International Management The Global Expansion

Question: Describe about the International Management for The Global Expansion. Answer: Source Problems The case study The Last Rajah: Ratan Tata and Tatas Global Expansion throws light on the issues faced by the Tata group because of its strategy of expanding the company in the world. The company aims at maintaining its traditional value in the market. The business has a brand image in the target market that the company wants to maintain. The case study discusses the management and diversification strategies of the brand. The company has always aimed to expand itself in various sectors such as the telecom sector and the iron and steel industry. The brand has a brilliant past and it strives to maintain its brand name. To be successful like its past, it is essential that the company recruits effective and efficient management. The problem that the brand is facing is that Tata group is unable to maintain the same level of motivation as in the past after relinquishing all his power to his successor. The primary objective is to expand the company globally more and more to compete in the tw enty first century. To remain competitive as ever, the company needs to upgrade itself. Another challenge that the company is facing is maintaining a high level of corporate social responsibility. The source problem is the departure of Ratan Tata who was the role model for the company and under whose leadership the brand scaled heights. Moreover, the group is facing some management and organizational issues. Secondary Problems The secondary problems of Tata Group can be categorized into short- term and long- term. This section would discuss other problems faced by the organization. It would also comprise a brief discussion of the problems that may arise in the future. Some of the major problems are as follows: Short Term The company is facing economic problems due to the economic downturn of Indian as well as the world market. This may slow down the growth of the company in the future. Moreover, this may hamper the affiliations of the company and lead to a rise in the overall expenditure (Shanbhag et al., 2016). The financial burden of the organization has increased after it merged with the foreign company Corus. The merger has resulted in an increase of debt upon the company. Another critical issue is that of the resource management. There are several manufacturing issues. It is thus extremely crucial to make better strategies so that the resource conversion gets better (Stadtler, 2015). Long term The company has undertaken a number of mergers in the past. This is a marketing strategy on the part of the company to expand itself globally. At the same time, to avoid conflict, it is crucial that the functioning of all the companies is integrated properly (Monczka et al., 2015). The acquisition of land rover and jaguar may catapult and instead have contradictory results. The company had bought Ford motor with the vision of launching a cheap car in the mass market. Analysis The analysis section comprises the main segment of the report. This segment would deal with the major issues faced by the group as a whole. A comprehensive discussion would help to understand the reasons behind the issues and thus help to resolve them. The Tata group is one of the largest organizations in the world. The Group plays a crucial role in the Indian market. The company operates in many sectors such as consumer goods, automobile, hotels, communication, steel, chemicals, and energy. The company has been the leader in the regional market. Ever since its inception, the Group has expanded itself in the world with every passing day. This continuous expansion has lead to an incredible growth of the company in the Indian as well as the international market. The company has made its presence felt in the market through effective business strategies such as takeovers, mergers, and acquisitions. It has kept itself grounded in the international market. The company is inarguably among the most important companies in nations such as Russia, China, and Brazil. The company has over hundred companies operating in different businesses in different parts of the world. It has over four hundred subsidiaries (Schiele et al., 2014). One of the major strengths of the Tata group is that it has a strong foothold in the local market. It is one of the top companies in developing nations such as Brazil, Russia, and China. Availability of cheap labor in the developing countries has proved to be a great source of strength for the company. Due to availability of cheap labor, the company has been able to produce goods at a relatively cheaper rate and sell them at low prices. Also, the abundant availability of raw minerals and technology has been a source of strength. Simply speaking, the Group has three major weapons that is, technology, labor, and raw material. Availability of all the basic needs has proved to be beneficial for the company. However, the company at present is facing some issues due to the departure of Ratan Tata. Absence of such a strong leader is a weakness for the Group. Also, the company is lacking corporate social responsibility ("Tata group", 2016). However, a slowdown in the Indian economy and rising competition in the local as well as the global markets are severe threats that the company is currently facing. The managers are losing their focus. Moreover, there is a lack of integration between the international and local organizations. This results in a rise of conflict in goals, vision, and ideas within the organization (Walker, 2015). There are a number of tools that can be utilized to analyze the strategic position of the company. A BCX matrix is quite helpful in analyzing the position of the company in the market. The matrix would help to understand the position and future of the business firm. Figure 1: BCG Matrix The BCG Matrix gives a two dimensional view of the company- the growth rate of industry and the relative market share (Tao Shi, 2016). The above diagram shows the strategic position of the business units of Tata Group. An explanation of the strategy is as follows: Star- The business units that would ensure high market rate and high level of growth in the future are the stars of the Group. For Tata group, Tata Power, Tata Motors, Tata Steel and the hotels are the star performers. These businesses have the best operations in the Group. Management should lay emphasis on the development of these businesses as these would enhance the brand name. These are already well-known and established business units. These units represent growth opportunities and best profits in the long run. They generate high revenue and need huge cash flow to retain the position. Branded as Taj Group, the IHCL or Indian Hotels Company Limited is a part of the Tata Group and is one of the largest business conglomerates of India. The chain of Hotels is operated in countries like the USA, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Africa, UK, Bhutan, the Middle East and the Maldives along with 108 hotels in India ("Tata group", 2016). Question mark- The units which have low market share in a fast growing industry are question marks. They need huge investment for promotional activities and grow their market share. They have a huge potential to generate profits and gain a dominant position in the market. Tata Group must therefore build effectual management strategies to increase the market share. Due to competition in the market, there is a huge scope for these units to grow. Cash Cows- The business units categorized as cash cows generate unusually huge profit margins. These are the businesses with high share in the market and low growth rate. They generate more cash than is generally required. This is beneficial as the extra cash can be utilized by other units. These business units have low growth rate and high market share. It means that these units are doing well but are not able to do better due to a slowdown in the industry. Hence, less or a negligible amount of investment must be made in these small business units. Dogs- These business units are the cash drainers and have a very bleak future. It is a self sustaining business that is generating cash just to break even. They are of no profit to the company and hence can be sold or hired off. Generally products in this category are in the stage of decline and there is no scope of survival (Shanbhag et al., 2016). Formerly known as Tata Tea Limited, the Tata Global Beverages Limited is considered to be the dogs of the Group. It has several non-alcoholic beverages under brand names like Tetley, JEMCA and Tata Tea. Since there is very low market growth, the company must make ways to divest from these units. The case study further provides a lot of information about the acquisitions and mergers undertaken by the company. This includes acquisition of Daewoo chemicals and the companies Land Rover and Jaguar. It had merged with Corus which landed the company into huge debts. The company had also acquired Ritz- Carlton Hotels ("Tata group", 2016). Moreover, the company had also bought the shares of PT Kaltim Prima. These mergers have helped the company to establish its foothold in the world market. The company has been able to make its presence felt because of these mergers and acquisitions. These mergers and acquisitions also helped the company in increasing the effectiveness, overall services, and efficiency of the company (Schiele et al., 2014). Criteria of Evaluation The criteria of evaluation would include the strategic analysis and objectives of the company. Goal Possible Indices Target Time Frame KPIs The goal of the business firm is mainly to integrate various business units into a whole. Better employee management system Effective human resource system Customer and employee satisfaction Completion of human resource exchange program by the end of next year Three years Operational efficiency Employee satisfaction To repay the debt Reduction of debts in the balance sheet Complete repaying the loan Five years Shareholder satisfaction Financial position Increase cash flow Increase of sales Increase the revenue of Tata Motors Increase sales of car in the market One year Operational efficiency Customer satisfaction Financial position Improve the companys supply chain management system Distribution system of Tata motors and Tata Steel Introduction of better techniques in resource management to preserve the outflow of resources Three years Financial growth High customer satisfaction Better processes (Kim et al., 2012). Development of Project Nano Increase sales of Nano Cars Increase manufacturing plants of Nano Increase the sales of Nano cars by almost 20% within one year and more in the upcoming year One year Financial growth Demands of customer Develop the market for small cars Demand for small cars Increase sales and availability Four years Finance Customer Operations Improvement of market capitalization Increase of value of market shares Profits Market value Share value (Li Hsu 2016). Five years Financial position Employee satisfaction Customer shareholder Alternatives This segment of the report would discuss the options available for the management team of Tata Group. A proper management would help the decision making process of the company. The strategies mentioned below can be adopted by the management to overcome the issues that Tata Group is facing in the given case study. Again, the options may be short term or long term. Short Term The management must incorporate employee exchange programs to increase the value system and integration process. This would help foreign employees to understand the working scenario in India. It would also help to understand the organizational culture. To accomplish this, the management must make a centralized consulting board. This would tie up the core value system and integrate the business units. The management must increase and customize the sales and production of Nano cars for better services to its customers (Allen et al., 2013). Long Term The company must open new plants for manufacturing Nano. This might take a bit long time but would increase the sales of Nano to a great extent. The business firm must focus on developing its growth in the car market. The company would have to provide cheap and good products. The cars must be good in appearance and performance. Recommended Strategy Short Term The management can implement employee exchange programs to increase value system and integration. The need is to create a centralized consulting board so that the company can provide flexibility for foreign employees. This would help them to understand the organizational culture (Allen et al., 2013). The management must strive to increase and customize the sales and production of cars by almost twenty percent by next year. It is important to maintain the financial independence in all the business units. The management must aim at increasing its market capitalization and reducing debt. This can be achieved by investing capital in areas through which the company would earn more revenues. The firm must concentrate on developing its car business. Long Term Tata must open new plants for manufacturing Nano cars. The Nano is the lowest price segment in the car business. It can compete with other low segment cars businesses. However, along with providing low pieced cars, it must also look at the appearance and quality. The company must not compromise with the quality of its product. Justification of Recommendations The company can select any strategy among the recommended ones. However, it is highly recommended that the company must first focus on integrating international and regional work culture and lay emphasis on expanding its car business. The company must select the strategy of employee exchange program as it would help the employees from India as well as from foreign countries to understand the core traditional system of the organization. It would also help to understand the work culture in various markets and then adopt it (Davoudi et al., 2012). The next strategy that has been suggested is that the company must focus on the production and marketing of small cars like Nano. The main target market must be India. Since this is the star business unit, the company must focus on developing this unit. It must invest more in this unit. Moreover, in India, Tata motors is the innovator and leader of small cars market. Hence the management must take the advantage of this star status. Other strategies mentioned in the report may also be implemented but it is better to keep the recommended strategies on the priority list. Once these strategies are successful, the company can look over the other strategies. Implementation, Control and Follow-up There are many strategies that the managers can adopt and implement and then follow up and control them. To implement the recommended strategies, the company must firstly communicate its needs to the staff and the higher management. A proper centralized committee must be formed and the human resource department must assist in preparing an employee exchange program. Similar rules may be applicable for employees working in any part of the world. To implement the marketing development strategies of Nano, meetings with top management employees and key stakeholders must be organized. Launching new marketing and investment plans would be helpful in the long run. Once the strategies are implemented, it is extremely important to control and follow it. To check the impact of the implemented strategy, the management can use the strategic control method of balance score card. Moreover, appropriate sessions must be fixed among the departments to get proper feedback, check the implementation of strategy and review it in case of any issue (Christopher, 2016). References Allen, M. R., Ericksen, J., Collins, C. J. (2013). Human resource management, employee exchange relationships, and performance in small businesses.Human Resource Management,52(2), 153-173. Christopher, M. (2016).Logistics supply chain management. Pearson Higher Ed. Davoudi, S., Shaw, K., Haider, L. J., Quinlan, A. E., Peterson, G. D., Wilkinson, C., ... Davoudi, S. 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