Macro Environment Essays (Examples)

Macro-Environment of Southwest Airlines (Revised Text)

Economic Environment: encompasses all factors that have a direct effect on GDP, unemployment, inflation, interest rates, and exchange rates (Gimbert 48). The most fundamental are; fuel prices, and the effect of economic cycles. Economic downturns brought about by such factors as the 2007 financial crisis and the September 2011 tragedy drive airline customers across the U.S. To cut down on personal expenditure. The company, as a result, faces lower levels of air ticket demand, although the levels of customer expectations remain unchanged.

World fuel prices are quite unstable. Southwest Airlines largely depends on fuel; as a matter of fact, fuel costs account for almost half of Airline companies' operational expenses. An increase in the price of fuel impacts negatively on profitability; the company may not consider raising its air fares, so as to protect its excellent-service-at-low-cost reputation.

Political and Legal actors: federal, state and…

Moreover, considering that the country has a tradition in consuming cereal products due to its agricultural background and preoccupation for healthy lifestyle, the technology adopted by a market entrant should also allow for flexibility in terms of receipts or changing health requirements from both the customer and the authorities.

Political (legal)

General food safety requirements refer to the health and hygiene of the food handlers, their food handling skills and knowledge, the control parameters for receipt, storage, processing, display, packaging, transportation, disposal and recall of food. Food safety is considered essential and the standards are even higher for vulnerable persons or persons with special nutrition needs (e.g. diabetes). Therefore, the required investment in food safety measures and maintenance in proper conditions of a production facility is substantial, such a business being not only costly, but also bureaucratic. Because the consumer's safety being considered essential, the authorities tend to over-control all…

The best alternative is to divert Microsoft resources from copycatting an attempt a better, bolder form of technology to rival these competitors.

Resistance to change

Dropping out of the Internet search engine and downloadable music markets until a real, innovative change can be offered may be met with resistance from marketing staff, who wish to establish Microsoft as a continual player in these areas. But if Microsoft does not release a new offering to counteract its first-moving rivals Google and Apple, rather than produce imitations, it will only create an impression in the midst of consumers that Microsoft can no longer compete with its rivals as an innovator, only as a market follower. To meet resistance within the organization, Microsoft must create a clear vision and message that it is a leader, and has always been a leader in its industry, never a follower.

orks Cited

Microsoft rolls-out corporate search…

Macro-Environment

Socio-cultural and demographics

Demand for green products

Legislation

Economic environment

Technology

Business Level Strategy

Protection from the Five Forces

Threat of New Entrants

Competition

Substitutes

Supplier Power

Competition

The building of relationships

Business partners/transactions

Strategic management

Improved value chain

Inbound logistics

Manufacturing operations

Outbound logistics

The sales and marketing techniques

The virtual value chain

The macroeconomic environment of any enterprise is indeed a very vital thing to all the operations of the enterprise. This is brought about by the fact that both the present and the future operations of the business are dependent on the surrounding business environment. Harley Davidson has continued to embrace the changes that happen around its operations in order to ensure both sustainability and profitability. The modern global motorcycle manufacturing sector is characterized by stiff competition. It is therefore very essential for all the manufactures to critically assess their strengths and weaknesses and thereafter identify…

They must comply with the legislation imposed in their country, as well as that in other countries where they operate. Also, in terms of international operations, fashion designers must act in accordance with the regulations imposed by the international regulators, such as the World Trade Organization.

Microenvironemnt - Luella works with a team of talented specialists who are devoted to supporting the company reach its objectives in both creations, sales objectives and public relations. Momentarily, the designer is undergoing a process of updating its website in order to further improve its relations with the stakeholders, vital for successes (Jefkins and Yadin, 1998). The limitations of Luella come from the fact that the designer is still in the beginning of its operations and does not benefit from having a reputable and strong brand.

eferences

Jefkins, F., Yadin, D., 1998, Public elations, 5th Edition, Financial Times Management

Weston-Thomas, P., Fashion Technology, Fashion…

Macro and Micro Environment in Management

Planning is an important function of management. It is an act of formulating a program for a definitive course of action. The management defines a goal and puts forward its strategies to accomplish the objectives defined.

STEPS IN THE PLANNING POCESS

For an organization to begin its planning, it needs to evaluate and assess whether it is ready. An organization need to realize where it is standing and what it wishes to accomplish. They need to assess this by an analytical study of their recent history, their strengths and weaknesses. The organization can also set up a planning committee and hand this job over to them. In any case the organization or a planning committee will need to recognize specific issues that should be addressed to in the planning process.

An important thing to consider here is that enunciated visions comes from those who…

Technological forces -- numerous technological advancements have been made that allow the organizations to increase their operational efficiency, market coverage, quality of products and services, all to lead in superior levels of profitability.

Legal characteristics -- the business legislation is continually modifying, often implying additional costs for the companies, which have to spend increased time and resources to understand and comply with the new regulations; examples could include new laws regarding fiscal pressure or advertising regulations.

Environmental features -- there is a growing focus on environmental concerns and a real trend in both society as well as legislation to deliver environmentally-friendly products and services. Ways in which these concerns could affect West End include financial pressure to purchase more energy-efficient technologies or to use organic commodities in their manufacturing processes.

eference:

Website of the London West End, http://www.westendlondon.com / last accessed on May 26, 2009

This model is much more conservative, and thus tends to try to avoid government interaction within the system. Here, the research suggests that it "stresses the connectedness of the monetary flows" (Hannes, 2012, p 4).As such, it keeps its leakages from separating and floating out of the system, as well as providing for more inside injections that do not rely so much on outside systems, as in the case with an open model system. The model is most concerned with savings and investment in order to keep leakages from spilling out of the model system, as in the case with the open system. In this system, borrowers take credit and invest it back into the system, therefore adding elements of credit into the system as an injection. In this regard, savings is seen as an injection, not a leakage like in the open systems model. Thus, "the closed model stresses…

Competitors are a special category of eBay's microenvironment's components. EBay's most important direct competitors are Amazon Inc., Google Inc., and Yahoo Inc. The companies are quite similar, they have similar sizes and number of employees, or quarterly revenues growth level. However, there is little threat of new entrants on the market, as eBay is at a very high level that is very hard to be attained by smaller new entrants, requiring substantial initial costs that are not available for smaller companies trying to enter on this market. However, eBay may have to deal with such issues in the Asian region, where the company is not as strong as it is in the United States.

EBay's macro-environment is consisted of the demographic, economic, technological, cultural, political, institutional, and natural environment. The economic environment is the most important one, for both the United States and the Asian region. Unlike the Asian unstable…

Business Organisations Environments Exist

Business Organizations Environments

Organisations have changed their normal horizon of working and they have transformed their general perspective to work. In the current era strategies have been transformed and effectiveness prevails in the international business arena. This paper would solely focus on the aspects of internal and external environments within the organisation and how these environments affect the general procedures of an organisation in the longer run. The evaluation of this paper is based on several questions and these questions are answered below in detail.

Internal pressures in an organisation and quite critical and complex. At times they can change the entire scenario of a worker and they have the tendency to either bring laurels for the company or they can also tarnish the career of an individual. That is the reason why all these aspects should be kept in mind when an individual is working…

Organization Behavior

NIKE Marketing Analysis

Business environment consists of numerous factors and forces that impact the business organizations' ability to operate competitively and profitably in their industry. These forces exist at both micro and macro levels and require the business organizations to show quick response to the uncertainties and complexities which may arise in the business environment from time to time (Cadle, Paul, & Yeates 2010). These forces impact each and every aspect of the business operations like marketing decisions, segmentation, targeting, and positioning strategies, consumers' buying behavior, marketing or promotional activities, and others (Lamb, Hair, & McDaniel 2012). This paper presents a report on the marketing analysis of Nike, Inc. -- a well-recognized brand in the clothing, sportswear, and footwear manufacturing industry of the world. The major sections include; impacts of micro and macro environments on Nike's marketing decisions, the segmentation criteria which it uses in different markets, the…

external environment facing TOYOTA, the global car manufacturer. This paper discusses impacts of the company's internal organizational strategy (structures and management). The work is divided into two tasks. Task 1: Critically evaluates key factors (e.g. environmental, global, competition, technology) impact TOYOTA performance. Task 2: Provides strategic recommendations for senior managers of the TOYOTA.

Examine the external environment of TOYOTA and how this impacts on the internal organizational strategy (structures and management). Critically evaluate the key factors (e.g. environmental, global, competition, technology) that impact on TOYOTA performance. Findings are drawn from use of analysis tools (e.g. PESTLE, Porter's five forces, SWOT).

Strategic Analysis

We begin our analysis of Toyota by looking at the company through three analytical prisms: Porter's Five Forces Analysis, SWOT Analysis, and PESTLE. It is necessary to define what these analytical prisms are, initially, i.e., define terms, before beginning the analysis in earnest.

Porter 5 Forces Analysis

Porter's…

Economic Environment of a Business

The objective of this work is to summarize the economic environment of a business including information relating to microeconomics, macroeconomics, and international trade aspects

The business organization is a "micro-economic unit" and the business environment is that which makes provision of the "macro-economic context within which firm operates." (eddy, ) The business environment can be categorized into the 'economic' and non-economic' and the 'micro- and macro-environment. (eddy,, paraphrased) The firm is an economic institution in a market system with the behavior of the firm reflecting the result of the decisions that were economic in nature that the manager of the firm made.

The economic environment of a business in today's globalized business society is complex in nature. There is an inherent link between the business sector and it relationship with the government, capital market, household sector and the international business sector -- all of which…

Business - Management

External Environment Analysis

Southwest Airlines is the nation's low fair, high customer satisfaction airline. It mainly serves short haul cities, offering single class air transportation, which aims for the business commuter as well as leisure travelers. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) classifies Southwest Airlines as Scheduled Passenger Air Transportation - 481111 (North American Industry Classification System, 2011).

When conducting an external analysis it is important to look at Porter's five forces to determine the competitive strength and therefore magnetism of a market. Porter's five forces comprise five forces from horizontal competition and vertical competition. These forces are: threat of substitute products, the threat of established rivals, and the threat of new entrants, the bargaining power of suppliers and the bargaining power of customers (Porter's Five Forces a Model for Industry Analysis, 2010).

The first threat is that of the threat of new entrants into the…

"Opening up the financial system to foreign capital flows can lead, and has led, to disastrous financial crises, which have resulted in great pain, suffering and even violence" (Mishkin, 2006, p.9).

Directly linked to the previous disadvantage and the basic definition of globalization, is the fact that the interdependence of sectors and institutions increases in a global market. In this instance then, a financial crisis within one country or within one institution is likely to generate negative effects upon its partners. The most relevant example of chain reaction to a financial crisis is the current situation, in which the global community is threatened with economic collapse due to the financial difficulties of the United States. The situation is similar in terms of politics or the social environment.

Globalization has often been assimilated with Americanization, meaning by this the desire of the American corporations to transcend boundaries and get access to…

Then, another, and probably the most obvious, application of operations management is that of achieving cost reductions. ichard Stylves offers the most conclusive example of Henry Ford, who sought to integrate assembly lines using the most cost effective commodities, including labor force. The aim of operations management is then that of reducing expenditure and increasing operational efficiency. Its applications are present at all organizational levels, from resource allocation to product distribution. Amazon.com has successfully integrated these principles by establishing its warehouses in adequately chosen locations which allow it to efficiently and automatically distribute its products to worldwide consumers.

Carter McNamara agrees with most of the previous findings, but his article is more of a generalist one, in which the author simply states that operations management has applications in "purchasing, control and coordinating function of management, product and service management, quality management, inventory management, logistics and transportation management, facilities management, configuration…

Damns on Wildlife and the Environment

Background to Dams and Levees - One of the issues resulting from civilization and urbanization is that most of the places humans chose to locate, for reasons of convenience, agriculture, transportation, and economic independence, have been near water. Dams provide hydroelectric power, help control floods, and make rivers navigable. Levees are quite similar to dams in their purpose, although they are primarily build to restrict water in times of high flow -- and for the majority of time are not under water. Per capita, floods are the most destructive and frequent of Mother Nature's natural disasters. In the last 50-60 years, in fact, the number and severity of flooding has worsened globally. Several reasons have contributed to this: global warming and worsening of storm activity; the deforestation and paving of natural watersheds; and more people living and working on known flood-plains. However, many scholars…

law help protect the environment and what steps can citizens take to ensure that the law accomplishes this goal?

Protection of the environment is important for our health, but humans affect the system through various means such as through polluting water and atmosphere with toxic gasses, with oil, with car fuels, and with debris that is plunked into the waters as well as depleting the fisheries and filling the air with smog and the earth with pollution.

It is for this reason that legislation is put into effect to curb our destruction and to teach us how to look after the environment in better ways. The state employs its own regulations, but it needs a synthesis of both state, business and citizen involvement to safeguard the environment, and motivation from both business and citizen is not always forthcoming. The following essay discusses policies that have been implemented to help protect…

Organizational Theory

Organizations Environment Each perspective examines organizations perceived relationships environment differently. Describe differences. What enacted features organization's (U.S. Postal Service) environment ways features displayed perceived consistent perspectives? Text: Organization Theory by Mary Jo Hatch.

Each perspective examines organizations and their perceived relationships to the environment differently. For this discussion, describe these differences.

Contingency theory stresses the fact that an organization's decision-making processes are in constant dialogue with the environment. An organization's policies are always contingent upon its particular market situation. This theory of organizational behavior stresses the situational nature of decision-making on the part of organizations. An organization in a 'mature' or perfectly competitive market environment with an established demand for its product will need to make different decisions regarding pricing and marketing than an organization with clear market dominance and a near monopoly. Complexity of the individual organization and rate of change of the external environment will determine…

The GEMS effort was to create a social environment that encouraged healthy eating and exercise, and expanded health literacy in a fun manner, and was accessible to young girls.

It is easier to change health-related behaviors in the young, and the program tried to address the unique and often more acute problem of obesity in African-American young girls. The entire community and family units were incorporated into the program effort. Positive aspects of the African-American community, such as strong social support, were used by the study designers, also in line with social cognition theory. Existing support structures and social learning were combined: for example, the families in question were often not educated in how to properly read food labels, but once they were, the desire to help their daughters become healthier would hopefully reinforce the need to engage in proactive steps to improve dietary health. During Family Nights, families of…

Business Environment in Taiwan

Taiwan is an island situated approximately 180 kilometers (Eastern Asia) away from southeastern coast of mainland China. Having a geographical area of 35,883 Km2, Taiwan is officially part of the Peoples epublic of China (PC) although there is much tension between Taiwan and China regarding statehood of Taiwan. The U.S. however does not acknowledge Taiwan as a separate state. Taiwan has a population of 23 million (consisting three main ethnic groups i.e. Taiwanese, Mainland Chinese, and indigenous people) and Taipei is the capital city of Taiwan. Of late, relations between Taipei and Beijing have been cordial. Taiwan follows a civil law system and has a multiparty democracy as governance system (Department of Investment Services, 2013). Being a thriving economy based on hi-tech industrial base and trade relations with most of the developed world, the country is deemed an important destination by multinational corporations (MNCs) for the…

Annual reports are strong for the breadth of information discussed, but with respect to depth are better used for internal analysis. They provide an overview of external issues but that overview should be supplemented with other research. Trade magazines and academic journals often have very specific articles that may or may not be of relevance to an external analysis. hen they are relevant, they tend to provide excellent detail. Analyst conference calls, as with annual reports, are best used for internal analysis, but in these calls if management feels that external forces were the key factor in firm performance in the past quarter, the discussion will center on that performance. The Bureau of Economic Analysis is valuable for learning about broad economic trends, but those trends are not put into context of the industry. Newspaper articles may be excellent sources, but they can also be useless. Information literacy is required…

If the economy has not grown, it is certainly not the result of poor monetary policy response, given that the Fed's policies under normal conditions would have resulted in significant economic growth. Fiscal policy, therefore, has clearly been inadequate. Indeed, little of his has been attempted in recent years and the current path of "sequestration" is contractionary.

Global Markets

The product that I have selected is headphones. The global market for headphones can be difficult to reach, since the retailers are going to be different for each country. Thus, the strategy for going global has to involve going to one country at a time. Exporting is the best method of market entry in this situation, because the company does not need to set up a subsidiary in any country until the country has proven receptive to our headphones. e are simply selling to importers, who handle the rest of the…

This is true in fresh and well as salt wate, zinc seems to spread more rapidly in sea water, even affecting higher animals (Taban, Cathiene and Burkard, 1982).

esearch Project - The term scientific method refers to a way of investigation or the acquisition of knowledge through the testing of a theory or hypothesis, then working through measurements (observation and empirical notes) to come up with a result, which should prove or disprove the original theory. Thus, the basic method consists of a) formulating a question or hypothesis, b) designing an experiment or means of collecting data, c) observation or experimentation, d) analyzing the results and considering the proof or disproof of the hypotheses, and e) suggestions for future research (Cary, 2003).

In this case, and because invertebrates are relatively easy to access regarding zinc the following is a simple introductory examination on the topic:

Freshwater crayfish, particularly the species…

The successful firms have the war chest, and often this was acquired through strong long-term planning. Thus, successful firms have the ability to build upon that success during economic downturns, which sets them up to be in an even stronger position when the next downturn strikes.

orks Cited:

Becton, B., & Schraeder, M. (2009, January). Strategic Human Resources Management. Journal for Quality & Participation, 31(4), 11-18. Retrieved May 5, 2009, from Academic Search Premier database.

Birdi, K., Clegg, C., Patterson, M., Robinson, A., Stride, C., all, T., et al. (2008, September). THE IMPACT OF HUMAN RESOURCE AND OPERATIONAL Management PRACTICES ON COMPANY PRODUCTIVITY: A LONGITUDINAL STUDY. Personnel Psychology, 61(3), 467-501. Retrieved May 5, 2009, doi:10.1111/j.1744-6570.2008.00120.x

KEPES, S., DELERY, J., & GUPTA, N. (2008, August). STRATEGIC HUMAN RESOURCE Management: A SYSTEMS PERSPECTIVE. Academy of Management Proceedings, Retrieved May 5, 2009, from Business Source Premier database.

D'Aurizio, P. (2008, November). Southwest Airlines:…

Marketing in the Contemporary Organizations

The contemporary society is very dynamic and things change each passing day particularly propelled by the new inventions and technological improvements. There is provision for information to travel faster than it used to, hence posing a cut edge competitive environment for each organization. Each company that wants to remain relevant in the market must embrace techniques and trends that will enable it remain afloat and relevant, such as marketing.

The modern organizations has so many functions going on like production, resource development, finance departments, the human resource departments all in tandem. In order to align these functions within the organization with the needs and wants and expectations of the customers, there is need to involve a marketing strategy that will deliberately guide these functions towards that direction (ama ao, 2005). The key to success in the current organizations do not rest on marketing or any…

HM-340- Human esource Info Systems (subject) CASE SENAIO: Castle's Family estaurant restaurants northern California area approximately 300-340 employees. Most employees part-time approximately 40% full-time.

Human resource information systems at the Castle's Family estaurant

The restaurants industry is a highly competitive and dynamic one, with the players in the sector having to go beyond servicing high quality and affordable foods. Specifically, the restaurants are now forced to cope with a wide array of challenges that arise from both micro as well as macro environments. For instance, they have to foresee and serve customer needs, to integrate changing customer demands, to create operational efficiencies, to integrate technologies or to manage the human resource.

At the level of the human resource, this is the most valuable asset within the firm as it has the possibility to serve the needs of customers and, as such, support the company in attaining its overall profitability objectives.…

This is a positive factor for the sales of bird feeders but also a negative element by way of creating competition for the Solar Bird Feeder.

The company can combat this particular factor by providing widespread marketing of its product and information to the consumer about why it is better than the other products on the market.

Below is a diagram of the five forces and how they are interlinked. It also illustrates how they are all linked to the center factor which is the competition in the industry rivalry. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porter_5_forces_analysis

CONCLUSION

The Solar Bird Feeder Company must create an analysis of the market and industry if it wants to remain competitive and viable in the growing bird feeder industry. In the analysis there are many factors to be considered including the elements of the micro and the macro environment issues. The Solar Bird Feeder Company must examine these elements…

Marketing eport for Ms. Janet Bradley

Keeping in view the increasing obesity rates in Australia and finding the spicy and high-calorie fast foods as the major reason for it, Ms. Janet Bradley has planned to establish a low-calorie fast food restaurant chain that will serve as an alternative to McDonald's, ed ooster, KFC, and other fast food chains. This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of the micro and macro environment for the new fast food chain in order to recommend strategies which can help it in becoming successful in the industry. The major micro environmental forces which will impact its business are consumer behaviour, suppliers and intermediaries, publics, and competitors. The buyer behaviour has been analysed using cultural, social, personal, and psychological dimensions -- all having a significant impact on the purchase decisions and preferences of the consumers towards fast food products. The restaurant chain will also take a big…

There are several kinds of scenarios. However, in this paper, we limit our discussion to the decision-driven and vision-driven scenarios as proposed in the work of Courtney (2003). We however extend this discussion to involve the three levels of performance as proposed by ummler and Brache (1995).

The argument of course is based on the general consensus that the vision-driven scenarios are best suited for issues occurring at the organizational level while the decision-driven scenarios are best suited for decision and process level issues.

The concepts of scenarios and scenario planning

Several definitions exist of the terms scenarios and scenario planning. According to Porter (1985) "A scenario is an internally consistent view of what the future might turn out to be -- not a forecast, but one possible future outcome" (p.63) while Schwartz, (1991, p. 45) noted that a scenario is a tool used for the ordering of one's perceptions…

Technology

The ubiquity of online media has prompted the magazine to reduce its rate of print publications to 10 from 12 publications a year, and cut its print subscriptions in favor of digital advertising. This will also allow for greater segmentation, as it can more easily create "digital single topic editions, mobile applications, e-reader products and videos" of specific interest to segments of its core consumer base, and hopefully draw more advertisers who wish to target their publications online (Bell 2009). It can also feature general articles and condensed stories to suit the desire of readers still seeking the Reader's Digest compressed form that tells them 'everything they need to know.' Through the online website, searchers can select what stories interest them the most.

Industry environment (Porter's Five Forces)

Reader's Digest is currently in a medium with very low barriers to entry -- virtually anyone can start a blog about…

Marketing Plan

Mission and Business Objective

Products and Services

Keys to Success

Macro Environment

Economic Value Added

Cash Value Added

Cash Flow eturn on Investment

This report is a detailed marketing plan for a new financial service company called Online Analyst, Inc. The company is a combination database management company that also specializes in the financial services markets. The company will offer a plethora of information, data and financial-based market services such as online real time market segment analysis, brokerage services and information 'black box' management for the data industries clients. This plan therefore serves as an evaluation and summary of the organization's marketing and business processing options. Online Analyst, Inc. will utilize this foundation document to design, implement and integrate the company's new series of business products and services into a viable consumer and sales blueprint.

On-Line Analyst, Inc. is an organization that takes advantage of existing market analysis…

Walmart Store Inc. is a worldwide retail company that runs a chain of grocery stores, discount department stores as well as hypermarkets. The corporation was established in the year 1962 by Sam Walton and became incorporated seven years later. Since then, the company has expanded into international business and has over eleven thousand stores is 28 nations around the globe. The company is split into three key segments. These are Walmart International, Walmart United States and Sam's Club. The business undertaken by Walmart as a company encompasses restaurants, superstores, retail stores and also warehouse clubs (Walmart Website, 2016). The company also undertakes e-commerce through its website Walmart.com. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the international business setting of Walmart and the impact of globalization on the organization.
 

Techniques for Environment Analysis and Assessment for their Suitability

Environmental analysis encompasses the practice of ascertaining the internal and external…

As mentioned in the Market Needs topic, many people are heading for restaurants that offer fast food at a slightly higher price, but at a much higher quality, and delivered by employees who do not feel degraded or otherwise fatalistic about their role at work. While the latter issue may be debated by intellectuals in management school courses or readers of the current bestselling book, "Fast Food Nation," the fact remains that American society will continue to want more for less.

-Price

The meals range from $4.50 to $11.00 and can be served with extra carbs if ordered by the customer.

-Promotion

The promotion of the company will occur primarily on the internet to compliment the word of mouth marketing campaign. This will allow us to focus on our specific benefits that are sought by our base. For example, personalized portion control, custom meal plans, and the ability to gain…

sixteen illustrate the major theme of this text which is how changes in the macro environment affect individual firms and industries through the microeconomic factors of demand, production, cost and profitability. Firstly, McDonald's strategies in China will be compared and contrasted with those of al-Mart in Mexico. Secondly, the role that various policies of various governments played in influencing the international expansion strategies of both McDonald's and al-Mart will be explored. Finally, variables other than price that have the biggest impact on the demand for McDonald's products will be examined and that their influence has over these variables.

In "Drive-Through Tips for China" by Gordon Fairclough and Geoffrey A. Fowler, McDonald's very successful performance in China is analyzed. In essence, McDonald's has analyzed very well how to adapt its operations to a Chinese environment. Amazingly, it has also found a way to balance the diplomatic sops to Chinese public tastes…

Old economy job: Information available at

Wanted: Dynamic candidate for unique marketing job at one of Canada's premiere law firms

Do you have strong interpersonal skills? Can you work well in a team? Are you passionate about event planning and have experience working with MS Office Suite?

If you answer 'yes' to all of these questions, and are either-based or would like to relocate to Toronto, please read the following specifications.

Job title: Marketing assistant for a Canadian law firm

Location of job: Toronto, Canada

Possible salary bracket or range: $42,000-$52,000, commensurate with experience

Job description: This promotional job for a law firm requires "strong interpersonal and communication skills," the ability to multitask in a busy office environment, the ability to be a team player, and knowledge of MS Office Suite.

Job requirements or specifications: Five years of relevant experience; background in event planning preferred

Who to contact or where…

External Analysis Motorcycle Industry

External Analysis of the Motorcycle Industry

Harley Davidson

Harley Davidson, the heavy-bike manufacturer holds the purpose of fulfilling dreams of personal freedom (Purpose: Harley Davidson, 2013). The company functions in segments of Motorcycles & elated Products and the Financial Services. It is however globally known for heavy bikes that have engine displacement of 651+cc (Harley-Davidson Inc. 2013). The company enjoys a unique position in the market yet it is exposed to many new market challenges in recent future. The demand for heavy bikes has increased among those that are not necessarily filthy rich and other companies are also entering the industry. Here is the PEST analysis of Harley Davidson to study what challenges it is facing in external environment.

PEST Analysis

The PEST analysis offers a detailed picture of how the macro environment factors affect the performance of Harley Davidson. The PEST stands for Political, Economic,…

This is the largest chain of specialist coffee shops in India. Other brands, such as Cafe Coffee Day Xpress Kiosks offer takeaway coffee and other hot drinks and are found at busy locations, such as airports and railway stations. Additional competitors, neither of which are as dominant as Cafe Coffee Day include Cafe Mocha and Qwiky's. Cafe Mocha operates 50 upscale locations in major metro areas and caters to the upscale younger workers who have higher-than-country average per capita incomes. Qwiky's operates a smaller chain of outlets called coffee pubs, with the goal of creating ambience and a sense of relaxed atmosphere while selling higher-end coffees and specialty drinks.

The rise in coffee drinking is part of the transition to more branded consumption in India, and is led by the growth of branded coffee cafe chains such as Barista, Cafe Coffee Day and Qwiky's (KPMG 18).

3e. Context (Environmental) Analysis…

Consequently, marketing efforts become more and more important.

Glyn Atwal and Alistair Williams (2009) for instance argue that the creators of luxury products have to use marketing efforts to identify new customers' needs even before the customers become aware of these needs. In other words, they have to "stay in front of luxury consumers" (Atwal and Williams, 2009, p.338). And in order to do so, the luxury products manufacturers strive to create positive experiences for their customers in order to inspire them and to stimulate their purchase decisions.

Otherwise put, in the context of luxury products, experiential marketing is growingly present and critical and this is due to the complex nature of the luxury sector. Here, the producers seek to transmit the image of high quality, product authenticity, as well as performance. However, aside from these statements, the luxury products must also transmit and sell a customer experience; and this…

CAGE Analysis

Cultural. Ireland tends to be culturally close to the United Kingdom and Europe and this explains why the main trading partners are represented by the UK, the EU and the United States. First of all, Ireland, the UK and the U.S. share a common language, English, which makes trade and commercial cooperation easier than, say, between Ireland and Japan. The ease of communication also encourages companies from the mentioned countries to invest in Ireland and one can notice that the main foreign investors are also the U.S. And the UK. On the other hand, Ireland, similarly to the U.S. And the UK, is an Anglo-Saxon country, with Anglo-Saxon traditions and social norms. It shares similar customs with the UK. Further more, the significant wave of Irish emigres to the United States had an important impact on the evolution of the U.S. And the development of society took account…

Marketing Planning

This marketing plan details Itcorp's business model. It addresses the company's mission, policies, strategies and objectives to achieve profitability. Itcorp's integrated software and hardware solutions for healthcare providers are described at length, as well as objectives for the long-term.

Our company

Itcorp plans to begin operations starting in January 2006. One thing that is unique about Itcorp is how it got its start. In 1988, two partners, Max Renfield and C.L. Rotwang, decided to start Jetson's, a business offering IT solutions to companies in the small to medium size range; in those days, the market was segmented mainly according to size. In the early 1990s, many of the companies Jetson's had been serving had grown to the point that the company's IT solutions were no longer adequate and so the company had to expand its product line to continue to serve these customers (and prevent them from switching…

First, the market for energy drinks, sports drinks and vitamin-enhanced beverages is being more fragmented and growing much faster than the traditional market for energy drinks. This is due to both the healthy nature of these drinks, the caffeinated ingredients, and nearly immediate energy they give consumers,. The underlying drivers of change that are going to individually and collectively make this industry even more attractive over the long-term is the proliferation of individualized brands and the ability of drink producers to rapidly increase their speed to market. These two factors will lead to short, more profitable product lifecycles and a much greater level of innovation over the long-term.

4. What does your strategic group map of the energy drink, sports drink, and vitamin-enhanced beverage industry look like? Which strategic groups do you think are in the best positions? The worst positions?

Those brands that have the ability to continually support…

determinants technology strategy - focusing -topics: - explain internal external environments - Describe integrative mechanisms - Discuss generative mechanisms Structure report 1.

The determinants of technology strategy

The economic agents of the modern day business society have to respond to a wide array of challenges, emerging from both within as well as outside their organizational environments. At an internal level for instance, they face mounting pressures from the need to invest more in their personnel members, to better train and reward them. Additionally, they face pressures at the levels of resource allocation, planning or deadline completion.

At an external level, some of the new challenges for economic agents include the increasing demands of customers, the intensifying competition at both national and international levels or the mounting pressures for environmental responsibility. Aside from these, companies must also address the ongoing evolution of technology, which creates new challenges and opportunities on ongoing…

Pharmaceutical industries have to operate in an environment that is highly competitive and subject to a wide variety of internal and external constraints. In recent times, there has been an increasing trend to reduce the cost of operation while competing with other companies that manufacture products that treat similar afflictions and ailments. The complexities in drug research and development and regulations have created an industry that is subject to intense pressure to perform. The amount of capital investment investments required to get a drug from conception, through clinical trials and into the market is enormous. The already high-strung pharmaceutical industry is increasingly investing greater amounts of resources in search of the next "blockbuster" drug that can help them gain market position and profits. Laws, regulations and patents are important to the industry while spending billions of dollars in ensuring the copyright of their products.

It is the intention of this…

In the case of Toyota they have focused on supply chain integration, collaboration and collaborative forecasting and replenishment (CPF) workflows. What emerges from this SWOT analysis from a competitive analysis standpoint is that while Fiat was concentrating on product-driven strategies for differentiation, its competitors had embraced and were well on their way to making processes their core competitive advantage, especially those augmenting personal productivity (Porter, 2008).

Fiat's opportunities however are significant. There is growing truck market demand, increasing demand for manufacturing equipment in BIC nations and growing need fro construction vehicles in China and India. As Tata Motors has worked to dominate the passenger car market in India, there is no company focused on construction vehicle development. For Fiat, this presents a unique and highly differentiated opportunity.

The threats Fiat faces are comparable to many other global auto manufacturers, including the continued contraction of credit and therefore the entire auto…

In its Pavilion dm1-3101ea laptop, Hp has used the latest technology to make this product the most innovative, fastest, and the most liked electronic gadget in the market (Dixons 2011). To stay competitive, HP has to keep on introducing the latest models of its Pavilion laptops so that no other competitor can snatch its market share.

Social factors:

Social factors such as education, income levels, preferences, and other cultural factors influence demand patterns in the different regions and therefore affect how a company operates in different regions. The education and income level of consumers affect the perception of brand of different laptop manufacturers (Oliver 1999). The prices of laptop must be ascertained considering the income levels and other social factors affecting the purchase decisions of the consumers. HP has to keep in mind all these factors in order to attract the most potential customers from the target market (Farley 1964).…

IT Governance lays special emphasis on the system of information technology, along with the performance and risk management of the IT infrastructure in an organizational context. The primitive focus of IT Governance is the assurance of the fact that investment in the Information technology infrastructure is contributing to generate business value and at the same time lessen the potential risks pertaining to the Information Technology. This objective is attained by adequate maintenance and implementation of an organizational configuration with properly allocated role of information technology governance. IT Governance is scrutinized in relation to how the IT model generates value that goes hands on with the overall corporate governance strategies in an organization.

IT Governance

Importance of IT Governance

IT Governance refers to a framework to enhance the efficiency of the managerial processes in an organization. It is generally regarded that the efficiency of the Information Technology in an organization is…

suitable airline performance data, provide a discussion rivals North American Airline industry found hard match southwest airlines. 2)Discuss dynamic capabilities, distinct capabilities generally, a source competitive advantage fast-paced highly uncertain environments.

Southwest Airlines

The airline industry has generated unprecedented development within the society. Supported by technologic innovation, the airline industry has shifted balances in wars and fights and it has supported the advancement of the societies and economies. Due to the airline industry, people became able to travel to places once considered remote and as such to expand their cultural horizons, but also the business operations.

At its inception, the airline industry would be mostly owned and operated by the government, and this situation still applies in some of the countries in the globe. In the United States however, the airline industry has been subjected to deregulation and privatization and it is now characterized by high levels of competition. The…

PESTLE analysis?

MacDonald's STEP analysis

Technological

Economic

In this paper, we explore the concept of STEP analysis by means of illustration. We perform an elaborate STEP analysis of McDonald's, the world's fast food giant. This is then followed by a recommendation on what actions McDonald's can do in order to take care of the issues that have been exposed via the STEPanalysis.

McDonald's is a food and beverage franchise that by 2001 boasted of close to 28,700 outlets spread in 120 nations Karen,2005). The company's food outlets are very popular among the youth. It offers an environment which is perceived to be safe for families as they can enjoy quality food at an affordable price in a clean environment. The food chain offers its client a familiar environment that is characterized by a McDonald's clown as well as stunning interior worldwide as pointed out by Debres (2005). The company has…

The book strikes the reader as impressively researched, although at times the more micro and quantitiative focus of the historian can cause the humanity of the narratives, of the people themselves to be lost. A greater incorporation of a central thesis into the fold of the book, and a more coherently organized framework in which to subsume the data might have been helpful. The inclusion of an appendix is worthy as well, but how many readers will read such a work? The lack of attention to the individuals at hand to a certain extent justifies the often stultifying inclusion of lists and tables, but if these lists could have been given greater 'story' and coherennce, the book would have been of greater value and interest to the layperson, rather than to the stuidious historian or student. And ultimately was that not what most of these people were seeking, coming to…

This also implies inadequacies in fiscal sustainability, which influences investments in private sectors.

The second channel happens through the level, composition and quality involved within the public investment, which shows the level at which the public investment replaces the private investments (Schmidt- Hebbel, Serven, & Solimano, 1996).

The final channel regards the level of taxation on the corporate earnings and the rules applicable in depreciations.

There have been arguments that fiscal policy and public expenditure reduces the private investments in two different manners. These include increasing the interest rates or lowering the private funds involved in financing the investments.

According to the neoclassical theory, the interest rate is also an imperative variable in finding the level of investment. Consequently, it results into a negative effect because it upsurges the interest payable in investments. Concurrently, McKinnon and Shaw, contends that this is likely to cause a positive relationship between the investment…

By monitoring these results, the company's managers can control and determine whether the company has achieved its objectives, and whether the company's efforts are justified.

Problems that arise during the production process outsourced to India as also caused by individual workers. Such problems include fluctuations in the degree of quality and of craftsmanship of Indian workers. As a consequence, it is necessary to implement an operational control system that would better monitor the activity and the results of each employee.

Conclusions

Production outsourcing has become one of the solutions implemented by small or large manufacturers as a response to increased production costs on national level. India has become one of the most targeted production outsourcing destinations, especially for small companies.

The advantages provided by the country justify the efforts made by companies in order to overcome the numerous barriers that India also presents. The cheap workforce in India seems to…

4 the Competition

Ford Motors Company activates in a mature and highly competitive market and threats come not only from within the United States, but also from abroad. Due to globalization and market liberalization, the automobile manufacturers from Asia are easily capable to sell their products to the American consumer. Brands play a pivotal role in competition as customers tend to make purchases based on it. The competition is also intensified by the vast offering of substitute products, often materialized in public transports or personal automobiles running on alternative combustibles. Another source of rivalry is that the products often seem to look alike, and there are few features that offer one vehicle a point of difference.

The effects of the intense competition are various and often depend on the unique characteristics of the company, its served customers and the market where it operates. There are two most common outcomes. The…

Management Functions

If one takes the broad generalization of the mega-environment (general environment); one finds the conditions and trends that make up the organizational culture or even the society in which one operates. This term actually encompasses a number of similar and disparate factors. The technological part of the environment tends to focus on knowledge; the economic element the means of production, distribution and consumption of wealth; the legal-political element focuses on the governmental or rule-based systems to organize the society; the international element the external relationships, and the socio-cultural environment the attitudes, values, norms, believes and behaviors of a particular group or organization (Organizational Environment and Culture, 2008). All these forces are a sum total of how organizations act and react -- whether regionally or internationally.

The legal-political element of the environment is the systems that organize that environment, the rules that are enforced, and the overall manner in…

Take for instance ed Hat, a leading provider of open source software applications. Its annual report for 2009 reveals an increase in its training and services revenues from $45 million in 2005 to $47 million in 2006, to $59 million in 2007, to $73 million in 2008 to $111 million in 2009. From this assessment, the leaders of the organization could come to the conclusion that it would be wise to further invest in the business division of training and services offered to customers.

The second most important means in which statistical information is useful to financial analysis reveals the assessment of a company's financial ratios in light of the ratios of its competitors, or the average ratios of the industry. Statistics helps organizational leaders compute financial ratios such as earnings per share, gross margin, current ratio or others. Following the previous example, ed Hat's current ratio is of 1.90…

The company is permanently spending considerable amounts on &D to innovate its products and on advertising to maintain the brands awareness high. Shareholders are more satisfied than ever after Procter's recovery in the late 1990s, early 2000. But they did not encourage much the recovery process because it took almost two years and they were expecting a fast recovery process.

Pantene

Currently there are over 100 Pantene products. Pantene shampoo has 25 products in the supermarket shelves to cover all types of customer needs. In terms of sales, the brand has had a "blockbuster" evolution. It was introduced in the market about 10 years ago and it has been reinvented since maintaining a top market share. Pantene, the shampoo is actually the leader in this market, followed by Elseve from L'oreal. Overall, Elseve product line is better positioned in the market, having a larger market share for all hair care…

Marketing Plan for Clinique

Marketing Plan Clinique

Clinique -- Introduction:

Clinique is one of the world's leading brands in skincare, fragrances, cosmetics, and toiletries products. It was introduced by Estee Lauder Corporation in 1968. Clinique is a business unit that represents all the beauty and cosmetics products which Estee Lauder Corporation owns and operates. The company is headquartered in New York, United States of America and sells its Clinique products in more than 80 countries of the world. Clinique is recognized as a premium quality brand which offers extensive range of cosmetics products manufactured according to individual needs of customers from all age groups (Clinique). The following sections present a marketing plan for Clinique brand which may be helpful in analyzing the selling, marketing, and promotional activities of the company and the business environment in which it operates.

A) Current Market Situation:

Market Description:

The beauty and cosmetics industry of…

Business Plan

In order to accomplish our mission we set forth the following strategic goals, they include:

Build the Financial perspective of our business by addressing how shareholders view the firm and which financial goals are desired from the shareholder's perspective. Goals are closely linked to the business lifecycle and must be adjusted over time. For example, in the early stages, our goal is revenue growth, but as the company becomes more sustainable, profitability will become more important.

Increase customer value by discovering what a customer's needs and value expectations are and then meeting or exceeding these expectations. Some examples of things that customers value include a broad selection of products, quality, service, performance, and low price.

Achieve operational excellence through the internal productivity that optimizes those business processes that will best satisfy customers. Productivity is more than efficiency; it depends on the value of the products and services (utility,…

Nordstrom

Market Structure

The market structure of the retail industry is that of monopolistic competition. As its name suggests, monopolistic competition is an environment composed of a large number of firms each with a portion of the market. The firms in this type of market structure have similar products but they are differentiated in some way. Nordstrom's for example has private brands that only Nordstrom's can carry. These brands include Hotel Collection sheets, Martha Stewart cookware, Psycho Bunny for men, INC brand clothes for women, and much more. Even though these product offerings may be similar to competitors in regards to color or value proposition, they are differentiated by the fact they are only offered at Nordstrom's locations. Furthermore, there are many firms competing within the retail environment. For example, Nordstrom's must compete with JC Penny, Target, Wal-Mart, Dillard's, Sears, internet stores, and many other outlets. All of these competitors…

Pizza Hut has also managed to open franchise stores across Iraq and they could also pose serious competition. But there also exists the chance that the Iraqi consumer will not make a major difference between the American fast food stores, but will compare them to the local food providers in the street. This would also bring about serious competition.

4. McDonald's Social esponsibility

McDonald's corporate website presents the user with a wide variety of reports on their implemented social responsibility practices. These include the employment practices, relationships with the suppliers, animal and environment welfare, corporate giving or educational programs and scholarships as well as the promotion of a healthy life style or the continual support offered to the development of the communities where McDonald's operates. The primary aim of these programs is to help the company better adapt and function in accordance to the changes affecting the micro and macro…