MARICHU G.

APILADO
CORPORATE PLANNING
MBA

Exercises 1:

Dissect the following examples of mission statements by identifying the nine components
enumerated above and suggest possible improvements:

1. Spotify: Our mission is to unlock the potential of human creativity — by giving a

million creative artists the opportunity to live off their art and billions of fans the
opportunity to enjoy and be inspired by it.

The mission statement sheds more light on the goals of the company and how it wants these
goals to become a reality. It has the following key features:

Improving lives. Spotify satisfies this feature by being an interactive and up-to-date platform
that its users can depend on. The company acknowledges how critical digital space is for its
target audience in creating sustainable livelihoods for themselves. Within Spotify’s platform, for
instance, artists have a better chance of reaching out to a wider fan base. The targeting criteria
used by the company ensures that the digital content created by an artist reaches the most
appropriate audience, making it profitable for these individuals. In fact, this echoes what the
mission statement means by enabling the artists ‘to live off their art.’

Encourages the sharing of digital content. The primary undertaking of Spotify is to

provide medium and boost dissemination of content to the users. It actually links the
artists to the consumers of their work, something that tremendously encourages sharing.
At the basic level, this is what Spotify does, however, it also incorporates commercial
elements that ensure the content producers benefit from their work as shown in the first
component of the mission statement.

Global presence. To ensure that Spotify reaches out to as many users as possible, the
management adopted a strategic approach that captures the needs of everyone at the
global level. The approach means that there is no limitation to anyone who can use
Spotify including both target audiences – artists and fans. As stated by Ek, the company
looks to connect everyone, irrespective of cultural, genre and other boundaries. That
explains why the company boasts of having a coverage of millions of artists and billions
of fans, which can only be possible for a company whose reach goes beyond regional to a
global scale.

Spotify’s mission and vision statements have given the company a global image with the
emphasis they lay on operational effectiveness. As an online music streaming network,
Spotify has recognized how to strategize and command a large following through its
mission and vision statement. This is an element that the founders of this company,
Martin Lorentzon, and Daniel Ek, stimulated from its early days in 2006, and truly, it has
born the intended fruits having made the company grow into one of the biggest with over
217 million users.

All this growth has been due to these two corporate statements together with the core
values of the company. A corporate vision statement is all about what the business target
the management of the company wants to achieve, while a corporate mission statement
basically defines the operations that a business embarks on to meet its objectives.
Spotify’s vision statement emphasizes how influential the company is in matters related
to digital content exchanges and how it enriches this.

On the other hand, the mission statement of this company emphasizes the direct benefits
that both of its users get from the company. It also reveals that though they have different
needs, the magnitude and the quality of experience they get is practically equal and well-
balanced. These two corporate statements greatly depend on values such as sincerity,
collaboration, and innovativeness among others that the company incorporates to act as a
guide to the overall operations in the company.

The company judiciously implements is corporate statements and stays within the
expectations of the core values, and this has gone a long way in giving it a strong
foundation and consistency in what it does.

2. LinkedIn: The mission of LinkedIn is simple: connect the world’s professionals to

make them more productive and successful.

LinkedIn mission statement is to “connect the world’s professionals to make them more
productive and successful.” The mission statement concisely highlights the major activity that
runs the entire company. The emphasis here is on ‘connect,’ which that company has stayed true
to throughout the 16 years it has been in operation. In fact, every transition and change in its
strategic approach has remained aligned to this concept of the company. Several characteristics
can be associated with this mission statement:

1. Connecting the world

2. Improvement of life
3. Boosting productivity and success.

LinkedIn is specially designed to create connections between different people across the
globe. To achieve this, the company’s site strategically offers its clients optimized options that
increase their online presence. They are also designed to rank and categorize individuals to
match their preferences with others sharing similar elements, and this increases their chances of
sharing ideas.
 For instance, the company describes itself as a platform where its clients can become part of
a professional community where they can get all types of services including some elements of
mentorship and related guidance. In fact, the integrated system the corporation provides that
brings together different entities such as job seekers, employers, and trainers show the progress
this company has made so far in satisfying this component of its mission statement.

The second characteristic of LinkedIn mission statement is an outcome of the satisfaction of the
first component in various ways. For example, when people get connected with others sharing
similar careers, ambitions, and interests, they get a sense of belonging and fulfillment. In
addition, this interrelation provides them with an opportunity to learn from others, advance their
careers, and get connections to suitable job opportunities through the platform.

LinkedIn recognizes the sophistication of finding reliable professional partners, and through its
system, it continues to improve people’s economic lives. Overall, by doing this, the company has
made significant strides in improving the productivity and success of all its clients. LinkedIn is
virtually the most reputable online platform for that interlinks professionals across the globe. As
an online employment-oriented company, LinkedIn has stamped its authority in what it does by
being the most reliable service provider with a presence in all countries in the world. In fact, ever
since its foundation in 2002, LinkedIn has maintained its position as a leader in this role courtesy
of the precision of its mission and vision statements.

A company’s vision statement points to the future destination that inspires the operations and
growth of a firm. LinkedIn vision statement guides the organization to realign its activities and
exploit its expertise in such a way that the company becomes the source of economic liberation
for its clients. The mission statement works hand in hand with the vision statement. The concept
of a vision statement is essentially the actions a company implements to progress towards the
achievement of the vision statement. In the case of LinkedIn, the mission statement stresses on
its central purpose – creating productive linkages for its clients or professionals with other
experts and with professional opportunities.

LinkedIn growth is also highly correlated to the guiding principles of the company. These are
the core values such as recognition of the fact that relationships matter, demanding excellence
and intelligent risk-taking among others. The impact of these values on the company’s growth
journey cannot be overlooked. They have essentially been instrumental in the positioning of the
company and its compliance with the mission and vision statements.   

3. Starbucks: To inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup and one
neighborhood at a time.

With our partners, our coffee, and our customers at our core, we live these values:

       Creating a culture of warmth and belonging, where everyone is welcome.

       Acting with courage, challenging the status quo, and finding new ways to grow our
company and each other.
       Being present, connecting with transparency, dignity, and respect.
        Delivering our very best in all we do, holding ourselves accountable for results.

We are performance driven, through the lens of humanity.The company mission statement
(CMS) of Starbucks, the world's largest operator of coffee houses, is about more than just coffee.
According to its website, the company's mission is: "To inspire and nurture the human spirit—
one person, one cup, and one neighborhood at a time."

According to the company's 2017 social impact report, Starbucks' coffee has been 99 percent
ethically sourced since 2015. The company said it's committed to making coffee the first
sustainable agricultural product.

In the same report, the company said it had built more than 1,500 Leadership in Energy and
Environmental Design–certified stores in 20 countries, including at least one in all 50 U.S. states
and Puerto Rico. It also plans to double the recycled content in and the recyclability and
reusability of its cups by 2022.

In March 2018, Starbucks said it had achieved 100 percent pay equity for all of its U.S.
employees who had the same role, regardless of their gender, race, or ethnicity.

The Coffee

First and foremost they are passionate about the quality of their products. They source the finest
coffee beans, roasting them with great care. They have recently innovated with the best coffee
making equipment - the Clover (R) brewing system.

The People, and the Third Place

From the very beginning, the Starbucks marketing strategy has focused on creating the “third
place” for everyone to go to between home and work. Creating this unique and relaxing
“experience” and “atmosphere” for people...particularly among students and young urban
professionals. Starbucks shops have become a center for socializing and intellectual discussion.

You can see this 'third place' is central to the mission statement. Simply Starbucks is a
convenient and nice place to go have a great cup of coffee.

It has created a retail store experience that is attractive, comfortable, and even entertaining,
designed to attract customers and keep them coming back to the stores. In its stores, you will find
comfortable chairs, wireless Internet connection, even a selection of music, besides great muffins
to eat with your coffee.

Another example of the third place concept was in 1993, the company partnered with Barnes and
Noble bookstore in the United States to make its coffee available to bookstore customers.
The Ethics and the Environment

Like all successful companies, they are subject to scrutiny to ensure their success has not been
gained at the expense of others. For example, they are also passionate about ethically sourcing
their coffee beans and caring for and improving the lives of people who grow them.

The opening of a Starbucks has often met with objections from local stores and Starbucks has
been a bit ruthless at times in establishing themselves in certain neighborhoods. They now want
to redress this by being 'good neighbor'.

They are keen also to share their mission and values with their partners. They have many
partners including a partnership with Pepsi-Cola Company in 1996 to start the business venture
to sell a bottled version of Starbucks Frappuccino® blended beverage.

4. American Red Cross: The American Red Cross prevents and alleviates human
suffering in the face of emergencies by mobilizing the power of volunteers and the
generosity of donors.

American Red Cross mission statement is “The American Red Cross prevents and
alleviates human suffering in the face of emergencies by mobilizing the power of volunteers
and the generosity of donors.” The beneficiaries of the services that the organization offers are
the major focus of this mission statement. This shows the value the institution places on people
and that this is what motivates the management to keep doing more. The mission statement by
the American Red Cross has the following main pieces:

Improving communities. The American Red Cross was essentially founded to do just that,
stimulate growth in societies that face disasters, and the organization has shown how well fit it is
in this mandate. The popularity linked to this company across the globe is because of how
impactful it has been in restoring communities to better economic and social standings after
serious catastrophes. That is why people say that the American Red Cross will always be there
when they need it most.

Improving lives. The life of every person is important, and that is what the American Red
Cross shows every single day through its campaigns and practical activities. The company is
always on the ground to help the needy through a variety of ways, with the most famed one
being to find the ailing and injured the blood they need. By doing this, the American Red Cross
puts the health and life of the people first, and this adds to their overall improvement.

Mobilizing. The American Red Cross recognizes the magnitude of disasters can be
overwhelming for any single entity. If the government finds it difficult to handle the pressure,
then surely, this is not a duty for one individual. To address this, the organization takes
 mobilization to bring other players onboard very seriously as this is the only sure way to have
long-lasting and comprehensive impacts everywhere.

For the American Red Cross, its mission statement focuses on one critical element –
alleviating suffering in any form, and by doing this, ensures everyone lives a comfortable
and enjoyable life. These aspects of the mission and vision statements are advanced by
the culture that keeps getting better within the American Red Cross due to the presence of
the core values of the company. The working of all these statements is what gives this
institution a proud global image today.

5. Whole Foods Market: To nourish people and the planet. We're a purpose-driven
company that aims to set the standards of excellence for food retailers. Quality is a
state of mind at Whole Foods Market.

Expand Globally

Lead the Food Industry

The second part highlights that even Whole Foods is a leader in the grocery business, it seeks to
extend its leadership by offering excellent customer service to set the standards that other
retailers in the industry can follow.

Offer High-Quality Products and Services

The third part of the Purpose Statement indicates that the importance of offering high-
quality  products and services is instilled into its employees, top-level and mid-level
management, suppliers, and all other stakeholders, making it part of Whole Foods culture and
DNA.

It can also be interpreted as the company’s strategy that will enhance its leadership of the
industry for growth and subsequent expansion globally.

Whole Foods Market’s Core Values

Whole Foods’ Core Values consist of six elements that define what the company stands for and
will not compromise regardless of the situation.

1. Highest quality, all-natural and organic foods: From vegetables, meat, seafood,

flowers, body care, cleaning products, to eggs, all the products offered by Whole Foods are
healthy, natural, and organic. The company does not compromise on this value going as far as
creating a list of unhealthy ingredients that cannot be sold in their stores like hydrogenated fats,
flavors, sweeteners, preservatives, and many more. Recently, CEO Mackey rejected the idea of
adopting plant-based meat  due to its health risks.
2. Customer Satisfaction: Whole Foods’ customer-centric model offers value to its
customers who are the lifeblood of the business. The company exploits all available resources,
experimentation, and innovation to offer the highest level of user experience beyond
expectations.
3. Promoting the Growth and Happiness of Employees and Stakeholders: The values of
Whole Foods are anchored on nurturing a safe and empowering environment that
enables motivated people to flourish and exploit their full potential. The destructive “us versus
them” mentality has been effectively replaced with positive and healthy relationships.
4. Win-win partnerships: Most businesses have unfair, exploitative, and tense
relationships with their suppliers and other stakeholders. This is not the case for Whole Foods
since it respects and advances fairness in its partnerships as part of the interdependent business
ecosystem.
5. Profitability and prosperity for all: Whole Foods acknowledges that customer
satisfaction, employees’ happiness, and the company’s financial prosperity should go hand-in-
hand.
6. Promoting community health, nutrition, and welfare: The company values giving
back to communities through various programs and foundations such as Whole Planet
Foundation, the Whole Kids Foundation, and Whole Cities Foundation.  

Whole Foods Market’s Declaration of Interdependence

Whole Foods Market acknowledges that it has come this far by depending on its customers,
employees, suppliers, stakeholders, and the resources provided by Mother Earth.

Going forward, it will not attain its aspirations without their support again. Subsequently, it also
recognizes its obligations and responsibility to all parties and stakeholders that depend on the
company, promising to prioritize and advance their interests. Parties to the
symbiotic interdependence relationship include;

1. Customers: Whole Foods acknowledges that customers are the lifeblood of the

company, pledging to deliver high-quality products and services, value, and experience in
exchange for loyalty.
2. Employees: The organization recognizes that the immense success it has attained can be
traced back to employees’ efforts and selfless devotion from top to bottom, pledging to advance
their interests through openness, transparency, and inclusivity. In 2019, it was ranked #51 Best
Employer for Women, #40 Best Employer for New Grads, and #317 for Employee Diversity
by Forbes.   
3. Suppliers: As part of an interdependent business ecosystem, the organization recognizes,
respects, and promises to advance the symbiotic and fair partnership with its suppliers.
4. Amazon: During a time of need, Amazon and its stakeholders came to the rescue of
Whole Foods. The company promises to attain profitability, prosperity, and continue to flourish
together with the parent company and all stakeholders.
5. Community and the Environment: The organization balances its needs with the needs
of the world by protecting Mother Earth and the available resources for future generations
through sustainable operations. 
 Whole Foods Market’s Leadership Principles
Whole Foods’ philosophy can be derived from its leadership principles, which highlight the main
drivers of the growth and success since it was founded.

1. Customer Obsession: For Whole Foods, customers are not only the most important
stakeholders but also the lifeblood of its business. Its customer-centric model goes beyond
customer satisfaction bordering constant obsession over its customers. 
2. Long-Term Thinking: The Company does not believe in fore-going its long-term values
in exchange for short-term financial gains. This philosophy is also evidenced by CEO Mackey’s
decision to be paid only $1 per year without bonuses or stock grants since 2007.
3. People Empowerment: Instead of micro-managing suppliers, partners, employees, and
other key stakeholders, Whole Foods strives to empower them since the success of the company
relies heavily on its innovativeness and operational excellence.
4. Learn and Grow: Whole Foods is not limited by ‘not invented here’ thinking and seeks
opportunities to learn from new creative ideas, innovation, and invention to catalyze growth. By
acknowledging that there is room for improvement, the organization commits itself to continuous
learning for growth.
5. Giving Trust to earn Trust: Whole Foods rarely shies away from admitting its mistakes
and any shortcomings to consumers because respect and trust can only be nurtured through
openness and transparency regardless of whether doing so is awkward or embarrassing.
6. Think Big: Whole Foods is driven by the belief that bold bets inspire results, but
thinking small is a self-fulfilling prophecy. This philosophy contributed to the acquisition of the
company by Amazon.
7. Just get it done: When it comes to service delivery, Whole Foods Market believes that
asking for forgiveness is sometimes better than seeking permission.
8. Frugality: Accomplishing, more with less, is consistently evident across the company.
This is based on the notion that constraints catalyze invention, resourcefulness, and self-
sufficiency.

6. Uber: We ignite opportunity by setting the world in motion.

Uber’s mission statement is “Transportation as reliable as running water, everywhere for

everyone.” In a precise way, the statement draws attention to what the company is all about –
treating its customers to memorable services. The following components can be linked to this
mission statement:

1. Improvement of lives. Uber recognizes the unprecedented challenges faced by the

contemporary communities as enshrined in this component of its mission statement. To
leave an impact while addressing these issues, the company strives to promote the right
application of technology alongside good partnership to create an environment that
promotes both individual and communal thriving. For instance, this is what Uber has
been implementing with its global citizenship programs, something that has shown to
have enough potential to aspire change in the lives of people not only economically, but
 also socially. Moreover, the company also continues with this concept through its support
for cities, and this has drastically changed communities.
2. Exceeding expectations. While transport is the primary objective of this company, Uber
has gone beyond this mandate to link other convenience services and care for its
customers. For instance, the company has incorporated delivery components such as
helping people order and deliver foods more quickly at attractive rates. And, that is just
the tip of the iceberg – Uber has special health care rides dubbed ‘Uber health’ to offer its
customers the safest and fasted support to acquiring the healthcare they need. Through
these services, the company has shown that it is much more than what most expect it to
be. It is a reliable and dependable partner for all.
3. Everywhere for everyone. Uber has been vibrant in ensuring that it satisfies this aspect
of its mission statement. The diversification of the services of the company to include
road and air travels among other unique customer-tailored services has made Uber a
company of choice for all. The rise beyond regional limitation to have its presence felt at
the global scale is another commendable effort Uber has made to satisfy this component,
making it an international company.

In just over a decade, Uber Technologies Inc. is a company that has drastically grown from a
localized transportation company into a mega global transportation network firm. The success
recorded by Uber is attributed to the organizational culture promoted by the mission and vision
statements of the company. In fact, these have created a reputation that has enabled the company
to come out as the leading player in the sector, operating in 785 countries at the global level,
more than any other firm running the same business model.

The vision statement of any company is a declaration of particular goals achievable within a set
timeline that the management wants to be an influence on its decision making and operations of
the company. The vision statement of Uber, as depicted by the growing desire to conquer
convenience and comfort-based transportation, points at the change that this company is set to
inject in the sector. It is closely related to its mission.

A mission statement outlines the strategic approaches that a management team exploits to take
the company towards the set goals or the vision of the establishment. In the case of Uber, its
mission statement emphasizes the experiences and limitless services that the company’s strategic
model has on the customers it serves. The company also points to the inseparable bond between
its accomplishments and the core values that define the organization.

Core values are essentially the guiding principles adopted by the company to keep everyone and
everything in line with the target goals. For Uber, its values such as being customer obsessed,
building globally, and celebrating the differences have been instrumental in the progressive
advancement of this company into new functions and parts of the world. There is no doubt that
together with the mission and vision statements, these corporate elements have positioned Uber
as atop of the list of companies in this niche.

7. Google: To organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and
useful.
 Google mission statement is “to organize the world’s information and make it universally
accessible and useful.” Google is perhaps the most successful company to come up with a
strategic approach to organize information for online users in the last two decades. With this
company, it has become easier and better structured making it not only accessible but also useful.
It is this influential role that the mission statement of the company emphasizes on. Based on this
analysis, the following characteristics make up Google’s mission statement:

 Sharing of new ideas

 Global accessibility
 Boosting organization

Google satisfies its sharing of new ideas component by providing a stable platform for people
and companies to disseminate their content. The company has been credited for being one of the
most informative establishments of its time. Google has come out strongly as an empowering
firm with a variety of channels it has designed and integrated to ensure its users are treated to
limitless sources of information.

In this way, the company assists in sharing of new ideas. The second component relates to this
one because of the ability of the company to pool all global content in one place. It does this
through a specially designed automated script that methodologically browses the web to collect
the most up to date information, including the new ones, then stores it for easy accessibility by
its users.

There is no doubt that the various platforms offered by the company are globally accessible
including its subsidiaries. For instance, one can access the Google search engine wherever they
are, and the same case applies to platforms such as YouTube, Google Assistant, Photos, and
Google Cloud. With site crawling, all Google needs is to exploit its algorithms to ensure this data
is not only accessible but also organized in relation to its last component in the mission
statement.  In fact, the organization algorithm adopted by Google is so unique that it tracks user
trends and personalizes their information needs to collate and bring them what they need most, a
factor that has made Google the company of choice for virtually all modern online users.

Google LLC has distinguished itself as a company of its kind, with an absolute dominance in
internet-related services and other products. Google has progressively managed to stay at the top
of all other players in the sector commanding one of the largest user audiences in the
contemporary era ever since it was launched in 1998 by Menlo Park in California.

Today, Google occupies a position of influence as a unique brand, thanks to the strength of its
mission and vision statements. While Google has gone through strategic changes, including the
rebranding of its name from what it was originally known as Google Inc. to the modern name,
the company has not lost its original leadership influence in its market. In any case, the
transformation has only made Google a much stronger and focused company.
Exercise 2:

Provide examples of events/activities that an organization could effectively communicate its

Mission and Vision Statement to its stakeholders.

Your examples should consider the following:

1. Efficiency in terms of reach.
2. Effectiveness in terms motivating people.
3. Will help the organization’s marketing campaigns.

Team building is the process of turning a group of individual contributing employees into
a cohesive team—a group of people organized to work together to meet the needs of their
customers by accomplishing their purpose and goals.

Team building creates stronger bonds among the members of a group. The individual members
respect each other and their differences and share common goals and expectations.

Team building can include the daily interaction that employees engage in when working together
to carry out the requirements of their jobs. This form of team building is natural and can be
assisted if the group takes the time to come up with a set of team norms. These norms help group
members know how to appropriately interact on the team and with the rest of the organization.

Team building can also involve structured activities and exercises led by team members. Or, with
the proper budget and goals, managers can contract out for facilitation with an external resource.
External facilitation by an experienced person can give your team building a boost.

The bonds formed from team building will enable employees to accomplish the work and goals
of your organization more effectively than a non-bonded group. Keep your focus on team-
building opportunities that lend themselves to the accomplishment of the actual work of the
team.

How Does Team Building Work?

Often the team leader or manager will facilitate a series of meetings at which employees get to
know each other and develop cohesive working relationships.

In a larger organization, organization development staff can lead the team-building sessions.
Many human resources practitioners are also comfortable leading team-building sessions. And
with a little practice, teams can use another employee to facilitate their group's session.
But team building doesn't always have to have a facilitated meeting to accomplish the goal of a
cohesive team. You can build your teams by structuring activities and fun events that team
members can do together.

Ideas for Team-building Activities

For example, you could start with a department picnic, using a couple of hours during the
workday to visit a nearby park. Grill some food and suggest that employees bring a dish to pass.

The goal is that you gather together to share some quality talking time over the meal. If
employees take their lunches to their individual offices to eat alone, it defeats the goal of team
building.

You can also sponsor activities where employees get together for fun. Bowling, painting pictures
at a painting shop, river cruises on a passenger boat, comedy club outings, and baseball games all
fit the bill. Really, any event that your team can do or attend as a group will help bond them.

Using External Facilitation

When using an external facilitator for team building, groups can participate in structured
activities that are designed to help the employees coalesce into an effective team. Generally, the
facilitator works with a group of employees to design team building activities or sessions.

These sessions can include icebreakers, discussion topics, games, cooperative assignments,

and group brainstorming. The role of the external facilitator in these events is to help you reach
your goals. Make sure the event is integrated into your everyday work so the results continue
following the event.

Exercise 3:

Identify the problem for each case and provide necessary objectives to address the problems.

1. On one of those pleasant cold February mornings, Sanjay Nandrajog, the Chief Executive
Officer of FieldFresh Foods Private Limited, pondered the future. He had just returned to
Delhi from the company’s Agri Centre of Excellence (ACE), an R&D farm where he
celebrated the dispatch of 500 metric tons of fresh baby corn to Europe. The top
management team at FieldFresh was justifiably proud of this achievement as it had
required tremendous effort to become an important exporter of Indian produce.

FieldFresh had been incorporated in 2004 with the vision of linking Indian fields to the
world. India had a number of natural advantages in terms of climate, acres in production,
and labor force to become a major power in agriculture. However, a poor infrastructure
and an antiquated regulatory regime had stymied efforts to unleash India’s promise.
 FieldFresh hoped to overcome those challenges to bring India to the forefront of the
world’s agriculture.

During its initial years of operation, FieldFresh had found out how difficult it was to
build a supply chain for produce in India. The company had been through a phase of
experimentation where it tried different sourcing models, logistical options, and crops.
After less than stellar results, the company had decided to concentrate on one crop, baby
corn. Over the next 24 months, the FieldFresh team adapted logistics to overcome
crowded and crumbling roads, irregular power supply, and bureaucratic procedures. The
company worked with thousands of farmers to gain their trust. By 2010, the FieldFresh
team had been able to create an efficient supply chain for baby corn across Punjab and
Maharashtra at all levels— input delivery, credit, irrigation, timely scientific advice,
production as per specifications of European market, careful harvesting, improved
produce handling, clean and fast transportation, proper management of cold chain storage
environment, gaining safety certification, as well as grading, packaging, and labeling to
meet international standards.

But success brought with it the expectation of growth. Nandrajog had a number of
questions to answer before he could articulate a plan. Should FieldFresh grow
opportunistically into different foreign markets as retailers and wholesalers demanded
different products for their respective markets? Should FieldFresh continue to focus on
baby corn, whose supply chain-market linkages it had perfected, or should the company
expand the range of products it would supply? Should FieldFresh continue to maintain its
primary export focus, or shift relative emphasis to the growing domestic market? 

Should FieldFresh grow opportunistically into different foreign markets as retailers

and wholesalers demanded different products for their respective markets?

If you are considering global expansion as the next step, the first thing you need to do is
research. Preparation for expanding globally can be the difference between success and failure.
Before you begin to set up entities and hire staff abroad, it’s vital to understand the new
market you plan to expand into.

What to Consider before Expansion?

Some of the key items to think about include:

 How much to invest?
 What are the costs and time frames needed to set up a foreign entity?
 How to manage compliance, taxation and immigration regulations in a new
country?
 Who to hire to organize local payroll and international employment regulation?
 What is the process of shutting down a foreign entity, and how long does it take?
When you are considering the possibilities of expanding globally, don’t go in blind. Being aware
of the advantages and pitfalls before you expand will help you succeed in international
expansion.
Advantages of International Expansion
Obviously, one of the biggest advantages of international expansion is new sales. Increased sales
equals more revenue, which can often lead to further business expansions. So, with that in mind,
what are the other advantages of international expansion?

1. Entry to new markets

The first advantage of international expansion is access to new markets. Once a company has
been successful in their home country, it makes sense to take the business abroad. With access to
new markets, a business has the potential to build a new customer base.
In addition, open borders provide businesses with access to more untapped markets quicker. For
example, a business that expands into Europe has access to many more countries and customers
via open borders.

2. Access to local talent

Specialised talent can be hard to find in your home country. However, expanding abroad gives
you access to a pool of potential workers with unique skill sets. As an added bonus, local talent
with these skills will give you an edge over your competition.

3. Increased business growth

One of the biggest advantages of international expansion is increase in business growth. Entering
overseas markets allows faster growth for businesses. By extending the businesses global
footprint, new audiences experience your product or service. This could lead to further
expansions.

4. Stay ahead of the competition

Go to market before your competitors do. Expanding abroad allows you access to new customers
and visibility that your competitors might not have. Expanding abroad is also a benefit to get out
of a saturated market and be one step ahead of the competition.

5. Regional center
One of the reasons why businesses expand globally is to be able to provide a reliable service to
their international clients. By setting up in a new country, a business will be able to lower their
operational costs. In addition, by hiring local workers who know the local language and local
customs, you can serve your clients within the same time zone without any complications. This
enables you to reach a wider international audience.

Disadvantages of International Expansion

As well as there being lots of advantages, companies do face challenges when expanding abroad.
Expanding abroad can bring lots of rewards, but it would be remiss of us to not explain the
challenges a business can face when bringing their business global. Below, we provide
information on the potential pitfalls and risks associated with international expansion.

1. Cost of establishing and termination of an entity

Whether you are planning a long-term expansion, or just testing a market you need to prepare
and factor in both setting up and shutting down costs. Building infrastructure, setting up a
business entity and paying local workers can be very costly. Not to mention, very time
consuming.Each country’s government operates differently. Therefore, to work legally and
compliantly, you may need to hire lawyers, local tax accountants and international HR experts.
In addition, ongoing costs are required to keep running the business successfully.Again, if plans
don’t work out you may want to shut the operation down. In some countries, closing operations
can be expensive and may take a long time—sometimes up to two years depending on the
country.

2. Compliance risk
Entering into new markets can be complex. When expanding into a new market, a business must
adapt and operate accordingly to the country’s regulations. These regulations may be very
different from your home country. Therefore, it’s important to partner with the right people who
will help you to remain compliant and ensure the correct business procedures are in place from
day one.Remaining compliant is key to successful global expansion. Failure to remain
compliant can lead to serious cases and costs.

3. Business practices and cultural barriers

Culture and business operations are different in each country and as such can present some
challenges. If you are expanding to a country that has a different business culture to your own,
it’s best to receive some cultural training in their business practices as well as social
customs.Language issues can also cause problems. So, it’s beneficial to understand the country’s
language. This will also help smooth the transition of expanding into the new country.

Should FieldFresh continue to focus on baby corn, whose supply chain-market linkages it
had perfected, or should the company expand the range of products it would supply?

If you own a business and aren’t constantly working to expand your product line, you’re missing
out on some amazing opportunities. In fact, you might even be dooming your company to failure
in the long run. Even if your current product lineup is highly profitable and generates exceptional
sales, people will start losing interest eventually. Some of today’s most successful companies are
always developing new products. Apple, for instance, blazed amazing trails by introducing the
iPod, iPhone and iPad; imagine if they’d stopped with the Mac! I think if FieldFres have an
opportunity to expand their products why not. When existing customers know that your company
is constantly working to develop newer and better products, they’re more likely to stick around
to try them. Customer loyalty is a key ingredient to long-term business success, so your efforts
will pay off in spades.
Now that you’re aware of the best reasons to always expand your product portfolio, you
shouldn’t need any more convincing. Get to work on it now, and your company is sure to enjoy
new levels of success in the weeks, months and years to come.
2. The Bay Breeze Hotel and Restaurant has recorded its highest revenues when compared
to their past 10 years of operations. They were able to land bookings from two (2) major
international events and this gives them better motivation for the next year ahead. However,
upon review of their year-end financial statement, the upper management is not happy with the
result. See below table comparing past five years of financial performance for your analysis:

Declining Revenue:

One of the first and the most obvious signs that show a company is declining is decline in
revenues or sales of a company. Every company needs to sell some products or service in order
to make profits. This is the reason why it’s called the top line of the company, as it is the source
for all the money that flows into the organization. Decline in revenue is the first red flag of
deteriorating fundamentals and shows that the company is struggling to generate sales, making it
difficult for the business to stay afloat. Even a flat revenue for a long period of time is a warning
sign for a business. If you can find that revenue of the competitors is growing over the same
period, it is an even stronger sign of poor management and deteriorating health of the company.
In the case of Bay Breeze Hotel, 2016 they generate a revenue which is 8million but in 2017
they only got 4million which is lower compared to last year then they came back for 6million
(2018) and by the time of 2019 they only generate 1.5million.. Companies, whether big or small,
can always experience decline in their growth and quality of earnings, and that is why, it is
important to keep tracking the financial performance of the companies. In general, flat to
declining sales revenue, lower profit margins, and most importantly, declining or negative free
cash flows are warning signs that show a company is deteriorating. If the management of the
company takes the steps in the right direction, there is always a chance of turnaround, absence of
such prudent and intelligent decision making may lead to further decline in price of the share,
ultimately destroying shareholders wealth.