Strategic acquisitions for Dorchester Inc.'s international market expansion

Dorchester Inc.

Dorchester is facing major challenges in the process of being able to develop and expand into international markets. In order to help the firm to become more competitive requires that they make three strategic acquisitions in these areas. This will be accomplished by focusing on potential takeover targets to include: Acer, Itautec and Orion Electronic Limited. These firms will help to give Dorchester the ability to expand into key markets and make adjustments with the changes in their business model.

Acer

Acer has the ability to provide Dorchester with access to Asian markets. The firm has been rapidly expanding into the field of consumer electronics. This is occurring through them manufacturing a host of products that are most commonly utilized by large segments around the world. The most notable include: laptops, desktops, servers, storage devices, tablets, peripherals, monitors and smart phones. At the same time, they have been rapidly expanding into marketing and distribution. Inside Taiwan, they own the largest retail computer chain. (Shin, 2012)

The benefits of this acquisition, is it will give Dorchester access to the Asian markets. Most notably: China, Japan, Malaysia, India and Singapore. At the same time, Acer has an established brand that is sold throughout Europe, South America, Australia and North America. This will help the company to have numerous products which can be marketed to large segments of customers in various regions of the world. (Shin, 2012) (Coyle, 2000)

The biggest drawbacks of making this kind of purchase, is that the industry is very competitive. In select markets, this could hurt their ability to reach out to consumers as they have a large choice of products and firms to choose from. Moreover, their brand names are recognized by many different segments. Yet, they are not as well-known as some of the larger firms such as: Sony, Erickson, Lenovo and others. The key for being successful in these areas is to help this segment to standout and offer cliental with something more. (Shin, 2012) (Coyle, 2000)

Orion Electronic Limited

Orion Electronics is based out of Hungary. They are currently focused on the sale and manufacture of a number of different electronics merchandise. To include: LCD / Plasma TVs, navigation systems, DVD players / recorders, portable DVD players, home theater systems, computer monitors, MP3 / MP4 players, dishwashers, washing machines, microwave ovens, industrial controls and automotive technology. These different product lines are showing how the company can offer consumers and businesses with a variety of solutions for addressing their different needs. (Russell, 2012)

The benefits of Dorchester purchasing the firm, is that this will help them to quickly expand their product lines into Europe, Africa, Asia and other regions. This is because the company is operating in an area where labor costs are cheaper. Yet, they are within close proximity to key markets that are rapidly growing. This means that Dorchester will have access to various merchandise and they can expand their operations to these segments. In the future, this will help the firm to more effectively reach out to customers and businesses through purchasing an established manufacturer in these areas. When this happens, their brand image will improve through offering a larger assortment of choices to these demographics. (Russell, 2012) (Coyle, 2000)

The biggest drawbacks will be the differences in culture between Orion and Dorchester. This is because both firms will have certain practices that are helping to make them successful. At the same time, there needs to be an emphasis on ensuring that quality control standards are improved upon and maintained. This will require changing the operations of Orion and ensuring that they can meet these new requirements. These factors could prove to be problematic, as this will make it difficult for everyone to effectively work together as a single entity. However, if these challenges are taken into account, there is a good possibility that this kind of acquisition could prove beneficial for both parties. (Russell, 2012) (Coyle, 2000)

Clearly, the three different firms that were examined will provide Dorchester with the ability to rapidly expand into Asia, South America, Europe, Australia and Africa. The combination of them will give the company the ability to quickly adapt with changes inside the consumer electronics markets. When this happens; they can take advantage of new opportunities and become a firm that can effectively reach out a larger demographic of cliental.

However, in order for these acquisitions to be successful there a number of potential drawbacks that must be taken into consideration. The most notable include: the competitive environment of the consumer electronics industry, the ability to integrate various corporate environments with Dorchester and reduced quality control standards at subsidiaries. If these challenges are carefully accounted for, the odds are high that the company can be able to integrate these firms as part of their operations. It is at this point when Dorchester will be more competitive and can take advantage of new opportunities in a variety of international markets around the world. This will ensure that the company maintains and builds upon the reputation they have established inside the North American markets.