Global Markets - Assignment Example

Global Markets Introduction Globalization has impacted the world communities in an unprecedented manner. The communicationand the information revolution brought about in recent decade and a half has put unprecedented power to communicate with, inform, interact and trade across the globe. This had spurred several commercial organizations across the world to initiate moves to establish presence in global markets as with the communication and information revolution such markets could now be better controlled from controlling offices located in home country. An additional input to globalization was the across the board lowering of international barriers on movement of capital, goods and services. This has had yeomen contributions from international setups like the World Trade Organization (WTO), International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. These setups helped bring about open and rationalized international tariff structures on movements of goods and services and helped bring about improvements in movements of several developing economies towards full capital account convertibility. With such freedoms to deploy capital and resources, aided by astounding communication and information technology assistance, stage was set for several multinational corporations to hasten their international marketing strategies and reap the benefits of globalization by capturing substantial chunks of overseas markets. Microsoft, a major contributor to the communication and information revolution, has also been a contributor to the overall globalization. Microsoft already had strong international presence; however some major international markets had largely eluded their marketing efforts. One such market was that of Russia. This paper examines the possibilities of Microsoft entering Russian market with a Research & Development (R&D) initiative on the backbone of a foreign direct investment (FDI).The paper further examines the prevalent organizational culture at Microsoft and how that culture would have to be remodeled or reshaped to reckon the Russian cultural and behavioral realities to formulate an overall successful international marketing strategy for Russia. The paper begins with looking at Microsoft corporate profile, organizational culture ,its prime emphasis in its overall mission and the anti trust troubles of Microsoft in established markets as the reason for its move to new international markets ; the paper goes on to examine the concept of globalization and the reaction to economic policies pursued in last decade in order to further the process of globalization and lessons for Microsoft initiative in Russia from such reaction to globalization policies of last decade. Finally the paper suggests how a Microsoft R&D initiative in the form of an FDI may turn to be successful international marketing effort in Russia. Microsoft -A corporate profile and Organizational culture "Microsoft is the global leader in software, services and solutions. It was founded in 1975 by William H. Gates III, better known as Bill Gates. In the fiscal year ending 30 June 2006, Microsoft employed 71,553 people and had net revenues of $44.28 billion. Microsoft operates from 9.9 million sq. ft. of office space all over the world. With headquarters in Redmond, WA, USA, it has subsidiaries in 104 countries and operation centers in Dublin, Ireland; Humacao, Puerto Rico, USA; Reno, Nevada, USA and Singapore". (Profile, 2006) Microsoft's history is full of important milestones. Some of the important dates in Microsoft's history can be listed as follows: on 25 June 1981 Microsoft was incorporated ; on 12 August 1981, IBM introduced its personal computer with Microsoft's 16-bit operating system, MS-DOS 1.0 ; on 13 March 1986: Microsoft's stock went public ;on 22 May 1990 Microsoft launched Windows 3.0; on 25 June 1998 Microsoft launched Windows 98;on 22 June 2000: Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer outline Microsoft's .NET strategy for Web services ; on 31 May 31, 2001: Microsoft launched Office XP ; on 24 April 2003: Microsoft launched Windows Server 2003 ; on 21 October 2003 Microsoft launched Microsoft Office System and on 15 June 2006, Microsoft announced that Bill Gates will transition out of a day-to-day role in the company in July 2008. (Profile, 2006) Microsoft operates through the following core business divisions: Platform Products and Services Division, including the Windows Client Group, Server and Tools Group, and MSN Group; Business Division, including the Information Worker Group and Microsoft Business Solutions Group and Entertainment and Devices Division, including the Home and Entertainment Group and the Mobile and Embedded Devices Group. (Profile, 2006) Microsoft owns a veritable stable of high recognition global brands. Some of which can be listed as : MS-DOS, Windows, Windows 3.0, Windows 95, Windows 98, .NET, Office XP, Windows XP and Windows Server . (Profile, 2006) The corporate culture at Microsoft is truly reflected in its values. Microsoft website defines its value system in following words:" As a company, and as individuals, we value integrity, honesty, openness, personal excellence, constructive self-criticism, continual self-improvement, and mutual respect. We are committed to our customers and partners and have a passion for technology. We take on big challenges, and pride ourselves on seeing them through. We hold ourselves accountable to our customers, shareholders, partners, and employees by honoring our commitments, providing results, and striving for the highest quality". (Our, 2006) This corporate culture is effectively translated into its organizational culture and human resources development policy. And is reflected in the overall mission of the company which is stated to be:" Our mission is to help people reach their potential. That's why we donate software, hardware, funding, and training to programs all over the world as part of our Realize Your Potential Campaign".(Our,2006).In pursuance of this mission and set of stated values Microsoft has developed an important conceptual initiative termed Global Citizenship Initiative. Microsoft's website defines this concept in following words," Every successful corporation has a responsibility to use its resources and influence to make a positive impact on the world and its people. Microsoft's Global Citizenship Initiative is focused on mobilizing our resources across the company and around the world, to create opportunities in the communities where we do business, and to fulfill our commitment to serving the public good through innovative technologies and partnerships. (Our, 2006).The modus operandi of Microsoft is to enter the local communities and understand their needs before supplanting their needs with its products specifically addressed to fulfillment of such needs. "Microsoft's Community Affairs provides training and tools that create the social and economic opportunities that can transform communities and help people realize their potential. Through our programs and our partnerships, Microsoft supports numerous projects and organizations around the world working to expand opportunities, and help improve digital inclusion, through technology access and training". (Our, 2006). Beginning with the selling and highly utilitarian idea of an operating system like Windows Microsoft had captured substantial markets in all the branded products it marketed. For further product development Microsoft is eager and open to recruit talent from any corner of the world. In fact right from selling retail in multiple jurisdictions to catering to bulk institutional requirements through its wide network of resellers, distributors and direct sellers, Microsoft has to encounter multiple cultural and ethnic issues. In order to address such issues and build them within its products range Microsoft has a very flexible and open diversity policy as a part of its organizational culture. In fact such a policy has helped Microsoft spread out in several international jurisdictions including opening full fledged offices including R&D activities. The Microsoft website includes important words in respect of its diversity policy as follows:" At Microsoft, we believe that diversity enriches our performance and products, the communities where we live and work, and the lives of our employees. As our workforce evolves to reflect the growing diversity of our communities and the global marketplace, our efforts to understand, value, and incorporate differences become increasingly important. This is an exciting time in Microsoft's history. We're serving hundreds of millions of customers around the globe. We're building new businesses with tremendous opportunities for growth. And we're investing for the long term to achieve the mission of helping people and businesses realize their full potential. We're able to do great things in part because our incredible team is a diverse one. It's a team that's made up of smart, talented, passionate people from all over the world, and from all different backgrounds and cultures. At Microsoft, we define diversity broadly to extend beyond race, national origin, gender, age, disability, sexual orientation, or gender identity or expression-it is truly about all the ways in which we differ. We work hard at Microsoft to think inclusively, value differences, and provide the necessary tools to give each employee a chance to do his or her best work. This approach has resulted in a wealth of fresh ideas and creative problem solving as we focus on the customers and markets we serve, the business processes and practices we use, the products and services we develop, and our growing workforce. And we're not finished. We know that diversity at Microsoft, like the rest of our business, is a work in progress-one that we are very optimistic about. By fully pursuing the company's mission in all parts of the globe and in keeping with what we value and what the citizens in each country value, Microsoft has established a comprehensive plan to promote and integrate diversity at every level within our organization and in everything we do."(Diversity, 2003) Primarily product development which was far ahead in utility to consumers, when compared to nearest alternative solution, and the above carefully nurtured corporate culture for excellence and inviting talents from all corners of globe has helped Microsoft achieve an enviable position in several of the brand names it markets. It has so dominated the US and international markets that monopolization and antitrust charges have been leveled against Microsoft." Procedures against Microsoft first began in 1991. The suit under the US Sherman Act was itself four years old. As Microsoft's dominance in the computer industry grew along with its monopoly over the operating system for personal computers (PC/OS) in the early 1990s, the US Department of Justice started its investigation, ending in a 1995 settlement - joined in by Europe - intended to restrain Microsoft power. But Microsoft continued to muscle into new markets, resulting in a broader case filed in 1998 by the US charging that the company had illegally wielded Windows against new Internet technologies that threatened its monopoly. A proposed breakup of the company was thrown out on appeal, and the Bush administration reached another settlement with the company in November 2001. This time the stances of competition watchdogs across the Atlantic do not meet. Until now, the European Commission is still stepping up with its own proceedings against the software giant, which is claimed to involve different conduct and different markets from the US case. In the US case, Microsoft was found to have illegally maintained its monopoly in the PC/OS market by dominating PC makers, crashing potential rivals and controlling Internet service providers. Microsoft also allegedly harmed consumers not only by high prices but also by hampering innovation, and hence, restraining consumers' choice. The EU case involves allegations of Microsoft's attempted monopolization of the market for workgroup server operating systems (the software that makes computer networks operate) by deliberatingly preventing servers made by other companies from interconnecting well with 95 percent of PCs that use a Microsoft PC/OS. This case also involves an attempt by Microsoft to take over the market for media players by using the same illegal tactics as with Internet browsers in the US case, which escaped challenge then. "Server networks lie at the heart of the future of the Web and every effort must be made to prevent their monopolization through illegal practices". (Reguleter, 2003) Such strong anti trust pressures have forced Microsoft to move to entirely newer markets like Russia, China, and Israel etc. It may be correlated that Microsoft's moves to Russia are helped along by the ongoing process of globalization. However Microsoft needs to view the process of globalization in the new and emerging context before going ahead with its FDI programme.This context relates to ruptures made in the social capital by policies leading to globalization through market deregulation as sole panacea. New Perspective on globalization-The Backdrop for Microsoft's FDI In globalization context Devetak and Higgott explain how globalization has brought about a weakening of an intra national social bond. They further posit that ongoing process of globalization causes constant disruption in existing social bond. It is their view that "under conditions of globalization, assumptions made about the social bond are changing; .... it demonstrates how strains on the social bond within states give rise to a search for newer forms of global political theory and organization, and the emergence of new global (non-state actors) which contest with states over the policy agendas emanating from globalization; ........despite the new forms of activity identified in the second stage, the article concludes that the prospects for a satisfactory synthesis of a liberal economic theory of globalization, a normative political theory of the global public domain, and a new social bond are remote"( Devetak & Higgott 1999). Largely looking in terms of distribution of economic benefits of globalization it can be surmised that entrenched vested interests and inequalities have remained more or less as they were or even worsened. These inequalities, by themselves, would make any concept of global polity, economy or social bond from arriving in synthesis for maintenance of global social order. We examine the extent of inequalities and the possible reasons thereof below. Again in a slightly different context Phillip W.Jones makes a statement which is extremely relevant to the definition of globalization as pertinent to present context. Jones states that," The logic of globalization contrasts markedly with that of internationalism. The latter, with its intrinsically democratic foundation, looks to a world ordered by structures supportive of that functionalism which is embedded in accountability. Globalization, by contrast, implies few logical imperatives in favour of accountability, but rather looks to the pursuit of interest on the global level through the operation of unfettered capitalism"(Jones,1998). As Roby says," world-wide output and trade have grown apace with market openings and the rise of efficient global business networks these past 15 years. An entrepreneurial class is energizing once-stagnant command economies" (Roby, 2005). Roby has extremely clear views on the matter when he states that," yet, one blemish remains in the idyll of globalization: Except in China, there has been scarcely a dent in endemic poverty. Half the world's wage earners - around 1.4 billion people - still subsist with their families on income below $2 a day, the International Labor Organization said in a year-end report. Its World Employment Report appealed for higher labor productivity, humane working conditions and equal opportunity. Matching local buying power to the strong world-wide momentum of production may prove to be the demand-side challenge of the 21st century. This balance can only be achieved by spreading more evenly the material benefits of borderless commerce. The ILO detected "realistic chances" to halve the proportion of working poor by 2015, if the global economy can keep growing 4.7% a year. Yet its projection hinges on sustained success in South and East Asia. This goal is also within reach for the Arab countries, said the ILO, but probably not for Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa" (Roby, 2005).Traditionally quoted bottlenecks to either growth of wealth or distribution of the same such as value and cultural systems, corruption, complex legal systems, obsolete political systems, small national markets, intricate and messy policy making, bureaucracy etc still stand tall playing their inhibiting roles. Globalization was expected to sweep away all these and establish a new social bond within a synthesis of a global polity and economy but that has not come about. Some state with confidence that globalization would bring wealth first to companies and then through labor distribute it down the line. Again Roby quotes Roland Berger, chairman and founder of Roland Berger Strategy Consultants based in Munich as saying that," the stubborn income gap ... problem to be resolved in stages within each society undergoing transition to a market economy (turning global)...It is the companies which first bring the wealth.......Only later is it distributed through labor" (Roby, 2005).The moot points are pace, timing and quantum of this redistribution hampered by above stated inhibiting factors. Joseph Stiglitz a World Bank Economist was the most prominent insider to offer criticism of the neoliberalism inherent in The Washington Consensus and the body of criticism is now termed as post Washington consensus consensus (Stiglitz, 1998) in the sense that it agrees on drawbacks and weak points of the consensus. In his book Globalizations and its Discontents Stiglitz made a critical analysis of what went wrong with market deregulation obsessed neoliberal economic policies and emphasized the need for developing several safety nets to the list of economic issues that emerged out of straight and rapid market deregulation.Stiglitz cautioned countries from the pitfalls of following and economic policy of beggar thyself as follows," trade liberalization accompanied by high interest rates is an almost certain recipe for job destruction and unemployment creation . . . Financial market liberalization unaccompanied by an appropriate regulatory structure is an almost certain recipe for economic instability - and may well lead to higher, not lower interest rates, making it harder for poor farmers to buy the seeds and fertilizer that can raise them above subsistence. Privatization, unaccompanied by competition policies and oversight to ensure that monopoly powers are not abused, can lead to higher, not lower, prices for consumers. Fiscal austerity, pursued blindly, in the wrong circumstances, can lead to high unemployment and a shredding of the social contract. (Stiglitz, 2002). As Mandle (2001) says," With globalization, this problem of balance has become an international one. In the past, individual nations were able to pursue their own balance without giving much consideration to how that same process was evolving in other societies. With the increased integration of global markets, however, this ability to pursue insular strategies with regard to corporate governance has become attenuated. Advances in the technology of information processing, communications, and transportation mean firms increasingly are able to locate production wherever they choose. This new corporate mobility means that if a country attempts to curb corporations by, for example, increasing business taxation or reducing their ability to retrench workers, it could be exposed to a loss of corporate investment." The Russian FDI Any international marketing strategy can be based on five major modes of market entry viz.exporting ,internet, contractual agreements, strategic alliances and foreign direct investments(FDIs).Risk element in entry strategy can be decided by the amount of equity which may be worked out in the entry approach.(Gaba et al.,2002).Exporting can be direct or indirect. Indirect exporting involves exporting to a home country buyer who, in turn, exports. Mall and super markets normally obtain their supplies in this manner. Exporting normally has the targets of skimming the market for a new launch primarily in order to absorb overheads. It is resorted to in mature economies. Boeing is one of the largest global exporters. Internet selling was intended originally for domestic marketing; however websites began receiving cross border orders for their products which gave rise to the concept of International Internet Marketing (IIM).Various websites like Amazon.com eBay etc are major international sellers and facilitators. Direct sales is an important entry approach for high value and technically complex industrial products where an office presence may be required in the importing country for service and collection. FDIs is a distinguishing feature of the trend of globalization where ambitious and large sized corporates strategically desire to establish manufacturing facilities in the target market.(Doukas & Lang,2002).This entry approach helps improve logistics, reaps benefits of cheap labour and production lines can adjust more quickly to changes in socio-cultural trends and attitudes. This works efficiently so long as the overseas parent keeps a close tab on the quality standards. Contractual arrangements are usually long term and bereft of equity sharing. These centre on technology transfers, processes, trademarks or human skills. Licensing; franchising, Strategic International Alliances, Joint Ventures and Consortia (e.g. Airbus Industrie) are normal forms of global contractual arrangements. As Microsoft is a huge multinational corporation with strong financials, capital structure and a varied international experience of long standing, it can venture Russian software market on its own without entering into any joint venture or partnership or franchising alone. Its FDI would come out successful if it captures within its structure Russian cultural realities and value systems. In 21st century international marketer (Such as Microsoft) should seek solution to choice problem between standardization and adaptation. (Ghemawat, 2003). A vital challenge for the international marketing strategy of a firm is the need to understand the different milieus the company needs to operate in. That is comprehending different cultural, economic, and political environments is necessary for the success of a company. Culture is one of the most challenging and devious elements of the international marketplace. These challenges encouraged numerous researchers to take up international marketing studies concerning behavioral differences in consumers across nations (e.g. Lynn, Zinkhan et al. 1993; Nakata and Sivakumar 1996: Brass 1991; McCarty and Hattwick 1991; Hafstrom, Chae et al. 1992; Steenkamp, Hofstede et al. 1999; Chu, Spires et al. 1999; Husted 2000).Several other researchers have devoted substantial attention to local cultural aspects in international marketing lest a cultural myopia destroys the entire entry strategy even before it gets positioned. (Czinkota &Ronkkainen ,1990; Terpstra & Sarathy ,1991; Jeannet & Hennessy, 1992 ; Toyne & Walters, 1993) They do so in the form of a complete environmental scan. Subsequent to such an environment scan a firm can look at its various elements in its marketing mix. These elements typically comprise of those related to: Product-Adaptation, Brand Name, Features, Packaging, Service, warranty, Style and standards; Price-Credits and discounts; Promotion-Advertising, Personal Selling, Media, Message and Sales promotion and Distribution: Logistics and Channels. These marketing mix variables would be the target of the specific cultural insights afforded by the environmental scan as above and should reflect in the adoption of any one or more of the marketing strategies. These strategies essentially represent the kernel of the entire strategic thinking that had gone into the strategic efforts of the global marketer. The Russian realities are not heard to comprehend. In fact Microsoft entered Russian markets with its products much earlier. Following are some of the views on Microsoft products specifically tailored for Russia along with revealing comments on Russian software markets and consumers: "Yes, I have to approve: the Russian version of Windows 95 is fully translated and the language doesn't "cut the ears." Microsoft has also translated all their other products, including Internet Explorer 4.0. Microsoft is paying huge attention to the Russian market. As an example, the December issue of Internet magazine (circulation 20,000) was distributed with the Russian version of MSIE 4.0 on CD-ROM. The newsstand price for that issue was unchanged at $2; the CD-ROM was paid for by Microsoft Russia and two local ISPs, Cityline and Glasnet. This issue also included 5 free hours of connectivity from Cityline, which is one of the newest and most progressive Moscow providers, with a flat-rate price of $36.60. In Russia MS Office is not just number one, it's the only one. It includes not only a Russian interface, but also dictionaries, hyphenation, thesaurus, syntax checking -- all the language-dependant features in the original version. The piracy rate here is something like 95% -- anybody can freely buy a CD-ROM filled with stolen software (including MS products) at any shop on the street; the price is about $5.80"(Microsoft,1998) and, "First of all, Microsoft -- without really knowing or meaning it -- has conducted an extremely useful experiment that sheds light on Russian computer users' ways and patterns. The experiment clearly shows that Russian users prefer obsolete and buggy, but localized (i.e. Russian-interface), software to brand-new and more powerful International versions. In October-November 1997, when MSIE 4.0 was rendering the previous version extinct on a global scale (judging by data from Browserwatch and other monitoring services), Russian users stuck to MSIE 3.0, which accounted for some 80% of Explorer copies in use in Russia until mid-December. There is only one explanation for this phenomenon: lack of a Russian version of MSIE 4.0. Once the Russian version came out, MSIE 4.0 started gaining ground over its precursor, and by today's figures it accounts for 46% of all MSIE versions on the Russian market". (Microsoft, 1998-i) Microsoft would do well to remember that Russians possess excellent technical education, understanding of networks and, programming knowledge. It would be an ideal human resource strategy to recruit out of such a talented pool which even had tenacity to hack US software in 1980 so as to make Russian programmes work. As of today Russia has many skilled people but only a few jobs for them. Such unemployed talent is involved in social evils like hacking for earning money and name. Moreover hacking operates in gangs, groups and clubs which are well organized and have basis in social communal system of organization. Such groups have often been persecuted for global level hacking. Microsoft should ideally convert its policy of community work for Russian reality to wean away such talent. Russians have strong desire for Internet access, but find it to be an expensive affair.They find it cheaper to steal access and services.Similay the market for pirated software is booming in Russia. On an average a legal copy of MS Office would be equivalent to about 2 months' salary of an average Russian; similarly a CD burner would consume away two weeks' salary. In pirated Russian markets the MS Operating System sell for a few dollars. Like in other global jurisdictions Microsoft needs to have a careful policy to conciliate with software pirates and convert them to legal resellers. 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Comment by Alexander Gagin.Retrieved from http://www.tbtf.com/archive/ on January 04, 2007. Microsoft in Israel and Russia..(1998-i). Comment by Anton Nossik.Retrieved from http://www.tbtf.com/archive/ on January 04, 2007. Read More