Cemex Case Study

Cement industry is one of the most attractive industries now as concrete is the second most consumed product in the world. The cement industry is however characterized by their pricing system (basing point system), its cartel nature and its entry restrictions. The CEMEX case depicts the good business strategies, excellent leadership and how to be successful in the global market. The interesting aspect of the case is how CEMEX maneuvered in to the global market and was recognized as the third largest cement company. Thus, how it overcame the issues of trade sanctions, the crisis in its operating countries, its acquisition strategy etc. is astounding. CEMEX really understood the concept of globalization and International management.

What do you think is the reasonable markup for carmex and for its retailers. It is very reasonable that Carmex should factor is costs into their prices. “The cost of the ingredients that make up Carmex lip balm formulas, the packaging, the manufacturing equipment, and the staffing are also factored into the price of the products. Volumes are a key driver of packing and ingredients...Carmex purchases up to 12 million yellow tubes each year for the traditional product and 2 million sticks per year for the newer Moisture Plus product. The difference in quantities leads to a lower price for the traditional yellow tubes.”(pg 395) With this being said, Carmex saves money in purchasing larger amounts. This higher price for packaging is then factored into the final product price. It is important for the company to do so otherwise they will not make much profit. It is always important to factor in fixed

CEMEX and their competitors have realized many benefits from globalization. The first of these was a reduction on tariffs associated with exporting their product. If the manufacturer has a localized facility, they do not have to pay export tariffs on the delivery of cement. Next, transportation costs are very expensive for cement. Tariffs aside, shipping or trucking cement long distances will erode margins or demand higher prices for a given manufacturers product. Both eat at the profitability of the business.

Celebrex is a no steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, which relieves inflammation (pain and swelling). It is used to treat arthritis, acute pain, and menstrual pain and discomfort. The pain and swelling relief provided by this medication helps you perform more of your normal daily activities. Celebrex works by blocking the your body’s enzyme that makes prostaglandins, by decreasing prostaglandins it helps to reduce inflammation.

statin), and Zostavax (a vaccine for prevention of shingles in adults older than 60 years of

To begin describing how has been the growth and progress of FDI in Mexico it is important to define FDI itself. According to the OECD Economic Outlook of 2003, Foreign Direct Investment is “an activity in which an investor resident in one country obtains a lasting interest in, and a significant influence on the management of, an entity resident in another country. This may involve either creating an entirely new enterprise or, more typically, changing the ownership of existing enterprises (via mergers and acquisitions)” (157).

MedEx has reported having a high employee turnover rate and based on the employee survey, there are a lot of employees that are not happy with their work commute, lack of parking downtown, and the challenge of balancing their personal life with their work responsibilities. Telecommuting is a great way for the employer to address all these employee concerns. The incentive of telecommuting would eliminate the commute time and parking associated with the commute, allow an employee a comfortable work setting, and offer a more flexible schedule allowing for employees to deal with personal issues when needed (Young, 1991). As you can see, telecommuting would benefit MedEx since it would improve the employee- employer relationship by promoting employee

According to the author of the article CEMEX entered foreign markets through various stages of the expansion process: opportunity identification, due diligence, and post-merger integration.

¿Qué beneficios tiene CEMEX y los otros competidores globales del cemento, derivados o provenientes de la globalización? ¿Cómo pueden las actividades cross-border agregar valor en una industria, aparentemente local, como es el cemento?

What benefits have CEMEX and the other global competitors in cement derived from globalization? More broadly, how can cross-border activities add value in an industry as apparently localized as cement?

FDI allows the home country to invest into the host country to produce, advertise, and distribute products, in order to upsurge their market share and provides a long-term investment and enhancement. (Moosa, 2002)

* Large Balance, $1.4B in goodwill on Merck’s Balance Sheet – the goodwill on Merck’s balance sheet is primarily attributable to past acquisitions.

The economy of Nepal is liberal, more privatized, and open as compared to other economies in South Asia. Nepalese economy is suffered from investment saving gap and trade gap which results into the need of FDI. Some of the limited natural resources available in Nepal are waiting for huge investment. But lack of sufficient domestic capital hampered the use of these resources. Therefore, FDI and its implication in Nepalese economy have great importance. Furthermore, cement industry is an industrial base of Nepal which occupies more than half of industrial gross domestic product. The following chapters deal with the background of the study of FDI opportunities in cement industry in Nepal.

10 2.2.1. The Doubled Diamond vs. a Single National Diamond ................................. 11 2.2.2. The Role of the Multinational Enterprises (MNE’s) as Empowering Developing Countries rather than Constraining their Growth.................................. 12 3. Research Setting: Why Use Mexico to Study Porter’s Diamond? ............................... 17 4. Research Questions....................................................................................................... 19 5. Methodology ................................................................................................................. 20 5.1. Positioning the International Competitiveness of the Industry.............................. 22 5.2. Addressing the Research Questions....................................................................... 23 6. Results........................................................................................................................... 28 6.1. The Competitiveness of the Automobile Industry in Mexico................................ 28 6.2. Positioning the Industry as Internationally Competitive ....................................... 29 6.3. Using Porter’s Diamond to Assess Sources of Competitive Advantage in the Automobile Industry in Mexico: 1993-2003. ............................................................... 39 6.3.1. Factor

Dr. Farok J. Contractor is a professor in the Management and Global Business department of Rutgers Business School, New Jersey. He has written hundreds of articles on the topic of international alliance and foreign direct investment. “Punching above their weight: the sources of competitive advantage for emerging-market multinationals” is one such article of global interest which has been declared of great value both for the public as well as for policy makers. The prime focus of this article is upon the phenomenon of emerging market multinationals which have swept the world by storm and introduced a whole new way of conducting global leadership and business. These emerging market multinationals are specifically discussed