Ubi-France - Strategy for Attraction of Financers - Case Study Example

Introduction The Ubi-France has been a joint-venture of three partners, affiliated with France and Germany. There was a unanimous agreement among the partners to penetrate into the local market of Germany, and explore the possible and available opportunities within the German, and regional European market. The Ubi-France, German unit has been serious in the progress and development of the automobile market of the region, “through deepening its cooperation with local industry” (Warren, 2001). Initially the organizations invested more than thirty million dollars, under distribution of fifty percent, thirty percent, and twenty percent respectively. Ventures of Ubi-France Initially there has been a rumor that Ubi-France intended to purchase more number of shares towards acquisition of the German rival groups. The business situation was therefore tensed, and business relationship between France and Germany stained. Such rumors have been refuted by the officials from the Ubi-France, rather the officials have stressed over the need to secure market shares and achieve customer satisfaction. The company has adopted and implemented “the use of operational ideas and successful experiences from their operations in France”, and has integrated the after purchase services with the sales network, aimed at the establishment “of a comprehensive and high-efficiency sales-service network” (Warren, 2001). The German consumer market venture has recorded sales of more than twenty thousand units on monthly basis, which is forty percent greater than the previous solo performance of the company. Bottle Neck Problem: Cultural Conflict Ubi-France has felt victim of the sociolinguistic challenges within German market. The multinational companies including Ubi-France have been accused for their involvement in such practices which generate “creativity-driven shock values, controversy and extreme individualism commonly accepted in the North American and Western European markets”. Ubi-France has experienced severe tribulations due to its “advertising language as culture-blind and bona fid”, and German market created great hurdle for the industry. It has been important for the company to implement congruence of the values, and avoid the existence of the cultural values in the organization in an implicit manner. It has been observed that the categorization of the organizational, departmental and employee values and behaviors on the basis of the cultural affinity has generated satisfaction among the employees, and has developed positive impact on their “commitment, absenteeism, turnover, morale and perception of feeling involved in an organization’s decision-making process” (Warren, 2001). Reflection on the development The unexpected success of the Ubi-France is credited to the French and German business associations and Business Commission of European Union. The entire unit as a team worked hard in order to achieve “series of glorious accomplishments”. The company took considerable measures towards after-sales service, and implemented a network which was spread all over the country. Ubi-France: Challenges The organization is vulnerable to series of problems, the intensity and composition of which is strongly base upon the size and production capacity. The leadership rubble has emerged as paramount issue that has been experienced by the multi-national organization, soon after the involvement of the foreigners in the administrative issues of the company. The problem has less to do with the cultural differences, and was much related to the difference of approach and practices in the foreign influenced and local influenced leadership. Previously the employees had the right to make the higher management aware of the dangers, and such practice contributed significantly towards the growth and employment of the industry, however locals are of the opinion that the local employees should themselves put in efforts to combat the problem, and achieve immediate relief (Nancy, 2002). The manufacturing organization is vulnerable to the threats from labor unions, emergence of competitive brand in the local or international market, the revision of the taxation policy and last but not the least, the organization is vulnerable to leadership crisis. It has been realized that labor unions have always created major hurdle towards the development and expansion plan, the labor unions were proactive, and have tried to curtail the production activities of the company on several accounts. The failure of the organization towards the fulfillment of their demands i.e. sufficient increment in the labor wages has generated unexpected consequences. The organization felt that its foreign operations have been victim of the sociolinguistic challenges within international market, the organization was accused for its involvement in such practices which generated “creativity-driven shock values, controversy and extreme individualism commonly accepted in the North American and Western European markets” (Warren, 2001). The organization experienced severe tribulations due to the “advertising language as culture-blind and bona fid” (Warren, 2001), and foreign market created great hurdle for the multi-national industry, therefore the organization had to halt its local operations because of the defiance of foreign cultural values. The labor issues and the challenges in the foreign country placed the organization in critical position, and the crucial decisions were to be taken to prevent the organization from any magnanimous loss i.e. financial loss, and loss of market share. Ubi-France: Strategy for Attraction of Financers It has been observed that the practice of planning under emergency or crisis is generally discouraged in the projects, the reason for such notion has been the realization of the fact that “it takes both a certain amount of planning and support and sitting in the hot seat of crises which eventually contribute towards the high stress levels for decision-makers”. It has been therefore suggested that if the practices of the appropriate documentation and the investments are adopted, “a crisis can serve as an opportunity. The emergence from the tough and difficult situation is possible provided that the organization is prepared and vigilant towards the perceived threats, such vigilance require higher degree of perceived legitimacy and credibility”. The crisis shall be considered as an opportunity to exercise change and reforms, therefore the concept of change can be floated and implemented during the tenure of the crisis. The ultimate beneficiary and the victim of the advantages and concerns associated with any of the project is neither the authority, the developers nor the non-governmental organizations, but it is the public that benefits and suffers the most either ways, therefore keeping in view the concerns of the people in mind, there is need to adopt a moderate approach, which provide the benefits of the development plans to the public. The company has committed itself towards business ethics, and has taken preventive measures related to risk management the company has further “ensured legal compliance, enhancement of company efficiency, and emerge and sustain as reputed amongst the stakeholders”. The market appreciated the nature of services, and therefore the company secured good deals and understanding with the local market. Internally, the commitment and devotion practiced by the team members has influenced the performance of the company, and the company has emerged as major network associate. According to the official reports released by the management of the company, the company has been able to secure extensive track record in services, have been able to deliver services “to virtually all of its infrastructure customers” for more than fifteen years, the company has “contracted operating services to twenty one operators globally, and provided turnkey implementation to dealers on local, regional and international scale”. The problems and concerns shall be anticipated, and the brainstorming sessions shall be conducted to ensure the swift and remedial measures are designed to be implemented towards Risk Analysis and Contingency Planning. The brainstorming sessions are expected to favor the creative minds, and broaden the scope of the mental perspective relevant to the particular issue. The possible tools shall be applied, which shall be of minimal worth, and equipped with compatibility mode. The time and resources shall be considered major and worthy options, where further research and modification shall be required. The projects shall be allotted appropriate timeline, and on the basis of these timelines, the project shall be undertaken, keeping enough allowance towards the procurement of the resources and its availability (Harold, 2004). Launch of Initiatives The implementation of the successful projects is essential for the development and the progress organization. The Hewlett-Packard has been successful in the implementation of the comprehensive plans aimed at the performance and production enhancement, along with the incorporation of the latest technological applications into the product. The success is possible through the implementation of the result-oriented project management techniques; this requires the active and vigilant involvement and contribution of the upper management. The comprehensive strategy requires the identification of the areas which require enhancement and modification to ensure the success implementation of the project, beside the management has to quantify the project contributions. The success of the installation of the project is achievable through successful collaboration and implementation of the well-designed systems of communication. In the case of former, the coordination plays a crucial and determining role, and every success is attributed to the team efforts and the responsible authority, therefore the acknowledgement practices are widely common and practiced in this case. However, in the case of latter practice, the focus is converged on the communication techniques and their effectiveness. The ultimate solution of the problem has been realized and introduced through the mutual coordination and support of the team members, therefore the managers are encouraged to appreciate and encourage their respective team mates on the achievements. The managers are further encouraged to appreciate the services of the respective organizations which helped and supported in parallel to the job operation. Such practice is crucial, and is expected to ensure good results and favor for the company in the years to come. The communication plays significant role, and regular meetings and timely interactions correspond to the implementation of the effective and efficient suggestions. The Ubi-France has therefore facilitated the communication requirements of the management through shared workgroup databases, email and voicemail distribution lists, shared sets of presentation materials, source code control systems, and document version management systems. The Ubi-France has ensured that the respective mangers, and their subordinates participate enthusiastically in the communication meetings, and the presence of the respective authorities and officials has been declared mandatory (Alan, 2000). The Ubi-France has intended to adopt systematic approach, which can be beneficial in the evaluation of the process. The technique is expected to ensure that the needs and requirements of the customers are fulfilled, and the product design and the production process are in compliance with the requirements and standards requested by the customers. The company has realized the significance for the establishment of the ‘implementation-agnostic reference architecture’, which supports the strengthening of the management capacity, and offers the integration of the Information Technology and the business environment. The company has intended to launch and develop system, which can be referred for the management of the multiple projects, sharing identical domains, such projects shall have global project management database for storing data for all participating projects which is dynamically updated with best current data representing best current practices across all participating projects in the system. It is encouraging to observe that Ubi-France has tried to facilitate the requirements of the stakeholders, and the managers. The former is involved in the investment of the resources and efforts towards particular task, whereas the latter can design strategic decisions which have the potential to torpedo the effort (Harold, 2003). It has been observed that the analytical approach shall be applied on the non-numeric type projects through the modified project selection process. The recommended process has invoked and improved the provisions for the communication. In this regard, the systematic approach has emerged as the effective and efficient tool for the production of the product that is based upon information from both management and teams to work together for a common cause. Such recommendations and exercises will eventually result in the creation of the process which shall be applicable and adopted in the regular practices of the respective departments of Ubi-France, which will eventually result in the reduction of the risk factor (Clifford, 2002). References 1. Harold Kerzner. Advanced Project Management: Best Practices on Implementation. John Wiley and Sons. 2004. pp. 213-223. 2. Clifford F. Gray, Erik W. Larson. Project Management: The Complete Guide for Every Manager. McGraw-Hill Professional. 2002. pp. 198-204. 3. Harold Kerzner. Project Management. 2003. John Wiley and Sons. pp. 98-104. 4. Alan Webb. Project Management for Successful Product Innovation. 2000. Gower Publishing, Ltd. pp. 178-198. 5. Nancy M. Desjardins. A case study in organizational value communication: understanding value/behavior relationship. Central Connecticut State University. April, 2002. 6. E.E. Adams, R.J. Ebert. Production and Operations Management. Prentice Hall. 2003. pp. 129 7. Susan E Jackson, Randall S Schuler. Managing Human Resources through Strategic Partnerships. Springer Publication. 2004. 8. Warren J. Keegan. Marketing Plans That Work. Elsevier. 2001. pp. 213 9. Michael J. Enright, Stuart L. Hart. New Frontiers in International Strategy. Journal of International Business Studies. Volume: 35. 2004. Read More