New Trade Theory of International Trade takes a different approach from the Ricardian and the Heckscher-Ohlin models on why countries engage in international trade. Both Ricardo and Heckscher assumed constant returns to scale where to them if all factors of production are doubled then output will also double. But a firm or industry may have increasing returns to scale or economies of scale in way that when all factors of production are doubled, output more than doubles which will necessitate a bigger market and thus forcing firms to engage in international trade where there is a larger market. The New Trade Theorist noted that the bigger the size of a firm or industry the more the efficiency of its operations in that the the cost per unit of output falls as a firm or industry increases output. The increase in output must however be met with an increase in the Continue reading
International Business Basics
Relevance of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for Businesses and Organizations
The organizations have been focused towards adopting key business approaches and practices that would contribute towards their improved revenue as well as profitability in the marketplace. In order to achieve such strategic goals to revenue and operational growth, it is required by the management to identify and understand the changing market needs, as well as the stakeholder preferences and accordingly the internal business or operational strategies, are to be defined. Considering such need, it can be reflected that in the present marketplace there is a need for the business organization to focus towards the increased social preferences and need towards sustainability and societal development along with that of the business growth. The approach to sustainability ensures that the business organization have a balanced approach towards society, business as well as the environment. Further to strengthen the approach to sustainability international organizations including United Nations (UN) has defined several key sustainable Continue reading
Why Marketing Strategies of Global Companies Sometimes Fail
‘The world today is a global village’ it’s a fact. But the global village still has some tribes and it is very important to keep all the tribes happy if we need to have good relationship with all of them. Since the globe is accessible to everyone, it is also vital to design the marketing strategy and develop it in the perspective of variations in the culture, traditions, taste, weather and norms of a country. One of the most striking trends in business has been growing internationalization of the business. Companies are going global but they have to keep their customers satisfied domestically and internationally. The internationalization affected the business strategies and the companies are in the rethinking process to counter the problems in the global marketing strategies. Marketing is no exception to this. Attitude of the customers in this regard is very important for designing the marketing strategy, especially Continue reading
Business Environment Concept – Meaning, Definition, Features and Importance
All living creatures including human beings live within an environment. Apart from the natural environment, environment of humans include family, friends peers and neighbors. It also includes man-made structures such as buildings, furniture, roads and other physical infrastructure. The individuals do not live in a vacuum. They continuously interact with their environment to live their lives. Just like human beings, business also does not function in an isolated vacuum. Businesses function within a whole gambit of relevant environment and have to negotiate their way through it. The extent to which the business thrives depends on the manner in which it interacts with its environment. A business, which continually remains passive to the relevant changes in the environment, is destined to gradually fade-away in oblivion. To be successful business has not only recognize different elements of the environment but also respect, adapt to or have to manage and influence them. The Continue reading
Analysis of Porter’s Diamond Model of National Advantage
Michael Porter introduced the diamond model of national competitive advantage (1990) to explain why a number of countries are more competitive than others and why a number of businesses within the countries are more competitive. Porter’s Diamond Model proposes that the national home base of an industry plays an important role in achieving an advantage on a universal scale. This home base contributes the essential factors that will support the organisations in building advantages in global competition. Porter identified four determinants in attaining a national competitive advantage he concludes that a combination of the four determinants within a nation has an enormous influence on the competitive strength of the firms located there. Porter argues that competitive industries take the form of specialized clusters of home based firms. Clusters are correlated through vertical relations such as buyers integrating with suppliers or through horizontal relations through customers, technology, skills, distribution channels etc. Continue reading
Organizational Architecture
By organizational architecture, we mean the entire organization, including organizational structure, control systems and incentives, processes, organizational culture and people. In this case, there are three conditions to be fulfilled by an organization to make the organization profitable. First, various elements of the organization shall be parallel to each other. Second, organizational strategy should always be consistent with the organizational structure, and finally, strategies and organizational structure must be consistent with the competitive conditions prevailing in the firm’s market that are the strategy, architecture and competitive environment. As noted above, the organizational architecture is the totality of the organization itself which consists of various components. The components are the structure, control systems and incentives, processes, organizational culture and people. The organizational structure is a formal organizational structure used to manage a firm. Control system is the system used to measure the performance of managers and units while the incentives Continue reading