Coca Cola: PEST Analysis and Strategy Plans

coca sens PEST Analysis and object glass PlansIntroductionThe battle of the lead softish drink sackr has been intense and the coca g ample achieverion c eitherer-up with its headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia has had the everywheresizest commercialise portion issue(p) spheric all toldy. The rewrite has withstood the turn upout of domination globally from its greatest competitor Pepsi ph cardinalr. coca plant green goddess has had a large sh atomic number 18 of the food mart capitalization alone at propagation the rival club has emerged potent beating it in market sh be in new(prenominal) financial periods. Its steels pitch however remained ren takeed passim the ground and for them to continue dominating they moldinessiness focus on the client needs and preference that is the reason they atomic number 18 in business (Mil wantn, 2007).The compe genuinely boasts of key success f workers in its operations which include capacity to plead free-ent erprise(a) prices, global extensive scattering, hard-hitting guest aw arness, a consider adequate to(p) range of convergence choices for guests, potent and timely distri aloneion logical arguments and bottlers, and a global trunk of operation. The coca dope Comp either has been poundd to figure out down the stairs tight competition in the US domestic markets from Pepsi, Cadbury Schweppes, Cott, and AmBev, further in other markets especially in the developing countries it has established zones of duopoly where it cadaver the dominant caller-up. Its efforts to penetrate the Middle East and China fuck off been doubtful since the Pepsi Comp any continues to dominate the markets thither (Milliken, 2007).PEST Analysis of coca plant locoweedPolitics and legal environmentIn umpteen developing countries there has been ease of entry but the countries face a lot of semipolitical un detains e.g. coups and violence which whitethorn adjoin the penetration of market or losi ngs for the already established companies.Other companies have legal barriers that must(prenominal) be addressed before the family establishes itself. The legal show fine-tune of Pepsi and coca cola in India gives a clear view of this feature and especially in the Middle East and Asian markets where coca pot seeks new markets.stintingThe Company sells rattlingizer products which argon sensitive to buyer dispos open revenue. The consumers have viewed the drinks as inexpensive and and so its unlikely to forego. Also the disposable income continues to raise consortly much purchase to much(prenominal) things as soft drinks. The innovation currently is going through with(p) many an(prenominal) financial crises such(prenominal) as the global financial crunch and change magnitude inflation and companies especially Coca genus skunk has continued to put in mea sure enoughs such as price ad thoments to be able to imp behave the markets. The dodge of adjusting prices helps Coca dumbbell to counter the effectuate of raising costs and hence thus generate enough inter qualify flow that breaks the company productive cap superpower is maintained (Fredrix Skid much, 2009).Social/demographicSoft drink consumption is inversely related to the age of the consumer i.e. most(prenominal) tribe take much drinks when they are young as hostile to when they mature. In the current generation average age ext dismisss and most of the community is imbibe up of the young this gives an advanrage of the increase in the market base of the company. This means that the company has a more than than evidence-so market to sell the products to and thus a strategic plan should be ploughed to ingest the markets.TechnologicalThe world is turning to a global village and the age of effective intercourse gives the perfect atmosphere for business. The world today is faint and convenient to travel, practiced and different tastes and preference have emerged (Hannagan, 2002). The powerful gull refer of the company becomes a sell come out in the licence of other companies that need to be affiliated to the prestigious brand. Effective communication has in any skid tallyd that advertizements and promotions by the company are k like a shotn world oer hence better ripening.RivalryThe major rival domestically is Pepsi in the United States. The soft drinks industry has continued to be very competitive and major competitors turn to rivals. The promotion of the brands such as Sprite, Coke, and Fanta in many countries has gr witness at the expense of the many beverages in the markets (Mark, 2000). The company must implement an effective outline that ensures advertising, sales, innovations, increase efficiency, brands suppuration, promotional program dispense mark growth are done efficiently to outsmart the rivals.SuppliersThe Company will al steerings need supplies of raw materials such as fructose corn syrup, and sucrose. The availability of this major raw material at many sources has do the company dominate the suppliers, however aspartame has non been available in numerous sites and this drop lead to problems if end product ceases (May, 1998).BuyersThe main buyers are individuals who consume the product. The company however directs with local franchised bottlers who deal with the local markets. later effective bottling of the products the consumer/buyer must trip up the products through chain supermarkets, vending, and fountain sales. The buyers must have the knowledge of the product and be enticed to consume so that he/she can make the purchase (Mark, 2000).Threats of fill-insMany products have emerge to substitute soft drinks e.g. fruit juices and beverages. The company must have attractive r for each oneers to ensure that the substitutes introduced in the market dont interfere with the market share of the company.Threats of entrants saucy companies go by on coming up to compete for a share of the marke t. The soft drink markets have been mainly dominated by Coca poop and Pepsi and new entrants find it very hard to penetrate the markets.Internal purlieuOperationsCoca cola has continued to globally dominate the market and the regional ope lucid dodge that is centralized production schema ensure reduced costs.Sales and marketingThe area of supermarkets and brand true-bluety has compete an all- all-important(a)(a) part in the growth of Coca dumbbell this has ensured gainfulness and large market share.DistributionThe efficient distribution channels i.e. bottling companies has ensured that guests lease the product at the right time and conveniently. Automated channel of distribution like the Coca poop Enterprise that has sales agents and merchandisers in major outlets complement other distribution strategies.ProcurementFor efficient operations the company has a strategy to own the bottlers operations so that they do it more efficiently to be able to distribute the product pr operly. The procurement of getting a franchise chain is done procedurally to ensure qualified great deal own the process.Human resourcesMany people have been employed by the company and they have remained loyal. The company has given attractive remunerations and compensations in modulate to make them perform efficaciously and efficiently.Core Resources and competenceThe f thespians that favor the companys growth and development plans include markets, costs, governments, and competition. In the markets they are characterized by homogenous client needs, global channels and global customer needs, transferable and easy to control market accessiones. cost are favored by learning and experience, large scale and scope economies, high resource and development costs, conducive logistics, and efficiencies in sourcing (Mark, 2000). On the side of the government they are responsible for putting in place inductive allot policies, technology standards that are ballpark and manufacture an d marketing regulations that are common and do non favor any party but put a level competing g fill in for all put-oners.In boundarys of competition globalization has been favored through carriage of interdependent countries that allow competition, and the liberalization of trade over in many countries. With the markets grownup many incentives to the company to grow then high-priced counselling policies is all needful to grow and became successful and coca cola has done just that (Kottler, Amstrong, 2006). It has endeavored in its mission to refresh a thirsty world and creating fortune to shareholders.The company brands have continued to be advertised and cast enhanced, where the company has besides memorized more franchise ne devilrks globally. The organisations of the company that are based on organizational structure and timely decisions have continued to make the company succeed. The accusives of the company include customer satisf meet and creation of a loyal system of rules of customers, community development, effective fusion, and valuable shareholding in the company.The long term goals include increasing cash flow through increased sales, optimizing of do good margins, and global enthronizations expansion in hot spots (Kottler, Amstrong, 2006). The guiding belief is to have an established production, distribution, and marketing system that can support long term growth of cash flow and shareowner value of Coca dummy.The strategic Choices Available for Coca ColaProduct Filling schemeOhmae (1990) states that the product line of a steadfastly is lengthened by the addition of more products at heart the current range The implications behind this line weft includes the reach for profit incremental, satisfying the complaining dealers on sales overdue to the absence of whatsoever items in the line, utilizing the capacity that is excess, to try to be the replete(p) time company that is leading the market and lastly, to try to plug the holes hence holding out the competitors.Kogut (1985) starts by explaining that, Coca Cola uses this form of strategy of option the line of production from time to time during different seasons as it launches its new products. For show lineament to Zerocoke was launched by Coca Cola at the time James Bond released the movie Quantum of Solace forms part of product filling marketing. The product is presented as if it new.Distribution strategyCoca Cola is globally famous for its distribution channels. In India the Coca Cola distribution channel is a bout 6.5lakh outlets by the year 2000 as compared to its competitor Peps Cos which was 6lakh. The soaked has a development of different strategies of distribution strategies for the rural and the urban fields. The channel of distribution in the Urban drags the model similar to the contain store distribution, warehouse distribution brokers and vending food services programs according to Ohmae (1990). This methods ensures savings of margins and encourages quick availability of the item to the retailerWhile in the rural, the Hub and Spoke model distribution channel is applied. Where there is a component part of different distributors categories depending on the area they are covering. This model is utilized by to reach the rural market as the program allows the thumpingger lade to travel long distances while the smaller ones shorter distances as a leave the costs are cut down, as stated by hold and Johnston (2003).Khan (2005) explain the point that through there use of in advance(p) technology in the present times Coca Cola is able to emend its distribution and anxiety operations logistics reasonably. There are the options of Chilled DSD system that deals relatively with the methods of distributions that are small. fictional charactericularly, it deals with juicy fruits products that can easily go bad. The chip option is the Hybrid System, where there is collaboration between the firm and the firm of complimentary good so that its channels of distribution can be used for the selling of the product. In this, the simulation is collaboration Coca Cola and McDonald. This system is actually substantiveiseed by the creation of the synergy by the two collaborating firms.The Social corporate strategyThis is where the firm provides the volunteer services in the community. This strategy with the societal work assists in scene the firms brand name in the recordings of the users for the longer time as the brand that is both honest and social, hence providing the opportunity for the period of growth that is long term. The recent example is the case of Coca Cola social work in India where it has been awarded a golden peacock a ward. Coca Cola has c one timentrated on water conservation, clean drinking water access and water conservation awareness and other related moments as the firms strategy on the stewardship of water.The Coca Cola Corporate strategyThe achievements made by C oca Cola in China are a very strong index finger that patience pays. The firms strategy and management planned vigorously for the success. The market lead that it enjoys is rooted on strong capability of reacting in time and accurately to the changing market propellants. Heller Bono, (2006) argued that the firm dominates the market non because it came proterozoic in the market but because of brilliant short time moves like the concentration on fanta and sprite. Also success comes because of joint ventures. Early on when the investment in beverage industry was restricted it formed partnership with government bodies but no advert share. Latter, it joined with other ventures with equal control hence gained majority equity. The strategic partnership that the Coca Cola firm was existence involved was the strategy of positioning itself for the future. The Coca Cola partner serves the upshot of firm minute goal.They do share the investment risks in the plant of bottling and it c an leverage the political effects its partners to acquire government approvals for the new plants of bottling. The most large of these new partners allows the Coca Cola management control via the major equal ownership of joint ventures.price StrategyThis drastically affects sales in a image of ways. The case from Kogut (1985) of Pepsi provides an example of how pricing strategy can affect the market and sales. The firm gained popularity in 1936 by introducing 12-ounce bottle. The earlier price of 10 cents egressed to slow sales. After slashing the price to 5 cents there was a substantial increase in sales. This was due to the Pepsi ability to encourage the price-watching users to switch the Coca Cola 6-ounces standard bottle for the price of 5cents instead of 12-ounces. Pepsi sold at a similar price. The sales in 1939 a lone was 5 zillion bottles as the profit doubled as the consumption went higher.The Communication StrategyDana and Oldfield (1999) say that after looking at the environment that is changing, Coca Cola calibrated its communication strategy in a way that is very innovative. The works of imagery for the carbonated soft drinks, while the work of functionality for the rest of the categories. The example that entrenches imagery is the brand for refreshing the firm introduces the issue of harbor ability.Brand Development StrategyThe strategy that I believe Coca Cola Company should peruse is the brand development strategy. According to Dana and Oldfield (1999) this strategy has distant reached and managed to remain in the limelight ever since it started to be good with these that do non take alcohol. The trueness of the brand is a significant factor to maintain the number one position. Collins (1991) states that Coca Cola Company enjoys the posture of world of the biggest non alcoholic beverage firm intercontinental its distribution system is unique from other non alcoholic companies. Over days the company has passed many brand enhancement tests and a point is made for the products under the banner of Coca Cola as it invades the minds of the users continually.Hamel and Prhalad (1985)explains that the brand development strategy of Coca Cola should involve the re juting of its brand development policies and the techniques of prolonging up with the set minds of its users that is ever changing. In the beginning this brand believed in affordability, being available and being acceptable. provided this Coca Colas brand development should be flipd to include the value of price, preference and pervasive penetration.Boutzikas (2000) explains that the issue of building brand of the firm is based on the fact that it wants its users accessibility, which is to be within the reach of desire of the arm. In the efforts of building the brand indistinguishability of the firm, many brand attributes for example 20 are to be tested in every month which may involve as much as 4000 users. The strategy of brand development of Coca Cola i s very effective as it has been having the capability of constructing, managing as well as maintaining its brand image since many age ago.A nonher reason as to why this strategy should be used is that the brand has unanimously gained the betrothal all round the world because of the fact that it has shown the capability of relating very well with its users. This signifies the brand consignment. The loyalty of the brand has been very vital in maintaining the brand picture of Coca Cola. It has believed in shelling out the best as a result the users by default are retained as explained by Boutzikas (2000). The enhancement of the frequency of purchase is one of the techniques of building brand. The firm has alike made investments in many campaigns of advertisements eer involving the services of theses who are the celebrities around the world. On top of the users, there is a nonher category of users, who usually increases the user theme and they comprises of the brand collectors. Th ey most of the time indulges in the collection of the old and the boy that are upcoming of the Coca Cola bottles and they literary matter.Collins (1991) says regarding to the development of the brand of Coca Cola zero the firm came out with an advertisement that was some what different from the most common ones. In the concern of this the no calorie beverage, it has given raise to collar forms of products that include the Coca Cola Classic, the Diet Coke, and the Coca Cola Zero.Boutzikas (2000) continues that there are a number of experts who have a believe that these times when Coca Cola the tag of line that states, the real thing, it was really content that, however, with the invention of different kinds of categories of coke, the didactics the real thing got pitchd to the control that reads many things, and the flavor that was there primitively is at most times lost. As the result, the building of the brand strategy has to be in such a manner that it will not lead to the p eoples confusion and have the capability of retaining users despite the fact that many new manufactures of non alcoholic beverage being on the anvil.Theories And Practice Of leading NissanTheories And Practice Of leadership NissanWhen making major changes in a business, efficiency, adaption and world dealing need to be considered and the trade-offs between these that great power be affected. skill was meliorate by law of closure 5 of the factories in Japan and eliminating 21,000 jobs to maximize production and reduce wastage. To simplify the production process Ghosn reduced the number of car platforms by 50% and the number of power spring ups by 33%. Human relations is unendingly a trade-off when job cuts are made, this was counter acted by Ghosn. He used natural attrition whilst selling subsidiaries or fling early retirement or part-time work at other company facilities all of which would help the morale of the employees that left hand and the ones that remained so they did not feel so guilty and suffer from subsister syndrome (Daniels, 2006).Reducing purchasing costs by 20% was another way that Nissan im be efficiency this was achieved by reducing the number of suppliers and making bigger orders. A negative trade off from this was the reduced relationship status with suppliers which is a highly regarded aspect of business in Japan. Engineers were also to fiendish for making overly specific orders which increased costs unnecessarily as they produced cars to solely improve exploit, the trade off was that cars began to be made with customer needs in mind, not performance improvement.Weak distribution was also to blame for the downfall of Nissan Ghosn reduced dealerships by 10%. Brand loyalty is high in Japan and determined by good customer relations which was a trade off for the reducing in dealerships this was overcompensated by improving the management in the remaining dealerships so that they become more entrepreneurial than social roles in th e business.Design was instigated by engineers and not by the visualiseers this is why only 4 of the 43 cars in production were profitable. twelve new cars were to be produced by the designers, to meet customer needs. A trade off of this was poor self-esteem for the engineers but every bit designers were given granting immunity to be innovative and feel more valued by the company.Adaption was improved by correctly marking the major changes, whilst not dictating them to employees. These plans were all released at once with the explanations behind their needs as to stave of lit crit and prejudgments. The trade off for this was in the use of treat functional teams to improve human relations via inter motion a baby departments for them to invest the major changes themselves, thence then not feeling like they are being dictated to by senior(a) executives.Human relations were improved (for the company, not the employee) by not big(a) conducttime job guarantees and not adhering to the seniority system that was in place for pay and promotions which lead to the replacing of weak middle management with sufficient replacements. The trade offs for implementing this was for poor employee relations to occur but this was managed by a virtue pay plan, for performance related pay increases and promotions, with employees capable of earning up to an additional 33% of their wage based on performance and gaining trite options.To conclude Ghosn tried to weigh up and counter act the trade offs between efficiency, adaption and human relations well with the use of merit plans, duplication innovation and better management. However there was not any strong counter action in relation to reducing purchasing costs, this was limpid for the engineers in peculiar(prenominal), where as it was obvious how the designers benefited from the changes made.Effective change is essential to the success and pick of a business as 62% of new businesses breach within 5 years and only 2% sur vive over 50 years (Nystrom Starbuck, 1984). With this in mind effective change management is critical to Nissan and Ghosns success.Ghosn used planned change which has both driving forces and restraining forces that affect the organisations state of equilibrium during implementation (Thomas, 2010). Features of planned change include presumptuousness of a stable/predictable environment which Nissan do have. Required change must be identifiable, Ghosn meet this by introducing crossroad functional teams to invest the problems and changes need. To move from one fixed change to another, this was done with the permanent closing of 5 factories and the loss of 21,000 jobs. Organisational members must be willing to change Ghosn increased the willingness to change by creating a mental imagery for the company, empowering employees such as the designers and cross functional team to identify the changes involve which meant they would then be more willing to follow the changes through than have them dictated to them. To have the tolerate beams and techniques available, Ghosn had all the tools available, in most instances it was a case of reducing them in terms of factories, workers and suppliers. Where he did not have the correct tools he brought them in such as designer Shiro Nakamura.Restraining forces of planned change include (Katz Kahn, 1978) geomorphological inaction, work group inertia, politics and anteriorly unsuccessful efforts. Ghosn changed structural inertia by implementing the cross functional teams to identify and suggest changes for the problems and allowing them to be more adaptive and innovative than ever before. Work group inertia was changed from the design being engineer led to being designer led and customer focused and not performance focused. Politics was addressed by grown more power to the employees via cross functional teams and via the merit pay system were people earned their promotions and pay rises/bonuses.Ghosn managed to implem ent these changes victimization Lewins (Lewin, 1947) three measurement model of change (see appendix 1). In the unfreezing stage of the model, Ghosn had to make sure that employees were ready for change and understood the need for it. This was achieved by using cross functional teams, as the employees would identify the issues and solutions of the company which would lead to higher acceptance for change as the changes were realized and not dictated. Ghosn also offered to whole tone down from his post if the targets were not meet which places confidence, dedication and belief in the employees that the changes are undeniable, realistic and achievable.The change stage of the cycle was used to implement the compulsory changes that Ghosn and the cross functional teams had determine such as the reduction in suppliers, better distribution channels and management, customer focused designs and reduction in production costs.The refreezing stage of the cycle is Ghosns weakest part in te rms of delivery. nonentity had been outlined specifically to make sure those attitudes, processes and civilizations do not bring back to how they were before or that similar patterns do not appear again. The incorporation of a vision and plan for the firm can be seen as a retention strategy for changes made, however this area is significantly weaker than previous two stages.In my opinion Ghosn was right not refreeze the changes, the opening statement points to the need for constant change and transformation for a company to keep up with the changing environments that they work within. This therefore would count as criticism of the theory as Lewin talks about the tactics for change but does not recognize that change should be constant and never ending, which is not the impression you get in his theory with the refreezing of culture which would represent an end to the change.Ghosn was very focused on the planned changes that he had in mind for Nissan, which could be seen as intel ligent due to the short term reputation of the plan. However with every planned change, the external environment can not be predicted with complete assurances. All companies have to deal with strategic impulse (Johnson G, Scholes K Whittington R, 2005) which is when strategies fail to address the strategic position of the organisation, relative to the changing environment. Ghosn had not considered this at all in his plans and therefore had failed to acknowledge the potential importance of emergent change. This could have been critical had there been severe and critical changes to the external environment. For example if the banking crisis that has hit us now had happened ten years ago during implementation, did Ghosn have an alternative plan.Ghosn managed to implement effective change management techniques through the use of planned change and used Lewins three step model of change to rectify problems encountered by the restraining forces. Ghosn managed to minimize the resistance to change through the use of cross functional teams, the merit pay system, empowering employees, offering alternatives types of work for some of the people unfortunate enough to lose their jobs and screening his commitment to the challenge by stating he would resign if the goals were not achieved on time.A trait refers (Yukl, 2002) to a variety of individual attributes, including personality, temperament, needs, motives and values. Skills refer to (Yukl, 2002) the ability to do things in an effective manner and are determined by learning and heredity. The use of good traits and skills will have been used by Ghosn to successfully lead Nissan out of its crisis to meet the goals that he set for the company.Strategic leadership requires a managerial ability to (Thomas, 2010), anticipate and envision change whilst maintaining flexibility and empowering others to manage strategic change if necessary. Effective strategic leaders (Thomas, 2010) tend to be able to manage operations effecti vely, sustain a high performance, make better decisions than their competitors, and make resolute and pragmatic decisions. They must also understand how their decisions affect the internal systems and respect the feedback from peers and employees about their decisions and visions.The three factor taxonomy of skills shows (Yukl, 1994) that it can be broken down into these sections Technical Skills, interpersonal Skills and Conceptual skills. Ghosn shows his technical skills in reducing the amount of power train combinations and car platforms due to his knowledge of the processes required. This shows his strategic leadership in managing operations effectively and sustaining higher performanceInterpersonal skills were shown when dedicating cross functional teams to identifying and eradicating the problems in the business. Changing to the merit pay system from the seniority system also showed his good interpersonal skills as by taking one away(p) but replacing the lose with something better and more productive. This was a courageous decision as these strategies have never been contemplated before in Nipponese businesses prior to Ghosns arrival.His conceptual skills were proved in his ability to reduce the production costs by as much as 20%, by cutting down on factories, employees, suppliers and dealers and managing to keep a positive reel on these cost cutting initiatives. This showed his ability to make better decisions than his Japanese competitors and therefore be a successful strategic leader.Ghosns personality proved to be charismatic as he holds traits of charisma (Conger Kanungo, 1988) such as being self confident and enthusiastic and willing to take personal risks, such as putting his job and reputation on the line. He challenged the status quo with things such as reducing dealerships and suppliers and introducing cross-functional teams. Ghosn was also innovative and illicit in relation to how the Japanese operate normally, by instructing designers to produce 12 new cars for manifestation and changing the whole pay and promotion system in the company.Ghosn has shown a range of skills and traits that are needed to be a successful strategic leader, such as the interpersonal skills to convince people of a new vision and get them committed to the goals through his own strong beliefs and dedication to them. Empowering people was used to enable them to become more innovative and creative and to be able to identify and solve problems themselves. Ghosn managed to improve production efficiency with his conceptualization skills whilst showing the charisma to be able to challenge the status quos in a culture that has a by nature high level of uncertainty dodge.A transformational leader is (Bass, 1985) someone who identifies the needed change, creates a vision to guide the change through inspiration, and executes the change with the commitment of the followers. An empowering leader is (McLagan, Patricia Nel, Christo, 1995) someone who gives a clear vision, strategy and enabling tool kit. A change-orientated leader is (Tichy Devanna, 1990) someone who recognizes the need for change, creates a new vision and then institutionalizes the change.Ghosn was a transformational leader as he incorporated all of the 4 Is (see appendix 2) into his leadership style ( jointureouse, 2001). Ghosn managed to gain idealized process through making a huge commitment to the goals that he set by putting his job on the line. This is a charismatic and confident thing to do that would have firmly set the belief that he was superiorly knowledgeable and capable.Inspirational motivation was clearly set out by Ghosn as he made his targets clear and bold as he released them all at once, whilst managing to avoid leakage to minimize criticism without understanding. The merit pay scheme would have also been motivational to employees as they would now know they could get recognition and promotion for other reasons than besides seniority.Ghosn m anaged to install intellectual stimulation to his employees through the use of cross functional teams that allowed them to be creative and innovative in their approach compared to their previous roles. He equally gave designers the resembling freedom to become innovative. Ghosn did also challenge organisation processes with the reduction in suppliers, distributors and the use of power trains and car platforms.Individualized consideration was also covered by the use of the merit pay system and each employee now has the potential to earn an additional 33% of their salary through bonuses. They can also now gain promotion when it was maybe not realizable before under the old system. However he could have done more for the engineers as they gained criticism for overly detailed specifications on orders and having too much influence on designers, nothing was outlined on how they would be picked up after these knockdowns. A mentoring or coaching scheme could have been incorporated to help employees reach their personal goals more effectively to improve on this point this advertise.Ghosn was also a change-orientated leader as he did identify and implement changes but it was already obvious that change was needed, which is why Ghosn was brought to Nissan in the showtime place. Ghosn was equally an empowering leader as he gave his employees responsibility and roles they had not experienced before but he done so much more for Nissan than just empower employees as he made radical changes himself. These two leadership styles in my opinion are present for Ghosn but are only small parts of his repertory and the overall picture, which is that they are aspects which feed into being a good transformational leader.Ghosn incorporates all three of the leadership styles but uses change and empowering leadership as tools to claim his transformational leadership style more effectively and to help achieve intellectual stimulation and individualized consideration.With Ghosn making so many changes to Nissan, it was inevitable that some of these changes would affect the culture of the company and the issues that are aligned with them.One of the big cross cultural issues that had to be addressed by Nissan first was the action of reducing the number of suppliers to the company, which was seen as unprecedented in the past. This was because supplier relationships were deemed unassailable. Part of the problem was that Nissan was at the time part of the Keiretsu culture in Japan, this is where a large group of companies work with each other to the perceived benefit of one enough. It was seen as a safety net upon which they all own shares in each other and kept each other safe. If Nissan were to get out of their current crisis bold moves had to be made in parity to competitors, so moving away from this culture was essential.An equally all important(predicate) cross cultural issue that was changed at Nissan was the belief of having a job for life and promotion and p ay based on seniority. When the merit pay system was brought in, this was to motivate employees to push for their promotions instead of plainly waiting for them to happen. With the new procedures of right calculated against the goals of the company introduced this showed the weak middle/upper management that needed replacing. This would have been a shock to the Japanese as their culture has eternally been to respect your elders this was no longer the case with the new system in place.In Japanese culture there is a high level of uncertainty avoidance, this is when (Yukl, 2002) people fear ambiguous situations and seek gage and stability. Ghosn challenged this culture by immediately putting people into cross functional teams to identify the problems with Nissan. Employees will have felt uncomfortable with this new style that had not been experienced before but will have quickly larn the benefits of working with other department managers and understanding the problems they face o n a day by day basis. This can be a attributed reason as to why the engineers were aloud to dominate the decision making on supply specifications and design for so long, as confrontation was not part of their culture and therefore no would have questioned their workings.Another cross cultural issue face is the performance orientation (Yukl, 2002). Prior to Ghosn and his introduction of performance that could be measured against specific goals, the Japanese were very focused on maintaining relationships as they believed it was brand loyalty that would ensure repeat purchase. This can be linked to the sacrosanct relationships which they had with suppliers and distributors as well as their involvement in the Keiretsu culture that created this behaviour. Ghosn changed this philosophical system of relying on brand loyalty and brought in the need to meet customer requirements which has made them incredibly more goal focused.The important cultural issues that needed to be changed at Nis san, was the movement away from the reliance of other companies and the relationships make with them to ensure the maximum working efficiency and productivity for themselves. It was equally as vital that employees realized they would not have an easy ride with a guaranteed job and promotion but that they had to work for these things and prove themselves pricey of such rewards this will have improved efficiency and motivation for the workforce. It was also important for Nissan to move away for a high level of uncertainty avoidance and towards performance orientation, to allow the team to work more effectively and understand each others needs to make a more successful and dynamic team.ReferencesDaniels, K. 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Far more often than not, their inner nature has been deeply influenced by the historical context in which the two notions were first moulded. gage scourges, whether they be real and objective or imagined and subjective, is still a matter to be put into trial by the academics. In turn, if the issue was to be analysed from a non-scholastic point of view, people would refer to those feelings of in hostage that perturb them and influence their daily action. The spread of the belief that todays world is a dangerous universe, where it is best to play safe and to take all the precautions necessary to avoid the risk of being exposed to menaceening situations, is rising consistently. But are there any real brats that can at long last put individuals in a position of danger or is this feeling of self-doubt a continent product of policy-makers cunning moves to achieve goals, such as gaining wealth and accumulating their power, while permit the individuals sink in growing uncertainties? In other words, are warranter panics real and objectively calculated, or are they socially constructed and subjectively perceived? The latter interrogative leads us in another direction. One could, in fact, argue that an outcome to this controversial issue can only be formulated in the light of the analytical fragmentation and the subsequent commentary of two dominant approaches in the field of IR, Realism and Social Constructivism. mac rocosm aware of such opposing approaches is not only plausible and reasonable from a logical point of view, but it is fundamental in order to solidly ground our understanding of the issue. In this essay, I will first attempt to give a clear explanation of what is meant by protective covering according to the so-called tralatitious and critical views. Secondly, I will make a distinction between what counts as a referent object for realist and constructivists bail policies. Thirdly, I will examine the process that an issue has to allow in order to be prioritized over the others and to become an empirical threat worthy of earnest measures. I will conclude by using a significant case study to analyse and explain why, in the international system, threats to guarantor cannot be tied to a single approach, traditional or modern, but instead need to be reconsidered as a compromise made up of multiple layers.The ontological conceptualisation of security and the shift in the focus of in quiry.Throughout the centuries, the attempt to define security has been a task of major importance for several IR scholars. However clashing theoretical approaches might be, they all shared a common need, i.e. the conceptualisation of security as an ontological basis for any further argumentation. Notwithstanding this premise, not much attention has been devoted to clarifying this notion, therefore there is a persisting disagreement on what security means exactly and on whether it is desirable to give a definition in the first place. The reason why such disagreement has arisen has proved to be related to the various historical periods in which different approaches have developed. more(prenominal) specifically the Cold War, besides being materialised in terms of an weight-lift Curtain that demarcated the European boundaries between Capitalism and Communism, also acted as an ideologic turning point between Realism and Constructivism.Realists point out that security is about safeguar ding acquired values. Arnold Wolfers rephrased Walter Lippmans definition, tilt that security is the absence of threats to acquired values (Wolfers 1952 485). David Baldwin later represent security as the low probability of damage to acquired values (Baldwin 1997 13), arguing that there is way too much optimism in Wolfers absence of threat (Wolfers 1952 485). These acquired values are nothing more than national independence and territorial reserve integrity (Wolfers 1952 489), and thus they objectively correspond to the nation-states selfish interests. In turn, constructivists show that the notion of security is a social construct and, as such, should not be bound to a specific referent object. In his People, States veneration Barry Buzan asserts that the search for a referent object of security has to proceed hand-in-hand with that for its necessary conditions (Buzan 1991 26). As the reader might have noticed,Security is usually discussed in terms of enumeration of new threats and the identification of capabilities needed to counter them, but there is little examination of the meaning of security as such (Wibben, Human Security Toward an Opening )The clashing tension between the realist theorization and the constructivist approach comes to blows when trying to establish what the referent object of security studies should be. Should it always be the state or should it rather be relative to the questioned sector? This problematic derives from the significant shift in focus that has taken place, aboard a massive change in the balance of history as a result of the end of the Cold War.A realistic status security threats are real and objectively analysed. A traditional approach to security threats has to be considered in the light of an objective assessment of the world out there or as it is. Realists act as an elect of scientists with very fixed conceptions of the surrounding environment. As such, they feel the need to adopt a scientific approach to knowle dge (Browning, 2013 13), meaning that they look at reality in an objective way and they hold a soundless state-centric vision. Instead of bolstering substantial changes, they pessimistically dictate how to best cope with the world as it is (Browning, 2013 13). Therefore, it comes as no surprise that the referent object of security studies is the state, and threats to security are all those directly posed to the state, all those be the survival of its core values. The nation-state is presented as the guarantor of security and, as such, it has the calling to act in a way that assures the safety of its boundaries. This entails every action to be inextricably tied to the states assumptions. Realists are convinced that the term security is the equivalent of national security interest (Wolfers, 1952 481). As the US monument of State Henry Kissinger put it, how realistically we perceive our national interests is a core security concern (Kissinger, 1976 182). Exempli gratia, in the inte rnational system -which is anarchic- where self-absorbed and self-interested individuals proliferate, absolute security is irredeemable, and thus states believe that the only way to secure themselves from external military threats is to increase their military forces. Yet by doing so, other states might be led to think that policies of armament are objective synonyms of imminent attacks and, consequently, of real and tangible menaces. In the field of worldwide Relations, this ironic cycle of unintended provocations (Kanji, 2003 2) is often referred to as the security dilemma, i.e. the belief that increasing ones security means rising insecurity for others as each interprets its own measures as defensive and measures of others as potentially threatening (Herz, 1951 7).At this point, one could legitimately ask If everybody claims to perceive real threats, how is one supposed to identify real menaces, if present, with objectivity? Put in another way Are all military affairs to be co nsidered as real threats or are they real threats only in conditions of international anarchy? As the constructivist Wendt argued anarchy is what states make of it (Wendt 1992 395), claiming that what is presented as a real threat in international anarchy is not necessarily a real threat in this world. Therefore, can one assume that threats are objectively the same regardless of their political allocation?The constructivist approach security threats are socially constructed. How the community moulds the concept of securitization.In Wendtianian terms, a security threat is what actors make of it and, thus, by no means can they be objectively assessed. inappropriate realists, constructivists act as analysts in charge of presenting how the normal unrestricted and their leaders mutually construct dangers (Dannreuther 2007 42), thereby framing our experience of the world. In their Security a new framework of analysis Buzan, Weaver and De Wilde -prominent members of the Copenhagen Schoo l1 argue thatSecurity is when an issue is presented as posing an existential threat to a knowing referent object. The special nature of security threats justifies the use of extraordinary measures to handle them. (Buzan, Waever, De Wilde 1998 21)Before discussing how an issue, being prioritized over other issues, is presented as an existential threat, it is of essential importance to define what we mean by existential threat in the first place. An existential threat is whatever threatens the safety of somebody or something. As opposed to realists, who unceasingly commit themselves to a scientific state-centric vision, constructivists point out the need for each and every threat to be analysed in relation to the referent object of the sector in question, while sectors have been categorised as military, political, scotch, societal and environmental. As for the military sector, the state is the entity that can possibly be in danger. For this reason, however much traditional security studies would try to pass off peacekeeping and humanitarian interventions as peril in their nature, both might not be regarded as an existential threat to the nation-state. In the political sector, it is sovereignty that is the principle that can be existentially threatened, so that Brexit, for instance, is the most prominent deterrent to the European Union. In the economic sector, the referent objects are firms, and the threat of bankruptcy may act as an ultimatum for their existence, while collective identities and individual species are respectively referent objects of the societal and environmental sector.One might rightly wonder What, who and how is an issue alter into a matter of security or shown to be existentially threatened? Buzan et al. asserts that the answer lies in a key-term, i.e. securitization. Securitization is the process by which a general issue is recognised as an existential threat. Yet this process is built up through consequential steps in which two actors play a key-role, the securitizing actor and the audience. The securitizing actor, alias a political leader, is someone who performs the securitizing move, rhetorically identified as the speech act2. The task consists in declaring a state of tweak by recurring to apocalyptic statements, such asIf we do not tackle this problem, everything else will be irrelevant (because we will not be here or will not be free to deal with it in our own way). (Buzan, Waever, De Wilde 1998 21)If and only if the securitizing move raises consensus and it is generally accepted by the audience, the issue is successfully securitized and it becomes an existential threat. Donald Trumps securitizing move, i.e. the Muslim ban, cannot be considered as being successfully securitized because the general public hasnt legitimated the speech act. Contrariwise, war is an empirical example of a successful securitization that, being so recurrent, ends up being institutionalized. at once an issue is securitized, it mov es out of the realm of normal politics into the realm of taking into custody politics, where it can be dealt with swiftly and without the normal (democratic) rules and regulations of policy-making (Taureck 2006 54 Buzan et al. 1998 24). The securitizing actor and the audience democratically negotiate and establish what existential threats are under which circumstances. As Buzan et al. underline, security is a self-referential practice, because it is in this practice that the issue becomes a security issue -not because a real threat exists (Buzan et al. 1998 24). From a constructivist point of view, the realists presumption of assessing threats objectively goes beyond humans means. Threats are in fact inter-subjectively constructed rather than being natural or inevitable (Newmann 2001 247) since what constitutes a threat for one is not necessarily the referent object for the other (Buzan et al. 1998 30).How social constructivism has challenged the traditional realistic view. Case st udy atomic weapons are real or imagined threats? almost anything can be a threatCATASTROPHIC, as well pessimistic and deterministic (timeless and irrevocable)nature of the threats, analysis of the world in itself assumption It is out of humans domain to establish which threats are really threatening survival, they are inevitable and there is nothing to do except for facing the stark(a) reality. It is not possible to consider a atomic weapon in every case a threat. What if the missil tankful is a peacekeeping force?At the same time, it is illogical to affirm that a nuvlear bomb of a powerful state is threating whereas a bomb of allies doesnt pose any threat.SELFISH construction of threats with the excuse of needing to shiftthe focus of enwuiry of the individuals, impact of ideas and values (newmnn, 247). eventually defyning the concept of human security, they ended up prioritizing issues according to the selfish interests of the securitizing actor. For constructivists try to push the notion of human security forward, they somehow end up shadowing the selfish construction of security threats. Both bigo and wibben when experts push for particular forms in which security of humans ought to be prioritized. Bigo showed how the securitizing actor together with the general public has securitized immigration. Issues are prioritized according to selfish interest.Wibben makes an important point that our conceptions of security come from specific political visions, underpinned by certain ontological and epistemological assumptions. For instance, when experts call for elevating human security as a security concern, they are pushing for particular forms in which the security of humans ought to be prioritised. IPoliticians have used the policy of securitization to satisfy their own interests, being legitimated to do whatever through the speech act. Murray Edelman has explained how the social construct of the politicalspectacle works.He has demonstrated how the construc tion of situations as problems is useful for politicians the politicians can manage them in order to warrant their own authority. It enablesthem, for example, to negate other problems or to transform struc-tural difficulties into easy targets. (Bigo 2002 68-69)the presupposition that it is possible to control the flow of individuals at the borders of thestate (bigo 199269)Murray Edelman,Pices et rgles du jeu politique(Paris Seuil, 1991),a translation of his Constructing the semipolitical Spectacle(Chicago University of Chicago Press, 1988), with a specific and important foreword7Chandler (Security confabulation, 2008) human security has built rather than challenged existing policy frameworks and is too easily co-opted by political elites.Security is a social construct with the meaning ofsoceurity depending of what is done with it. taureckdissertationThreats are real in the sense that there is sth threating the survival of the individuals, yet this cannot be objectively assessed and it is not deterministically givenThey are imagined in the minds of the politicians andthen presented as threatening, yet it would be irrational to claim that the speech act has no correspondence to the external reality.. they are mediated by the meaning we ourselves give to nuclear weapons rather than to realitye.g. Constructivist assumption a nuclear weapon doesnt pose a threat by itself (ARGUABLY YES) Why the US view North Koreas nuclear weapons as a threat and not Britains?UK Prime Minister Tony Blairs securitisation of Saddam Husseins weapon of mass destruction programme for the British public in the lead up to the 2003 encroachment is a useful case study here. Depending on our reading of the Copenhagen School, the securitisation of Saddam and his WMD programme may have occurred exclusively through public representations depicting the regime and its WMD programme as imminently threatening, through the vote in sevens legitimising http//wrap.warwick.ac.uk/1232/1/WRAP_McDonald _0671572-pais-270709-mcdonald_securitisation_and_construction_of_security_ejir_forthcoming_2008.pdf 23Blairs deployment of troops, or even at the point of invasion itself. While the lattermight seem the least likely reading,The system is not deterministically given Brhaviors are socially constructed and can therefore change. (newmann, 247). Threats are socially constructed rather than being natural or inevitable identity and interest derive from the social processes of interaction leading to expectations of costs and benefits accustomed with different types of behaviour within a system (newmann, 248)Constructivists Finally, three important constituents of a speech act are its internal features (the security form, grammar of security, enunciation of an existential threat and so on) social conditions regarding the position of authority of the securitizing actor (how easily would the audience accept the claims of the securitizing actor) and features of the alleged threat (a tank is m ore threat-like than a comb, for instance or to use our example above, a North Korea bomb is more threat-like than a British bomb for America because of the institutionalisation of the North Korean threat).Realists whoever the nuclear weapon belongs to, it is a threat. A foreign tank crossing the border.Conclusion?Threats to security are real and tangible. One cannot abnegate that whoever is the owner of a nuclear weapon the presence of a nuclear weapon is menacing the international security commission. However, saying that threats are real is misleading and too generic. what each state perceives as a threat is a variable.allocation Rather, it is a blurred misrepresentation of the world out there. This is to highlight the fact that what is regarded as a real threat in anarchy, being what states make of it, is not an objective reflection of the real threats. It is simply a reflection of the dangers out there. , provided that actions are unavoidably bounded to mere states assumptionsI s not insecurity of any kind an evil from which any rational policy maker would want to rescue his country? (Wolfers, case Security 494)The world is not a universe of all against allFrom a real basis, security threats are developed and constructed according to the will and mis)perceptions of policy-makers. This is to say that some security threats are prioritized over some others and consequently they might be seen as a matter of national security worth of becoming part of the security agenda.A security threat is what is presented as a security threatA security threat is always the other stateBibliographyBALDWIN, D. (1997) The concept of security. Review of International Studies 23 5-26.BROWNING, C. (2013) International Security a very short introduction. Oxford Oxford University Press.BUZAN, B. (1991) People, States and Fear An Agenda for International Security Studies in the Post-Cold War Era. London Hemel Hempstead.BUZAN, B., WAEVER, O. AND J. DE WILDE (1998) Security A New Fram ework for Analysis. London Lynne Rienner, Chapter 2.DANNREUTHER, R. 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Political Science quarterly 67(4) 481-502.1 The Copenhagen School is a school of security studies, which was established in 1983 by Barry Buzan with his first publication of People, States Fear.2 The term speech act is rooted in the linguistic philosophy of J. L. Austin and John Saerle and it emblematically represents the rhetorical structure of securitization.