Project – Cultural Considerations

Balanced Scorecard

	Objectives	Goals	Indicators	Initiatives
Financial Perspective	Increase the profitability of the furniture business	Increase profits by 20% annually	The company’s financial statements	Reduce costs by managing production, distribution, and logistics.
Customer perspective	To make products that fulfill customers’ unique needs.	Increase the percentage of returning customers	Customer retention Positive customer reviews	Gain insights into customer needs by listening to their conversations across social media platforms and through order descriptions.
Internal business perspective	To make the business a customer-centered entity that produces products based on customer needs	The goal is to reduce customer complaints by 90% and increase positive customer compliments by 50% every year.	Conduct statistical analyses of customer service reports (complaints and positive compliments)	Implement quality control measures to ensure high product quality.
Learning and growth perspective	To have a collection of experienced and professional staff from the production stage to sales and marketing.	Replace 50% of non-performing staff each year.	Number of new orders against staff terminated and those that are trained	Recruit and select staff that suit the company’s needs Train both current and new staff regularly to increase their effectiveness Ensure employees have knowledge of global markets and the corresponding customer preferences.

Considerations to Be Aware of to Remain Competitive

Consumer Characteristics (Market Research)

As a global furniture business manager, one should stay informed about customer preferences by conducting market research. Market research offers insights into the new trends, customers’ unique preferences, and newly emerging styles in the industry (Leonidou et al., 2018). At the same time, the market research should focus on what competitors are doing so that the firm can borrow a leaf where necessary. Market research also offers insights into potential areas of business growth. Also, marketing research will help the business understand customers’ demographic data. For instance, understanding customers’ characteristics, such as age, is vital in the furniture business. If the majority of customers in a specific market are in their old age, the company will design furniture dedicated to comfort. In addition, socioeconomic characteristics such as income level, education, and employment status will also offer more insights into the target audience (Leonidou et al., 2018). These variables will help the business engage in target audience segmentation such that it can tweak brand messaging to appeal to different customer segments.

Another vital role played by market research is that it illustrates consumer behavior. Some tools that evaluate consumer behavior include transaction tracking and social media monitoring. Evaluation of consumer behavior offers a glimpse into when, why, what, and how customers buy (Leonidou et al., 2018). For instance, if most customers purchase new furniture during the festive season, the business may aggressively market in early November in preparation for expected growth in demand.

Environmental Sustainability

Apart from focusing on the customer, the business should consider environmental sustainability. The company is vulnerable to engaging in environmentally unsustainable practices since it deals with wood, which involves a lot of tree-cutting. More consumers are now aware and conscious of the need to preserve the environment; hence, they are likely to patronize businesses that value environmental sustainability (Chen, 2015). Therefore, undertaking sustainable initiatives and reducing pollution footprint is a competitive advantage for the firm.

One of the reasons why the furniture business should pay attention to environmental sustainability is to enhance customer perception of the business. Paying attention to environmental needs is not just about preserving a reputation but also as a strategy to attract more customers (Chen, 2015). For instance, CSR studies have shown that 63% of Americans are likely to patronize a business that drives environmental sustainability initiatives in the face of lacking government action (Maryville University, 2019). In the same breath, 87% of American consumers will likely patronize businesses that advocate for an issue they care about (Maryville University, 2019). Environmental sustainability is gradually replacing social justice as a yardstick American consumers use besides product quality and customer services.

Competitiveness in the Global Environment

Based on the analysis above, I believe that the business can compete in the global environment. One of the business strengths that will support the company’s global expansion initiative is the ability to adapt to different cultural preferences. The business will make designs that suit locals in the host country. Also, having studied the local culture, managers and marketing staff will tweak marketing messages to suit the locals’ cultural affiliation. Flexibility and adaptability are crucial strengths for a business operating in a global environment.

Evaluating the Global Marketplace in the Future

According to Khramo & Lee (2013), some of the tools that may evaluate the global marketplace are economic indicators. Indicators such as inflation, employment level, and a country’s GDP offer a glimpse into the economic status of the potential target audiences. The information will help business managers decide whether investing in a specific country is worth it. Also, there is a need to evaluate currency exchange rates before moving into a new global location. Currency exchange rates affect the profitability of a business since global transactions in the environment happen from anywhere. If, for instance, the currency of a new location where the business moves to is unstable or deteriorates constantly, the business may make losses. If the selling price of furniture products is consistent with local prices, the business may incur losses since it will order supplies from a global environment at relatively higher rates. Analyzing the economic state of a new market is vital since it offers crucial insights that predict other business metrics.

References

Chen, L. (2015). Sustainability and company performance: Evidence from the manufacturing industry (Vol. 1698). Linköping University Electronic Press.

Khramov, M. V., & Lee, M. J. R. (2013). The Economic Performance Index (EPI): An intuitive indicator for assessing a country’s economic performance dynamics in an historical perspective. International Monetary Fund.

Leonidou, L. C., Katsikeas, C. S., Samiee, S., & Aykol, B. (2018). International marketing research: A state-of-the-art review and the way forward. Advances in global marketing: A research anthology, 3-33.

Maryville University. (2019, July 18). Going green: Benefits of sustainability in business. Maryville Online. https://online.maryville.edu/blog/importance-of-environmental-awareness-when-running-a-business/#:~:text=An%20environmentally%20aware%20business%20considers

ORDER A PLAGIARISM-FREE PAPER HERE

We’ll write everything from scratch

Question

Project – Cultural Considerations

Description 4-6 Pages
You, Mike, and Tiffany meet in a conference room to begin to assemble your final presentation.

This presentation will be the project deliverable, so you want to make sure you have provided all of the requirements.

Mike begins, “I think we’ve done some pretty good analysis on our strategy. We just have to put the pieces together before the final presentation.”

“We do have some solid information, but we have to look at all the parts to see if we can remain competitive,” Tiffany adds.

Complete the following:

A balanced scorecard is used to align the business activities to the vision and strategy of the organization, improve internal and external communications, and monitor organization performance against strategic goals. Based on your analysis of the company’s four perspectives in IP3, develop a completely balanced scorecard that helps put the pieces together for your final presentation. Once completed, answer the following questions.
What are the considerations that you need to be aware of to remain competitive?
Based on the research and analysis that you have done, can you compete in the market that you have chosen? Why or why not?
How do you plan on evaluating the global marketplace in the future?
Please submit your assignment.

For assistance with your assignment, please use your textbook, all course resources, and any external research and resources you have gathered.

Project – Cultural Considerations