Introduction
International business is the exchange of goods and services between entities in different countries. International business is enabled through globalisation and international cooperation (Frynas and Mellahi, 2011). In today’s business world, every firm is directly or indirectly affected by international business. As a result, most companies are taking a more proactive approach by internationalizing their operations (Hill and Jones, 2012). This paper seeks to examine the different international strategies employed by multinational enterprises (MNEs) in their operations so as to carry out their business profitably. It will especially focus on the clothes manufacturing, retailing, and fashion industry in the UK.
The chosen firm under focus is Golden Touch UK. It is a medium enterprise based in London and indulges in manufacturing and sale of apparel. It especially has a special taste for female clothes though it manufactures and sells clothes to children too. Golden Touch UK started its operations in the fashion industry in 2000 though it had been in clothes manufacturing since 1995 (Goldentouchuk.com, 2014). It is a medium enterprise since it fits the description of a medium enterprise as per the EU standards. The standards direct that a firm can only be described as a medium enterprise if it has 250 employees or less, has an annual turnover of UK £50 million or has a balance sheet total of €43 million Euros. Golden Touch has had an average income of 50 million resulting from its operations domestically and overseas. The company’s mode of operation and business strategy will be tackled later on, comparing it with those of competitors in order to determine its core competencies and key environmental variables. This, in ...
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...tors have many stores, for instance Zara which operates in the UK as a MNE, has 18 stores in the UK alone. Golden Touch should therefore increase its number of stores. It can take a bank loan to finance this venture or even sell more shares to the public.
Lastly, the company should reconsider its decision not to attend fashion week events and fairs. This can be good publicity which it is in need of. It should also increase its advertising expenditure in order to receive more gains. Of great importance, the company should consider the timeline of its products cycle. It is too short and prone to many mistakes, ones which can be fatal. It can prolong the time to 3 months to see if the market has changed before proceeding with the introduction of the product. 3 months is still below the industry’s average and Golden Touch should still enjoy the advantage (Chavan, 2011).
Chet Craig is the Central Plant Manager of the Norris Company. He started as an expediter in the company's eastern plant and was quickly promoted to Production Supervisor in three years. After two years, he was promoted to Assistant to the Manager of the Eastern Plant. Five years later, Chet was transferred to the central plant as an Assistant, and after one month, was promoted to his current position.
The real success beyond LV is about segmenting its unique products. According to the “Louis Vuitton and the diamond model” figure 16 the importance of the products are displayed in a diamond figure. This categorization approach about LV’s products not only segment its unique products but also is an example of how a globally well known successful brand achieve its mission in the luxury market.According to the figure 17 above, the potential contribution of the Asian consumers to the fashion leather goods category provided a different age for the brand (LVMH 2012 a: 11). It is important to highlight that Asia as a geographic region has the potential to support the growth of the revenues of the brand. Moreover, Japan is a unique country other than Asia because Japan makes 3.107 M € revenue by itself except from Asia which makes 7,895 M € revenue LVMH (2013d).According to the figure 18 above, the company shares for the the bags and luggage categories retail value is in an increasing trend according to the years between 2008-2012. This shows that there is still a demand potential for the products in this category despite the increase of prices on early basis. (Euromonitor International 2013 e).According to the figure 19 above, it is important for Louis Vuitton to be in a growing trend approximately every year. On the otherhand, it’s growing trend will help to realize it’s own paticular position compared to the luxury sector. (Interbrand 2013c).The revenue by business group growth percentages are different for 2011and 2012 compared to H1 2012 AND H1 2013 for LVMH group.Especially for “fashion leather goods” the 2011 and 2012 was more profitable compared to 2012 to 2013. What is common among the business categories is that the most re...
The principles of marketing (The Times 100, n.d) are a range of processes concerned with finding out what consumers want, and providing it for them. This involves the ‘4ps’ of marketing; price, place, product and promotion. The product decision in any company involves dealing with goods that should be offered to a group of customers (Jobber & Ellis-Chadwick, 2012). Burberry maintains a product line with great width and scope in which their products fall into two main categories; fashion or continuity. Their fashion products are designed to be responsive to fashion trends and are introduced on a collection to collection basis (Burberry, n.d). Continuity products however have life cycles that are expected to last for a certain time period. Burberry also has 3 primary collections; womenswear, menswear and accessories, with the variety of products they can utilize their product mix greatly. Burberry also has...
Throughout the International Marketing course there has been an exploration of ideas, concepts, and strategies that one may not notice until they become apart of a companies pivotol marketing team. With my observation of a variety of major corporate companies and brands, I have been able to understand why companies brand and market in a certain fashion. The companies I will be completing a case study on is Abercrombie, Netflix, and A Time for a Unified Campaign. After placing myself into the role of marketing manager, I have been able to explore the multitude of aspects in which a brand can be marketed.
According to Hill, Wee and Udayasankar, the success of the company’s strategy can be measured by the value created for shareholders. To maximize the value, managers can increase the profitability by picking a position in the efficiency frontier with supportive internal operations and appropriate organization structure. In fact, Louis Vuitton had outstanding performance on that.
Globalization is the expansion of business across borders to create an economy which encompasses the world. According to Hill (2013), “globalization refers to the shift toward a more integrated and interdependent world economy. The globalization of markets and globalization of production are two distinct facets of this expansion”.
When it comes to doing business internationally the decision making is more complex. There are many interactions between each country that need to be addressed. In order for a business to be successful in the international market they need to examine and analyze all the facets of their company. They need
Investing or venturing into the international market involves critical analysis of the internal and external environment in which the company operates. Usually, a company will decide to venture internationally due to a saturated market or fierce competition in the current country of operation. The demand for a company’s products may have diminished as a result of an economic crisis thus the company will target a foreign market to sustain its sales. In other words, the firms expand internationally to seek new customers for its products. For example, the current Euro zone crisis led to low demand in Europe and many companies extended their businesses to emerging markets where demand was high. A company may also venture in the international market to enhance the cost-effectiveness of its operations especially for manufacturing companies that will benefit from low costs of production in developing world. Global expansion is a long term project as it involves demanding logistics to be successful. Thorough research must be undertaken to ensure that the expansion will create value for share...
Miuccia Prada once said that “What you wear is how you present yourself to the world, especially today, when human contacts are so quick. Fashion is instant language”. Miuccia Prada and the Prada brand have grown from humble beginnings making quality leather goods to a public traded company with a current market capitalization of over $26 billion (USD) . With the development of Prada as one of the world’s premier luxury brands it provides an excellent case study to examine how strategy paved the way for the success of the Prada brand. First, an examination of Prada’s strategic positioning against luxury brand rivals Louis Vuitton Hennessey Moet (LVHM) and Kering (Gucci). The acquisition history of Prada will be reviewed, where some preliminary conclusions can be made about what has been contributing factors to both the successes and failures. Then finally, an evaluation of what the future holds for Prada and the sustainability of its competitive advantage.
Multinational enterprise (MNE) is “a company that is headquartered in one country but has operations in one or more other countries” (Rugman and Collinson 2012, p.38) that has at least one office in different countries but centralised home office. These offices coordinate global management in the context of international business. MNEs have increasingly essential influence on the development of the global economy and coordinate with other companies in different business environments. However, there are many issues involved with how MNEs operate well overseas, especially in emerging markets (EMs) (Cavusgil et al., 2013, p.5).
International business contains all business transactions private and governmental, sales, investments, logistics, and transportation that happen between two or more regions, nations and countries beyond their political limits. Generally, private companies undertake such transactions for profit governments undertake them for profit and for political reasons. It refers to all those business activities which involve cross border transactions of goods, services, resources between two or more nations. Transaction of economic resources includes capital, skills, and people. for international production of physical goods and services such as finance, banking, insurance, and construction.
15. Hill, Charles W.L. International Business: Competing in the Global Marketplace. New York : McGraw-Hill, 2007.
...cause its Distribution Centers are not configured for handling and shipping small orders. Moreover, Zara understands that 5% store returns are a very small number as compared to 50% - 60% returns in the retail mail-order industry. It does have a website – www.zara.com- but it is only a digital display window.
The progression and evolution of international business has played an integral role in the overall development and progress of the world economy, culture, and politics. The multinational corporation was an essential part of this process and has roots as far back as the 15th and 16th centuries in Western Europe, specifically in the nations of England and Holland, during a period known as mercantilism. This was a time of unprecedented global exploration, colonization, and other imperialist ventures. Organizations such as the British East India Trading Company, promoted both global trade and the acquisition of natural resources, primarily for their home countries in areas including Africa, East Asia, and the Americas. Global trade was the primary factor in the growth of the world economy during this time. However the modern MNC, as it is known today, did not appear until the 19th century. These new entities provided a new level of inter-firm connectedness, a wider division of labor, and a higher level of product integration across countries in which MNCs are growing. Studies have shown that modern MNCs are characterized by a high degree of complexity, and have not followed a linear pattern in their development. In addition, it is crucial to understand the geographical context in which these MNCs were founded. This paper will analyze the development of the multinational corporation (MNC) from the 1870s to the modern day and examine it what ways, and to what degree it has changed over time.
Luxury goods market has been on an upward move since a long time. Separated from the setback brought about by the 1997 Asian financial Emergency, the business has performed well, especially in 2000. In that year, the world luxury products market – which incorporates beverages, style, makeup, aromas, watches, adornments, baggage, purses and handbags– was worth near $170 billion and these developed 7.9 ...