Global Business Environment - Case Study: Carrefour

More recently, the recession impelled many bricks-and-mortar retailers towards a damaging focus on discounting that eroded not only many stores’ price positioning but also any point of differentiation or exclusivity.

Globalization has, for better or worse, altered the economic arena for every country in the world. For many less developed countries, globalization has leveled the playing field so that their economies can compete with the larger, more developed ones such as the United States and other large western economies. For instance, technical engineers in India and China are now just as qualified as engineers in America, but at half the cost. The once large and prosperous service sector in the United States as well as telemarketing services have largely been sourced to India as a large exodus of American multinational corporations find cheaper workers who deliver comparable quality. This then seems to be the essence of globalization - businesses

That being said, suppliers can have some power in regards to choosing the number of stores where their product can be purchased at. This allows the suppliers to regulate their sales and stay away from the “red tape”. The bargaining power of customers impacts HBC as customers are able to influence pricing based on their buying habits. Of course, customers do not choose the retail prices offered to them, however, if inexpensive clothing were to lead the industry, retail stores would adapt to this consumer demand and offer an abundance of inexpensive clothing due to consumer preferences. These forces lead to rivalry among competitors due to the many options offered to consumers to grant their desires. These forces combine to cause strategic implications for HBC. HBC must differentiate itself from its competitors who, similar to HBC, have large annual revenue, strong and profitable supplier agreements and large amounts of capital. As well, due to competitors large sale volumes, competitive pricing is an implication which faces

Companies in the retail industry operate in a high price elasticity environment as there is not much product differentiation to leverage. Buyers face almost no switching cost if they chose a substitute offering better value. On the contrary, large and diverse population making small purchases works in favor of the industry. No one individual or a small group has the power to significantly impact the industry, but overall buyers enjoy have a high bargaining power in the industry.

Consumer today have a different expectation than a decade ago. Consequently, I believed if a Retailer want to be survive and thrive in the hostility of the today’s market, they must focus on all four of competitive priorities such as cost, quality, time, flexibility.

One of the core tenents to running a business is for a business to make money and to increase in size. As a result of that engaging in activities that increase a businesses capability to make money and increase its size is of great importance. Furthermore, as a result of that focus on increasing the sizes of businesses, globalization has furthered the spread of business. Globalization influences the world economically,

Globalization has transformed the world economy over the past years. The spread of ideas and technology across borders has facilitated new avenues of trade, creating new markets and expanding others. However not only has the world benefitted

Globalization is difficult to simply define due to the variety of changing definitions that have been established over previous decades. Hamilton and Webster (2012) suggest that globalization is the connection between nations, defining globalization as a process in which barriers are reduced in order to encourage exchanges between countries. This view proposes that globalization refers very much so to the trade barriers and the improved communications between countries in order to ensure the world is unified. Globalization increases economic activity across the world and opens up markets for foreign investment.

The bargaining power of customers is high. First of all, the customer size is tremendous globally, which also has an accelerating growth rate in recent years. Customers’ leverage is strengthening as a result of this. Another inevitable factor is that with countless retailors online, there is low switching cost for customers to find other alternative companies that suits their desire to conduct purchases. Moreover, consumers today are more sophisticated. Consumers are less commit to impulsive-buying, yet are more willing to study about product features and evaluate their options before purchasing online. Their purchase pattern can also be hard to learn too.

Suppliers in the industry seek buyers who can move a lot of merchandise in a short period of time. The threat of substitution is a big deal in this industry. Most retail stores carry the same types of products with little differentiation. This makes it difficult for companies in this industry to keep customers coming back. This places an emphasis on the need to build a good reputation with customers.

Globalization is something that has been occurring since early in the history of entrepreneurs, and something that will not be going away anytime soon. Businesses can enjoy many benefits from globalization that include an increased audience to market their products to, and quicker sharing of innovative ideas. The advantages of globalization are just as much a disadvantage. The increase in competition between domestic and foreign business has lead to a decrease in employment and an increase in outsourcing. Businesses need

The economies of scale in the retail industry are huge. All of the companies in this industry have first mover advantage. Many of the competitors in this industry already have immense and diverse relationships with many of the suppliers they obtain and any new competitor will have a tough time trying to squeeze into the dealer network in order to establish themselves as any type of threat to another retailer.

The power of buyer is high as there is an overabundance of retailers in the market. For instance, Zara, Gap and Uniqlo. (Johnson et al., 2014, pg 576) This implied that customers have a wide variety of stores to shop around for bargainable apparel at the best prices. This leads the buyers to switch from one brand to another effortlessly.

Globalization: Globalization is the tendency of investment funds and businesses to move beyond domestic and national markets to other markets around the globe, thereby increasing the interconnection of the world. Globalization has had the effect of markedly increasing international trade and cultural exchange. Such as Starbucks, globalization became the topic of discussion, because they had to adjust to the different coffee taste that originated in different countries to maintain their customer

Globalization became a worldwide phenomenon with the growth of market economy and information technology. With globalization, the operators of companies and enterprises could use resources, management, expertise, information and labour of the entire world to manufacture the goods in the most appropriate areas, and then sell the produce to the areas which require them, to accomplish the most favourable distribution of resources in the world. This caused enterprises and countries to break out the boundaries of the local resources and markets, starting a competition with others in a broader sense to accomplish development. Globalization brings states and regions together by reducing the distances between each other and increasing the degree