Managing Across Organizational & Cultural Boundaries Essay

Managing Across Organizational & Cultural Boundaries - Essay Example One of the perspectives of power that Wal-Mart will use in dealing with the suppliers is the use of zero tolerance where all undesirable practices like subcontracting will be imposed to severe penalties without the company knowledge (Fishman, 2006). The penalties will start to be effective on March again all the companies that are not allowed to manufacture and supply clothes to Wal-Mart will be published on the website explaining that the company is not genuine. The second perspective is accountability and ownership of the supplier who must be certified to make sure that they are going to be accountable of what they are going to supply to Wal-Mart (Stern, 1969). The reason why Wal-Mart need accountability and ownership to a specific country is to ensure that compliance will be achieved making sure that third party agents are eliminated in the supply chain. Wal-Mart is open to any supplier who can supply clothing without subcontracting or use of third party agents who normally supply brands at expensive price as compared to those companies that are ordered to supply brands to Wal-Mart. Another perspective of power that Wal-Mart will consider is improved safety in the factories, for example, the suppliers from United States and Canada will have to meet so that the new policy change of improved safety can be deliberated upon (Buzzell, 1987). The local governments and suppliers will have to carry the safety precaution and measures need to boost factory safety. The reason is because employees in the factories are experiencing death that emanate from poor conditions from the factories and thus the reason as to why Wal-Mart is restricting the suppliers from subcontracting their orders. The expectation of Wal-Mart is that the known factory that have been given the orders will be the only one who will supply brands without involving third party agents who do not provide high quality clothing and within the stipulated time. One of the sources of power in Wal-Mart

What Are Gmos Essay Example for Free

What Are Gmos Essay A GMO is a genetically modified organism that has been altered by man through the process of engineering. It is a technology set out to alter the genetic structure of a life form such as plants and animals, in effort to produce a more desired end product of the organism altered. As an example, a tomato was altered with a new gene so that it would look ripe for a longer period of time. It was called the â€Å"Flavr Savr Tomato† (Sereana Howard Dresbach) The purpose was so that tomatoes could be shipped from almost anywhere in the country, and still have that fresh ripe look to the consumers; once placed on the shelves in stores. GMO’s are also used to alter the nutrients of a living organism, meaning you could take a fruit tree or vegetable plant and alter it to have additional nutrients that the organism would not originally contain. A test was conducted with a product termed â€Å"Golden Rice,† which was altered to contain a greater density of beta carotene, a source of vitamin A and iron. (Sereana Howard Dresbach) The effort was to create this food for third world counties who lack this nutrient; thus help to reduce the many disease that are linked to the lack of vitamin A and iron; such as anemia and blindness. Though the effort and research of genetically modified organisms seem to have a positive outlook, there are many people and organizations that are skeptical, concerned, and in total disagreement with this technology; due to the unknown heath risks and attempt to alter Mother Nature. Because this is fairly new, and the research conducted so far has not completely proved out the safety and soundness of GMO’s to its entirety, there are many questions that need answers; and facts needed to prove this technology as fully credible in my view. It s safety and use for all ages is a question we must ask ourselves as a society, and we must openly challenge the government to make sure that there is a sane and moral infrastructure that will protect our the general public against the unknown risks and dangers this technology could create. In my opinion, I see this effort as a method of cloning and have great concerns against the practice of modifying nature and its authenticity. I strongly believe that the earth was created with everything we need to live and survive, and that there are natural and organic means of getting the ame results that creating genetically modified organisms would. Although the FDA approves this technology, I feel that we as humans are being used as test rats; since the FDA does not have to list whether ingredients in foods are genetically modified. This technology in my opinion exposes too many risks and unknowns to our world, and draws a thin line with me when it comes to our standards of morality. In conclusion, I see this as unsafe too all.

Theories of International Microeconomics

Theories of International Microeconomics 1. Introduction Economic theory can be considered as a system of ideas that contains a set of models designed to explain economic outcomes and make predictions for future events. The choice of the model will depend principally on the explanatory value and the certainty of the model in explaining current situations and predicting future outcomes. International trade is the difference between production and consumption. The theory of international trade has heavily been influenced by the works of classical economists. According to David Ricardo, trade occurs between countries because of differences in technology. For Eli Heckscher and Bertil Ohlin, trade arises mainly due to differences in factor endowments and factor intensities of respective countries. 2. Ricardian Model The Ricardian Model was developed in 1817 by David Ricardo (1817) with two goods, two countries and a single input as components of the model. This model assumes differences in technology between countries as basis of trade. Ricardo stated that both countries could benefit from trade on the condition that labor input of countries should be different, irrespective of the fact that one country might has an absolute advantage in the production of both goods. Being a one factor model, the Ricardian Model is not the appropriate model to study the effects of technology on trade patterns because of its simplicity. 3. The Heckscher Ohlin Model The Heckscher Ohlin (HO) theory holds two assumptions; countries have different factor endowments and factor intensities as sources of differences in opportunity costs of production. Trade is restricted between 2 countries, 2 factors of production and 2 goods traded. This model generates 4 predictions: (a) The Heckscher – Ohlin theorem, whereby the capital abundant country will export the capital intensive good, (b) The Factor Price Equalization Theorem, with production of different goods, international trade will equalize factor prices, (c) The Stopler-Samuelson Theorem, with production of different goods, an increase in the price of a labor intensive good will reduce the real and relative return to capital and will increase the real and relative return of the labor intensive good, (d) The Rybczynski Theorem, with production of different goods, a rise in the endowment of labor, will lead to a more than proportionate increase in the output of the labor intensive good and a fa ll in the capital intensive good. 3. 1 The Heckscher – Ohlin Theorem The Heckscher – Ohlin theorem implies that a country will export those goods that are produced through intensive use of factors of production found locally in an abundant amount. In a 2 2 2 model, countries produce the same pair of commodities, engage in free trade in a competitive environment with countries benefitting from constant returns to scale in accordance with technology. The supply of factors of production is perfectly inelastic in both countries. These conditions are present when there is relative factor abundance. A second situation can arise where autarkic factor prices are present in both countries. Demand and supply conditions dictate autarkic factor prices. Despite a country being relatively abundant in labor, it may nonetheless impose autarkic wage rate if domestic preferences pattern strongly favors the labor intensive produced good relative to the foreign produced good. The trade pattern will reflect the factor price comparison between countries. 3.2 The Factor Price Equalization Theorem This theorem assumes a situation where there are 2 countries in free trade; they have different factor endowments but have the same level of technologies. If both countries are diversified and Factor Intensity Reversal (FIR) does not occur, factor price equalization will happen in these countries. For Heckscher, identical production techniques were prerequisite for the equalization of factor prices. Different factor prices can be a sufficient cause for international trade to happen. However, Heckscher did not account for the number of factors and international markets. The initial model was a 3 2 classical model with 3 factors such as land, labor and capital, and two goods: textile and machinery. 3.3 The Stopler-Samuelson Theorem The Stopler-Samuelson Theorem was developed as a 2 2 model, with two traded goods and two non – traded factors. It sets forth that an increase in the relative price of a good will lead to an increase of real return of that factor used intensively in producing that good and will reduce real return to the second factor. Four possible interpretations arise from this theorem: (a) winners and losers corollary; If a relative price change occurs, there will be a minimum of one loser ans one winner (b) Factor – industry detachment corollary; external price changes will have an impact on the return to a factor irrespective of which industry the factor is employed (c) scarce factor corollary 1; trade barriers will help a scarce factor; an abundant factor is hurt (d) scarce factor corollary 2; depending on the scarcity of the factors, trade barriers will help. 3.4 The Rybczynski Theorem The two – factor two good Rybczynski Theorem posits that if there is an increase in factor endowment of an industry that uses that factor fully, an increase in output is likely to occur compared to a decrease in output in the other industry. There are 4 levels of interpretation that can be observed from the Rybczynski Theorem: (a) a minimum of one Rybczynski derivative will be negative, (b) a homothetic relationship exists between output and factor supplies, (c) the relationship will be a linear one, (d) the total amount of current factor supplies is important. 4. International Trade: The Evidence International microeconomics seems little affected by empirical evidence. Despite trade flows being measured with the greatest accuracy, the data obtained has not been really reliable and to certain extent inaccessible. Empirical studies based on this data can hardly be reviewed or taken seriously as a proper revaluation of the theories proposed by classical economists. Attempts to bridge the gap between the trade patterns and the theoretical assumptions made by the various classical and neo classical models have been made and several problems arose. The first problem that rises is that international trade is arbitrage. This is principally due to price discrepancies governing the international markets. Autarkic prices differences have not been observed and these discrepancies are hypothetical in nature. There is no solid evidence as international trade gets rid of these discrepancies. Another difficulty linked to this is causality. Whatever the consequence, the human mind has always hoped that a single cause must be behind its initial inception. The Ricardian Model and the Heckscher Ohlin model are unicausal. Everything has a single root. For arbitrage in international trade, autarkic prices discrepancies cannot be the only explanation as to why there is arbitrage in the first place. Changes in factor endowments, tastes and preferences or difference s in technologies can form part of the supplementary explanations. In the last 4 decades, there have been 3 types of empirical studies on international trade. These are tests of the Ricardian and HO models, studies trying to find a link between bilateral trade, national incomes and geographical distances between trading countries, and finally, a number of informal accounts yet to be tested and accounted for. MacDougall (1951, 1952) carried out a study using 1939’s data for a UK-US comparison to find whether exports of good of different countries were correlated in pairs with third markets as the Ricardian model presumed. Results were positively and significant. Later empirical studies provided additional support to these results (MacDougall et al., 1962, Stern, 1962; Balassa, 1963) The assumption that consumers have homothetic preferences has been empirically refuted. Following studies carried out by Prebisch (1950) and Singer (1950), results have showed that the terms of trade for poor countries has been deteriorating continuously. As world economy experiences economic growth, the relative demand shifts from the South to the industrialized North, a region that specializes in goods with higher income elasticity. The South benefits little from improvement in production in exports sectors, principally because the extra purchasing power generated by lower southern commodities will be spent on purchase of northern commodities. Studies carried out by scholars affected significantly the reliability of the HO theorem. Patterns of trade were examined between US, West Germany, Japan and Canada with the rest of the world. Results obtained were not in consensus with the HO theorem whereas results of East Germany and India showed support (Bharadwaj, 1962; Leontief, 1953, 1956; Roskamp, 1961; Stolper and Roskamp, 1961; Tatemoto and Ichimura, 1959; and Wahl, 1961). Another study carried out by Clifton, Jr and Marxsen (1984) obtained relatively the same results. They used a multi-commodity, two-country, and two factor model to test for trade based on profit and wages instead of using capital and labor as factors of production. Results obtained show trade patterns for the year 1968 of Australia, Ireland, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, and the United States support the theorem while results of UK, Kenya and Israel do not. In his study to discover the sources of the success of the American industry for the years 1879, 1899, 1909, 1914, 1928, and 1940, Wright (1990) concluded that the capital to labor ratio was an important source of comparative advantage in the early years but it soon became a comparative disadvantage by 1940. Natural resources did not contribute to exports success in the 19th century but in the 20th century it impacted exports significantly. The reasons provided by the HO theorem that difference in capital and labor endowments are the primary reasons for trade is wrong and thus a need for further study in this area. The most important study of trade patterns through use of HO models was carried out by Leontief (1953). The results showed that in 1947, U.S imports were more capital intensive compared to labor than the ratio in U.S exports. This paradox exists if U.S is well endowed in capital. This paradox can be solved through 2 ways: (a) by creating demand or factor intensity reversals (FIRs), (b) the introduction of international technological differences. By introducing these solutions, the American labor intensive industries benefited from significant advantage in terms of costs arising due to factor endowments. Linnemann (1966) using data from more than 40 countries carried out a study to find a link between bilateral trade, national incomes and geographical distances between trading countries. He wanted to find answers relating to the bilateral trade volumes and trade size with different trading partners. Results illustrated that the volume of trade depends much on the geographical proximity of trading partners inclusive of transport costs. The importing country’s national income and the exporting country’s national income also had an impact on the size of tradable commodities. Minhas (1963) carried out a study to question the applicability of the FPE theorem due to the presence of Factor Intensity Reversals (FIRs). Minhas came to the conclusion that when elasticity of substitution differs between countries, FIRs are likely to occur. Through trade, equality of commodity prices will not guarantee a price equalization of factor prices in respective countries. Conclusion Trade occurs simply because of the price discrepancies that exist in the markets. Technological differences and factor endowments are the main reasons for these discrepancies. The numerous and complex literature on the Ricardian Model and Heckscher Ohlin Model have outlines various faults of these models but they nonetheless remain healthy. However, additional modifications need to be done. The models need to account for technological differences, multiple cones of diversification and home bias. References: Ronald Winthrop Jones. A, 1979, ‘International Trade: Essays in Theory’, Oxford North Holland Publishing Co, Amsterdam, New York Ronald Winthrop Jones. A and Kenen Peter B. (Eds.), 1984, Handbook of International Economics 3, North Holland Balassa, B. 1963, ‘An Empirical Demonstration of Classical Comparative Cost Theory’, The Review of Economics and Statistics, Aug, Vol. 45, No. 3, pp. 231-238 Mac Dougall, G. D. A, 1951, ‘British and American Exports: A Study Suggested by the Theory of Comparative Costs. Part I’, The Economic Journal, Dec, Vol. 61, No. 244, pp. 697-724 Mac Dougall, G. D. A, 1952, ‘British and American Exports: A Study Suggested by the Theory of Comparative Costs. Part II’, The Economic Journal, Aug, Vol. 62, No. 247, pp. 487-521 Feenstra Robert, C. 2002, ‘Advanced International Trade: Theory and Evidence’, University of California, Davis, and National Bureau of Economic Research, Aug. Prebisch, R. 1950, ‘The Economic Development of Latin America and Its Principal Problems’, New York: United Nations, Econ. Comm. Latin America Clifton, D. S, Jr and William B. Marxsen, 1984, ‘An Empirical Investigation of the Heckscher-Ohlin Theorem’, The Canadian Journal of Economics / Revue canadienne dEconomique, Feb, Vol. 17, No. 1,pp. 32-38 Matsuyama, K., 2000, ‘A Ricardian Model with a Continuum of Goods under Nonhomothetic Preferences: Demand Complementarities, Income Distribution, and Northà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ South Trade’, Journal of Political Economy, Dec, Vol. 108, No. 6, pp. 1093-1120 Redding Stephen J., 2006, ‘Empirical Approaches to International Trade’, Oct, London School of Economics and CEPR

Essay --

The loss of innocence Any child under the age of eighteen that is supposed to wed is thrown into the category of child marriages. This practice is very popular in India, Africa, Latin America and Oceania but the biggest area is Yemen and Saudi Arabia who does not have a minimum age requirement and does not protect the women’s rights under any circumstances. International and domestic civil right activists are appalled at the rising number of illegal and underage child marriages in foreign and neighboring countries. The downfalls of these marriages are that they deteriorate the child’s physical and mental health and are one of the main reasons for uneducated women in the world. Local and government officials need to be taking action to put an end to this long time tradition. Firstly, these girls are usually a source of money or a dowry for her family. According to Webster’s dictionary, a dowry is property bought by a bride to her husband at the time of marriage (112). Following this even further, marrying to young can have serious and even life threating effects on their life. â€Å"Gi... Essay -- The loss of innocence Any child under the age of eighteen that is supposed to wed is thrown into the category of child marriages. This practice is very popular in India, Africa, Latin America and Oceania but the biggest area is Yemen and Saudi Arabia who does not have a minimum age requirement and does not protect the women’s rights under any circumstances. International and domestic civil right activists are appalled at the rising number of illegal and underage child marriages in foreign and neighboring countries. The downfalls of these marriages are that they deteriorate the child’s physical and mental health and are one of the main reasons for uneducated women in the world. Local and government officials need to be taking action to put an end to this long time tradition. Firstly, these girls are usually a source of money or a dowry for her family. According to Webster’s dictionary, a dowry is property bought by a bride to her husband at the time of marriage (112). Following this even further, marrying to young can have serious and even life threating effects on their life. â€Å"Gi...

Racism and Kathryn Hess English Essay

In the beginning of the movie Freedom Writers, the students initially only trust their peers from their racial groups. This is because they only trust the people in their gangs. Almost all the kids were in racially segregated gangs. At first, Ms. Gruwell has difficulty getting anything accomplished. Many of these students have never been shown any respect in the past. Eva and some of the other students tell Ms. Gruwell that they will not just hand her their respect, she must earn it. Ms. Gruwell begins to earn the respect of her students when she moves the students around, out of their racial divisions. She attempts to show the students that they are united by playing the â€Å"Line Game† with them. She puts a line of thick red tape across the classroom and tells the students to move forward when a statement she makes applies to them. Her most effective form of reaching out, however, comes in the form of a composition notebook. Trust is an important component of a teacher-student relationship because if a student doesn’t trust the teacher, nothing the teachers teaches is affective. Ms. Gruwell eventually managed to get her students to show tolerance for one another. She teaches them about the Holocaust and that despite the students’ ethnic backgrounds, they aren’t all that different from each other. For example, she takes them to the Museum of Tolerance. This shows that the students aren’t realistically the different despite the color of their skin or their ethnic background. This is important because Ms. Gruwell could not effectively teach the class until they could get along. As a result, the students begin to build up a tolerance for one another. Part of Ms. Gruwell’s outlook on racism was affected by her father. For example, growing up, her father was a civil rights worker. This shows that his work most likely influenced her views on racism as she grew up. This is important because it taught her not to discriminate against others. As a result, she is able to change the views of her students for the better. At one point, Ms. Gruwell confiscates a racial caricature that was circulating the class. For example, the drawing was of a black student drawn with thick, exaggerated lips. Ms. Gruwell then compared the sketch of the caricatures that the Nazis used to draw of the Jews during the Holocaust. This showed that none of the students even knew what the Holocaust was. This is important because it allowed Ms. Gruwell to teach her students how serious racism really was. As a result, the students became more tolerant. Ms. Gruwell knew that all the students were suffering from physical violence, emotional abuse, substance abuse, poverty, homelessness, gang violence, and deaths of family and friends. She felt sorry about them and wanted to help them sincerely. She did it, and as a result, the class was getting better and better, and the classes grades turned up quickly. Others teacher didn’t believe Ms. Gruwell despite she did a great job. They thought she was a new teacher and had no idea about teaching. But the main point was, they had serious racial prejudice in their minds, they disliked the students in Room 203. For example, one of the teachers refused to lend books to Ms. Gruwell. This shows the racial discrimination was really serious. Hence, Ms. Gruwell had to do everything by herself. Even when Ms. Gruwell’s husband left her, the students made her life better. Problems still came up, she was denied to teach Room 203 in junior and senior year. But after the tough fight with other teachers, she was allowed to stay with them till the end of high school time.

GLO-BUS: Developing Winning Competitive Strategies

GLO-BUS Developing Winning Competitive Strategies Welcome to GLO-BUS. You and your co-managers are taking over the operation of a digital camera company that is in a neck-and-neck race for global market leadership, competing against rival digital camera companies. All digital camera makers presently have the same worldwide market share, although shares vary by company across the four market regions – Europe-Africa, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and North America. Currently, your company is selling close to 800,000 entry level cameras and 200,000 multi-featured cameras annually.Prior year revenues were $206 million and net earnings were $20 million, equal to $2. 00 per share of common stock. The company is in sound financial condition, is performing well, and its products are well regarded by digital camera users. Your company’s board of directors has charged you and your co-managers with developing a winning competitive, marketing strategy, one that capitalizes on growin g consumer interest in digital cameras, keeps the company on the ranks of the industry leaders, and boosts the company’s earnings year after year.Some Background Information Your company began operations five years ago and maintains its headquarters in Lisle, Illinos,USA. It assembles all of its cameras at a modern facility in Ha Noi, Vietnam and ships them directly to cameras retailers (multi-store chains that sell electronics products, local camera shops, and online electronics firms) located in Europe-Africa, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and North America.The company maintains regional sales offices in Milan, Italy; Singapore; Sao Paulo, Brazil; and Toronto, Canada to handle the company’s sales and promotion efforts in each geographic region and help support the merchandising efforts of area retailers who stock the company’s brand. Retailers endeavor to maintain ample inventories of camera models in their own stores and warehouses to satisfy shopper demand. S easonal Production and Seasonal Demand. Camera demand is seasonal with about 20 percent of consumer demand coming in each of the first three quarters of each calendar year and 40 percent coming during the fourth quarter holiday season.Retailers place orders for digital cameras roughly 90 days in advance of expected sales, so as to have ample numbers on hand to satisfy camera buyer demand in the upcoming quarter. Thus, during Quarter 1 they place orders for the cameras they expect to sell in Quarter 2; during Quarter 2 they place orders for the cameras they expect to sell in Quarter 3, during Quarter 3, they place orders for the cameras they expect to sell in the peak holiday season fourth quarter; and in Quarter 4 they order the number of cameras they expect to sell in Quarter 1 of the following year.Assembly and Shipping. The company has a staff of people engaged in new product R&D, engineering, and design; this group has the capability to develop new and improved camera models as directed by top management. Once co-managers settle on the desired specifications and performance features for the company’s line-up of camera models, the needed parts and components are obtained from suppliers having the capabilities to make deliveries to the company’s Ha Noi assembly plant on a just-in-time basis.Cameras are assembled by four-person product assembly teams at well equipped workstations. Shipping department personnel ready retailer’s orders for shipment and stack them on the loading dock for pickup by independent freight carriers. The cameras are delivered anywhere from 3 days to 3 weeks later, depending on a retailer’s location and the means of transportation. The cost of boxing the cameras, packaging them for shipment, and freight averages $3 per camera. Many countries have import duties on cameras.Import duties in each of the four geographic regions currently average $5 for entry-level cameras and $10 for multi-featured cameras. Import duties are subject to change in upcoming years. Competitive Efforts. To capitalize on advances in digital technology and keep its cameras appealing to consumers, the company from-time-to-time introduces new and improved models, adds performance features, restyles its camera bodies or housings, and upgrades the internal camera software.Aside from company efforts to make its cameras lines appealing and competitive with those of rival companies, the company’s sales volume and standing in the marketplace is affected by the prices at which it sells its cameras to retail dealers, advertising expenditures, the number of retail dealers it is able to attract to carry its brand, the number and length of quarterly promotions, the size of the price discounts offered to retailers during these promotions, the length of the warranty periods on its cameras, brand image and reputation, and the caliber of the technical support provided to its digital camera users.Stock Listings. The companyâ €™s stock is publicly traded on the NASDAQ exchange in the United States and on several other stock exchanges. The closing price in Year 5 was $30 per share. The company’s financial statements are prepared in accord with generally accepted accounting principles and are reported in U. S. dollars. The company’s financial accounting is in accord with the rules and regulations of all authorities where its stock is traded.The World Market for Digital Cameras The industry your company competes in consists of 4 companies. All companies are on an equal footing from a global perspective, but there is one essential difference in the competitive positions of the rival companies – the percentage of cameras being sold in the four geographic regions (Europe-Africa, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and North America) are not identical from company-to-company as follows:Percentages of Company Sales Volume in (unit sales) North America Europe-Africa Asia-Pacific Latin America Yo ur Company 40% 30% 20% 10% Competitor A 10% 40% 30% 20% Competitor B 20% 10% 40% 30% Competitor C 30% 20% 10% 40%In effect, each company presently has a strong market position in one region, intermediate market positions in two regions, and a weak market position in one region. So there are market share differences among the companies in the industry within each geographic region of the world camera market. In upcoming years, company managers can undertake actions to alter their sales and market shares in all regions, opting to increase sales and share in some and to decrease sales and share in others. Market Growth.The global market for digital cameras is projected to grow 8-10% annually for the next five years (Years 6-10) and then to grow at a slower 4-6% annual rate during the following five years (Years 11-15). These projected growth rates apply to all four geographic regions and to both entry-level and multi-featured cameras. However, in any one year, the growth rate in each r egion can deviate from the 9% average for Years 6-10 and the 5% average for Years 11-15 by as much as 1% in either direction, with different size deviations for each region. The same goes for the projected growth rates for entry-level and multi-featured digital cameras.Hence, there is an element of uncertainty surrounding just where within the 8-10% range and the 4-6% range the growth rate for a particular year will actually fall, for either a given geographic region or a particular type of camera. Ratings of Digital Camera Performance and Quality. The World Digital Camera Federation, a well respected affiliation of camera industry trade groups and camera experts, tests the performance and quality of the camera models of all competitors and assigns a performance-quality or P/Q rating of 1 to 5 stars to each company’s entry-level camera line and multi-featured camera line.Currently, both the entry-level and multi-featured camera lines of all competitors have a 3 star P/Q ratin g. Spirited competition among rivals is, however, likely to result in different P/Q ratings in the forthcoming years. Digital Camera Retailers. Worldwide, there are some 50,000 retailers of digital cameras scattered across the world; each of the four major geographic regions of the world market has 12,500 retailers, some of which are multi-store retail chains (100 per region), online electronic retailers (400 per region), and local camera shops (12,000 per region).Retailers with store locations that also sell cameras on their websites are not included in the online category. Multi-store chains account for the biggest percentage of entry-level camera sales, with online retailers second; local camera shops account for the biggest share of multi-featured digital camera sales, with online retailers second. Retail markups over the wholesale prices of digital camera makers run 50% to 100%; thus an entry-level digital camera wholesaling for $160 could retail for $300 or more and a multi-fe atured camera wholesaling for $360 might carry a retail list price of $700.Such markups give retailers the latitude to put digital cameras on sale from time-to-time at 10% to 20% off regular price and still make a decent profit margin. Retailers typically carry anywhere from 2-4 brands of digital cameras and stock only certain models of the brands they do carry, but in all four geographic markets there are around 20 ‘full-line’ camera retailers that stock most all brands and models. Chain store retailers are drawn to carry the best selling brands and mainly stock entry-level cameras.The makers of weak selling camera brands have difficulty convincing major retail chains to devote display space to their models. Local camera shops and online retailers are, however, more amenable to stocking and promoting low-volume brands, especially those with above average P/Q ratings and respected brand images. Local camera shops and online electronics retailers devote much of their mer chandising effort to multi-featured digital cameras because of their bigger profit margins.In the multi-featured camera segment, local camera shops enjoy an advantage over online retailers because many multi-featured camera shoppers prefer to â€Å"touch and try out† the functioning of the multi-featured cameras they are considering and seek out the opinions of camera savvy personnel in local camera shops before finalizing their purchase. In choosing which brands of multi-featured cameras to carry and feature in their local ads, local camera shop owners put a fairly heavy weight on P/Q ratings, warranties, brand image, and the number, length, and price discounts of manufactures’ promotional discounts.Online retailers use essentially the same criteria in deciding which multi-featured camera brands to give top-billing and search priority on their websites. Digital Camera Buyers. Digital camera shoppers are generally quite knowledgeable; many do extensive Internet researc h to educate themselves about the features, performance, and prices of competing digital camera brands and models. The World Digital Camera Federation’s much publicized P/Q atings are trusted by camera shoppers; its frequently visited website has detailed information concerning the results of its performance tests and the basis for its P/Q ratings of each camera brand. Both camera makers and online electronics retailers have extensive information on their websites about currently available models. Numerous websites and publications review new and improved camera models as they are introduced by manufactures.The buyers of entry-level digital cameras are considerably more price sensitive than multi-featured camera buyers and many do comparison shopping on price in selecting which brand to purchase. The purchasers of multi-featured cameras are much more particular about camera performance and picture quality. Many price sensitive consumers shopping for their first digital camera are inclined to wait to make a purchase until electronic retailers have special sales promotions and offer entry-level camera models at sizable discounts off the regular retail price.It is common for camera retailers to also have special sales promotions for overstocked multi-featured models. The Competitive Factors That Drive Market Share Competition among rival camera makers centers around 11 sales determining factors: – How each company’s wholesale selling price (for both entry-level and multi-featured cameras) compares against the corresponding industry-wide average price in each geographic region. – P/Q ratings. – The number of special promotions each quarter. – The length of the special quarterly promotions (in weeks). The size of the discounts off the regular wholesale price during these promotions. – Advertising expenditures. – Product selection, as measured by the number of models in each line of cameras (entry-level and mul ti-featured). – The number of retailers carrying the company’s brand. – The length of the manufacturer’s warranty period. – The ease with which users of a company’s digital cameras can obtain responsive technical support when they encounter difficulties. – Brand reputation among buyers and retailers.With these 11 competitive determinants of sales and market share in play in each camera segment in each geographic region, you and your co-managers have many options for crafting a strategy capable of producing good profits and return on investment and keeping your company in contention for global market leadership. For example, you can – Employ a low-cost leadership strategy and pursue a competitive advantage keyed to having lower costs and selling your digital cameras at lower prices than rivals. Employ a differentiation strategy that sets your company’s digital cameras apart from rival brands based on such attributes as a higher P/Q rating, more models/styles to select from, and such marketing attributes as more advertising, longer warranties, more promotions, better technical support for owners of your digital cameras, or a bigger network of retail outlets carrying the company’s brand. – Employ a more value for the money strategy (providing 4-star digital cameras at lower prices than other 4-star brands) where your competitive advantage is an ability to incorporate appealing attributes at a lower cost than rivals. Focus your strategic efforts on being the clear market leader in either entry-level or multi-featured cameras. – Focus your company’s competitive efforts on gaining sales and market share in those geographic markets where your company already has high sales and deemphasize sales in those areas where your company has a comparably low market share or where profit margins are relatively low. – Pursue essentially the same strategy worldwide or else have regio nal strategies tailored to match the differing competitive conditions and actions in North America, Europe-Africa, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America. Focus your company’s competitive efforts on those regional markets where sales are highest or most profitable and either deemphasize or withdraw from one or more geographic areas where market share is low and/or profit margins are small. Thinking Strategically: The Importance of Trying to Out-Maneuver Rivals Making Decisions. The following areas should be the basis of your decision making process. They are as follows: Product Design Marketing Assembly Compensation, Training, and Labor Force Special Order Bids Social Responsibility and CitizenshipFinance What Your Board of Directors Expects. The Board of Directors has given you and your co-managers broad strategy-making and operating authority to pursue the achievement of performance objectives, subject to two primary constraints: (1) Your company may not merge with another company ; the Board wishes the company to remain independent. And (2), company co-managers are expected to comply fully with all legal and regulatory requirements and to conduct the company’s business in an ethical manner. Good Luck. R. G. Revers PhD