#1 What marketing strategy was Levi Strauss using until the early 2000s? Why did this strategy appear to work for decades? Why was it not working by the 2000s? The marketing strategy used until the early 2000s was very simple. The strategy was to sell the same products worldwide and not to change them based on location or culture. This strategy appeared to be working because many people just wanted jeans and at the time this is what was offered and so people bought them.
The old strategy was designed to enable the company to realize economies of scale in production and advertising which worked for a while but stopped working when other options were being given to the people. The strategy appeared to be working from many decades because people were buying the jeans but then they stopped and that is when the strategy stopped working. People began to want different things and styles that fit their life styles and so Levi’s strategy stopped working because they needed to fulfill the needs and wants of their customers.
What American people want was different from what people in South Africa want. Levi was forced to start changing their production strategy so they could continue to sell jeans. Other companies where making styles based on each type of persons needs and the location they live in and so people started to buy their products and stopped buying Levi’s. This helped cause the old strategy to stop working and made Levi come up with a new strategy. #3 What are the benefits of the new marketing strategy? Is there a downside?
There are many benefits of the new marketing strategy. I think the biggest benefit is that it helped the company make a better profit. IT also helped the company be able to sell more jeans in places it may not of sold to because of the old strategy. The new strategy has allowed for the company to be able to grow with its new products and helped the company to be able to grow as well. There are a few downsides that the company has to face such as spending more on production because of having to produce more styles.
They also had to move production to other countries in order to save on production. In any case there are going to be benefits and disadvantages when dealing with new strategies. Levi may have to spend more in some areas but I think in the long run the new strategy has helped keep the company alive and helped them to continue selling their products. If they would have not changed their strategy I feel they would have kept decreasing in profit and at some point would have had to close their company down. Read the XCO China Study on pages 546-547 in the text. Answer questions 2 and 4 at the end of the case. #2 What does the experience of XCO with American Expatriates tell you about the problems of working abroad, and about the difficulties of using home-country employees to transfer valuable knowledge within a multinational firm? From the experience of XCO with American Expatriates there are many problems we find out about the difficulties of using home-country employees to transfer valuable knowledge within a multinational firm.
Working in untied states is very different than working in a country like China. What works for us in the United States will not always work for other countries in the same way. The company had to deal with a HR manger not wanting to live in the country. Cultures are different and not all people are okay with changing their lifestyles for a job, in this case the wife was not as willing and that create a problem.
This made the company have to bring in a new HR person. This Hr person did not have the skills needed to work with these Chinese people because their actions are different from Americans actions. Home-country employees may do a great job in their own country but they may not be able to do the same job in another country because of the cultural differences, language differences, and differences lifestyles or job requirements.
Working abroad can sometimes be even more challenging than expected and can sometimes even hurt a company. XCO learned that it was better to bring top employees from china to the other countries so that these people could see firsthand how to improve their own business. This was wise because it allowed for something to really be done. #4 How might XCO’s performance appraisal system be adjusted so that Ross gets credit, if it is deserved, for the difficult work that he is doing in China?
There are many things that XCO’s performance appraisal system should look at or adjust so that Ross can get credit for what he has done for the company. The work he is doing is not easy and that should be stated. The appraisal system should look more at what has been done that what it was expecting at this time. The appraisal system needs to take into account of what they had before Ross was placed in charge. Then look at the different things he has had to deal with and how he handled each situation.
Ross told the company what he wanted to do and that he needed to cut workers but because of the partnership this could not be done which did not allow for that important that could of brought more profit in. It also needs to be looked at from a point of profit. They need to look at what the profit was and what it in now and if it went up that something good is happening. The company may not be at exactly what it wants to be and in this case it really needs to explore new ideas and maybe gets its partner to let Ross get rid of a few employees to see if it helps.
