Globalize Their Company

Case Study One

1. After reading the situation GE was in before they started to globalize their company, it makes sense that they decided to move so many aspects of the company overseas. They were in a great position to move quickly in specific markets in many countries. If you want to grow your company at a rapid pace, one thing that will make that happen is taking over other companies that are in great financial jeopardy. If they did not move aggressively like they did then other companies would have stepped up and took those companies over before they had a chance to. By moving quickly and setting up these businesses in other countries they were the first ones there which gave them a huge advantage over anyone who decided to join the market after them. Overall the reason they chose to move so aggressively into these other countries is because they saw an amazing opportunity to not only grow their company but increase their overall profits by large percentages. One opportunity it is trying to exploit is all the cheap labor in overseas countries. There is a lot of economic weakness in these countries GE is moving into which they are also exploiting. Lots of businesses would be opposed to a foreign company coming in and setting up a business in their country but GE saw an opening to come into a country and bail them out, which in the end made them look good.

2. GE believes that by setting up their headquarters in these countries it allows them to be close to the customers, which they believe will help them succeed in its globalization. These moves will benefit them in a few areas, one area being labor. This allows them to utilize the cheap labor that is overseas. By physically being in these areas it allows them to be cost effective while also being closer to the business opportunities that are in these countries. By hiring local people to help run the day-to-day tasks it allows them to be a part of that specific culture which in the end helps there business in all aspects from dealing with customers and government officials in the area. The way GE is moving into these countries and helping the local economies, this could help the image of US businesses in foreign countries. A lot of the time US companies can get a bad rep in foreign markets because of the way they exploit certain advantages. GE is establishing themselves in these countries not as a bad American company looking to take from the poor but as a local economy booster. It could help build relationships between US and foreign governments.

3. By internationalizing its management GE is making it easier to communicate with its local market. They have a better outlook of the local markets, business culture and language barriers. Overall it helps them do business with local businesses and governments. To "internationalize" these ranks I think it means to integrate the local culture and business knowledge into your managerial decision