International Operations Essay

Introduction

The business and economic market in the market currently, becomes increasingly more competitive and smaller as the wave of competition takes over the running of business organization both in the domestic and global markets. This is as a result of ease of access to new markets for demand and supply, lack of restrictions to market entry and exit, improved technology among many other factors that contribute to the welfare of a business (Stern and Stak, 76). This can also be attributed to the presence of faster and more reliable means of transporting goods from one point to another making the access of goods, delivery and distribution more reliable, faster  and efficient as well as the existence of a improved technological capability especially in the developing countries. This ensures that there exists better mechanisms off doing business in these countries as compared to the others and therefore as a result of the increase in all these trends, businesses are becoming more competitive. As a result of this, there exist enormous challenges facing both the small, medium and large business organisations as well as the potential for upcoming enormous opportunities.

 

The company Brummie Screens is one among many others that find themselves in a tight position as a result of the increasing state of competition in the market and increasing number of players in the market. This has made it extremely difficult for the country to continue with its operations using the strategies that it has been using. This will therefore require that the company changes its marketing strategies and generally carry out an overhaul on all its operations as a way of surviving in the market.Walker(39) asserts that increasing competition requires that business organization goes an extra mille to satisfy its consumers and therefore this may be accompanied by the making of tough decisions to keep the company afloat.

However, the company has also made some considerable progress in the new market as it has been able to expand its operations to new markets as well as maintain its level of profitability. When more firms come in to the market, this means that the consumer has more choices to make as it regard which product to buy, at what price and with what combination of product features. This means that any product that does not meet the various requirements of the consumer is at risk of not being bough by the consumer.

 

According to Gareth and Jones (41), the firms should therefore in cooperate all or a large percentage of the aspects that are attractive to the consumers if the products will have to sell hence keep the company afloat. Any firm that is not able to in cooperate these aspects in to the products would not be able to sell its products in the market and would therefore face the risk of being pushed out of the Market by the other firms. Increase in competition has several impacts on the welfare of the company, the market as well as that of the consumer. To start with, it leads to a possible decrease in prices which is an advantage to the consumers as that are able to get goods art cheaper prices than it would be the case if the competition is not existent.

However, this is a negative impact on the firm as they are forced to cut down their costs of production to the minimum cost so as to keep in tandem with the rest of the prices in the market. On the other hand, increased completion leads to an improvement in the quality of a product and this goes at a lower price and therefore a firm has to produce high quality products and sell at a lower price than it would be the case. To be able to overcome all these competition challenges, a firm needs to have proper and efficient strategies that push its performance and level of productivity ahead.

 

On the other hand, all businesses operating within a particular market strive to achieve market leadership and dominance as a way of taking charge of the market, satisfaction of consumer needs and the increase in its productivity. Obviously, a business organisation that is at the market leadership position enjoys benefits that the rest of the businesses do not enjoy. These include a large market share, market dominance and enjoyment of unchallenged consumer support. A large market share obviously means more sales more revenues and hence increased profits and high level of productivity and therefore these are some of the dreams that Brummie Screens should achieve despite the challenges and increased market competition.

 

Waters and Donald (23) suggests that in the international arena and markets the case is the same in that as new markets get discovered, more people go ahead to satisfy their needs and therefore the best way to fulfill the requirements of those markets is by increasing competitiveness and use of more effective business strategies as a way of penetrating the international markets. In both of these cases, the satisfaction of consumer needs and wants takes a preceding role because that is the way a business would achieve its goals and objectives (Rowbotham, Azhashemi and Galloway, 85). There are various strategies that a business can employ to beat the increased levels of competition at the international markets. These are the same strategies that I would advice Brummie Screens to use in a bid to take charge of the international markets and retain market leadership hence be able to outshine the rest of the market players. As a result therefore, the only best way that a business can survive is through the making of the right strategic decisions and taking advantage of any existing opportunities in the market one by using the supply matrix that is the basis of operations management in every organization. Effective operations management strategies will in this case enhance the workings of the organization by increasing efficiency in the various departments of the organisation hence lead to an increase in the business’ productivity and improvement in its performance (Porter, 82).

In the case of Brummie Screens I would propose that the company implements a successful global operations and management strategy as a way of improving its efficiency hence have a competitive advantage over its competitors. In this regard, I propose that the company should adopt a fresh structured approach that would be based on clear frameworks effective enough to evaluate the existing challenges in the global market. This would lead to the identification of the challenges facing the business’ operations thereof and an undoing strategy used to overcome the challenges.

 

Consequently, the same would determine the strategies required to effectively transform the business operations in to an enterprises operations Management capability that would be of more benefit to the company. The development of these strategies would transform the company in to a more profitable one giving it ability to enter into new markets achieve market dominance over its competitors. I would advice the company to devise and develop a global operations strategy that would make the management of its operations a strategic importance and necessity hence lead to the diversification of the company’s operations. The company would develop strategies aimed at achieving new rates of growth and improved profitability regardless of the market performance or the competitive situation in the market.

To start with the company should implement and use strategic management as the guiding principle in running the business. Strategic management and the application of the right principals in the running of any business organisation are crucial components in the management and running of the business’ operations hence determine its level of performance. Betts and Taran (2003) assert that in a company, products are seen as rent generating assets and therefore an entrepreneur collects the economic rents generated by the products that his or her firm produces to get profitability. Virtually, all business organisations including Brummie screens face the challenge of resource allocation among the various units in the firm and therefore it is crucial to balance the allocation of resources as a way of ensuring that all operations in the organisation run smoothly.

Considering the economic fact that every product exists in the market in a competitive environment, a product’s performance fluctuates depending on the competitive situation in the market. Nevertheless, the distribution channel of the company’s products (intermediaries) as used by a business organization will repeatedly put measures in place that improve the purchases levels of their products in the market and therefore lead to enhancement of their business’ performance. In this case, the allocation of resources to the company’s departments and agencies will be used as an influence mechanism to their behavior and therefore use the rents as subsidiaries to the firms promotional strategies (Jae and Joel, 34).

At the same time, the company’s operation strategy would need to be designed in a way that it would enhance its performance in the market and therefore improve on its productivity especially in the markets that it already exists. Similarly, Hill and Gareth (73) say that these strategies will aim at the company entering new markets and successfully establishing its operations in those markets as a way of diversifying its operations. To start with, the company will need to understand the challenges that it faces in terms of competition, market penetration and maintenance of its operations in the market in an above average capacity that would enhance its productivity. This would be done using a suitable framework that effectively tackle and understand the operations management environment by formulating the long-term direction the firm wants to take in terms of its future operations and considering its capability, resources and ability to achieve that course. In this regard, the firm would disrupt the existing market system as it finds a way to bond with the existing market players such as the suppliers, the producers among other players in the market.  It is in this stage that the business would identify suitable market players that it can bond with and work with in the future for a strong and a continued productivity. At this stage, the market players that the company should be interested in are the suppliers, partners and existing networks as well as the formation of new networks.

 

After the identification of the right market players to bond with, the company would now seek to establish networks across the market ands making sure that all the members of the market system are aware of the companies existence by bonding with what has already been in existence. These networks will play a substantial role in the markets future operations as they are the same networks that the business would use to expand in future and establish its customer base. Once this has been done, the company will make the required product suitable for the particular market or outsource in the event that outsourcing is better for the business than production (Lowson, 53). The choice of the products to be made or outsourced in this case will be dependent on the unique needs of the market in question hence facilitate the flow of the business operations. These strategies will all need to be adopted by the company if it has to effectively succeed in entering and stabilize its operations in the global market. After the making of a choice on what to produce and what to outsource in the market, the company will need to consider the flexibility of its operations and designing them such that they are responsive to the changing market needs, wants and requirements at every particular time. Flexible operations will mean that the company can easily alter its operations to fit the changing situations in the market as rigid Market operations are usually hard to suit market situations.

 

At the same time, Pankaj (28) explains that flexible and highly responsive operations are easy to manage and monitor as this will be dependent on the market situation. The last part of the strategic planning of the operations of the company will be dictated upon by the methods of managing the supply mechanisms of the business and will basically involve the supply chain management systems that the business will be using. The supply chain management practices that will be used by the company will need to be efficient, fast and economical. This will be done considering the fact that the company deals with fast moving and fragile products and therefore the supply chain should be able to enhance the company’s efficiency levels hence lead to optimal productivity.

In addition the company would need to improve its operational performance by ensuring that all the customer needs and expectations are effectively met by designing products that suit customer needs and selling such products at the most appropriate prices. This will improve on consumer loyalty and confidence in the company and its operations hence lead to improved performance of the business. At the same time, the company will also need to put strategies in to place to overcome the existing competition in the market. This will involve the use of effective pricing strategies as well as marketing strategies that attract individual buyers in to the company (Brown, 62).

 

Moreover the company will also be required to improve on the quality of its products and ensure that it produces high quality products that can be termed as superior in the market as compared to the products of other competing firms. This will give the company’s products a preference over that of the competing firm’s products and therefore the company would need to be more vigilant on improving their product quality. A high quality product attracts and retains consumers and therefore the company will need to convince consumers of the superior products that the company offers them.

 

Similarly, the company will have the obligation of making sure that it reduces its costs of production to the minimum hence afford its consumers the most suitable and affordable prices. Pricing is one of the most sensitive yet crucial factors affecting the demand of a product (Peng, 29). In this case, the company should through various mechanisms such as economies of scale among others reduce their costs of production hence offer the consumers with good prices.  A reduction in the costs of production of products will lead to increased profit levels through increased revenues and therefore the company will need to consider reducing its costs to the minimum hence be able to capitalize on the company’s increase in profitability .

 

At the same time, the company should improve and maintain its operational performance by increasing its efficiency on operations and by cutting down on both the costs and time taken to achieve every operation of the company. This will enhance the company’s effectiveness and performance in the new market hence creates better opportunities for growth and development. This would be achieved in various ways in which the company will strategize to ensure that the set goals and objectives are not only met but sustained both in the long term and short term (Inkpen and Ramaswamy, 37).

 

Firstly, the company should carry out weekly or monthly planning exercises as a way of evaluating its performance and maintaining the performance of its branches. This will also help the company measure its performance and therefore be sable to know the direction that its operations are taking and hence the future of the company. Betts and Taran (27) asserts that this will also include that taking of proactive measures in the company’s operations and therefore solve any problems that may arise in the company’s operations. This will prevent the company from future failures in performance that could be attributed to unsolved problems, difficulties and challenges in carrying out the business operations. The company would also need to ensure that it is able to deliver against its targets the various products that it produces an all its branches and operations. This will involve a sustained efficiency in its operations hence ensure customer satisfaction.

 

Moreover r the company will need to manage its daily operations by ensuring that it frequently achieves its objectives. This will involve effective management of its resources both human and capital resources as well as its systems and processes so as to achieve greater level of efficiency. This will also involve the daily making of decisions that facilitate the improvement of its various operations.

 

In conclusion the company Rummies screens has the capacity to survive in the global market despite the various challenge s that it faces in terms of increasing completion and tight market conditions. This can only be achieved by ensuring that the company successively improves on its performance, operations and systems. The company will have to use strategies that will assist it achieve this goal including effective human resource and capital management, marketing strategies, improving and maintaining its operational performance among others. This will in effect enhance the companies operations hence enable it to succeed in the global market despite the many challenges that it faces.

 

 

 

 

Works cited

Betts, C. S. and Taran, Z. (2003). Brands, rents and the BCG matrix: a portfolio approach to brand maintenance. Cullowhee,North Carolina, New Native Press.

 

Stern, W. Carl and Stak, George, Organisational Perspectives on strategy, Boston, The Boston consulting group, 2000.

 

Waters, Donald C. Donald J. Waters, Operations management: producing goods and services, Pearson Education (2nd Ed.)Upper   Saddle River,NJ. Financial Times Prentice Hall, 2002

 

Rowbotham, F., Masoud Azhashemi, Les Galloway, Operations Management in Context (2nd ed.)BurlingtonMA: Butterworth-Heinemann, 2007

 

Brown, Steve. Strategic operations management, Edition2,BurlingtonMA: Butterworth-Heinemann, 2005

 

Inkpen, Andrew C., Kannan Ramaswamy, Global strategy: creating and sustaining advantage across borders, Strategic management series Oxford scholarship online,New York,NY, Oxford University Press, 2006

 

Pankaj Ghemawat, Redefining global strategy: crossing borders in a world where differences still matter, London: Harvard Business Press, 2007

 

Peng, Mike W. Global Strategy (2nd Ed.),Auckland, Cengage Learning, 2008

 

Lowson, Robert H. Strategic operations management: the new competitive advantage,London: Routledge publishing, 2002

 

Ghemawat, M. Strategy and the Business Landscape,Upper Saddle River,NJ, Pearson Education, 2007

 

Porter, Michael E. Competitive strategy: techniques for analyzing industries and competitors: with a new introduction,New York,NY, Simon and Schuster Inc., 1980.

 

Walker, Gordon. Modern Competitive Strategy (Edition 3),North Ryde, NSW, McGraw-Hill Irwin, 2009.

 

Gareth R. Jones, Charles W.L. Hill, Strategic management essentials (2nd Ed.)Mason,OH, South-Western Cengage Learning, 2009.

 

Hill, Charles, Gareth Jones. Strategic Management Theory: An Integrated Approach (9th ed.).Auckland. Cengage Learning, 2009.

Written by