HE CASE: Kaizer Consulting Kaizer Consulting is an international management consulting firm that specializes in business
Posted: Sun May 29, 2022 7:27 pm
HE CASE: Kaizer Consulting Kaizer Consulting is an international
management consulting firm that specializes in business strategy
and serves as a key advisor to the world's leading companies. It
provides its clients with the unique insight to drive critical
decision-making and solve their most pressing problems. Every year,
the majority of Kaizer's business comes from clients with whom they
have worked in the previous year - an indicator of Kaizer's ability
to achieve lasting results for its clients. Kaizer's client
relationships are enduring as many clients have remained customers
for more than a decade and have become project partners. The Client
has a Problem The manager of a product category at a Fortune 50
technology company (The Client) approached Kaizer to analyze the
complete range of supply chain challenges his company would face
when they entered Mexico- a new market in South America that was
recently dominated by a large single competitor. Initially, it was
agreed that The Client would benefit most from a set of detailed
analyses of the market which would focus on providing a deep
understanding of the market's culture and business practices and
manufacturing, distribution, and retail operations required to
execute their market development plans. The Client was aware of
some cultural differences in the new market, but was under the
impression that it would be able to proceed as it normally did when
entering a new market. Further, The Client believed that the
competitor's primary advantage was based on optimized management of
the distribution network and aggressive retailing. The Client
thought it could proceed on that basis with its usual market entry
strategy, but wanted to obtain Kaizer's opinions on this before
proceeding. Kaizer's Approach Based on extensive research about the
market generally, but specifically with individuals, focus groups,
cultural experts, CSR and legal experts, suppliers, industry
experts, vendors, and employees of companies in similar situations,
Kaizer realized that: The Client's competitor had committed a
number of culturally-based mistakes, primarily with respect to age,
religion, gender issues and local social taboos. Although these
were not disastrous, the mistakes were covered in the media and had
created the general impression that the competitor didn't really
care about the target market's traditional cultural values,
beliefs, customs, and norms. The Client's competitor had selected
the target market in part because of the lax enforcement of
environmental protection laws and government corruption. Social
media and the mass media soon discovered how the competitor was
conducting business in the target market. Subsequently, the
competitor had to perform substantial damage control to protect its
international reputation of being socially- responsible. The
competitor is currently facing legal action in Canada and the US
for its alleged corrupt business practices. The Client's
competitor's key business advantage was actually based on long-term
production contracts; in effect, the competitor had become partners
with its suppliers. By doing so, the competitor had leveraged its
foreign investment in a number of ways: it had created a supply
chain that achieved a number of cost savings on commodities,
equipment, machines, and technologies; helped improve the local
economy by providing relatively high-paying jobs to local people;
and contributed to social and political stability in the country.
Kaizer's Findings With the new knowledge provided by Kaizer, The
Client: Refocused its market entry and distribution strategies from
enhancing warehousing and retail systems to more innovative
production plans that incorporated local benefits and added a plan
to use Mexico as a base for expansion into other countries in the
region. Challenged its managers and employees to develop highly
ethical Codes of Conduct and CSR strategies that supported its
long-term operations in the target market. Most importantly, was
able to develop an overall approach that was culturally sensitive
and appropriate, even humorous. This approach was reflected in all
the client's negotiation and partnership development activities and
clearly demonstrated its respect for the target market's culture.
Next Steps Kaizer has recognized that this work could become a
model for future work with this client and others in similar
situations. They've asked you to provide comments and a framework
to analyze these situations more efficiently. Case Questions
Cultural understanding is a key factor in this situation. Comment
on the importance of this aspect of market entry and development,
being sure to discuss the key elements of understanding and working
effectively in Mexico. Using the Hofstede Framework, analyze the
Mexican culture with reference to concepts covered in the course
materials. CSR and business practices are another set of critical
issues in this case. Describe four CSR issues and explain how these
issues can impact a company's international business activities.
The Client, in order to develop its Market Entry Strategy fully,
will be required to make an investment in Mexico. Explain each of
the four means of incorporating risk into market entry strategies
if The Client wanted to use an Adaptation Strategy. The Client will
benefit from trading with other countries in the region. Consider
the changes arising from the renegotiation of NAFTA to CUSMA and
evaluate the advantages/disadvantages of How significant is the
trading area for the firm trading across all three member
countries?
Make sure the country is Mexico i need answer fully expalined
please do not copy please.
Please give me the reference
management consulting firm that specializes in business strategy
and serves as a key advisor to the world's leading companies. It
provides its clients with the unique insight to drive critical
decision-making and solve their most pressing problems. Every year,
the majority of Kaizer's business comes from clients with whom they
have worked in the previous year - an indicator of Kaizer's ability
to achieve lasting results for its clients. Kaizer's client
relationships are enduring as many clients have remained customers
for more than a decade and have become project partners. The Client
has a Problem The manager of a product category at a Fortune 50
technology company (The Client) approached Kaizer to analyze the
complete range of supply chain challenges his company would face
when they entered Mexico- a new market in South America that was
recently dominated by a large single competitor. Initially, it was
agreed that The Client would benefit most from a set of detailed
analyses of the market which would focus on providing a deep
understanding of the market's culture and business practices and
manufacturing, distribution, and retail operations required to
execute their market development plans. The Client was aware of
some cultural differences in the new market, but was under the
impression that it would be able to proceed as it normally did when
entering a new market. Further, The Client believed that the
competitor's primary advantage was based on optimized management of
the distribution network and aggressive retailing. The Client
thought it could proceed on that basis with its usual market entry
strategy, but wanted to obtain Kaizer's opinions on this before
proceeding. Kaizer's Approach Based on extensive research about the
market generally, but specifically with individuals, focus groups,
cultural experts, CSR and legal experts, suppliers, industry
experts, vendors, and employees of companies in similar situations,
Kaizer realized that: The Client's competitor had committed a
number of culturally-based mistakes, primarily with respect to age,
religion, gender issues and local social taboos. Although these
were not disastrous, the mistakes were covered in the media and had
created the general impression that the competitor didn't really
care about the target market's traditional cultural values,
beliefs, customs, and norms. The Client's competitor had selected
the target market in part because of the lax enforcement of
environmental protection laws and government corruption. Social
media and the mass media soon discovered how the competitor was
conducting business in the target market. Subsequently, the
competitor had to perform substantial damage control to protect its
international reputation of being socially- responsible. The
competitor is currently facing legal action in Canada and the US
for its alleged corrupt business practices. The Client's
competitor's key business advantage was actually based on long-term
production contracts; in effect, the competitor had become partners
with its suppliers. By doing so, the competitor had leveraged its
foreign investment in a number of ways: it had created a supply
chain that achieved a number of cost savings on commodities,
equipment, machines, and technologies; helped improve the local
economy by providing relatively high-paying jobs to local people;
and contributed to social and political stability in the country.
Kaizer's Findings With the new knowledge provided by Kaizer, The
Client: Refocused its market entry and distribution strategies from
enhancing warehousing and retail systems to more innovative
production plans that incorporated local benefits and added a plan
to use Mexico as a base for expansion into other countries in the
region. Challenged its managers and employees to develop highly
ethical Codes of Conduct and CSR strategies that supported its
long-term operations in the target market. Most importantly, was
able to develop an overall approach that was culturally sensitive
and appropriate, even humorous. This approach was reflected in all
the client's negotiation and partnership development activities and
clearly demonstrated its respect for the target market's culture.
Next Steps Kaizer has recognized that this work could become a
model for future work with this client and others in similar
situations. They've asked you to provide comments and a framework
to analyze these situations more efficiently. Case Questions
Cultural understanding is a key factor in this situation. Comment
on the importance of this aspect of market entry and development,
being sure to discuss the key elements of understanding and working
effectively in Mexico. Using the Hofstede Framework, analyze the
Mexican culture with reference to concepts covered in the course
materials. CSR and business practices are another set of critical
issues in this case. Describe four CSR issues and explain how these
issues can impact a company's international business activities.
The Client, in order to develop its Market Entry Strategy fully,
will be required to make an investment in Mexico. Explain each of
the four means of incorporating risk into market entry strategies
if The Client wanted to use an Adaptation Strategy. The Client will
benefit from trading with other countries in the region. Consider
the changes arising from the renegotiation of NAFTA to CUSMA and
evaluate the advantages/disadvantages of How significant is the
trading area for the firm trading across all three member
countries?
Make sure the country is Mexico i need answer fully expalined
please do not copy please.
Please give me the reference