Global Operations of a U.S. Company Hewlett

¶ … global operations of a U.S. company Hewlett Packard (H.P.). The company has 88,500 employees worldwide and had total revenue from continuing operations of $48.8 billion in its 2000 fiscal year. Hewlett-Packard Company is considered a leading global provider of computing and imaging solutions and services, which aims at making technology and its benefits accessible to individuals and businesses through simple appliances, useful e-services and an Internet infrastructure that's always on.

Recently Hewlett Peckard (HP) has begun to integrate a significant amount of its workforce at its new facility in the IT capital of India. In addition, H.P. has been doing business for a long-time in Europe and other parts of Asia -- Korea, Japan, and Singapore. Some of these operations -- backend IT services, customer call services, and other tactical operations -- are being done in pursuit of its cost management issues throughout its operations. As a result of outsourcing, H.P. is poised to reduce the cost of its products and services globally.

Q 2. The main comparative advantages that HP gains from its worldwide operations are in two fronts: First, by moving some of its services offshore, HP is able to reduce the costs of its products. Second, by opening its call services globally, HP can provide a high level of services to its clients. In addition, the quality of HP products is considered comparatively high because of its expertise in processors and imaging technologies.

Q3. Life cycle stage of a product impacts the pricing of the product (Kotler, 1991). We believe that while in U.S., the market for HP.'s computers and its imaging technologies may be in declining stages. It is because in the United States the sales of the computers are not rising faster any more. A large majority of people already owns the computers. So seeing this trend, there are less opportunities for the growth of the computers, unless some new innovation takes place. In maturity state, since the sale of the product slows down, the right strategy for company is to reduce the price of the product, i.e. The computer. However, the research notes that in along period of the maturity, firms make most of the money. If the maturity period is short, many of the firms may not be able to recover their investment, however, in developing countries HP can potentially grab a large share of the market. Therefore, H.P. is in better position to market its products in developing countries where it has already established its presence.

Q 4.

The very existence of marketing is dependent on buying power of the consumers. If the income of the people increases, their buying powers also increase. The increasing power, thus, brings new innovation and better products to suit to new demands of the people (Kotler and Armstrong, 1996). Marketers pay close attention to the economic trend of the local market, because the buying powers of the consumers heavily influence the production, innovation, and use of the products and services. Because each countries around the world has different level of income and thus they spend different amount of money in buying products and services. Some of the products and goods, for example computers, microprocessor, and imaging technologies are considered luxuries in many of the other countries around the globe.

Presently, however, with increasing educational access, the relative income of the people around the globe is increasing more rapidly. This large middle class is not only taking the advantages of some of the computers and IT, but also using them for its advantages.

The political climate of a country heavily influences the willingness of a company to begin its operations in foreign climate. Democracy, Law, and the other local rules influence on the business of a company in a multinational and global environment. Because people growing up in a country usually share a certain set of expertise, values, and beliefs that define their marketing decisions (Kotler and Armstrong, 1996). Because political environments around the globe are usually different, they are likely to have different effect on the marketing. For example, in some of the countries around the globe, while people usually follow American fashion, in some other countries American fashion is denounced. These different political views of the people around different countries also determine what kinds of products and services they would buy and what products and services they believe are not only irrelevant but also unholy for them.