Shanghai Volkswagen I Have Never

Shanghai Volkswagen

I have never lived in or visited either China or Germany, but I have contact with people from both countries. In my communications with these people, I have observed generally that people are more or less inherently the same in terms of wanting to prosper and be happy. The way in which to arrive at these states however differ between the cultures. I have personally found the Chinese for example to be extremely friendly and eager to make themselves understood and to in turn understand those who communicate with them. With the Germans I have found a greater measure of reserve, but also a focus on technical accuracy in all that they do. These observations come only from my personal contacts with people and may be biased.

Challenges the company faces in China relate to several factors. Two of these include the decentralized and fragmented nature of China's motor industry, as well as the Government's strict limitations and policies for this industry. Furthermore imports are suppressed, while local production is encouraged. One of the policies related to this is that foreign car manufacturers seeking to enter the country need to form alliances with local companies, each with a share of 50%. Western managers will therefore need to adjust their communication and cultural sensitivity in order to be successful in this market. Furthermore, the strengths and weakness of the Chinese part of the alliance needs to be assessed in terms of the Western entrant in order to combine these for the benefit of both. A strong understanding of the Chinese market and concomitant government issues will also be an asset.

3. SVW's greatest strength is its name. It is a globally known company, but strongly associated with Germany. Businesses emerging from this company are in turn known for their commitment to excellence. Hence SVW has the dually favorable association of the brand itself and the country from which it emerges.

On the other hand, this strong association with a particular country could also be seen as weakness. It may for example be assumed that the company is inflexible in terms of cultural acclimatization or other forms of innovation and improvement. This can be combated by a continuous strategy for improvement by focusing on the excellence for which the company is known.

A strength of the EE division is its commitment to excellence and the numerous amount of engineers focused on the successful manufacture of each part. Furthermore, the large number of engineers associated with this division can contribute greater excellence and innovation to the manufacture of such parts.

A potential weakness is fragmentation. Because so many different sections of manufacture occur in such a large amount of locations, the likelihood of mistakes is higher. It is therefore necessary to keep strict control of the entire process in order to eliminate such dangers.

4. In the external environment, SVW is presented with significant expansion opportunities because of its strong name. Its innovations and new cars for example are trusted because their products have historically performed well. Threats are presented by the highly competitive industry within which the company operates. Cars are rapidly innovated, improved, and marketed. Marketing and manufacturing strategies therefore need to be in mint condition in order to remain competitive in this environment.

5. The EE division is directly involved in the manufacture of parts. The division has to ensure that suppliers are available to manufacture the part and that they can do so correctly and accurately. The EE's involvement in the process begins once a project is approved by the VW product strategy committee. Once this is done, the EE department works on the design, planning, manufacture and testing of new products. These are handled by various companies, while the EE division also focuses on ensuring that the project is carried out with suitable quality and accuracy.

6. The EE division is part of the Product Engineering division. The latter in turn is the responsibility of the Technical Director of SVW. The EE therefore coordinates its work carefully with the Product Engineering division as well as the German content division. The content division again manages local content efforts throughout the world. Standard quality is ensured by the German local content division in Wolfsburg, who supplies technical support to the EE division. As such, all the divisions are closely connected and tenaciously managed in order to ensure the standard of quality. The organizational structure within this division is therefore formal.