What Economic Factors are the Reason for the Decline of Retailers and Term Paper

What Economic Factors are the Reason for the Decline of Retailers and Department Stores such as JC Penney and Staples - Term Paper Example It is evidently clear from the discussion that external economic factors have often been argued to influence operational efficiencies of contemporary organizations that further cause negative implications for the organizations’ competitive sustainability within the industry context. In this regard, the economic factors can be considered as one of the major influencing factors having strong negative impacts on the organizations while performing business operations in the overseas markets. For instance, the business decline of few leading retailers and departmental stores such as J.C. Penney Company Inc. (JCP) and Staples Inc. (Staples) has been witnessed as the recent illustrations of impacts caused by economic factors on business stability and sustenance. Emphasising the influence of economic factors, the primary objective of this report is to identify and critically analyze the key economic factors responsible for the decline of retailers and department stores such as JC Penn ey and Staples. In this regard, the report also tends to assess each key economic factor to have a major influence on the multinationals while performing their business functions in the overseas locations. In addition, the report also critically discusses the negative scenarios faced by these widely renowned retailers and departmental stores owing to the economic factors operating in their external business environment. The emergence of globalization has been observed to improve the business performance of the firms irrespective of their inhabiting business industry.

General Electric Medical Systems, 2002 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

General Electric Medical Systems, 2002 - Essay Example In 2002 when Joe Hogan took up the reins he faced a difficult situation of having to decide whether GEMS should continue its policy of being a Global Products Company (GPC) or modify the concept to ‘In China for China’. GPC required that the manufacturing activity of the entire range of products be concentrated in places, including China, where this could be done at the lowest cost while maintaining standards and supplies made to the entire global market. The alternative would mean that the production in China would be meant exclusively for the Chinese markets. GEMS also had to decide whether it would continue concentration on excellence in engineering or move to new areas of genomics and healthcare information which would bring it into competition with smaller software companies but has to be done if GEMS has to be part of the emerging technologies that might, one day, make its existing lines of business obsolete and redundant. Analysis of the market situation revealed that the population of advanced countries was increasingly becoming older needing higher spending on healthcare making double digit growth in healthcare related industry possible. However the low per capita spend on medicine and diagnostics in emerging economies like China and India opened doors for a huge opportunity for GEMS both for new equipment as well as for reconditioned equipment marketed under its Gold Seal program. Other countries in Eastern Europe and Latin America were also emerging as large markets with opening up of their economies and development of their soft infrastructure. China was predominantly a low-end equipment market and had allowed the use of used equipment also. The market segmentation was high-end products, sold mainly in the US, Japan and other developed countries contributing 45%, mid-tier products 35% and the low-end making up the balance 20%. However it was the cheaper products that had the maximum potential for growth due to