Question 1. What stages of the product lifecycle, areas of global production/value chain, and home country location are found among these top-rated companies?
I have chosen Apple Computers in the first top 10 companies list. Apple is an American multinational company which has its headquarters in California. The company deals with designing, developing and selling computer electronics, online services, and computer. Apple is a high profile company which has experienced a shift of style from 100% growth to both growth and value. With regards to lifecycle, Apple has for a long time showed the sign of maintaining their products and moving them backward. In other words, instead of advancing their products to maturity stage, the company keeps producing new features, improving the quality of the product and brand and advancing the styles and technology of their products (Armstrong, 2017). Apple Company does not allow most of its product to get into the mature market. Instead, the company introduces new models with more advanced features to make their products to continue staying in the market. This has been taken as a brilliant move by the company which has made the company to beat its competitors with regards to market share.
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Question 2. How would you characterize the host country relations of these companies?
The success of Apple Company can be attributed to the healthy relationship between the company and America. The company has been phenomenally successful thus creating a lot of jobs for the American people and boosting the American economy. While the company has been accused severally of poor working conditions for its manufacturers from abroad, Apple Company has greatly boosted the economy of the United States and provided the world with innovative consumer electronics (Zhang, 2017). In terms of economic growth, the company has not only been helpful to America but it has also provided a framework within which people can make significant discussions on the economic changes which have occurred in the world since its creation.
Question 3. How do these companies both follow and contribute to the logic of globalization?
With the development of globalization, many companies have taken the stage to offshore their products to the rest of the world. Apple Company has also fitted in the trend acknowledging the fact that it is becoming increasingly impossible to compete in the market when a company only relies on the domestic factories and the environment surrounding them (Zhang, 2017). With this in mind, Apple has opened up its branches in many parts of the world with its popularity improving fast in Asian markets such as Vietnam and Eastern Europe. Also, the Apple Company has taken its offshores to China and this has provided the company with high flexibility in terms of production and has planted a strong market environment (Armstrong, 2017). China is big in population, the company has greatly benefitted in terms of the market.
Question 4. What interpretation might be made of the list using a critical perspective of globalization? A liberal perspective? Do these perspectives arrive at similar conclusions on the benefits and costs of Multi-National Corp activity?
With regards to globalization, it can be interpreted that the top 10 companies have mastered economics of the supply chain and that is why they have thrived in global markets. For example, the Apple relations with China have proven that the company did the right research and is a socially responsible firm.
Question 5. Next, from the list of the World's Most Admired Companies choose a company that is NOT in the TOP 10 list and explain how the company of your choice can break into TOP 10.
The Coca-Cola Company can do a lot to get into the list of top 10 companies. One of the strategies to see into this is to refocus on its business model. Like Apple Company, Coca-Cola can focus on creating value for restaurant and retail customers. It can optimize its distribution and manufacturing systems while re-franchising the bottling business back to its independent status (Serôdio, McKee & Stuckler, 2018). Secondly, the company can continue investing in its brand and business. Big companies require continuous investment. The Coca-Cola Company can shift its focus to invest in better marketing for its brands by improving both its quantity and quality of its marketing across the world. While Coca-Cola Company has done well with regards to global marketing, they should consider continuing with investment in marketing and increase their outreach. They should also look into ways of reducing the chemicals that they use in their products and instead replace them with more natural products. The company can also focus on driving profit growth. This can be done through increasing volumes of their products, making their beverages affordable to the consumers in the market as well as putting up a strong foundation for future growth.
References
Armstrong, B. (2017). Apple Watch: The Complete Beginners Guide to Mastering Your Apple Watch Today.
Serôdio, P. M., McKee, M., & Stuckler, D. (2018). Coca-Cola–a model of transparency in research partnerships? A network analysis of Coca-Cola’s research funding (2008–2016). Public health nutrition , 21 (9), 1594-1607.
Zhang, Q. (2017). Research on Apple Inc’s Current Developing Conditions. Open Journal of Business and Management , 6 (01), 39.
