International management: Grupo Bimbo

Résumé du document

Since the end of the Second World War, the international exchanges took an increasing scale and continued to develop in all the domains: goods, capital, knowledge, technology and culture. All the continents became interdependent and the ecological problems which touch the whole planet contribute widely to strengthen the awareness of this essential phenomenon. Humanity displays itself in an interconnected system, made up of multiple elements having each a role and a function more or less of strong influence.

Companies, groups of companies and authorities hold the main roles but these actors are apparently uneven in dimension and in power; the problem of the arbitration of their dialogue and their respective power thus raises. Two types of strengths are going to take place: those encouraged by the market which we still qualify as "anonymous forces of the offer and the demand" on one hand, those resulting from negotiations (and balance of power which underlie them) to organize the social life by correcting the not necessarily harmonious results of a market economy, on the other hand.

Management as action (or art, or way) to run an organization, to lead it, to plan its development, to control it, will have to integrate this double dimension of the behavior of a company; this looks for an explicit balanced growth rather than undergoing without reacting to the constraints delivered by the environment.

The manager will thus have at the same time the task to look for the best adaptation to the current evolution or to react to the opportunities that the international environment is offering to him, and to act in a favorable way, for the future of the company. Adaptation and anticipation are the missions of a manager.

Extraits

[...] But, I can explain my point of view on what Grupo Bimbo should have done. To me, before entering a market you should be well prepared and be sure that you know everything about the country and its culture, the market, the customers' tastes etc This is all that Grupo Bimbo should have done before entering in China. But they have decided to do only focus groups in Mexico with Chinese people who tried their products and gave their opinions. [...]

[...] It will help, even for a success or a failure. All these solutions require time en money, but we have nothing without anything. If they really want to become the leader they should establish a long-term strategy and they have to work hard on it. Some other ideas to improve the situation are: Expand the channel of distribution, be more open to supermarkets, hypermarkets etc Find a new distribution channel for China, because bicycle is not appropriate to deliver food, and it is slow. [...]

[...] The rising generation tends to try more western products instead of choosing traditional products. The urban segment of the rising generation gets acquainted with the western lifestyles and the world network of information. The Chinese consumers consider the shopping as an entertainment. Generally, they like rather fresh products than canned products and transformed products, but in cause of this more and more charged working schedules, of the start of the women work and the changes on the subject of the tastes, they consume more and more transformed food and products easy to prepare. [...]

[...] Decision I think a combination of all the alternatives cited before address the critical aspect of the problem. The objective is to respect the will of the CEO, to become leader, with a good established strategy and to be successful. I think there is a good chance of success if they do what we said before. There are always risks, but if everything is done correctly now there is no reason why it won't work. Except if Chinese people are not attracted by Bimbo's products at all. [...]

[...] The Chinese consumers have a big loyalty in the high-quality brands and recommend frequently these products and services in the others. The word of mouth is the way of success for the products in China. However, the loyalty of the Chinese towards in the foreign products is much lesser, their craze being often temporary. The local manufacturers are always able to reproduce the international products and to produce them at low cost. There is thus a big potential for the imported products, but the national competition which follows stands out as a big threat. [...]