Global issues facing the company
Although globalization has made it possible for many firms around the world to extend their business operations around the world due to effective communication, automation of the business process and simplified supply chain management, there are still several challenges that they do experience. International firms have been experiencing a lot of challenges especially during the initial stages of identifying a market for their products and and services around the world. The challenges are not limited to those firms that are establishing themselves at the global level but also apply to the firms that have been operating for a long time. One of the global issues facing the company is compliance with the trade regulation and business operation regulations in other countries apart from the home country (Cherrington & Laura 1995). This poses an issue due to the fact that if the country is not a signatory to a certain trade block, its operations will be limited or not even allowed in another country. Another issue is the political instability in numerous countries in which it is carrying its operations. This mostly creates a phenomenon of uncertainties making the operations of such firm unrealizable. It therefore leads to massive loss of profits though such companies are always enjoying economies of scale due to their operations in many countries. Human resource managers of multi-national companies are faced with a lot of challenges when making recruitment and selection in foreign countries (Jackson & Tomioka 2003). This is due to the fact that they experience language barriers that may hamper effective communication between the two parties. They are there forced to use more finances or do experience high costs since they have to train such human resources about their operations. Competition is another issue that cannot be understated as far as global issues are concerned. This is mostly experienced when new products and services enter the market at a lower price than the current price. Due to supply chain management and procurement costs, products of these firms tend to be sold at a slightly higher price though they are of high quality than the locally made.An embargo which means a total ban on importing products in some countries, has been imposed on some TCF firms in Australia. The main reason for doing this is to protect local infant industries from competition and hence it is posing a greater change to TCF industries and of course UNIQRO companies. There is also lack of global regulatory structure to guide the companies. This means that since a company or any other kind of firm must operate within well-established rules, lack of the same at international or global level is hindering the success of international firms. This also brings about the question of whether the international community has put any effort to come up with agreements such as how to handle infringement of intellectual property regulation which do not exist. Another problem is lack of good or proper corporate governance in the branches in other countries. International firms experience a lot of unpredicted events in their branches and therefore most of the time, the people on the ground wait for the decisions to be made at head offices hence wasting a lot of time and opportunities. Cultural diversity also is a big challenge in firms that operate internationally because the firm in question has to tailor the products and services to fit into that culture.Otherwise such goods and services will mostly have demand in the foreign countries. Also interacting with people from different cultures is not all that possible. The company therefore does not have personnel who can do this and it is forced to employ local human resources and train them hence incurring costs. Local firms do practice corporate social responsibility which cannot be realized well when a company is operating globally. This is because operations of global firms can hamper the attempts of a local firm to achieve competitive edge in its area of specialization. Also pollution of environment by global companies continues to persist as the number of firms operating globally continues to increase.
Strategies
The Textile ,Clothing and Footwear industry has come up with strategies and research is also underway to find other strategies that will enable it to remain agile in the face of global issues that have hampered not only its success but have also affected other global companies. One of the strategies is that there have been implementations of free trade agreements that will make it possible for TCT to import its products in other countries without tariffs being imposed on it. Australia’s participation in these trade agreements made a very positive impact in the world of TCF. It has also come up with a product differentiation strategy that will enable it to penetrate more market segments with ease (Oumi 2000).By doing so, local products being sold at a lower price will not affect the company because its products will still have a high demand simply because they are different and of high quality. It has to take the advantage of emerging information and communication technology to restructure its operations. This will enable the company to produce its products at lower cost; hence the products will also sell cheaper (Proctor 2000). Cost leadership can be attained by having access to raw materials at a lower price. This will only be achieved as a result of operating on large scale hence benefiting from economies of scale. If only it will be in a position to achieve this, it will be far away from the competitors. Focus is another strategy that TCF&L has implemented by trying to produce clothes for specific group of customers. It has gone an extra mile to make clothes by use of just in time technique whereby it is producing what has been ordered hence customizing the clothes according to customer needs. In addition, this will enhance cost-saving and avoid wastage by producing what has not been ordered. Also it is efficient in the sense that the company gets material for only producing the ordered goods. Other strategies that the company has been using but need to look at them more keenly include product positioning whereby before starting to produce goods it has to research more about the customers who are going to buy those products. The other one is promotion which has been done for quite some time and now more aggressive promotion is needed in the foreign countries to enhance sales and increase profit margins (Michman 2003).Advertising research needs to be done quite often in the countries where the company has launched its operations to find out the media reaching wider market and find the foible and effectiveness of such media as far as promotion of the company products is concerned. Product research is also done by TCF&L industries to identify the foible of the products and make sure that what they are producing is what the customer requires (Machis 1994). It also helps to identify when other products need to be produced and if some improvement in quality is required.
Global prospects for UNIQLO and product range
One of the global prospects of UNIQLO Company is to offer diverse types of clothes and other fashionable products that can satisfy its potential customers. Also it is prospecting to establish all if not part of its operations in much more countries other than the ones where it is operating. All these activities are being carried out so that it can achieve the aim of becoming a world-class leader in the provision of fashionable, quality and affordable apparel (Okamoto 2000). UNIQLO aims to use the advantage of emerging information technology to roll out its operation worldwide. Plans for selling other products like cars are underway including setting warehouses in more countries that will enhance the supply chain management. It also plans to expand its operation overseas which will enable it to gain more customers, increase sales and enjoy economies of scale. By using web-based applications, the site will assist to reach more customers and therefore create customer loyalty hence providing easy means of doing business by implementing electronic commerce website. To enhance its global operations, it has opened a large store which was opened in Asia and it is meant for its overseas expansion. This is the UNIQLO fifth store worldwide. The company has put strategies to launch new products and improve the qualities of the current products by modifying the packaging. Also it has not been left behind in trying to identify new markets and provide customized products for that particular market.
The strategies that have already been implemented and those that are yet to be implemented by UNIQLO will definitely work in this situation because they have been implemented elsewhere and proved to assist other companies achieve a competitive edge. Also, it is important to note that these strategies will enhance cost saving and increase the volume of sales made by UNIQLO and TFC&L as a result of increased demands for their products. Signing of trade agreements is another strategy that will allow these industries to operate and carry out their operations freely in other countries without tariffs being imposed on them. They will there be in a position to sell their products at low prices or the same price as the local products. This means that competition will significantly reduce.
References
Cherrington, J., & Laura Z. (1995) HR Magazine, Middleton.
Jackson, K., & Tomioka, M. (2003) The Changing Face of Japanese Management, Routledge, New York.
Machis, G. (1994) Marketing Strategies for the Mature Market, Quorum Books, Westport.
Michman, R. (2003) Lifestyle Marketing: Reaching the New American Consumer, Praeger, Westport CT.
Okamoto, H. (2000) The UNIQLO System, PAL, Tokyo.
Oumi, N. (2000) The Secret of UNIQLO’s Rapid Growth, Apple, Tokyo.
Proctor, T. (2000) Strategic Marketing: An Introduction, Routledge, London.