Location, location, location - Essay Example

Location The choice of location for any given business enterprise is critical for its initial growth in the industry. It is therefore imperative for business managers to understand the determinants of the location of a business as these factors emerge from the initial stages of site selection. There are voluminous literature regarding the process of site selection, but interestingly, a few of them present similar reports. This is because different businesses perform different in their location, a factor that results from the nature of business.

Nonetheless, there are universal factors that influence the location of a business, including availability of raw materials, transportation costs, land, labor, safety, waste disposal, government regulation, and proximity to market (Pellebarg and Wever, 2008). However, technological developments have made some of these factors less significant in determining the location. For a company that specializes in software, the choice of location would largely depend upon the availability of a skilled labor force, educational resources, and connectivity to the global network, recreational opportunities, and proximity to computer-manufacturing industries, government regulations, and communication system.

In North America, the three strategic locations would be the United States (California, Texas, or New York), Canada (Toronto, Ottawa, or Vancouver), and Mexico (Mexico City, Acapulco, or Monterrey). These three locations meet the ideal conditions that a software company requires to operate optimally and become successful (Brun, 2007). The three locations seem to fulfill requirements that make a software company, including close proximity to computer-manufacturing industries and their subsidiaries, available and sound connectivity to the global network, vast educational resources, and a well-endowed communication system that encompasses the globe.

The US has numerous educational resources that specialize on software development, include excellent institutions and research centers such as the Microsoft, Google, and Yahoo laboratories. Additionally, the US has a large high-skill labor force that the software company needs. Furthermore, the US is home to the largest computer-manufacturing industries, including Dell Inc headquartered in Texas, Apple Inc headquartered in California, Hewlett-Packard Company subsidiary, and Toshiba America Inc subsidiary, among others (Pellebarg and Wever, 2008).

The technological advancement in the country will also be an added advantage for the company. Canada also has similar location advantage as the US, but the educational resources are slightly lower than those available in the US are. Technological and software giants are available in the region, but majority are subsidiaries of those in the US, such as Google and Microsoft. Similarly, the computer manufacturing companies in the region are largely subsidiaries, but their numbers are encouraging (Brun, 2007).

The country also boosts of a highly skilled labor force in North America, which is an added advantage for the company. Government regulations also favor software and technological companies in order to compete with giants from the US. Mexico provides a large market for both computers and software due to the large and growing population. The country is developing technologically fast, and the future is bright for technological companies. However, it falls in third place on the checklist, behind Canada and the US in both level of skilled labor, availability of computer-manufacturing companies, and quality of educational resources.

Among the three locations, the most ideal for establishing a young software developing company would be the US, particularly New York City. The city is the center of global technology, with a bursting high-skilled labor, close proximity to educational resources, and available market for computer software. Moreover, the government regulations are fair (Pellebarg and Wever, 2008). Consequently, the company will face a few initial challenges, but the company will definitely improve its competitive operations over time.

ReferencesBrun, H. (2007). The World today: Current Problems and Their Origins. New York: Amsco School Pubns Inc. Pellenbarg, P., and Wever, E. (2008). International Business Geography: Case Studies of Corporate Firms. New York: Routledge.