Globalisation in Industrial and Engineering Fields

Globalisation in Industrial and Engineering Fields Stephen Glaister Introduction: Globalisation has steered traditional industries into operating global production networks in poor countries with undefined health and safety policy. During the past decades, these countries have seen rapid economic and industrial development due to the implementation of weak policies. This has made leading industries take advantage of less stringent health, safety and environmental controls and procedures. In general, most developing countries have undervalued health and safety regulation with the ultimate aim of attracting new investment (Raj-Reichert, 2013). There has been a growth in health and safety implications in Asian states such as India and China. This essay critically discusses legal, moral and ethical considerations for an organisation in a western economy when it contemplates outsourcing potentially highly hazardous activities to a developing nation where the legal and management controls may be of a lower standard (Chan, 2003). The essay starts with an analysis on the western and developing economies and industries. This is through analysing the composition of industries, industrialisation and globalisation and the economies. The second theme will be based on health and safety law in a national and international context. This is followed by moral and ethical aspects of health and safety management philosophy. Lastly, there is discussion on moral and ethical aspects health and safety development. Western and developing economies and industries: The development of industrialised nations started with the industrial revolution in the 1970s. The developed nations started with the heavy industries, engineering. For example, countries such as Britain were seen as the workshop of the world due to the growth of cotton and iron industries. Heavy industries have a high degree of mechanisation and are capital intensive. The industries have high pollution rates and have a negative impact on the environment. In addition, heavy industries have higher risks compared to the rest of the industries. Most of the traditional industries in the developed countries have moved to the developing countries through outsourcing. This includes the engineering and heavy industries which have a great negative health impact. Developing countries have taken hazardous industries with an aim of industrialisation which has led to negative environmental and health impacts (Raj-Reichert, 2013). Industrialisation and globalisation Globalisation refers to markets integration in the global economy. This is based on an increase in interconnections in the national economics. Globalisation is common in the commodity markets, financial, capital markets, sports and entertainments. Industrialisation is a term used to refer to the industrial revolution which was witnessed in the 19th century. It is one of the most fundamental transformations in the human history marked by the rise of industrial sector (Weiss, 2002). Countries started using machines in carrying out their work which had previously been done by people. Globalisation and industrialisation are interconnected. This is due to fact that the history of industrialisation shows a gradual globalisation process for the past four centuries. Industrialisation acted as the main impetus to globalisation. Through industrialisation, it was possible for social and political transformation which led to a capitalist society which globalisation is based on (Weiss, 2002). Through the open door policy, china was able to take advantage of globalisation and become the best outsourcing centre. China has been able to come up with a strong global outsourcing sector. Most of the industries have outsourced their manufacturing to china due to low costs of labour and industrial interconnectedness (ORourke, 2003). China has acted as an opportunity for the western firms due to the country large population and expanding economy. The country has the fastest growing economy and has limitless low cost labour and competitive production rates. China plays a very important role in the global manufacturing sector with most of the manufactured products being exported (Lin et al., 2008). The country has gained the top position in the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). Despite this, the high flow of FDI in the manufacturing sector has led to risks due to poor observance of Workplace Health and Safety (WHS) (Raj-Reichert, 2013). Economies Case: Garment manufacturing and silicon hazard in China With the FDIs flowing to the developing countries, there has been a lot of compromise on health and safety environment. Occupational health and safety is the most vital aspect in the workplace. Most of the industries that have moved to the developing economies in Asia, Africa and South America are associated with health and safety problems. An example is the garment manufacturing in China which is outsourced by major MNCs (Fan, 2015). China has a poor Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) which is based on poor coordination between the ministry responsible, bureaus and departments. A report released from south China province of Guangdong showed that the area was being used to produce about half of the world denim. With the rising trend in the pre-worn look, the denim industry in China has been using the sandblasting technique. This is a process where the denim is distressed through firing of abrasive sand under high pressure. This can be done using a machine or a hose with an air gun. It has been proved that these processes are being done in Chinese denim factories without use of proper safety equipment (Akgun et al., 2008). The outcome can lead to lung diseases such as silicosis which is caused by inhalation of silica dust. In addition, workers in these factories works for long hours without protection hence are exposed to diseases. There are also poor medical check-ups which endangers the employees health (Carter, 2012). Sand blasting by multinationals in China is still in use despite the harmful side effects to the workers health. This leads to unsafe and unhealthy working environment brought about by international firms (Akgun et al., 2008). Legal: Health and safety law in a national and international context Health and safety responsibilities and requirements imposed by law Based on the International Labour Organisation (ILO), there are set standards which an industry must uphold on occupational safety and health. The ILO conventions are aimed at guiding all countries in ensuring a safe workplace and ensuring that there is management of occupational health and safety programs. These conventions and recommendations on occupational health and safety are only legally binding if the member states ratify them. One of the most important ILO conventions on OHS has gained ratification from 37 out of all 175 member states. ILO employment injury benefits convention has been ratified by only 23 countries. This is a convention that lists the occupational diseases in which a worker is entitled to compensation. WHO has played a major role in OHS through provision of the technical aspects. Despite this, the limited funding has always been an impediment in the implementation of WHS laws by both ILO and WHO (International Labour Organisation, 2017). The high reliance on the international agencies to enforce OHS laws on the developing countries has been inadequate. This is due to fact that developing countries such as China have poor OHS laws and sees it as an exercise for the developed countries (Chan, 2003). Despite committing to several ILO conventions, China national WHS laws are weak and there have been poor enforcement. This is unlike the developed countries such as UK, Australia and USA which have strong domestic labour laws (International Labour Organisation, 2017). Worldwide influence and impacts of health and safety law Case: Toys outsourcing in China limitation, benefits and disparities Despite having global health and safety laws by the ILO, there has been laxity in their implementation especially in the developing countries. An example is China, which has been ignoring workplace health and safety laws in their FDIs. It has been proved that Chinese workers have been losing their lives working in the FDIs due to lack of OHS. China agreed to many of the ILO standards which were enacted in 2002 and also came up with their own standards. China laws calls for employees to be safe in their workplace. Despite this, the laws have not been enforced where economic goals have been given a priority (Chan, 2003). A case in point is the Chinese toys factories which are outsourced from USA. The factories can be considered as sweatshops where workers are paid poorly in poor working conditions. Inside these sweatshops, workers make products for American multinationals such as McDonalds, Mattel and Disney (Barboza, 2008). This has been a result of industrial interconnectedness broug ht about by globalisation. The main limitations are the fact that developing countries are ready to forego employees safety for the sake of profits. These countries lack proper structures on enforcing WHS laws as proposed by ILO. The main benefits are the fact that they provide employment to the citizens and the country is able to gain FDI. In addition, the Americans market is able to gain cheap products from these sweatshops. All this happens at the expense of workers health. There have been death, amputations and illness in the toy factories. Workers are exposed to toxic chemicals hence life threatening diseases (Lin et al., 2008). This is a case that led to lawsuits in America due to workers exploitation and exposure to unsafe working environment. National and international standards, policy and legislation There are major differences between developed and developing countries health and ethics. In developing countries, most of the workers are not covered by occupational health and safety laws. Moreover they lack access to the occupational health services. While some of the developing countries have adopted the international labour standards, they do not enforce them. An example is china which despite adopting ILO standards, it have not been implementing them (Chan, 2003). On the other hand, developed countries have strong OHS and labour laws. An example is the UK and USA. In the UK, Health and Safety Executive (HSE) have been working with the international bodies and other nations to enhance OHS. This includes developing, reviewing and negotiation on the international labour laws, safety codes and OHS. The country is well represented in various labour forums internationally. Developed countries are able to fully implement ILO and WHO standards. Despite this, when developed countries ou tsource, there have been cases where morals and ethics are lost. This is through investing in countries such as China which have questionable labour relations and environmental laws. Moral and Ethical: Health and safety management philosophy Evolution and background to health and safety management Case: China and Australia mining industry The evolution of health and safety management over the past 60 years has been caused by the social, political, economic and technological changes. Since the creation of the ILO in 1919, the protection of workers against sickness and injury related to their workplaces has been a priority. In fact, over 80% of the ILO instruments are based on ensuring occupational health and safety (International Labour Organisation, 2017). The management of health and safety has been improving to cover the social security, women, children on the issues of health and safety. This is especially in the developed countries with the developing countries lagging behind. A comparison between China and Australia mining industries gives insight on the evolution and background to health and safety management in developing and developed countries. This is due to accidents which can lead to death, injury or loss of property. In China, mining related fatalities accounted for about 10% of workplace fatalities in 20 06. This was 1000 times higher than developed countries such as Australia or USA. The main problem with Chinese health and safety at workplace is poor adoption of OHS laws (Wu et al., 2011). The country also suffers from inefficient management of workplace health and safety. Research shows that most of the workplace fatalities in china can be avoided through proper management of workplace health and safety. This is a sharp contrast to the developed countries where there is proper management of workplace health and safety. While Australia has been able to adopt and evolve with the WHS, China has been lagging behind (Lin et al., 2008). For example, Australia was able to adopt ILO conventions early and integrate them with their national health and safety laws. Australia has been more responsible in their workers health in the workplace compared to china (Donoghue, 2004). Health and safety management control models- ISO 18001/45001, and Hazardous Installations Directorate (HID) regulatory model Over the past 20 years, there have been increases in outsourcing activities. Research has shown that outsourcing in most cases leads to adverse impacts on the OHS (ORourke, 2003). This is especially due to fact that most of the outsourced countries have poor workplace health and safety laws exposing their workers to hazards. Hazardous waste management is risky due to financial, regulatory and safety requirements. This has led to most of the companies dealing with hazardous wastes to outsource in countries with less strict health and safety laws. Hazardous Installations Directorate (HID) has been dealing with regulation of major hazard industries which plays an essential role in everyday life. These are industries whose failure can lead to extensive damage to public and endanger workers and public health. The HID utilises a regulatory to regulate associated hazards and manage them (HSE, 2016b). OHS 18001 became ISO 45001 in 2016. This helped in making it an international standard rath er than a UK standard hence widening its scope. Based on the ISO/DIS 45001 Clause 8.3, it has become possible for the standard to control processes which are based on outsourcing. This ensures that outsourced processes which affect health and safety are well controlled. The firms are expected to minimise the health and safety impacts of their outsourced services (Batalas, 2014a). Companies outsourcing their services can no longer ignore health and safety of their outsourced processes. They must consider the risks involved and means to control them. Health and safety implementation and communication The world richest countries have been outsourcing hazardous materials, products and activities from the developing countries. This has led to a rising hazards in the developing countries. Most of the developing countries have been welcoming the move with disregard to the health and safety impacts. An example is China and India where hazardous industries have been set up with poor health and safety regulations (Chan, 2003). Despite this, the process of outsourcing to the developing countries has led to an improvement in social economic. There has been intense lobbying for MNCs outsourcing hazardous materials from the developing countries to observe health and safety. This has led to countries such as UK using the ISO 45001 and HID to ensure MNCs are responsible (HSE, 2016b). WHO have been advocating and communicating with the responsible governments to uphold health and safety when outsourcing hazardous materials. Moral and Ethical: Health and safety development Organisational Corporate Social Responsibility report Case: Apple and Sinopec CSR comparisons The concept of CSR, its meanings and practices varies based on the country cultural, political, social, economic and existing institutional framework. In China, companies have a different type of CSR reporting compared to western companies. This can be well illustrated by a comparison of CSR for Apple Computers of USA with Sinopec of China. Sinopec is a large integrated energy company in china. The corporation business ranges from oil exploration to producing and trading in gas and petroleum. Sinopec has always looked at CSR as a tool for business growth for the group. The company has worked to ensure that while looking for the profits, they do not compromise on the environment. The firm has worked hard to ensure that there is a reduction in harmful gas discharges. This is one of the most ethical Chinese organisations. Sinopec has a low carbon development strategy which has helped on reducing CO2 emissions. Despite this, the firm lags behind in OHS compared to Western countries count erparts (Pegg, 2012). Apple success been attributed to their ability to meet stakeholders needs. Despite this, Apple strategy is different from Sinopec in some ways. For example, the level of stakeholders engagement in Apple is higher than for Sinopec. The company have prioritised their customers by coming up with quality products. Employees at apple are well catered for through appropriate compensation and safe working environment. The employees working conditions are safe and in most cases flexible. This leads to a work life balance that cannot be obtained in companies such as Sinopec. Through a supplier code of conduct, the company ensures that the supply chain is safe and free from OHS. Despite this, the company have in past faced criticism due to outsourcing in countries with poor workplace health and safety. This is especially due to child labour and sweatshops. A report filed showed that Apple had failed to protect their workers in China. The report showed that workers were standing for hours, unde rage workers and poor OHS at the Petagron factories in Shanghai (Chan, Pun Selden, 2013). Industrial and organisational health and safety climates and cultures (differences, benefits and downfalls) Safety climate refers to the value given to safety in a given organisation. The health and safety climate involves values attitudes and patterns showed by an organisation in respect to health and safety. The 1986 Chernobyl disaster led to the rise of safety culture. In addition, organisation cultures have an impact on safety. This is where the existing safety culture determines the approach taken to ensure health and safety of workers. Safety culture refers to the organisation climate for safety and how it impacts behaviours in the organisation. Safety culture and climate have continued to evolve and at the moment, they both ensure safety in modern day organisations. Through the safety culture, individual values, attitudes, competencies and behaviour helps in determining the level of commitment in safety management. Safety climate is based on the existing policies, practices and procedures which help in safety. Organisation with good safety culture and climate are able to offer a saf e work environment. This is through having a positive safety culture to enhance safety performance (Mearns Flin, 1999). Health and safety training, knowledge and initiatives (health and safety schemes introduced in developing countries) With globalisation, the rise of FDI in the developing countries has led to a concern on health and safety. This is due to poor OHS in the developing countries and lack of health and safety laws. As the workplace become more complex and demanding there is need to learn on how to prevent injuries and illness. The developing countries have been lacking awareness, training and specialisation in occupational health and safety. WHO has been calling for occupational health for all to ensure a healthy workplace (Robson et al., 2007). Based on the WHO guidelines, people have rights to have the highest standard of health. There is need to improve on the occupational health and safety with an aim of protecting and promoting livelihoods and improvement of public health. The poorest are the most affected by poor occupational health and safety standards hence the need to improve them. Occupational injury and health increases poverty in developing countries. This calls for the need to train workers on the developing countries on OHS awareness, giving attention to work related health and poverty, regulations. There is need for international stakeholders to formulate new and innovative strategies that will lead to improve on health and safety initiatives (Lund Marriott, 2011). Conclusion: To sum up, globalisation has led to traditional heavy industrial and engineering fields moving towards the developing countries. The traditional industries are at the moment found in most of developing countries located in Asia, South America and Africa. Despite the economic benefits, the move of organisations based in western countries to developing countries has led to occupational and health hazards. This is especially in cases of organisations which have been outsourcing potentially hazardous activities to developing nations where legal and management controls may be of lower standards. Countries such as china have been lowering their legal and management standards with an aim of attracting FDIs. This has negative impacts on employees health which is ignored at the expense of profits. ILO and WHO have been working to ensure that workers globally are in a safe work environment. Despite this, countries such as China have failed to implement ILO conventions despite ratifying them. S ome of these countries lack national health and safety laws. An example is the case of Chinese toy factories which are owned by American multinationals. In these factories, workers were exposed to hazardous chemicals due to china lack of workplace health and safety laws. Through Hazardous Installations Directorate (HID), it was possible for UK to control the industries dealing with hazardous materials and ensure workers and public safety. This has been enhanced by the ISO 45001 which has catered for health of workers in firms outsourcing hazardous materials. This is through a international approach. There is a difference in CSR between the developing and developed countries. In developing countries, companies such as Apple have a strong CSR in accordance with international laws. This differs with countries such as China where CSR is still developing. There is need to have a safety culture and climate and also ensure that training is done in developing countries. This will ensure tha t everyone has access to health and safety especially in cases where hazardous materials are outsourced in developing countries. References Akgà ¼n, M. (2016). Denim production and silicosis. Current opinion in pulmonary medicine, 22(2), 165-169. Akgun, M., Araz, O., Akkurt, I., Eroglu, A., Alper, F., Saglam, L., Nemery, B. (2008). An epidemic of silicosis among former denim sandblasters. European Respiratory Journal, 32(5), 1295-1303. Barboza, D. (2008). In Chinese factories, lost fingers and low pay. New York Times, 5, 40. Batalas (2014a) OHS 18001 to become ISO 45001. Available at: https://www.batalas.co.uk/how-to-guides/health-and-safety-ohsas-18001/ohs-18001-become-iso-45001/ (Accessed: 2 March 2017). Carter, L. (2012). Goodbye to sandblasting?. International Union Rights, 19(1), 24-25. Chan, A. (2003). A Race to the Bottom Globalisation and Chinas labour standards: China Perspectives, (46). Chan, J., Pun, N., Selden, M. (2013). The politics of global production: Apple, Foxconn and Chinas new working class. New Technology, Work and Employment, 28(2), 100-115. Donoghue, A. M. (2004). Occupational health hazards in mining: an overview. Occupational Medicine, 54(5), 283-289. Fan, D. (2015). Occupational health and safety management in fashion and textiles industry: the value of slack resources and occupational health and safety management system (Doctoral dissertation, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University). HSE. Gov (2016b). Hazardous installations directorate (HID). Available at: http://www.hse.gov.uk/hid/ (Accessed: 3 March 2017). International Labour Organisation (2017). International labour standards on occupational safety and health. 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(2013) Safeguarding labour in distant factories: Health and safety governance in an electronics global production network. Geoforum, 44, 23-31. Robson, L. S., Clarke, J. A., Cullen, K., Bielecky, A., Severin, C., Bigelow, P. L., Mahood, Q. (2007). The effectiveness of occupational health and safety management system interventions: a systematic review. Safety Science, 45(3), 329-353. Weiss, J. (2002). Industrialisation and globalisation: theory and evidence from developing countries. Psychology Press. Weiss, J. (2002). Industrialisation and globalisation: theory and evidence from developing countries. Psychology Press. Wu, L., Jiang, Z., Cheng, W., Zuo, X., Lv, D., Yao, Y. (2011). Major accident analysis and prevention of coal mines in China from the year of 1949 to 2009. Mining Science and Technology (China), 21(5), 693-699.

Swot Analysis of Skoda

Executive Summary The aim of this report is to illustrate the present situation of Skoda company in China car market and the world car market. By using SWOT analysis, describing Skoda had done a successful work in China. Evaluate the suitability of China as a foreign market for Skoda and it's product cars and Skoda may stay in China for more development. This will be assessed in the PESTEL analysis. Introduction Two young men, Vaclav Laurin and Vaclav Klement, started to designed and produced bicycle in Czechoslovakia in 1895. 30 years later, the small factory became Skoda which went on to produced farm ploughs, cars, airplanes and bicycles in Eastern Europe. Between 1925 and 1990, Skoda overcame hard times which included war, political change and economic depression. The management of Skoda chose Volkswagen AG (VAG) as their strong foreign partner at 1990 and the reason was VAG has strong reputation, reliability and high quality. In addition, VAG is the largest car manufacturer in Europe, which taking 12% share at the world market by providing more than five million cars a year. Volkswagen AG comprises seven different car brands and each brand has its own specific character and is independent in the market. (SWOT ANALYSIS : SKODA, 2009) Latest Performance ? Skoda–Historical sales of world market model |2002 | |Weaknesses |Threats | |Outdated infrastructure |Competitors release same level products | |Not enough series of products |Expensive non-renewable energy | |Less famous |Increasing wages of killed workers | |Poor image | | PESTLE Analysis PESTLE stands for: political, economic, social, technological, legal, environmental. ‘PESTLE analysis is a tool that can aid organization making strategies by helping them understand the external environment is which they operate now and will operate in the future,'(PESTLE Analysis,2003) China ? Political – Low price of the raw materials – Low restrictions of car industry – Various of policies support the car industry(Guo peng, 2010) ? Economic – Economics of China is growing fast while other counties is in economic recession, which helps people can offer cars in their daily lives. ? Social – China has a very stable society, which is helpful to the sales and the innovation of Skoda. ? Technological – China government has released some encouragement policies on car manufacture and car market development. This made the technology of making cars have a large of improvement and it is suitable for Skoda to do the research and innovation. ? Legal – China has a complete legal system which can protect the company well. Environmental – China government has done many things to ensure the supply of petrol. This would also help the car sales. Conclusion In Conclusion, Skoda's overall performance in China is excellent. In these four years, it has a great improvement of sales from zero to 123 thousands a year and the number is still growing. Skoda shows a high level of quality, innovation, reli ability and service. However, it still has to work on the weak areas. In China, Skoda's market share is still not large enough and the government gives a great environment for the car industry. Therefore, it would be a better choice for Skoda to stay in China. References Guo peng. (2010). PESTLE Analysis of China car industry : http://wenku. baidu. com/view/b771d4335a8102d276a22f12. html. Viewed 6/8/2010 PESTLE Analysis. Renewal Associates. 2003: http://www. renewal. eu. com/resources/Renewal_Pestle_Analysis. pdf. Viewed 5/8/2010 Skoda in China sales over 83 thousands in the first half of 2010. (2010). Homepage Skoda Auto: http://www. skoda. com. cn/skoda/pages/data/new/news_20100721145609_000000000707. jsp. Viewed 5/8/2010 SWOT ANALYSIS : SKODA. Yogin Vora on August 6, 2009: http://managementfunda. com/swot-analysis-skoda/. Viewed 6/8/2010

Rogers Chocolate

Introduction Rogers’ Chocolate is on a mission to have the company double or triple its size within 10 years. An analysis will be performed to figure out a strategic plan where Rogers’ Chocolate will be able to grow, and maintain their image of providing premium chocolates. The issue facing Rogers’ Chocolate is how they will be able to gain new customers and sustain their current customers. To give a thorough analysis, I will identify and explain the strategic issue, present the results of the analysis, and present alternative strategies. Finally, I will present my recommendation and conclude the analysis.Strategic Issue The strategic issue facing Roger’s Chocolate is how to grow the company by being able to gain new customers and still maintain their current customer base. The objective of Rogers’ Chocolate is to double or triple the size of the company within 10 years. By growing, this means that they will need more production, more employees, and more customers. Rogers’ Chocolate will need a strategy that will help position them to be able to grow the way they want it to. Analysis After reviewing Rogers’ Chocolates finances, they are good shape and have improved from 2005 to 2006.This improvement shows opportunity for the company to reach its objective of growing. According to their balance sheet, their current ratio for 2006 is 1. 366 (2,330,241/1,705,132) and 1. 245 (2,896,842/2,326,966) for 2005. These numbers show that they are able to continue to pay off their obligations. This means they are in a position where they shouldn’t go bankrupt. It also shows that Rogers’ Chocolate are just efficient enough in the sense of turning their product into cash. The company’s cash available for next year, 2007, is $74,744. This is down from what they had at the beginning of the year, $151,802.This may hurt them when trying to invest into new areas. The external environment of Rogers’ Chocol ate looks very promising. Godiva and Bernard Callebaut are the only ones that seem to threaten Rogers’ Chocolate position in the market. The other chocolate companies are of lower quality and price but still compete with Rogers’ Chocolate. Godiva’s chocolates are priced higher but lower quality. Bernard Callebaut’s chocolate are similar to Godiva’s in price, are in similar locations as Rogers’ and are also good in new introductions and seasonal products. They are also superior to Rogers’ when it comes to their packaging.The internal environment doesn’t look well for Rogers’ Chocolate. With very few employees who do multiple jobs, Rogers’ seems like they are not able to handle their demand for their product. Also their issue with out of stock product causes many problems when trying to keep up with other demands. Strengths for Rogers’ Chocolates include liquidity and their differentiation from other competit ors. Roger’s is in a good position financially. They are not in the best position but are in a good enough position to make changes and improvements. Rogers’ is also efficient.Once, again they are not at their best, but are efficient enough to be a successful competitor. They are also very strong in their image. They are able to differ from their competitors with high quality chocolate and an image that is known locally. Rogers’ weaknesses are cash flow and production. Although Roger’s Chocolate is not in a position to go bankrupt, they have limited cash to invest into improving their operations. With the low amount of cash they have, they may have to borrow in the future. Another weakness is their production efficiency. A low number of employees and bad planning causes their production to be slow and inefficient.Inventory management and out of stock problems cannot continue if Rogers’ want to be able to grow into the company they want it to become . Rogers’ Chocolates has several opportunities. One opportunity is to maintain their current image to introduce new products to compete with Bernard Callebaut. Having a new product to compete can help can new customers and new market share. Another opportunity is to provide lower quality chocolates to reach a new target market. Being able to acquire a new market may bring those new customers to their current market.The main threat to Rogers’ chocolate is the competition. Not being able to keep up with the competition or current trends can lead to lost market share. With Godiva having superior packaging, distribution, and price points, and Bernard Callebaut having superior packaging and seasonal influence, Rogers’ Chocolate could be falling behind soon if they do not join the ranks. Rogers’ must find their niche in order to be able to compete not just locally, but globally. Alternative Strategies Rogers’ Chocolates will need to gain new customers if they want to grow the company.To gain new customers, Rogers’ must take a risk a re-brand themselves with a new packaging design to create a new image. Implementing a new brand image will gather a new crowd of consumers that Rogers’ did not reach with its current image. To be able to do so, Rogers’ will need some financial help in order to invest money into the new packaging design and image that they want to create. They will also need new store displays and marketing tools to be able to push the image to customers. By creating this new image, they run the risk of losing their current customers.The new image that Rogers’ creates will grab the attention of a new market that will help gain market share that they currently do not have to aid in the growth of the company. For growth to happen, Rogers’ must be more efficient in production. The problems caused by out of stocks and bad planning are causing Rogers’ to not be as successful. When pro duction plans are put on hold to finish special orders, it is not a good sign. Production should be a continuous flow. To change the production efficiency, Rogers’ will have to hire more employees so their current ones are not doing multiple functions.They will also need to use the correct data when planning production and forecasting next year’s sales. Once again, money will be needed to hire and train new employees, as well as changing the planning method. Rogers’ risk is that the employees may not be as happy when new hires come, since a lot of the employees are third generation employees. Also, another risk is that the new planning may cause the same problems such as discounting products or even wrong forecasting. Another way for Rogers’ to grow is to boost their online presence. Since social media is growing, Rogers’ could take advantage of it to gain traffic to their website.By doing so, not only will sales go up, but they will also be able t o reach a new age group of 18-34, who use online shopping. This will give them new customers that will start to aid in replacing the aging customers that Rogers’ currently have. Since social media is a low cost, not a lot of money will be needed, although it may be a good idea to hire a social media consultant to handle all the work. The only risk that I see Rogers’ facing is throwing away money if sales do not increase. If social media and a larger online presence are not working, Rogers’ could face a situation where they are not on the receiving end.They will need to research who the online customer base really is to gain information on how to market to that segment. Not only will a larger online presence grow the company, but also moving business to the United States will help in the growth as well. Opening up retail stores in the US will help Rogers’ to start to gain a global presence. The way that Rogers’ retails their products shows that they know how to do it locally. To be able to reach the US, they will need to put a lot of effort into research the market on how to market to US customers.In their current retail stores, they display their products to suit the season with a Victorian theme. Rogers’ will need to do the same for the US, but use the information gathered to create displays and marketing tools that will gain a following. By changing to fit and gain sales in the US, Rogers’ has the risk of losing their current image as well as spending a lot of money just to gain customers that they may not get. This is the riskiest strategy. They will spend a lot of money by building retail stores and staffing them and marketing to a new segment. The risk of having their image ruined is also a risk.Since Rogers’ is well rooted in tradition, this may cause a stir among employees and their customers. Recommendation After reviewing the analysis and the alternative strategies, Rogers’ has several way s to achieve growth. I recommend that Rogers’ re-brand themselves with new packaging and marketing tools. Although there is a risk of losing current customers, I believe that is a very small risk. People who buy Rogers’ Chocolates are very loyal customers and have been buying them for years. Rogers’ is a company based of providing premium chocolate with high quality.Changing the image will not affect the quality of their chocolates, but rather gain new customers they don’t currently have and be able to compete against Godiva and Bernard Callebaut. The image that Rogers’ needs to create is an image that will still hold its tradition, but at the same time be edgy enough to strengthen its packaging, advertising, and distribution. This will allow new customers to get to know what Rogers’ Chocolates is and be able to keep the current ones coming back. Conclusion As you can see, Rogers’ chocolates objective is growth for the company.An anal ysis was performed to show the current financial and environmental state Rogers’ is currently in. after reviewing the analysis, I found that Rogers’ is in a good position to grow and again market share using their current products. I recommended that Rogers’ Chocolates create a new, edgy brand image to gain a new customer base. This will keep their current, loyal customers and help gain new customers who are soon to be loyal as well. Rogers’ has put themselves in a position to make this strategic decision in order to grow the company into a market leader.

What Is Network Effects What Are The Other Names For This...

Sonja Wenzel CGS 2301-65046 Instructor Dr. M Chapter 6 What are network effects? What are the other names for this concept? Let me start of with the other names, which are Metcalfe’s Law or Network Externalities. Network effects are the effect that a single person using a good or a service has on the total perceived value of that product or service for others. The more people using the product or service, the higher it s value becomes to the group More users = more value. For example, the larger the group of people with access to a phone, the more valuable the phone will be to the people who use it; and the more people who join a social network like Facebook, the more valuable the site is for the people who are already using it. Three primary sources of value for network effects: 1. Exchange – User can potentially communicate with more individuals 2. Staying Power – Long-term viability 3. Complimentary Benefits – products or services that increase value to the network Those three values adding sources often work together to reinforce one another in a way that makes the network effect even stronger. Why is staying power particularly important to many technology products and services? When users exchanging information it will attract more users, they can also attract firms offering complementary products. When developers of complementary products invest time writing software; and users install, learn, and customize these products; switching costs are created toShow MoreRelatedImpact of Social Media on Relationships Essay1050 Words   |  5 Pagesprogresses and social networking grows. Social networks like Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook have grown to have billions of users. In fact in today’s society, it is necessary or nearly expected to use one if not all of these technological communication networks. 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