Methodology
The following report is based on the changes in the business environment in the modern times and their impact on the service users. The report analyzes the strategies and plans that the different organizations are adapting to survive the rapidly changing circumstances. The work on the following topic is quite relevant as because there have been some noticeable gaps in the earlier projects based on the same subject. The report has tried to fill these gaps and has also provided different qualitative and quantitative viewpoints which have helped it to become more compact. The world is in midst of a huge storm that is changing the cultural, social, economical aspects. There has been a gradual shift of power in the business sector. The traditional powerhouses of business no longer enjoy the same status as the smaller powers are challenging their big counterparts. The researcher has taken the example of three automobile manufacturing companies of Germany namely Opel (www.opel.com), Volkswagen ( Volkswagen.co.in) and Audi (Audi.com) in the report to carry out his survey.
As mentioned in the introductory part the researcher has taken the example of three automobile manufacturing companies of Germany. After conducting the whole research a whole lot of environmental and technological factors that affects the automobile sector were identified. The technological factors that were identified were;
- Security- Proper security of the information, ensuring a proper storage of such key information was one of the technological challenges of these companies. The information included some secret documents on the design and technology of present as well as future automobiles and engines which once lost would cost the organizations crores of rupees.
- Maintenance- The maintenance of different spare parts as well as the cars itself poses a huge challenge to the organizations. The complex technologies involved in making the cars makes it more difficult to maintain it.
- Safety- Safety is one of the main concerns in the modern days. Roads are becoming more and more dangerous as the number of automobiles is on a rise. Rules and regulations have failed to create awareness among the drivers and every time a major mishap happens people blame the car manufacturers. The car makers thus have to formulate new technologies to avoid accidents.
- Making Future proof models- Volkswagen and Audi have collaborated with regional companies and have started experimenting on new models that offers 5thgeneration technologies whereas Opel is in talks with a leading car manufacturer of Sweden to jointly develop a futuristic model.
The environmental factors on the other hand were,
- Achieving renewable source of energy- Globalization has raised the pollution levels of the world. The companies are slowly shifting their focus towards renewable energy sources. They have already set up different solar power plants in their manufacturing units as well as in their offices. Audi has started producing cars totally run on solar energy whereas Opel has started manufacturing commercial vehicles run on rooftop solar panels.
- Setting environmental standards to assess the environmental impact- All the three mentioned companies have set a special team to keep a regular check up on whether they are following the environmental standards as prescribed by the government.
- Attaining Sustainability- The companies have aimed to attain sustainability in the coming years. The primary aim of achieving it is by reducing their carbon footprints. The companies aim to have a high productivity cost and offer less expensive schemes to their customers. This will help the company to sustain themselves and have a better future.
- Managing solid waste- Management of solid waste is one of the major challenges faced by every automobile industry. The solid waste generally includes the leftovers of the old models as well as the spare parts of different vehicles . The three companies have different strategies to manage their solid wastes. Recycling and reusing the products in different ways is one such type of strategy adopted by Volkswagen.
The information about the company and the challenges faced were obtained from the journals of the company as well as from the official websites of the company. The books related to automobile industry were also used to gather necessary information. Apart from these primary sources the research also took the help of some industry insiders to get an idea of the different traits of the automobile industry (Brettel et al. 2014).
Volkswagen was in deep crisis when last year the environmental Protection Agency found out that some of the specific models manufactured and commercially sold by the organization were equipped with unique software that promoted environment friendly settings but it showed no effect on roads and increased the carbon levels by more than 40% (Epstein & Buhovac, 2014). The company was quick to act and decided to call back all such vehicles to its producing and testing units. The software was reorganizes and then sends for multiple tests which showed environment friendly action (Bocken et al. 2014). Audi on the other hand tried to show its customers that their company promotes healthy gender equality in the workplace. The company had advertised such type of advertisements in a social media page. Unfortunately it failed to attract the customers and it was disliked by the most. Audi immediately defended its advertisement that its only aim was to promote gender equality (Hawkins et al. 2013).
A PEST analysis can be of much help to determine the different factors behind the organizations failure or success and the ways by which it can be overcome.
Political- The mentioned companies have their main plants in the developed countries of Europe. There is a huge pressure on these organizations from the government to build cars which costs less, emits less and costs much less (Anderson et al. 2014). The growing tax rates have put a bar on the revenue of the car manufacturers. There are also other problems as because a shift in the political ideology might not be good all the time. The companies have adapted their strategies in a particular way to get rid of these problems (Lu et al. 2014). They have started operating plants that cause pollution in less developed countries or in the developing countries. All the three companies have a good presence in the Asian markets this is just because Asian markets have leveraged much of the taxes to help the particular sector flourish in the country (Brettel et al. 2014).
Analyze
Economical- The 2008 economic crisis was a huge blow to the prospect of the three companies. Audi was the hardest hit as because it specializes in manufacturing luxury cars. The sales figures of the company touched new lows because of such a condition in the market. The crisis period led to a fall in the purchasing power parity of the customers which further did not helped the cause of the organizations (Hawkins et al. 2013). All the mentioned companies in the report incurred huge losses. The loss was momentary as the companies changed their strategies and ensured success in the following years. Audi started bringing small and cheap variants in the market which was launched in growing markets, whereas Opel saw success by reviving its most famous brand Astra in new markets of Africa and Asia.
Social- The mentioned companies are successful mainly because of the social factors. They have ensured to follow the socio cultural rules of the place where they are operating (Hannan, Azidin & Mohamed, 2014). They have launched market specific products to cater to the demands of the customers.
Technological- As mentioned earlier a lot of technological factors like safety, maintenance, security comes into force while carrying out the operations of the organization (Lu et al. 2014). The technological factors are tackled wisely by the management of the organization.
Conclusion
The thorough analysis of the report has pointed to some clear facts based on the challenges and the impacts of such challenges. Primarily it can be assessed that just because the mentioned sector faces huge risk a clear set of solid strategies must be present to avoid any damage. The companies have still now been instrumental to face these challenges as they have turned round their future by making use of these strategies. To conclude the report it can be said that the organizations are on the correct way to achieving sustainability.
References
“Opel International – Product & Company Information, News, Experience, Excitement”. https://www.opel.com. N.p., 2017. Web. 9 June 2017.
“The World Of Audi”. Audi.com. N.p., 2017. Web. 9 June 2017.
“Volkswagen Cars, Hatchbacks, Sedans, New Car Models, Premium Cars. | Volkswagen India”. Volkswagen.co.in. N.p., 2017. Web. 9 June 2017.
Anderson, J. M., Nidhi, K., Stanley, K. D., Sorensen, P., Samaras, C., & Oluwatola, O. A. (2014). Autonomous vehicle technology: A guide for policymakers. Rand Corporation.
Bocken, N. M. P., Short, S. W., Rana, P., & Evans, S. (2014). A literature and practice review to develop sustainable business model archetypes. Journal of cleaner production, 65, 42-56.
Brettel, M., Friederichsen, N., Keller, M., & Rosenberg, M. (2014). How virtualization, decentralization and network building change the manufacturing landscape: An Industry 4.0 Perspective. International Journal of Mechanical, Industrial Science and Engineering, 8(1), 37-44.
Epstein, M. J., & Buhovac, A. R. (2014). Making sustainability work: Best practices in managing and measuring corporate social, environmental, and economic impacts. Berrett-Koehler Publishers.
Hannan, M. A., Azidin, F. A., & Mohamed, A. (2014). Hybrid electric vehicles and their challenges: A review. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 29, 135-150.
Hawkins, T. R., Singh, B., Majeau?Bettez, G., & Strømman, A. H. (2013). Comparative environmental life cycle assessment of conventional and electric vehicles. Journal of Industrial Ecology, 17(1), 53-64.
Lu, N., Cheng, N., Zhang, N., Shen, X., & Mark, J. W. (2014). Connected vehicles: Solutions and challenges. IEEE internet of things journal, 1(4), 289-299.
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