Introduction
Brazil’s ethanol industry has been an important driver of economic growth, representing an innovative solution to mitigate the problem of increasingly scarce fossil fuels. (Serigo, 2014) Ethanol is a bio-fuel, most of which is produced from sugarcane in Brazil and corn in the United States. (Jagger, 2012) The future of this industry in Brazil is bright but its growth is confronted with internal and external challenges. (Anselm, 2011) In this essay, I would like to analyze the competiveness of Brazil’s ethanol in the global energy market by applying the Porter’s Diamond model as a framework, with comparisons to the US corn-based ethanol industry.
Porter’s Diamond
Porter’s Diamond model was introduced by Michael Porter in 1990. According to Porter (1985), the competitive advantage of a state or sector is having an edge over rivals in terms of attracting customers, defending against competitive forces. Basically there are four factors determining the competiveness: factor conditions, demand conditions, firm strategy and structure, and other related and supporting industry.
Factor conditions
Factor conditions are advantageous factors inherited within a country that can be exploited and subsequently built upon by companies to become more advanced factors of competition such as skilled labor, technological innovation and government support. (Porter, 1980)
Land
Brazil’s ethanol production benefits mostly from the favourable growing conditions and the abundance of suitable land for sugarcane. (Tokgoz, 2006) Whereas the US has a limited potential to expand total arable land, thus any increase in corn production must be met at the expense of reduction in production of other crops. Brazil is using only 1.6% of its total avail...
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...country level analysis is far more challenging than I expected. My logical thinking and analytical skills have been improved whilst analysing and processing masses of data, selecting useful information to support the arguments in the report. There are many ways to present a phenomenon or an object, but to select the most effective one is something that I am still learning. A logical structure is crucial in presenting evidence, without it the presentation would not be convincing even when the evidence supports the idea.
More importantly, I changed my learning style from accepting what people have told me to actually validating what they are saying. When doing research I was convinced by some arguments from certain sources, but as it turned out they contradicted with other evidence. Therefore without careful critical thinking, my thoughts might have been manipulated.
With the fuel crisis that is happening in the world today it is now more important than ever to begin the look towards alternative fuel sources. One smart step for the US would be to wean the country slowly off of the gasoline fix and to look into alternative fuels to replace the “never coming back” fossil fuels. It turns out that Ethanol as a hybrid fuel proves to be a notable candidate for this gasoline intervention, per say. Now the United States is currently looking to subsidize fossil fuel alternatives. However, before considering ethanol production as a governmental subsidy, using large amounts of hard earned tax payer money, there has to be many alternative factors that come into play such as making sure the pros out weight the cons as far as environmental benefits and performance output and not to mention looking at the entire matter from an economic or investment perspective. First we need to consider what the ethanol we are talking about actually is and how can we obtain it.
BOLIVIAN PARADISE Bolivia is an amazing country that is breathtaking and is similar to a paradise. Bolivia is an interesting country that practices an interesting style of living. Locals always have plenty to do. They can go out for pizza, go see movies, or simply sit and talk.
Between the 9th and 11th centuries, the kingdom of Ghana, established by the Soninke people in the 4th century, prospered in Northwest Africa. The kingdom became very rich because its location was in the middle of the trading routes of northwest Africa and it had many resources. Ghana traded salt for gold with its Northern neighbor. Also Ghana taxed every trader who went through Ghana to fund their army. The kings of Ghana ruled from their capital of Kumbi Saleh. The country had a rich cultural tradition that was reflected in religion. The kingdom of Ghana fell because of droughts, attacks, and lack of gold.
The broad range of topographical elevations has encouraged agricultural expansion whose diverse production of food constitutes an important part of the Colombian economy. The agricultural sector contributed 14% of GDP, excluding coffee, with a production worth almost 11 billion US. In the hot lowlands of the Caribbean heartland, the inter-montages valleys, and the savannas of Orinoquia, there are immense plantations of bananas, sugar cane, rice, cotton, soybeans and sorghum, and large cattle farms that produce meat and dairy products. (Sited Dennis Hanratty)
Slavery in Brazil began long before the first Portuguese settlement was established in 1532. Because certain forms of slavery had existed for centuries on the continent of Africa, Brazilian historians used to say that us blacks imported from across the Atlantic, were ready to accept their new status as ''Slaves''. Slave labor was the driving force behind the growth of the sugar economy in Brazil. Gold and diamond deposits were discovered in Brazil in about 1690, which sparked an increase in the importation of African slaves to power this new market. According to many depressed characteristics, Brazil is identified as a developing country, nevertheless is occupies a special place on the list of these countries. Having a huge potential and a high level of economic development, Brazil has found a place on the list of the highest slavery rates. With that being said then you could already ready conclude that there where many slaves imported to the country, Brazil. Brazil had the largest slave population in the world, substantially larger than the United States. The Portuguese who settled Brazil needed labor to work the large estates and mines in their new Brazilian colony. They turned to slavery which became central to the colonial economy. It was particularly important in the mining and sugar cane sectors. Slavery was also the mainstay in the Caribbean islands with economies centered on sugar. Estimates suggest that about 35 percent of captured Africans involved in the Atlantic slave trade were transported to Brazil. Estimates suggest that more than 3 million Africans reached Brazil, although precise numbers do not exist. Brazil had begun to turn to slavery in the 15th century as explorers began moving along the coast of Africa.
In my previous paper I did my research on the history, production, and trade of cane sugar that was mostly produced in the United States. On our study abroad trip to Mexico we saw some sugar cane fields from the road, but we did get to tour any of the farms or see any sugar processing factories. So I was thinking to myself how I am going to write a paper on sugar cane in Mexico if I never experienced any of it while I was down there. Fortunately I found a topic that was very close to home and related to some of the agriculture in Mexico as well. While visiting the Trade Management Services, Inc., we met with the Iowa trade representative, Jose Antonio Jimenez. Jose mentioned some things about the controversy with the United States and Mexico with the imported high fructose corn syrup into Mexico and the effects it has had on the sugar markets and the producers. Since Iowa is the number one grower of corn in the United States, and number one in producing high fructose corn syrup, it is a major issue for Iowans because of the great market share we have with Mexico. In this essay I will discuss some of the issues with the trade barriers, taxes, and tariffs the two countries have opposed on each other.
In determining the competitive intensity and attractiveness of the market, Porter’s five forces is a framework that would help analyze the manufacturing industry of Lincoln Electric and observe the external and internal environmental factors that influence business strategy development for companies within the industry. The five forces are assumed to determine competitive power in a business situation in which these five forces are Supplier Power, Bargaining Power, Competitive Rivalry, Threat of Substitution, and Threat of New Entry.
“Ghana, a land full of gold. Africa, a land full of resources.” Where is Ghana and what is it known for? In my paper, we will learn the location, population, how they citizens received their known name, and many more interesting facts.
Competitive advantage is the advantage for the competitors and gained by the offerings from the consumers that have the greater value either by the low prices of the products and by providing the benefits and services to the consumers that denotes the high price. It is a set of the innovative and different features of the company and the products and services sale to the consumers so that company can achieve the targets what they have decided and it is the betterment for the enterprise in the competitive market (Porter, 2011). There are three determinants which can be used in the competitive advantage that what the company produce for their consumers, their target market that what they have to achieved and the competition from the other entity
In a world of free trade, growing competition and accessibility to foreign markets, the need for methodical market analysis and assumptions is steadily rising in today’s business environment. It is just a normal way of thinking to primarily intent to eliminate the financial before entering a new and foreign market. This suggests that enterprises have to develop an overall strategy for their business in order to gain competitive advantage and consequently market share. With the words of Michael E. Porter, professor at Harvard University and leading authority on competitive strategy, this desirable market success is indirectly linked to the individual structure of a market. The unique structure of a single market influences the strategic behaviour and the development of a competitive strategy within a firm. The competitive strategy finally decides whether a company performs successfully on the market or not. Referring to this interpretation of business success, M. E. Porter established his five forces framework that enables directives to gather useful information about the business environment and the competitive forces in industries.
the author offers a theoretical framework, which outlines the underlining factors that contribute to national competitiveness. Michael Porter’s work was met with contrasted views. While some academics praised the model for its wealth of information and the convenient framework it generated (Greenway, 1993), many other academics in international business criticized the model for its theoretical flaws and lack of empirical evidence.
Ethanol is made up of easy to obtain resources, corn, and it is easy to make; this is showing that gasoline will be competition in the future.3 Currently in Brazil ethanol provides 18% of he country’s automobile fuel from just sugar cane. 3 About 99% of US produced ethanol is used to create E10, which is a mixture of gasoline and ethanol. In short ethanol can possibly play a more important role in the automobile industry. Advantages and Disadvantages: In figure 4 you can compare both the combustion of gasoline and ethanol gasoline consumes more oxygen and releases more carbon dioxide than ethanol.
to be a kingdom before Germany started to occupy the region. Both of the Kingdom
Education is one of the most important factors in improving economic development in countries. Education allows countries to improve human capital which causes an increase in the rate of return to countries GDP (Kruss). Over the years, Brazil has lagged behind other countries in terms of education, causing the country to not be one the same level of productivity as other high-developing countries. The backwardness of education in Brazil stems from social and political differences throughout Brazil’s history and the large poverty cycle throughout the country.
Porter’s diamond model, introduced by Michael Porter (1990a) was created to understand the ways and the reasons firms and industries create competitive advantage. The model consists of four key elements: Factor condition, demand conditions, related and supporting industries, and firm strategy, structure and rivalry that includes two additional determinants, government and chance. (Porter, 1990a; Stone and Ranchodd, 2006; Dixit and Joshi, 2011).