Global Leadership and Management - Essay Example

? Global Leadership and Management Table of Contents Part Strategies to tackle political and economic issues during global expansion in business 3 Issues during global expansion 3 Strategies to address the issues 4 Reference 6 Part 2- Evaluation of strategies that a business firm could use to gather information about competition 7 Reference 11 Part 1-Strategies to tackle political and economic issues during global expansion in business Issues during global expansion The French economy had withstood the economic recession better than most other nations because of the resilience of the domestic spending of consumers, having a large public sector and because it is less exposed to the global demand and thus less exposed to the downturn. However, the GDP of the nation has been contracting since then. GDP contracted by 2.5% in the year 2009. Additionally the unemployment rate has also increased from 7.4% to 9.5% between the years 2008 and 2010. This could be a potential threat for the company seeking to expand in France as it could face inadequate demand for its products (Central Intelligence Agency, 2011). Additionally the labor market in France is not much competitive. That is why the French government has been trying to reform the labor market and modernize the economy. Workers productivity remains low in France (US Department of State, 2011). The president of France has tried eliminating the annual flat business tax and has also tried to increase tax credit for the investments made in the small and medium scale enterprises. This could act as a favorable factor for the company trying to expand in France. Moreover France also represents strong presence of labor unions which and the French Government pays particular attention to the protection and safeguard of workers both in the public as well as the private sector. This could be detrimental for the company to take strategic actions in case of low productivity of workers or the organization (Central Intelligence Agency, 2011). Strategies to address the issues The main issue could be the problem of low demand arising out of the GDP contraction in the economy. The problem can be tackled with an extensive marketing campaigning of the company’s products. This would be effective in spreading awareness about the products and making them accessible to the customers. The idea is to develop efficiencies in the operations of the company. It would be crucial to develop economies of scale such through increasing efficiencies in all its work processes. Moreover the high unemployment could be used for the company’ advantage as it would be possible to get labour at low costs and high efficiencies. Labour productivity could be a growing concern for the company seeking to expand in France. This problem would have to be tackled with the use of proper human resource management strategies. HRM theorists have increasingly identified the need for linking HRM strategies with the performance of the workforce. HRM strategies should be such that can attain the maximum contribution from employees and their exploit their maximum potential. The most suitable strategy in this case could be to employ performance based pay in which workers would be paid as per their performance and productivity in the organization over and above their basic pay. Pay linked with performance would be effective in driving up performance standards in the organization through enhanced efficiencies and expertise. The idea is to develop competitive advantage in all activities through increased efficiencies such that costs can be lowered and economies of scale can be attained (Cooke, 2000, p.1-2). However, compensations would have to be backed with rewards structures and training and development programs to ensure maximum involvement of employees in the organization. It is crucial to rewards employees for their good performance in the organization. However, rewards must not always be monetary; employees can be provided with non monetary rewards like words of appreciation, promotions, gifts etc. it can also be helpful in involving the workers participation in the creation of a rewards design structure. Companies like general Electric and Monsanto have been successful in winning their workers support and high performances by incorporating suitable rewards structures and employing the workers participation in the designing of the rewards structures too (Zingheim & Schuster, 2007). It is seen that the French Government is particularly conscious about employment compliances and the welfare of workers. Failure to meet the employment regulations and legal compliances could result in serious consequences for the company. There could also be a number of tax and accounting issues. Consequently the company would have to do extensive research with regards to favorable tax treatments, such as revenue specific requirements and employee requirements like personal tax issues (Dinsmore, 2006, p.1-2). Reference Central Intelligence Agency. (2011). Europe: France. Retrieved on January 05, 2011 from https://mail.google.com/mail/?shva=1#inbox/134a85570e741e44. Cooke, F. L. (2000). Human Resource Strategy to Improve Organizational Performance. ESRC Future of Work Programme ISSN 1469-1531. Retrieved on January 05, 2011 from http://www.leeds.ac.uk/esrcfutureofwork/downloads/workingpaperdownloads/paper9.pdf. Dinsmore. (2006). Checklist for international expansion. Retrieved on January 05, 2011 from http://www.dinsmore.com/files/Publication/5a350be4-a18e-483e-8092-25c86864e952/Presentation/PublicationAttachment/eabb6541-68df-4216-be9b-2adcb729690b/cohen%20-%20checklist%20for%20international%20expansion.pdf. US Department of State. (2011). Background Note: France. Retrieved on January 05, 2011 from http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/3842.htm. Zingheim, P. K. & Schuster, J. R. (2007). High Performance Pay. Retrieved on January 05, 2011 from http://www.paypeopleright.com/bizsum_High_Performance_Pay.pdf. Part 2- Evaluation of strategies that a business firm could use to gather information about competition Careful study of trade journals- probably appropriate. This is because journals are authentic sources and provides accurate and right kind of information about companies belonging to the industry. Wiretapping the telephones of competitors- Definitely not appropriate This is an unethical process and businesses established on unethical strategies have least possibilities of surviving in the long run. Posing as a potential customer to competitors- Probably not appropriate This is also not a very authentic process and eventually consumers would come to know about the true potential of the company and its products and this would hamper the goodwill of the company Getting loyal customers to put out a phone request for proposal soliciting competitors' bids- Undecided It would be wise to use the participation of loyal customers; however, soliciting competitor’s bids would be too cheap a tactic for a reputed organization. Buying competitors' products and taking them apart- Definitely not appropriate This would only result in increased costs for the company and would hardly do anything to improve its present business conditions. Hiring management consultants who have worked for competitors- Definitely appropriate This would be a fair and ethical strategy. Experienced management personnel would enrich the workforce of the company and would helpful as these people would have knowledge about the moves and strategies of competitors and would design its own strategies accordingly. Rewarding competitors' employees for useful tips- Probably not appropriate This is because employees might be tactful and provide wrong information. Questioning competitors' customers and/or suppliers- Definitely appropriate Customers and suppliers would provide the exact picture as to why the company’s products are popular and how does it work. Buying and analyzing competitors’ garbage- Probably not appropriate This can be a very low and cheap strategy of competitor analysis and would only downgrade its own reputation. Advertising and interviewing for nonexistent jobs- Definitely not appropriate This is because eventually people would come to know that the jobs were not existent and this would ruin its goodwill even further. Making public tours of competitors' facilities- Probably Appropriate This is because it is a transparent and ethical process and helps in making a true analysis of the competitor’s business position and is also cost effective. Releasing false information about the company to confuse competitors- Undecided This would be effective in identifying and analyzing the competitors’ moves accurately but the method is not completely ethical Questioning competitors' technical people at trade shows and conferences- probably appropriate This would be absolutely appropriate for gathering competitors’ information and crucial technical issues Hiring key people away from competitors- Definitely appropriate This would be suitable for attracting resources and talents from the industry and also helpful in gathering accurate information about the competitors. Analyzing competitors' labor union contracts- Definitely not appropriate Labor union contracts would hardly throw any light on the competitors’ strategies and moves Having employees date persons who work for competitors- Definitely not appropriate This strategy would be inappropriate as the employees would not easily release critical information about the company sp easily. Studying aerial photographs of competitors' facilities- Undecided This strategy would not be sufficient to provide detailed information about competitors through aerial photographs (Lamb, Hair & McDaniel, 2011, p.79). Reference Lamb, C. W., Hair, J. F. & McDaniel, C. (2011). Essentials of Marketing. Cengage Learning. Read More