tailieunhanh - Ebook International business - Managing globalization: Part 2

(BQ) Part 2 book "International business - Managing globalization" has contents: International strategic planning and market screening; internationalization and globalization processes; market entry and servicing strategies; market entry and servicing strategies,.and other contents. | C H A P T E R 7 International Strategic Planning and Market Screening Global Planning in the Chemical Industry When three medium-sized European firms—Elf Atochem, Petrofina, and Total Chimie—combined their assets to form Atofina, they became the fifth-largest chemical company in the world, and their planning processes took on a global dimension. First, Atofina looked at its prime businesses. Its petrochemicals and commodity plastics comprised 38 percent of its $17 billion turnover, intermediates and specialty polymers 26 percent, and specialties (., agricultural foodstuffs) 36 percent. To streamline its activities, the company sold its metal and aviation unit ($100 million in sales) and its oleochemicat group (about $200 million in sales), and was looking to unload a further $1 billion in assets to focus on its mainstream businesses. Geographically, 63 percent of sales were in slow-growth markets of Europe, and the company realized that it needed to focus on North America’s huge market, and in the fast-growing markets of Latin America, the Middle East, and Asia. In North America, Atofina’s emphasis was on building up its polyethylene and propylene businesses, and increasing access to key specialty chemical users in the automotive, construction, and electronics sectors. In Asia and the Middle East, the company had few assets, and was looking to expand through investment A lmost all companies are planners. In the chemical industry, like many other asset-intensive industries (., autos, metals, industrial equipment), planning is all-important when production capacity expansions take years to execute and carry heavy penalties for failure. As a result, global planning efforts occupy much of top management’s time. Assets are scarce, and businesses not contributing to the firm’s international effectiveness are likely to be discontinued in favor of mainstream businesses. Geographic strategies must be mapped out for global .