...a recession: A case study of the second hand truck business NAME OF AUTHOR Christos Kakazoukis NAME OF SUPERVISOR Urban Ljungquist MASTER’S THESIS IN BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION, MBA PROGRAM Jan 2011 Thesis for the Master’s degree in Business Administration Autumn 2010 Abstract Master thesis in business administration, MBA Program, School of Management, Blekinge Institute of Technology, fall of 2010. Author: Christos Kakazoukis Supervisor: Urban Ljungquist Title: How macro environmental forces affect business buying behavior after a recession: A case study of the second hand truck business. Keywords: Buying behavior, customer behavior, financial crisis, trucks, PESTEL Background and problem: The financial crisis has had a deep impact on businesses all around the world. This has affected our purchases, both as retailers and as customers. In this thesis I will investigate how the buying behavior has changed, before, during and after the financial crisis with focus on the second hand truck business. I will also investigate which macro environmental factors have affected the buying behavior. Purpose: The purpose of this research is to describe changes in buying behaviors from influence of macro environmental forces. Method: I have used a qualitative method, and as a part of that face to face interviews, to understand and establish a better contact with the respondents. At the selection of companies I have chosen three companies in the second hand truck business, located...
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...Mechanical Engineering Abstract Chinese market has a great demand for foreign cars, and a great many foreign automobile companies are competing for their market shares here. The most representative ones are Volkswagen and Honda, they adoped different market strategies and they both suffered some success and failures With so many competitions, the future of Chinese automobile industry is hard to predict. Keywords: Market structure, Industry structure, External challenges, Three joys, Source and supply chain 1. History background After the reform and open policy, China’s economy has been increased rapidly, and there was a great demand for cars. But the domestic automobile industry was not that developed at that time and could not meet with such a great demand. So in the 1980s, Chinese automobile industry started to join hands with the foreign companies and improve the technology. Among all the foreign companies, the most typical and successful ones are Volkswagen and Honda. The Volkswagen Company started to enter the Chinese market in 1984 with production base in Shanghai. It is one of the earliest manufactures set up business in China. And it set up another joint venture in Changchun in 1990. Until today , the company owns 14 enterprises in the whole mainland of China. The Honda Company entered Chinese market in 1994, but their early business was manufacturing some car components. Not until 1998, did the company set up its first production base in making cars...
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...Dunning’s Eclectic Theory. Read the following short case study and use Dunning’s eclectic paradigm to explain why IBM has decided to pull out of production of PCs at Zelenograd and revert to exporting. Hint: Dunning’s paradigm argues that firms will set up overseas operations where three conditions hold: • The firm has Ownership advantages – things the firm is able to do particularly well relative to its rivals • There are Locational advantages – there are good reasons why the overseas location is more favourable than supplying from the home country • There are Internalisation advantages – good reasons why the firm will run it’s own overseas operation rather than contracting a third party to produce the good under licence IBM Pulls out of Zelenograd. IBM is considering bending its production of personal computers at Zelenograd, near Moscow, blaming changes in the Russian tax regime for undermining the economic rationale for manufacturing computers locally compared to importing them. Other Western computer manufacturers are also complaining that tax breaks granted to Russian trading groups with connections in the Kremlin have undermined the local market’s price structure. The decision is a serious setback to Russia’s attempts to attract foreign direct investment and reflects the unpredictable business conditions that still bedevil many sectors of the economy. The concessions to Russian trading organisations have enabled some favoured dealers...
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...PART I. ITEM 1. Business Ford Motor Company (referred to herein as "Ford", the "Company", "we", "our" or "us") was incorporated in Delaware in 1919. We acquired the business of a Michigan company, also known as Ford Motor Company, which had been incorporated in 1903 to produce and sell automobiles designed and engineered by Henry Ford. We are one of the world’s largest producers of cars and trucks. We and our subsidiaries also engage in other businesses, including financing vehicles. In addition to the information about Ford and our subsidiaries contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2011 ("2011 Form 10-K Report" or "Report"), extensive information about our Company can be found at www.corporate.ford.com, including information about our management team, our brands and products, and our corporate governance principles. The corporate governance information on our website includes our Corporate Governance Principles, Code of Ethics for Senior Financial Personnel, Code of Ethics for the Board of Directors, Standards of Corporate Conduct for all employees, and the Charters for each of the Committees of our Board of Directors. In addition, any amendments to our Code of Ethics or waivers granted to our directors and executive officers will be posted in this area of our website. All of these documents may be accessed by going to our corporate website and clicking on "Our Company," then "Corporate Governance," and then "Corporate Governance...
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...Street (E38-104), Cambridge, MA 02139, USA E-mail: sturgeon@mit.edu Olga Memedovic* United Nations Industrial Development Organization, Vienna International Centre, A-1440 Vienna, Austria E-mail: O.Memedovic@unido.org *Corresponding Author Johannes Van Biesebroeck Department of Economics, University of Toronto, 150 St. George Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3G7,Canada E-mail: jovb@chass.utoronto.ca Gary Gereffi Department of Sociology, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708-0088, USA E-mail: ggere@soc.duke.edu Abstract: This paper lays out the main features of the global automotive industry and identifies several important trends. A boom in developing country sales and production has not yet overshadowed the importance of existing markets in developed regions. Regional integration is very strong at an operational level, yet the industry has recently developed a set of global-scale value chain linkages, and retains national and local elements as well. The paper highlights how global, regional, national and local value chains are nested to create a pattern of global integration that is distinctive to the industry. We use global value chain analysis to help explain the limits of build-to-order in the industry, the role of regional and global suppliers, the shifting geography of production and how the characteristics of value chain linkages in the industry favour tight integration and regional production. We describe how industry concentration focuses power in the hands of a...
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...Street (E38-104), Cambridge, MA 02139, USA E-mail: sturgeon@mit.edu Olga Memedovic* United Nations Industrial Development Organization, Vienna International Centre, A-1440 Vienna, Austria E-mail: O.Memedovic@unido.org *Corresponding Author Johannes Van Biesebroeck Department of Economics, University of Toronto, 150 St. George Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3G7,Canada E-mail: jovb@chass.utoronto.ca Gary Gereffi Department of Sociology, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708-0088, USA E-mail: ggere@soc.duke.edu Abstract: This paper lays out the main features of the global automotive industry and identifies several important trends. A boom in developing country sales and production has not yet overshadowed the importance of existing markets in developed regions. Regional integration is very strong at an operational level, yet the industry has recently developed a set of global-scale value chain linkages, and retains national and local elements as well. The paper highlights how global, regional, national and local value chains are nested to create a pattern of global integration that is distinctive to the industry. We use global value chain analysis to help explain the limits of build-to-order in the industry, the role of regional and global suppliers, the shifting geography of production and how the characteristics of value chain linkages in the industry favour tight integration and regional production. We describe how industry concentration focuses power in the hands of a...
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...Project Report 2014 Prepared by: Group 8, Section B Megha PGP17/093 Swati PGP17/117 Shreya PGP17/113 Umang PGP17/121 Ved PGP17/123 Contents Background of the company 3 Growth of the company 3 Chinese automotive industry 3 External Environment Analysis 4 Business Strategy 6 Internationalization 6 Competitive landscape 8 Chery automobile - During the recession 9 Chery automobile - After recession 10 Exhibits 11 References: 15 Background of the company Chery Automobile Co. Ltd is a government owned automobile manufacturing company in China founded in the year 1997.The product portfolio of Chery consists of 15 models which includes minivans, passenger cars and SUVs including the QQ compact, the A5 sedan, and V5 crossover. It also offers full electric and hybrid models. The exports of Chery account to 25% of its total production and it is the largest passenger car exporter since 2003. Chery has manufacturing facilities in China and their assembly operations are in around 15 countries. It has factories in Ukraine, Egypt, Uruguay, Syria, China, Iran, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Brazil, Taiwan, Venezuela, and Vietnam. Apart from that, Chery also focuses on new product development and its R&D expenses accounts to 7 % of total revenue. Growth of the company Due to certain quality issues faced by the auto exports from China, expansion plans of Chery have been challenged. Chinese products were perceived as of low quality. Apart from that...
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...Economic Policies of the European Union Gartnar Marko | 19486522 | Marmai Martina | 19131311 | Mladenović Kosta | 19821606 | Executive Summary The aim of this research assignment is to provide an assessment of the effects on trade relationships between the EU and Russia stemming from the so-called “Ukrainian crisis.” The term points at the Russian military intervention in Ukraine, and the public response that this event generated. In particular, the analysis will regard the repercussions on Euro-Russian trade due to the Council’s diplomatic reply to the violent annexation of the Crimean peninsula by the Russian Federation. Since March 16th, when - with the unconditional support of Russia - the referendum for the independence of Crimea took place, the events in Ukraine escalated, giving rise to a number of restrictive provisions which, increasing in scope and gravity, aimed on one side to discourage military intervention by Russia, while on the other punished illegal misappropriation of Ukrainian public property. Such sanctions may not have played an important role, were it not for the current shaky state of the Russian economy. Nevertheless, that of sanctions is a two-sided sword, and the European Union, barely stepping on the road to recovery, can’t exactly afford being too picky when it comes to deciding who to do business with. The high level of interconnectedness and dependence on each other’s economy seem to drive these two players into a situation of stalemate:...
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...R e se a rc h a n d Stat i s t i c s B r a n c h working paper 16/2009 Impact of the Global Economic and Financial Crisis over the Automotive Industry in Developing Countries UNITED NATIONS INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATION RESEARCH AND STATISTICS BRANCH WORKING PAPER 16/2009 Impact of the Global Economic and Financial Crisis over the Automotive Industry in Developing Countries Peter Wad Copenhagen Business School UNITED NATIONS INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATION Vienna, 2010 This paper was prepared by Peter Wad, UNIDO consultant and backstopped by Nobuya Haraguchi, UNIDO staff member, Research and Statistics Branch, Programme Coordination and Field Operations Division. Iguaraya Saavedra provided administrative support. The designations employed, descriptions and classifications of countries, and the presentation of the material in this report do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries, or its economic system or degree of development. The views expressed in this paper do not necessarily reflect the views of the Secretariat of the UNIDO. The responsibility for opinions expressed rests solely with the authors, and publication does not constitute an endorsement by UNIDO. Although great care has...
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...April TRAINING EXECUTIVE EXECUTIVE BUSINESS SIMULATION MARKET RESEARCH MARKET RESEARCH PACKAGE FOR THE EUROPEAN PASSENGER AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY 2009-2010 Release 9 MARKET RESEARCH MARKET RESEARCH PACKAGE FOR THE EUROPEAN CAR INDUSTRY THE EUROPEAN CAR MARKET The European motor industry is the world's largest car market, having exceeded the US market in total units sold (excluding light trucks). It is also an extremely competitive arena. Some of the patterns to emerge from this market over the last few years are listed below. 1. Sales Figures1 Historical and Current The last strong rise in sales was in 1998 (14.3m), continuing into 1999, however, in 2000 sales fell by 2.2% (14.7m) and stayed at this level in 2001. In 2002 sales fell by 3%, 2003 saw an increase of nearly 5% but this was a result of an expanding marketplace, in reality there was another fall of 1% when comparing sales in the same EU member countries. 2004 saw a genuine 2% increase in registrations, remained stable in 2005, showed a substantial 4% rise in 2006 but then the percentage increase dropped to 1% in 2007. In 2008 European car sales figures were easily the worst for over a decade: 14.6m in extended Europe, 13.6m in the core economies, a drop of 8.2% and 8.1% respectively over 2007 figures. Gloomy forecasts for 2009 proved to be well founded with the whole market falling by a further 0.7% to 14.5m, however, the market excluding the new EU countries did show a 0.7% improvement to 13.7m...
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...Foreign 99 Chapter III Direct investment by China in Latin America and the Caribbean A. Introduction Since 2008, China has become one of the world’s largest sources of direct investment. These flows first reached significant levels in Latin America in 2010, when it is estimated they surpassed US$ 15 billion. Chinese companies have in fact burst on the scene in the region so recently that several of the biggest projects were still being finalized in early 2011, or had only just been put into operation. Most investments have been made in natural resource extraction, but over the medium term this is expected to diversify into other sectors such as manufacturing and infrastructure construction. Paradoxically, there is a lack of data on this extremely important phenomenon, which poses a constant problem for policymakers and analysts studying Chinese foreign direct investment (FDI). Appraisals of the possible opportunities and challenges presented by this increased investment flow therefore tend to lack supporting empirical evidence. The aim of this chapter is to make some progress on this issue, at least as far as investment in the region is concerned. A variety of sources have been consulted, including investment announcements in the media and interviews with Chinese company managers and Latin American and Caribbean government authorities. Despite the evident limitations of this kind of material in terms of data quality and reliability, this course of action does provide...
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...PART 1 Introduction CHAPTER 1 Introduction to Global Marketing Case 1-1 The Global Marketplace Is Also Local onsider the following proposition: We live in a global marketplace. McDonald’s restaurants, Sony digital TVs, LEGO toys, Swatch watches, Burberry trench coats, and Caterpillar earthmoving equipment are found practically everywhere on the planet. Global companies are fierce rivals in key markets. For example, American auto industry giants General Motors and Ford are locked in a competitive struggle with Toyota,Hyundai,and other global Asian rivals as well as European companies such as Volkswagen. U.S.based Intel, the world’s largest chip maker, competes with South Korea’s Samsung. In the global cell phone market, Nokia (Finland), Ericsson (Sweden), Motorola (United C States), and Samsung are key players. Appliances from Whirlpool and Electrolux compete for precious retail space with products manufactured and marketed by China’s Haier Group and LG of South Korea. Now consider a second proposition: We live in a world in which markets are local. In China, for example, Yum Brands’ new East Dawning fast-food chain competes with local restaurants such as New Asia Snack.1 France’s domestic film industry generates about 40 percent of local motion picture box office receipts; U.S.-made movies account for about 50 percent. In Turkey, local artists such as Sertab account for more than 80 percent of recorded Exhibit 1-1: England’s Burberry Group celebrated its...
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...PART 2 The Global Marketing Environment CHAPTER 2 The Global Economic Environment Case 2-1 The Global Economic Crisis I n his 1997 book One World, Ready or Not, William Greider described the United States as “the buyer of last resort.” Greider explained that, for many years, the United States was the only nation that was willing to absorb production surpluses exported by companies in Europe, Asia, and Latin America. Greider asked: “Who will buy the surpluses when the United States cannot?” The conventional wisdom has long held that strong spending by consumers in other nations would keep the world economy humming. However, by 2008, Greider’s question was taking on a new urgency and the conventional wisdom was being tested. An economic crisis that had its roots in lax subprime mortgage lending practices began to spread around the globe. In the United States, where the crisis began, economic misery was widespread: The housing market collapsed, real estate values plummeted, credit tightened, and job growth slowed (see Exhibit 2-1). As the price of oil passed the $100 per barrel benchmark, the average price of a gallon of gasoline rose to $4. American consumers were, indeed, less willing and less able to buy. However, the crisis was not confined to the United States alone. Consumer-goods exporters in Asia, which Exhibit 2-1: The bursting of the global real estate bubble was only one aspect of the worst recession in decades. The ripple effects from the economic...
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...economics research arm of McKinsey & Company, was established in 1990 to develop a deeper understanding of the evolving global economy. Our goal is to provide leaders in the commercial, public, and social sectors with the facts and insights on which to base management and policy decisions. MGI research combines the disciplines of economics and management, employing the analytical tools of economics with the insights of business leaders. Our “micro-to-macro” methodology examines microeconomic industry trends to better understand the broad macroeconomic forces affecting business strategy and public policy. MGI’s in-depth reports have covered more than 20 countries and 30 industries. Current research focuses on four themes: productivity and growth, the evolution of global financial markets, the economic impact of technology and innovation, and urbanization. Recent reports have assessed job creation, resource productivity, cities of the future, and the impact of the Internet. MGI is led by McKinsey & Company directors Richard Dobbs and James Manyika. Yougang Chen, Michael Chui, Susan Lund, and Jaana Remes serve as MGI principals. Project teams are led by a group of senior fellows and include consultants from McKinsey’s offices around the world. These teams draw on McKinsey’s global network of partners and industry and management experts. In addition, leading economists, including Nobel laureates, act as research advisers. The partners of McKinsey & Company fund MGI’s research; it is not...
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...Winners From Tata Motors Customer Satisfaction Green Mobility Human Resources Corporate Social Responsibility FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS (32-45) Pace in Performance Summarised Balance Sheet and Statement of Profit and Loss (Standalone & Consolidated) Fund Flow Statement Subsidiary Companies: Financial Highlights Financial Statistics STATUTORY REPORTS (46-122) Notice Directors’ Report Management Discussion and Analysis Report on Corporate Governance Awards and Achievements FINANCIALS Standalone Financials (123-168) Auditors’ Report Balance Sheet Profit and Loss Statement Cash Flow Statement Notes to Accounts Consolidated Financials (169-206) Auditors’ Report Balance Sheet Profit and Loss Statement Cash Flow Statement Notes to Accounts Attendance Slip and Proxy Form ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING Date: Friday, August 10, 2012 Time: 3.00 p.m. Venue: Birla Matushri Sabhagar, 19, Sir Vithaldas Thackersey Marg, Mumbai 400 020. 2 6 7 8 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 Tata Motors began operations in 1945. Since that time, we have remained committed to our values and our stakeholders. We have maintained a consistent focus on strengthening our organisation, and expanding our presence. Today, through our subsidiaries and associate companies, we already operate in the UK, South Korea, Thailand, Spain and South Africa. Our forays are spearheaded by consistent innovation to meet our customers’ needs. We are equally focused on green technologies to ensure sustainability. Despite economic crests and troughs, we...
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