Assignment 1:
Great Lakes: Great Decisions
Kimberly Ortiz
Professor McGrath
BUS499: Business Administration Capstone
April 14th, 2012

Assignment 1:
Great Lakes: Great Decisions
Perform an analysis of the Social/Demographic, Technological, Economic, Environmental/Geographic, and Political/Legal/Governmental segments to understand the general environment facing Great Lakes. Describe how Great Lakes will be affected by each of these external factors. Social /Demographic Segments: Entering into different areas of the world will affect Great Lake’s Social and Demographic strategies, it is more than extremely important that they make the right decisions based on what is needed in the area and by the inhabitants. Different people from different countries and cultures use products inversely; the misuse of a product could have a major impact on the health and welfare of a society. There needs to be an understanding of how their product will be used. Demographics show that the underdeveloped countries who are mostly using the TEL. Great Lakes will be affected by the limitations they have in helping the people in these regions obtain the product that they specifically seem to produce for them (Hitt, Ireland, & Hoskisson. 2011).
Technological Segments: The only technological aspect that is an issue for Great lakes is the ability to reach out to underdeveloped countries successfully and spread their product to those that would seem to be in the most need for it. With developed countries there is not an issue with getting information passed along about how to transport the goods needed and the quantity demanded which is a good thing for Great Lakes, by having the ability to process what is needed in such a quick manner they can ship out products faster and also use technology to determine trends and when there might need to be a surplus of product to prevent any shortages that would deter a country from investing in them for fuel needs (Hitt, Ireland, & Hoskisson. 2011).
Economic Segments: Having to possibly surrender to the health and safety concerns raised by environmentalists could hinder the production of the additive made by Great Lakes. A snow ball effect would cause a drop in profitability for a period of time that could constitute layoffs. I do however foresee that the drop-off period would be short lived since Great Lakes has no competitors and the cost and demand of the product will even out. When this occurs the countries that rely in the additive the most, underdeveloped countries, will have a harder time trying to procure the needed resources as the value would more than likely increase, so underdeveloped nations will not be receiving the amount they need to sustain a level of living accustomed to and could lead do a deeper economical downfall of the nation’s they try to buy the amounts they could previous afford by raising the process of their exports leading other countries to buy where the cost is lower (Hitt, Ireland, & Hoskisson. 2011).
Environmental/ Geographical Segments: The significant challenges that are faced environmentally is the pressure to do what is deemed right and to do so in a timely manner. In order to make the environmentalists happy this could mean the stopping of production altogether. Even if not stopped and just delayed that raises a major problem with distribution of their product and will turn to lower profits and revenue. Geographically the limitations seem to be far more ruthless. The limitations of being based in the United States for production and manufacturing can play a major role on future globalization. Any attempt to try and produce in other countries that are served would be an effective route to take on the dispersing side of the business, however the involvement of environmentalists here in the United States could hinder the possibility of taking to other countries for manufacturing as the problem has been raised in this country to the affects Great Lakes has on the environment and even though other countries may not have as strict policies about environmental protection as the United States, they more than likely will not wish to face any kind of protest of a new industry in their country (Hitt, Ireland, & Hoskisson. 2011).
Political/Legal/Governmental Segments: Politically, there are only two choices Great Lakes now faces, either they comply with the wishes of environmentalists or they do not. If they wish to remain in the good graces of the people in the United States, the best route would be a compromise as to what is deemed appropriately allowed with the protesters. If there is not an agreement reaches then the government could easily step in with regulations that are far stricter that would stop or reduce the production of TEL. The regulations change would have to be adhered to legally, Great Lakes would have to employ certain persons to ensure that everything is within regulation parameters (Hitt, Ireland, & Hoskisson. 2011).
Analyze the lead additives industry in the U.S. using the Five Forces of Competition Model. Describe the impact of each of the five forces on the industry and based on this analysis, determine if the industry is attractive or unattractive. Economically: Regulations placed on manufacturing the fuel additive could lead to a reduction in a needed work force. If stricter regulations make it more difficult for the company to produce, then the supply amount will drop drastically and if you cannot cover your overhead the first thing cut back on is the amount of employees you retain or the amount of hours that they work (Hitt, Ireland, & Hoskisson. 2011).
Threat of New Entry: At this time I do not see any threats of new entry as Great Lakes already controls over 90 percent of business for fuel additives (Hitt, Ireland, & Hoskisson. 2011)
Power of Supplier: Since Great Lakes were able to acquire Octel, it solidified their position as to being the number one supplier, especially to underdeveloped countries (Hitt, Ireland, & Hoskisson. 2011).
Power of the Buyers: Underdeveloped countries are the main buyers in this scenario. Since they do not have much money and do lack the ability to make the amount of unleaded gasoline necessary, I would say all of the power lies with Great Lakes. They do have the buyers from developed countries that could hinder the ability to turn major profits, but the power is mostly derived from the inability for underdeveloped nations to produce the amount they would need to maintain a current standard of living therefore subjecting all power to Great Lakes (Hitt, Ireland, & Hoskisson. 2011).
Threat of Substitutes: The threat of substitution is low. No other country can produce the specific kind of unleaded fuel at the substantial rate that Great Lakes has achieved. There is a possibility of future threats within the additive industry as technology grows, it is just currently Great Lakes maintains the advantage of manufacturing the additive without competition (Hitt, Ireland, & Hoskisson. 2011).
Rivalry among Existing Competitors: There can be no rivalry as there are no competitors against Great Lakes. They are free reign right now unless someone else come in and redesigns the wheel and is able to economically show underdeveloped countries how to produce unleaded gasoline substantially (Hitt, Ireland, & Hoskisson. 2011).
Overall the attractiveness of this industry is non-existent. With the negative repercussions of the press about the environmental damages of the additives tied in t-with the power that Great Lakes has to produce mass quantities and supply underdeveloped nations through globalization, I would say unless there was a an absolute way to cut out all environmental factors then Great Lakes will maintain dominance and any new entries would be crushed during any attempt to manufacture a like product (Hitt, Ireland, & Hoskisson. 2011). Describe who Great Lakes immediate, impending and invisible competitors are and how Great Lakes measures up against these competitors. There are no immediate competitors against Great Lakes; they do dominate the additive industry as of now. As with any industry you could have an impending and invisible competitor. I do not know of any at this time, I would just think that the company planning on being a competitor would have to ensure a large amount of capitol and be willing to invest in helping underdeveloped nations producing unleaded gasoline. To do this would take a huge portion of Great Lakes profit as they sell large amounts of their additives to the underdeveloped parts of the world. I however do not foresee anywhere in the near future where this would happen, and even if it were to be achieved this company would not have the force for globalization within developed nations which would leave Great Lakes still in the number one spot for the industry (Hitt, Ireland, & Hoskisson. 2011).
Describe the main capabilities of Great Lakes.
The main capabilities of Great Lakes would have to be their power within the additive and leaded gasoline market. The power they have is derived from maintaining the ability to somehow remain a sole producer of a certain additive within the market. As being the sole or major supplier, they pretty much any aspect of the businesses except environmental concerns that could cause major repercussions and a downfall of Great Lakes. Another advantage or rather capability is because of the supplying power, Great Lakes has the capability to sway the market, not just locally but globally, either direction depending on how much they produce and what the set rate of sale is. With the attractiveness of entering this market being very low, Great Lakes could most likely continue to sell the additives for as long as they wanted, depending on the level on environmental regulations that could arise. Since the need of TEL outweighs the environmental issues, I do not see regulations stopping the production of this needed commodity but trying to limit the production. Even if this occurs the attractiveness to enter will fall since the regulations would remain so harsh and then Great Lakes is given the capability of setting prices that are derived from a higher demand and lower supply, they would retain their number one position for fuel additives so it seems no matter what happens the capabilities for Great Lakes are endless and very difficult to contain (Hitt, Ireland, & Hoskisson. 2011).

References
Hitt, M. A., Ireland, R. D., & Hoskisson, R. E. (2011).Strategic management: Competitiveness and globalization, concepts and cases: 2011 custom edition (9th ed.). Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning.