Tag: country market signposts

Country Overview, Business and Market profiling. Signposts to other sources of help.

The international trade position of Argentina. Towards a process of export diversification

This study analyses how far the strong expansion of Argentine exports since 2003 has been due simply to favourable external conditions and how industrial manufactures have behaved. It finds that the country’s pattern of international specialization has not greatly altered at the major category level, but that both primary products and manufactures of agricultural origin, which account for much of the trade surplus, have undergone significant changes in composition. In addition, regional trade has consolidated and traditional partners such as the European Union and the United States have been displaced to some extent by China. Industrial manufactures have continued to suffer from a strong comparative disadvantage, but certain high-technology industrial sectors, such as agricultural machinery and pumps and compressors, have started to become competitive, while seamless oil and gas tubing is already highly competitive>>ClickHere>>>

Global Risk Sharing through Trade in Goods and Assets: Theory and Evidence

Exporting not only provides firms with profit opportunities, but can also provide for risk diversification if demand is imperfectly correlated across countries. This paper shows that the correlation pattern of demand shocks across countries constitutes a hitherto unexplored source of comparative advantage that shapes trade flows and persists even if financial markets are complete. With exporters making market- specific choices under uncertainty, countries whose shocks are riskier, in the sense that they contribute more to aggregate volatility, are less attractive destinations for both investment and exports. A gravity-type regression lends support to the hypothesis that, conditional on trade costs and market size, exporters sell smaller quantities in riskier destinations>>ClickHere>>>

Shaping a New International Trade Order

Following the establishment of the World Trade Organisation in January 1995, American and European trade relationships were for a time characterised by ‘competitive interdependence’, as the US and EU simultaneously aimed to advance their commercial interests in third countries. Under conditions of competitive interdependence, trade actors resort to certain policy choices to gain advantage for their producers while restricting others’ ability to enter a market (Sbragia, 2010). In the last decade, however, European and American trade policymakers have faced the challenges of a more competitive world and the emergence of newer trade powers such as China. Both actors have veered away from multilateral deals as their preferred trade policy choices. In this paper, we use the Sbragia (2010) framework to analyse the trade policy shifts made by the EU and the US in the last decade. We argue that what had been a competitive interdependence relationship has recently changed to a trilateral structure in which both the EU and the US have focused their attention on countering Chinese competition. Moreover, China’s emergence has also pushed the US to reinvigorate the role of unilateralism and the EU to bolster bilateralism as they both seek to secure their commercial shares worldwide.>>>ClickHere>>>

Functional Areas of Business

The activities needed to operate a business can be divided into a number of functional areas. Examples include: human resources, operations, marketing, accounting, finance and information technology. Let’s briefly explore each of these areas.

Human Resources

HR managers are responsible for ensuring that the organization has all of the skills and capabilities necessary to run the business. HR managers develop staffing plans, recruit and select new employees, monitor the performance management process, and develop succession plans for advancement and replacement. They develop standards for compensation and benefits and assist managers with staff issues.

Operations

All companies must convert resources (labour, materials, money, information, and so forth) into goods or services. Some companies, such as Apple, convert resources into tangible products—Macs, iPhones, etc. Others, such as hospitals, convert resources into intangible products — e.g., health care. The person who designs and oversees the transformation of resources into goods or services is called an operations manager. This individual is also responsible for ensuring that products are of high quality. In many organizations, operations management includes managing the supply chain which controls the delivery of raw materials and the distribution of finished goods.

Marketing

Marketing consists of everything that a company does to identify customers’ needs (i.e. market research) and design products to meet those needs. Marketers develop the benefits and features of products, including price and quality. They also decide on the best method of delivering products and the best means of promoting them to attract and keep customers. They manage relationships with customers and make them aware of the organization’s desire and ability to satisfy their needs.

Accounting

Managers need accurate, relevant and timely financial information, which is provided by accountants. Accountants measure, summarize, and communicate financial and managerial information and advise other managers on financial matters. There are two fields of accounting. Financial accountants prepare financial statements to help users, both inside and outside the organization, assess the financial strength of the company. Managerial accountants prepare information, such as reports on the cost of materials used in the production process, for internal use only.

Finance

Finance involves planning for, obtaining, and managing a company’s funds. Financial managers address such questions as the following: How much money does the company need? How and where will it get the necessary money? How and when will it pay the money back? What investments should be made in plant and equipment? How much should be spent on research and development? Good financial management is particularly important when a company is first formed because new business owners usually need to borrow money to get started.

Information Technology

Information is one of the critical assets of most businesses. Businesses such as Facebook are entirely information based businesses. Information technology (IT) managers are concerned with building computer and network infrastructure, implementing security protocols, and developing user interfaces and apps for customers. Usually, there is a high level of integration between the businesses website or application and other departments within the business, such as finance, marketing and operations. Often, businesses must develop interfaces to send and receive information from other companies, including suppliers, logistics and shipping suppliers.

Source:Fundamentals of Business: Canadian Edition

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