ARTICLE REVIEWS
The world of business is characterized by several issues that together create the business environment suitable for the players. It is essential to understand that certain factors have a huge bearing on the business frameworks that govern the global markets. Below is a review of sample international business articles;
The article attempts to unravel the misconstrued notion that new technologies like the internet have normalized the marketplace and made it a level ground for all the players. It is critical to understand the underlying disparities that have been assuming by the proponents of new technology and those who continue to make such unverified assertions. The driven notion is that the world is flat regarding accessing business opportunities. The article examines the veracity of the proposition about the project acquisition by low-wage nations. As projected in the seeming allegation, the internet offers the flat market opportunity to all the players regardless of place and economic status.
Most interesting
Absolute theory-Several theories have discussed the subject. One such theory is an absolute advantage. As defined by Adam Smith, the theory asserts that a nation should buy a supply if a foreign nation can offer it at low cost than the local country and create an advantage out of the supply (Gefen & Carmel, 2008, 1-19). The theory is in blatant conformity with the global labor arbitrage in which a player can seek labor at its cheapest and use it for optimal returns. The article takes an exemplary view of outsourcing policies in IT and Technology. It is evident that there are serious discrepancies regarding cultural orientation. Consequently, there are possibilities of miscommunication in software development that might lead to bugs during the development process. Consequently, there is often some reluctance to engage in offshore outsourcing with nations considered to be culturally distant due to the enormous management monitoring costs (Gefen & Carmel, 2008, 1-19). As a result, many providers prefer to engage with nations that are within their cultural sphere. The assertions in a given way discredit the absolute advantage theory. It suggests that clients find it difficult to contract providers that are culturally distant for fear of efficiency and miscommunications.
Difficult to understand
Agency theory-The theory seemed complicated taking into account the mannerism of discussion. As projected in the prisms of the agency, the theory asserts that outsourcing might require the client to pay when the work is completed. Undertaking such decision might be risky when the provider is not previously known to the client. As a result, it compromises on the absolute advantage theory. The selection dilemma might incorporate elements of selection risks. To avoid such risks, it is important to contract a provider whose quality is already proven. To prove the factor, the article explores a project named, Rent A Coder that that places a bid and receives diverse applications from various countries (Gefen & Carmel, 2008, 1-19). In a nutshell, the findings reveal that the market is not only controlled by price and contrary to the conventional global offshore notion, but the absolute advantage was also among the least influencers of the market and was only effective for non-English speakers. The most interesting are the advancement of the research and data examination to quash the misconstrued notion about the absolute advantage in the field of IT. It clearly indicates that there is the misperception in the IT market about the flat market that hardly exists.
Second Article-The Core Competence of the corporation
The article examines the core competence of corporations and attempts to validate the notion of competitive advantage. In the view of the article, competencies are corporate tools that can be deployed effectively to give the highest possible return. Moreover, the allusion of core products about core competence is a culmination of the essentiality of core competence as a model for corporate prosperity (Prahalad & Hamel 1990, 1-16). The article argues that it is critical to focus on competence to enhance market share either through price or brand leadership.
The most interesting
The article presents a lot of intriguing business proposition that is useful to the corporate society and global brands. Despite many interesting sections of the article is;
Identifying core competencies-and losing them-The discussion formed the most interesting part of the article. The chronological analogy of the elements of core competence and how they can be easily lost is clearly discussed. In the article, specific examples are projected to demonstrate how easily a company can lose core competence and global reputation. The article explains that identifying a core competence inculcates certain tests. First, the ideology that core competence provides access to wide variety of markets. In this idea, the article asserts that core competence should enable the business to undertake participation in diverse businesses. The example of Casio’s entry into handheld TV epitomizes an elaborate discussion that is interesting (Prahalad & Hamel 1990, 1-16). Secondly, the article projects that a core competence should always contribute to the benefits of the end product as in the case of Honda engine expertise. Thirdly, it asserts that core competence should always present insurmountable complexity for imitation by competitors. As demonstrated by JVC in video tape competence, such became tough to imitate. Such explanations were interesting in every aspect of assertion and readily comprehensible.
The most difficult to understand
Developing strategic architecture-The complexity presented by the fragmentation of core competence posed challenges to comprehend as well as agree on its disposition. The underlying annotations of SBU lines were difficult to synthesize. The fundamental aspect of the senior management’s mandate to develop strategic architecture is somewhat incomplete. It is important to understand that developing corporate policies and long-term objectives should not be the preserve of the management (Prahalad & Hamel 1990, 1-16). In an interactive business environment, it is important to involve every stakeholder in a bid to initiate corporate understanding and participation. A healthy strategic architecture should be developed by all the parties including employees at a certain level. Therefore, it is inappropriate only to make developing of core competence a work of the top management. As the businesses battle with inclusivity in decision-making within the corporate circles, it is essential to include the every corporate player in building competence that is acceptable to all. It will create motivation among the stakeholders. In every corporate endeavor, motivation is fundamental to the general efforts put to achieve the goals of the organization. It is thus important to involve corporate players in key decisions made for the future prosperity. Hence, the idea of resting strategic architecture on the top management is contestable.
Third Article-Managing Joint Venture
The article propels the ideology of Joint Ventures and the factors that justify the decision to pursue global market. In this article; there are certain interesting discussions such as;
Interesting discussion
Cultural differences-The most interesting aspect of the article is on the issue of cultural differences. The culmination of cultural differences as an impediment to JV is quite an impressive learning. In this view, there are several challenges to Joint Ventures arising from the cultural disparity between the local and foreign partners (Beamish & Lupton, 2009, 1-21). It is essential to understand that particular cultural orientation is fundamental in effective business practices. Communication is a vital aspect of business, and every decision involves communication at one point or another. Besides decision making, managing of personnel often become challenging due to new cultures thus might present further challenges. The view of this discussion focuses on the fundamentals of a joint venture about possible problems arising from a different market orientation that can lead to attitudes and individualism. The interesting part of the discussion is how it underpins the potential difficulties that are indeed a significant challenge to foreign partners in every country. Understanding the cultural disparity is essential to any progress and success of the JV. It is because culture determines the business environment and how a product is acceptable within the market setup. It is critical for every corporate venture that aspires to go international and exploit the potential opportunities in the global market to take particular precautious issues into account.
Most difficult to agree with
The discussions on culture and new market regarding Joint Ventures are justifiable. However, the assumption that JVs would be a way to avoid risks in the new market might be myopic and contestable. The basic philosophy of new market orientation and partnership can be tricky and arguable in every aspect. Taking this particular notion into focus, it is only assumptive that risks are limited when a company enters into a joint venture. It is true that such engagements are reached on trust and after a thorough analysis of the potential partner. Despite all the factors put into consideration, it's hard to determine the motive of the local partner with which a foreign company enters into a venture (Beamish & Lupton, 2009, 1-21). There exist some levels of dishonesty in certain individuals and company management that can present more risk to the foreign company than business benefit. The problem is prevalent in developing countries where corruption enables companies to avoid compliance with the tax obligations but still maintain business image since they corrupt their way to clearance from any malpractice. With such hidden reputation, it can be dangerous to enter into JV based on the information available about the potential partner that has asserted itself as a reputable company but in practice is suffering from economic malpractices.
Bibliography
Beamish, P., & Lupton, N. 2009. Managing Joint Ventures. Academy of Management Perspectives, 1-21.
Gefen, D., & Carmel, E. 2008. Is the world really flat? a look at offshore at an online programming marketplace. MIS Quartely, 1-19.
Prahalad, C. K., & Hamel, G. 1990. The Core Competence of the Corporation. Havard Business Review, 1-16.
