benefits off/out
+ cheaper workers
+ materials are cheaper
+ skilled workers
+ trading blocks access
+ no fixed costs (outsourcing)
Drawbacks off/out
- poor quality
- unethical which leads to bad reputation
- cost of transportation
- culture differences
- communication problems
Extending the product life cycle
- Products may be in a different stage in a different country
- businesses might add value, or introduce the existing product to the new market (market development)
Factors to consider when choosing a location for production
- costs of production
- skills and availability of labour force
- infrastructure
- location in the trade block
- government incentives
- ease of doing business
- political stability
- natural resources
Costs of production
- in countries such as China and India, costs of production are lower as lower wages are paid and materials might be cheaper if they are made in that country. This allows business to put their prices lower or increase profit margins.
- However, they might be seen as unethical and gain bad reputation
Skills and availability of labour force
- it will increse production efficiency and quality of products
- it will ensure good reputation
- however its expensive and it might increase costs of the business
Infrastructure
- refers to the systems and services that an economy needs to function effectively, these include transport links and communications
Infrastructure benefits
+ choosing a production location with good infrastructure makes it easier to run an effective business, it reduces start up costs and saves valuable time.
infrastructure drawbacks
- however, other factors might be more important such as avaliablity of labour.
DEPENDS ON NATURE OF THE BUSINESS.
Location in the trade block
- if they produce in EU they will have benefits that EU members do, they wont have to pay tariffs and taxes when exporting to other EU countries
- this cuts costs, lower prices or higher profit margins
- however, in the EU trade block there are a lot of regulations that have to be followed which not all businesses would do
Government incentives
It refers to anything a government is willing to do to attract FDI
- lower tax rates, grants, training of the labour force, all paid by government.
lower cost
Ease of doing business
number of barriers business faces when entering new market.
Its easier to produce in countries with less strict employment laws, lower tax and not as much government regulations
Political stability
- business is less likely to be disturbed by political events beyond its control
- pressure groups, boycot
Likely return on investment
- it refers to profits made from an investment such as setting up a production location in another country.
+ it helps evaluate cost-effectiveness of setting up production in a particular location. Considering factors such as labour cost, raw materials, taxes and tarrifs. Location with lower costs and higher ROI can increase profitability.
+ ROI analysis considers the market access and potential for sales growth in a specific location. Such as, ease of reaching customers and proximity to target markets, expanding market share. Better market access and higher growth potential lead to higher ROI. - ROI calculations are based on assumptioms about future costs, revenues and market conditions, which may not alaways be accurate which can result into a decision that is not relibale and can introduce uncertainty.
International business ethics
- environmental considerations
- emissions
- waste disposal
- business is seen as more ethical if they reduce waste and recycle.
supply chain considerations
who makes the products and were
- exploitation of labour (low wage, bad treatment)
- child labour
marketing considerations
- misleading product labelling (fat free, but it contains high levels of sugar)
- inapporprriate promotion - something sexists, racist
Groups that might experience the conflict because of the trade-off, being ethical or making more money
- workers
- consumers
- managers
- suppliers
E.G.
- paying good wages to workers means they are happy, however business has higher costs therefore managers might not like it as they want lower costs
Shareholders want high dividents but higher costs mean lower dividents
Customers might need to pay higher prices because costs for business increased
Benefits of being ethical
+ good reputation, therefore more popular which leads to higher demand and higher sales revenue
+ added value, consumers might be willing to pay higher prices which leads to higher profits
+ gain competitive advantage/USP it helps stand out, which leads to better marketing and bigger market share
+ it motivates workers as they are treated well, which increases production and quality of the products which results in customer satisfaction
Drawbacks of being ethical
- higher costs, which leads to lower profit margins and can result in stakeholder conflict
- putting higher prices, not everyone will pay them which lowers the demand
- lower production levels, cant exploit workers, may have to tak ebreaks, less production and less supply which can lead to delays and higher costs.