...Competitive Strategies and Government Policies ECO/365 May 1, 2013 Competitive Strategies and Government Policies The automotive industry is a diverse and ever evolving market. With equally as diverse consumers, products and regulations. However firms often have to overcome new competition in the form of new companies entering the market as well as mergers through the course of a company’s history. Often forming large new competitors from smaller firms. As well as government regulations at the local and international level, from environmental issues to safety standards. Meeting these standards comes at the expense of the firm, though it is an expense that can be passed off to the consumer. All while doing this they must maintain state of the art production plants to keep up with demand and run at highly efficient levels. These plants are consistently the standard to which other manufacturing fields look for as examples of how to operate at a highly efficient manner. The auto industry has to deal with specific situations some other industries do not have to deal with at least not as consistently as the auto industry does. For example mergers, mergers have long been a part of the automobile industry. It can be at times confusing because one parent company has several brands that some may confuse with being merged but this is not the case. Mergers have happened in the past to brands that perhaps are on a downward spiral of sales such as the Hummer brand when General Motors...
Words: 965 - Pages: 4
...Competitive Strategies and Government Policies ECO/365 Principles of Microeconomics October 28, 2013 Feedback from Instructor (Published: Sat 11/02/2013 07:04 PM MST) Earned Points: 9.6/10 Comments: Week 5: Team Paper Assignment Grading Rubric =========================================================== CONTENT 70% Address the following topics: (1) New companies entering the market, mergers, and globalization, on pricing and the sustainability of profits: Identify the type of merger activity in your industry or one with which you are familiarhorizontal, vertical, or conglomerateand explain why you made that choice.: Content Grade / Comments: Good, meets expectations. Good amount of detail about auto industry globalization and competition. (2) Current and expected government policies and regulations, including taxes and regulations in place to address issues related to externalities Content Grade / Comments: Mostly good. You could have gone into more detail about the incentives created and the (unintended) consequences of regulations and how this impacts decisions made by the firm. (3) Global competition on the decisions made by management with regards to change in labor demand, supply, relations, unions, and rules and regulations in your chosen industry Content Grade / Comments: Good, but this section seems more hypothetical and less applied. You should have given more details related to banking, but overall good points. (4) Recommend how the industry you chose may respond...
Words: 1857 - Pages: 8
...Competitive Strategies and Government Policies of Apple, Inc. Competitive Strategies and Government Policies of Apple, Inc. In any industry, when a company is seen as competition, there becomes some sort of target on the company’s back. The company that is successful will now feel the pressure to succeed and to continue leading the industry. This pressure can either be a crippling affect or can be the best motivation for the company. Apple has entered into the technological mobile devices industry with a boom and instilled fear into competitors inside the same industry. Although Apple prices their products at a higher selling price, their products are often referred to as elite and worth the extra cost. The cost of Apple’s merchandise, which was seen as a weakness to competitors, has proven to help boost in their success. Competition and Mergers As a new company entering the market, one would aspire to be like Apple. Apple is a billion dollar industry in technology that has over 30 years of experience that can teach any new business how to be successful. In addition, Apple has learned from past mistakes like pricing a product too high and also limiting the color of a product to one color. For example, when the IPod first came out in the early 2000's it was priced at $999.99 one cent short of one thousand dollars. The IPod was priced at this point because they wanted to seem like an exclusive product. The downfall to their new product was that it only synced with...
Words: 1629 - Pages: 7
...Competitive Strategies and Government Policies ECO 365 Competitive Strategies and Government Policies Companies are becoming more competitive over the course of time. As the population grows so do new company’s aiming to be successful. For a construction company, this is especially true. Current businesses and new businesses want growth and the construction companies are who make the physical structure of the business happen. Included in this paper, is a discussion of how horizontal mergers, government policies and regulations related to externalities, and business decisions by management affect the construction business entirely. The construction industry has been a result of a lot of change in the past few years. The construction industry consists of small business to the very large corporation. A small business in the construction industry can be considered a simple handyman business. A large business in the construction industry can be considered a new commercial builder. With the limited barrier of entry the construction industry has been threaten by new companies entering the market. New companies entering the marking have posed a threat in which causing the existing construction companies to have a strategic plan to prevent from closing their doors. With a strategic plan in place the existing construction companies will have the tools needed to compete with newer companies entering the market. The recent events in the economy have increase globalization. Globalization...
Words: 2342 - Pages: 10
...Competitive Strategies and Government Policies Habib Hogue ECO/365 October 9, 2014 Ronald Merchant Competitive Strategies and Government Policies According to U.S. Consumer Electronics Sales and Forecasts 2010-2015, the industry report by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), revenues in the consumer electronics industry is projected to increase by 2 percent in 2014. Such growth translates to $211.3 billion of revenue—the highest recorded total revenue for the industry (Consumer Electronics Association [CEA], 2014a). Mobile connected devices remain the top revenue drivers of the industry; particularly, smartphones and tablets represent 35.1 percent of the industry’s total revenue in 2014 (CEA, 2014a). Nevertheless, even with the industry’s revenue reaching all-time highs, the consumer electronics industry is experiencing slow growth. Compared to 2011’s industry growth of 7.7 percent, the industry growth in 2012 and 2013 are only 4.4 percent and 1.8 percent, respectively (CEA, 2014b). Furthermore, the 2014’s estimated growth is at 2 percent, and 2015’s projected growth is at 1.2 percent. Many factors have led to the flat growth such as the increased competition brought by new companies entering the market, mergers, and globalization, as well as government policies and global competition. Shawn DuBravac, chief economist and senior director of research of CEA, blamed the continued decline of average selling prices for the flat growth of the consumer electronics industry...
Words: 2065 - Pages: 9
...Competitive Strategies and Government Policies Intro Competitive strategies and government policies are an important factor in any market. Understanding the concepts that go into entering the market of auto manufacturing, and the industry for a highly known maker will be described in detail to gather a better grasp on the topic. New companies entering the market including profit, any supplier or anyone involved, mergers and type of mergers individually have to abide by some type of regulation and government policy. Globalization and the effects on pricing, and price sustainability of profit and those mergers are an important piece to understand in the topic of Honda and their automobile industry and how it works for those innovating and running the business. The demand on a vehicle that has efficient fuel economy seems to be increasingly important among the economy. Continuously rising in the market for automakers can be challenging as these elements are strategically supported to progress in this market. The global automotive industry offers plenty of business drama, and Fiat’s recent purchase of Chrysler’s assets, one of the United States “Big Three” automakers, is enough of drama to produce a trilogy at the theater, with each movie running for two and a half hours. This horizontal merger, or partial horizontal acquisition, entails the United States (US) Governments involvement with its ailing domestic automotive industry. At the core of this merger is the inability...
Words: 1291 - Pages: 6
...Competitive Strategies and Government Policies The United States is built from three key economic sectors. This includes primary, secondary, and tertiary. The decision was made to research new companies entering the market, have experienced mergers or globalization within the secondary sector with an emphasis on the automotive industry. Furthermore, a review of how pricing and sustainability of profits in the automotive industry is maintained. Government policies and regulations that influence the automotive industry, including taxes, and issues that are associated to externalities will be additionally reviewed. The automotive industry was established back in the late 1880s in Germany, where the first Benz was created. By World War II, the United States was the largest producer of automobiles with 75% of the global market. Between 1980 and 2000, a toggle back and forth between the United States and Japan on dominating the automotive industry occurred until most recently in 2011, China produced the equivalent amount of Japan and the United States combined. The automotive market has experienced a combination of influences on global production over the past five years. Much of the economic crisis influenced the industry, experienced a 12% reduction in 2009 and an increase of 26% in 2010, and a moderate increase of 3% in 2011 totaling 80 million cars in production (United States Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2012). The automotive manufacturing industry...
Words: 1503 - Pages: 7
...stronger than ever need for cars in the automobile industry as new and efficient models are being manufactured. This has driven a fierce competition between auto-makers with price a major factor. The industry sold over 15 million in 2013 which was 1 million higher than that of 2012. The forecast for 2014 is even higher as a result of many factors, one of them a renewed economy as well a constant high demand. The average age of vehicles on the road is 11 years and consumers want and need to upgrade to higher mileage, safer, higher-tech vehicles with the latest electronic gadgets and personal comforts. An example is General Motors who is abreast of the competition with many redesigned vehicles expected for 2014. Small cars, as well, will stay competitive as it serves as a point of entry into this business by younger people purchasing their first vehicle with maybe student loans and concerns about the cost of gasoline. Horizontal and Vertical mergers both have a part to do with the auto industry. However, the main merger type for this particular company is most relative to the vertical merger. Vertical mergers occur between companies, such as the Auto industry, have and acquire buyer seller relationships. Vertical integration enhances the degree of product differentiation of the integrated firm and...
Words: 1607 - Pages: 7
...Started over one hundred years ago in Germany and France the automotive industry has become a major source of industrial and economic stability worldwide. In this report we will describe how the auto industry is affected by new companies entering the market, mergers, and globalization, on pricing and the sustainability of profits. We will explore mergers and merger activity within the industry as well as current and expected government policies and regulations in place to address issues related to externalities. We will also take a look at the effects of global competition on the decisions made by management with regards to change in labor demand, supply, relations, unions, and rules and regulations in the auto industry. Considering the aforementioned topic on the auto industry’s competitive strategies and Government policies you will say that this report aims to explain how these two areas have impacted the auto industry and will affect it going forward. Globalization Increasing globalization in the automotive industry is changing the way of traditional partnerships. Ten years ago, it was questionable to pursue business in markets such as India and China because political and business conditions were not conducive to direct foreign investment (Emerging Markets, Emerging Opportunities , 2012).As a result, many automotive companies such as General Motors, Toyota, Honda and Ford viewed strategic partnerships as a way to dip their toes into the water and expand into different...
Words: 1813 - Pages: 8
...ECO 365 Week 5 Learning Team- B Competitive Strategies and Government Policies Get Tutorial by Clicking on the link below or Copy Paste Link in Your Browser https://hwguiders.com/downloads/eco-365-week-5-learning-team-b-competitive-strategies-government-policies/ For More Courses and Exams use this form ( http://hwguiders.com/contact-us/ ) Feel Free to Search your Class through Our Product Categories or From Our Search Bar (http://hwguiders.com/ ) Competition and Policies Influencing the Airline Industry Emerging Companies, Mergers, Globalization, Pricing, and Profits The airline industry is characterized by increased levels of competition as a result of new companies that venture into the market. Such new entrants bring about an increased level of competition for the existing volumes of consumers that the different airlines have to share. Mergers occur when two companies come together to combine resources, market share, and experience to acquire a better position in the market. Mergers also create a greater pool of resources and stability, which is attractive to consumers. Globalization brings about a higher level of travelling where people will be moving from one point to another. As a result, airline services will be at a greater demand and hence increase business. However, this will also mean that airlines from foreign nations can access any region and as a result there is greater competition (Botten & McManus, 1999; University of Phoenix, 2011)...
Words: 4913 - Pages: 20
...Running head: COMPETITIVE STRATEGIES AND GOVERNMENT POLICIES 1 Competitive Strategies and Government Policies ECO 365 COMPETITIVE STRATEGIES AND GOVERNMENT POLICIES Competitive Strategies and Government Policies Companies are becoming more competitive over the course of time. As the population grows so do new company’s aiming to be successful. For a construction company, this is especially true. Current businesses and new businesses want growth and the construction 2 companies are who make the physical structure of the business happen. Included in this paper, is a discussion of how horizontal mergers, government policies and regulations related to externalities, and business decisions by management affect the construction business entirely. The construction industry has been a result of a lot of change in the past few years. The construction industry consists of small business to the very large corporation. A small business in the construction industry can be considered a simple handyman business. A large business in the construction industry can be considered a new commercial builder. With the limited barrier of entry the construction industry has been threaten by new companies entering the market. New companies entering the marking have posed a threat in which causing the existing construction companies to have a strategic plan to prevent from closing their doors. With a strategic plan in place the existing construction companies will have the tools needed to...
Words: 2399 - Pages: 10
...Assignment 3: Long-Term Investment Decisions-Low Calorie Microwavable Food Company Name: Professor: Course title: Institution: Date: Outline of plan for pricing strategies to reduce products price elasticity Low calorie Microwavable Food Company should consider the following pricing strategies to reduce price elasticity to achieve maximum profits. 1. Branding: This strategy involves creating a unique product identity, which customers can easily relate with and attach high quality. Branding is the process of creating an image or idea of a product or service in the market arena, which increases the demand for such product. It may include changing the packaging, creating brand names and improving the quality of a product. Once a brand is build, a firm succeeds in creating a major difference in the minds of customers between their product and those of competitors. Once a product attains a positive outlook in the mindset of consumers, the organization attains brand equity, which brings competitive advantage for the firm as customers view the products as unique or superior, which effectively reduces the pricing elasticity as substitute products become less close to their product. 2. Product differentiation: In this pricing strategy, the firm should seek to identify and highlight the differences between its products and those of competitors. This allows the firm to make their product unique and more attractive to customers, contrasting...
Words: 1639 - Pages: 7
...GOALS AND OBJECTIVES OF ANY STRATEGY IS AN ILLUSION. DISCUSS 1.0 INTRODUCTION Every business organisation exists for the purpose of fulfilling certain goals and objectives as outlined by them. The fulfillment of these goals and objectives may bring benefits to the organisation and to various stakeholders such as shareholders, customers, the general public, the government, etc. In order to implement these goals and objectives in a systematic and orderly manner, management must evolve a game plan to do this. This game plan is known as strategy. According to the Oxford Pocket Dictionary, strategy is defined as “the art of war especially, the planning of movements of troops and ships into favourable positions, plan of action or policy in business” Scholes & Johnson (2001) also define strategy as “the direction and scope of an organisation over the long term; which achieves the advantage for the organisation through its configuration of resources within a changing environment, to meet the needs of the markets and to fulfill stakeholder expectations” Thompson & Strickland (1998) also generally define strategy as competitive moves of business approaches to produce successful performance. It is management’s game plan for: * running the business * strengthening the firm’s competitive position * Satisfying customers * Achieving good business performance * Position a company in its chosen market In effect, without strategy the shaping of an organisations...
Words: 2724 - Pages: 11
...Introduction Strategy formulation is at the core of any firm which is willing to sustain in its environment, rather than being taken by surprise with an unfavorable turn of events, which could threaten its survival. The environment depicts all the forces that interact with and influence a firm in its operations. These forces are more or less important and threatening to a company. They range from the customers to the competition, through laws and environmental regulations and encompass a very broad number of actors in any competitive environment. Political activity is perhaps one of the most important forces to monitor and manage for companies. It relates to the laws and regulations that shape the competitive environment, and companies have numerous opportunities and ways to influence them. In this regard, this paper will address the ways that firms have to manage the uncertainty of their environment through corporate political strategies. The analysis will start by clarifying the relations between the firm and its political environment, in order to see which topics deserve a stronger focus when developing a corporate political strategy. Then, a distinction will be drawn between corporatist political systems and pluralist ones, so to give an indication on which kind of strategy to choose. Finally, it will be possible to give more details about the means that companies have to pursue their corporate political strategy, considering that their relevance depends on the political...
Words: 1664 - Pages: 7
...over time, continually confronting the firm with new issues that require modifications in strategies and management practices. Managing in the context of turbulence has become an ongoing reality. Readers will learn how to modify their strategies and management practices and adapt to this new reality. SOCIAL FORCES The subject of ethical codes and CSR crystallizes many social challenges. At the one extreme are those who, like Milton Friedman (1970/2001), advocate the guiding principle of shareholder value maximization as the sole determinant of managerial decisions. At the other extreme are those who expound an altruistic philanthropy based on philosophical beliefs concerning universal ethics, such as those related to human rights. Within this range of perspectives, many authors offer distinct typologies for analyzing social forces and for developing appropriate firm responses to each set of social forces. Meanwhile, the rise of activist groups who threaten public criticism and boycotts means that even Friedman’s dictum of maximizing shareholder value now requires a wide range of CSR strategies. Some analysts, such as Porter and Kramer (2006), believe that each firm should create a competitive advantage through appropriate CSR strategies. From this perspective, CSR morphs into political strategies through which a firm’s reactions can be designed in order to achieve desirable government decisions. For multinational enterprises (MNEs), it is clear that CSR has become a subject...
Words: 5311 - Pages: 22
