Since the end of the Second World War, the international exchanges took an increasing scale and continued to develop in all the domains: goods, capital, knowledge, technology and culture. All the continents became interdependent and the ecological problems which touch the whole planet contribute widely to strengthen the awareness of this essential phenomenon. Humanity displays itself in an interconnected system, made up of multiple elements having each a role and a function more or less of strong influence.
Companies, groups of companies and authorities hold the main roles but these actors are apparently uneven in dimension and in power; the problem of the arbitration of their dialogue and their respective power thus raises. Two types of strengths are going to take place: those encouraged by the market which we still qualify as "anonymous forces of the offer and the demand" on one hand, those resulting from negotiations (and balance of power which underlie them) to organize the social life by correcting the not necessarily harmonious results of a market economy, on the other hand.
Management as action (or art, or way) to run an organization, to lead it, to plan its development, to control it, will have to integrate this double dimension of the behavior of a company; this looks for an explicit balanced growth rather than undergoing without reacting to the constraints delivered by the environment.
The manager will thus have at the same time the task to look for the best adaptation to the current evolution or to react to the opportunities that the international environment is offering to him, and to act in a favorable way, for the future of the company. Adaptation and anticipation are the missions of a manager.
[...] Concerning the job satisfaction, Grupo Bimbo faced Human Resources issues with unions and unionized employees, because they did not agree with the daily schedule of truckers, in fact times had changed and customers' demand also, so Grupo Bimbo asked the trucker to be more flexible. Moreover, in some states, Grupo Bimbo wanted to established IOs (independent operator), which encourage drivers to buy their routes with guaranteed financing. Truckers could make more money from each sale than under the prior commission structure, they would have health benefits, they would benefit from US laws and tax regulations that support the growth and creation of small businesses etc. [...]
[...] Grupo Bimbo should not change its corporate culture but maybe its internal policy. So, all the employees would be aware of the changes and of the new way to work. To feel involved, Grupo Bimbo should organize seminars, training, rewards etc. for its employees. Another solution is to hire local people because they know the culture and the customs of the population better, and they can help Grupo Bimbo in making decisions concerning products, distributions, prices etc. Moreover, the company should do more market research to adapt its products to the country it wants to enter. [...]
[...] In Mexico, Grupo Bimbo enjoys a strong market position, but at the international level, the company faces highly competitive markets, for example in the United States, it has no more than five active competitors and in China, the market is so fragmented that no company can have more than of the market share. Moreover, the US market became fragmented and customers' tastes changed, they became more and more careful about their health, so they were looking for products containing low fat and low-carbohydrate. [...]
[...] But, I can explain what Grupo Bimbo should have done. Before entering a market, you should be well prepared and be sure that you know everything about the country and its culture, the market, the customers' tastes etc. This is all that Grupo Bimbo should have done before entering China. But it has decided to only focus on groups in Mexico with Chinese people who tried their products and gave their opinions. This is just not enough and not representative of the entire Chinese population. [...]
[...] The local manufacturers are always able to reproduce international products at low costs. There is thus a big potential for imported products, but the national competition which follows stands out as a huge threat. We emphasize the family, the tradition and the cooperation. The group is often more important than the single people, and the traditional products testify this characteristic which is always combined with consumer habits. The rising generation tends to try more western products instead of choosing traditional products. [...]
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