Assignment:
This lab assignment relates to information found in the textbook and through your research.
1.Include a cover page and a reference pages as needed.Write your answers in complete sentences.
2.Justify and support your responses, using information found in your text and through research.
3.Avoid copying text directly from the textbook. This is considered plagiarism and is not acceptable. Your answers must be written in your own words.
Complete the following:
1. Operations and production management can affect business strategy. Two strategies that deal with such operational management are Total Quality Management (TQM) and International Standards Organization (ISO) 9000.
2. Briefly describe the main principles of both TQM and ISO9000.
3. Explain how TQM and ISO0999 help international companies to develop world class standards.
4. Businesses, especially small and medium sized businesses face significant obstacles when expanding globally. Identify the obstacles businesses face in the area of recruiting and selecting employees when first expanding into an international market. Address such issues as financial constraints, lack of contacts, cultural differences, legal issues, geographical issues, and so forth After identifying an organization's mission, goals and core competencies, an organization formulates strategy. Strategy is defined as the ""set of planned actions taken by managers to help a company meet its objectives.""
International strategies can be either multinational (adapting products and marketing to suit individual national or regional preferences) or global (offering the same products in all national markets). There are three different business level strategies: low-cost leadership or having the lowest cost structure of any competitor in an industry, differentiation or designing products that are seen by customers as unique, and focus or serving the needs of a narrowly defined market segment by being a low cost leader, having a differentiated product or both.
Consider and discuss the following questions involving international strategy:
•Identify two products that you have used or consumed within the last 24 hours that are produced by an international company. Perhaps you brushed your teeth, drove your car, watched cable or satellite TV or used a hand-held electronic device. Identify the company behind the product. What strategy does the company employ behind each good or service: low cost, differentiation or focus? Explain in detail how you arrived at your answers and decisions.
•Select one of the two companies you identified above. Locate the company's annual report on the Internet. What is the company''s mission statement or overriding objective? In which nations does it produce and market its products? Does the company standardize its products on a global basis or does it take a multinational approach and adapt its products for different markets?
•Advancements in technology greatly affect international business strategies. How does technology affect and/or change the way this company structures its products and marketing?
•In your opinion, are the strategies working for this company? What would you recommend or what would you do differently?