Casio Company

Casio Company

The structure above depicts how the external environment affects the overall operations within a firm. It also outlines some of the major external environment domains that impact company’s operations.  Since companies do not operate in a vacuum, they are sometimes forced to react to whatever happens outside its peripheries. Despite of operating for quite some time now, Casio continues to face severe competition from other related industries. Among the notable competitors of Casio are the Ricoh Company Ltd and the Palm Inc. It is therefore important that Casio Inc. identifies such competitors and uses the knowledge and skills of its employees to develop efficient marketing strategies to enable them conquer the market. Since Casio is an international company, it has continued to face competition on the global level (Mercer, 1998).

Considering that customers are the end-users of the various products and services that firms produce, they demand to be treated with a lot of care and attention. The most critical environmental aspect that impacts Casio is the change of their customers’ preference as well as demographical changes. The preference changes mainly occur when customers’ likes and dislikes change drastically considering the tight social system and the impact of trends. It is also difficult for Casio to predict changes in consumers’ product requirements, which in turn influence their consumption behaviors. Casio should therefore be flexible enough to meet such preferential changes in the market. It is important for the company to utilize the emerging technologies and new product designs in order to meet the increasing demand for Casio products globally. That is why Casio has continued to pursue its mission which is to produce lighter, smaller, and slimmer products (Casio, 2012).

The demographic changes on the other hand entail the social, economic, and cultural changes of the consumers. Demographic changes usually affect the way people perceive commodities and also how they make their buying decisions. Changes in population age and education level of the people may significantly influence consumption of Casio products such as the electronic calculators. The growing demand for latest technology has continued to change people’s taste and preference. For instance in the year 2007, Casio introduced Bluetooth in order to meet the growing consumer demands in the smart phones communications (Casio, 2012).

In order to cater for the resource problem, Casio endeavors to employ skilled workers who includes college and universities graduates. Nevertheless, the growing demand of skilled workers mainly depends on the labor supply in the market. The current market has continued to face a considerable shortage of skilled workers, owing to the increased competition in the market which demands similar skills. Casio can, however, overcome this challenge by making sure that it significantly reduces its employees’ turnover by providing better working environment to them (Henry, 2008).

Raw materials may also significantly influence the productivity of a firm, since it is the one which determines the number of units to be produced. Casio has greatly improved their supplier terms. This move has led to better relations with industrial suppliers. However, bearing in mind that Casio has overseas suppliers, there are many factors that may affects their efficiency. The transportation factors may also significantly hinder the firm’s production (Lientz, 2009).

Firms finance most of their operations through their savings. However, sometimes the firm may require more than it already has in their savings. Because of financial limitations, firms find themselves unable to expand and develop as they wish. Casio size, however, allows it to solicit more funding from credit lines and capital markets. The recent global economic recession also affected the company since not many banks could offer credit and if they did, interest rates were very high.

Technology is also a major external environment factor, which may influence the overall performance of a given firm. Since Casio is company producing electronics, science and technology should never be overlooked. In order to keep up the market pace, Casio company has greatly invested in research and development programs which help to improve production techniques. Casio has as well ventured in Bluetooth production in order to win the rising smart phone demands all over the world (Rudolph, 2007).

The human resource department is responsible for maintaining law and regulation compliance within a firm. Since it is important for the company to ensure lawful operations, the human resource department should ensure that firm does not violate the already set rules and regulations.

Further, Casio has not been left behind the eco-friendly movement that encourages firms to go green. They have continued to embrace their environmental vision which is to build a sustainable society. This is done through their well-stipulated action plan which aims at developing compact, slim, and energy efficient products.

Part II: Business Processing Plan

PESTLE Analysis for Casio Company

Casio company should seek to evaluate the political factors which may influence its operational environment. Political factors may significantly affect firms operation in different nations. Casio, therefore, needs to keenly analyze the government policies such as labor laws, tax policies, and tariffs. Likewise, trade restrictions and environmental laws should be evaluated before making investment decisions. This is because such laws and policies can significantly affect the company’s profitability level and its future sustainability. Consumer, competition, employment, and health and safety laws and regulations should be considered before making any major decisions. By considering the political factors, the firm will efficiently and strategically position itself in the market (Ochtel, 2009).

Economic factors include the prevailing interest rates and exchange rates. The national income of the state and the unemployment status of the economy are also major economic factors which may considerably affect the performance of a firm. Thus, any firm should be careful when making key financial decisions such as investment. It should also consider such factors before raising more capital either in form of loans or share capital. This is because economic factors are very vital as they influence major decisions. The higher the interest rates are, the lower is the investment, since interest rate increases the cost of borrowing. Companies should also consider venturing in nations with a weaker currency, since strong currencies deters exportation as the price of products is higher compared to the foreign currencies (Grant, 2005). Economic factors such as inflation may significantly provoke demands for wage increase  which may be a threat to the company, as it increases their cost of production. However, it is important for Casio and other multinational corporations to consider venturing in nations where the national income growth is relatively high. This is because the higher the income, the higher the firm’s products demand as disposable income will be higher.

The social trends also significantly impact the demand for the firm’s products, the availability of labor and the willingness to work. Consumer age is also very important to a firm since it will assist to effectively determine the suitable products for each group in the market. Considering that Casio is an organization that produces technology, it would be advisable for them to target young generation and big corporations. This is because those are potential buyers of the computers, Bluetooth, and calculators. Social factors will, therefore, enable the firm to efficiently decide what, when, and where to introduce their products (Hitt et al, 2010).

Technology is very important when it comes to scientifically engineered firms such as Casio. Without technology none of the companies would progress. With new technologies companies are able to introduce new products in the market. New processing channels are also established in order to reduce the firm’s cost of production. This was the reason why Casio went ahead and introduced Bluetooth in the market where there was a growing demand for it. Likewise in order to effectively capture the market, the company introduced new art design which has significantly promoted their brand name in the market.

The environmental factors mainly determine the climatic conditions which may results in global warming and other environmental adversities. In order to protect and promote environmental awareness, firm continues to adopt eco-friendly measures in its production process. Such measures are a response to the environmental issues and are realized through efficient environmental management. The general move towards environmentally friendly products has greatly boosted Casio revenue in the recent period (Williams & Green, 1997).

The legal factors, on the other hand, are more related to the legal environment which operates within and outside the firm. Legal changes in the various nations may either affect the firm positively or negatively. They include the consumer laws which are designed to protect customers against the unfair practices in the market. Additionally, they include competition laws which protect the exploitation of small firms. The employment laws determine the minimum wage, while health and safety regulations ensure the safety of the employees in the workplace.

Part III: Environmental and Technological Change Report

In order to overcome the environmental changes that have continued to influence majority of firms around the globe, it is important to work towards the creation of a sustainable society. Firms’ vision should be well-embedded towards establishment of environmentally friendly measures, which are not only cost effective, but are also beneficial to our environment. Considering the eminent competition in the global market, it is quite important for the firm to consider analyzing its external environment factors. External environment factors in this case include social, legal, economic, political and technological and ethical behaviors of a firm. It is very important for a firm to always seek to address the above factors in order to ensure growth and sustainability in the future. By analyzing social factors, the company will be able to identify how consumer behaves. For instance, since the majority of Casio products users are the working class, aging of such people will significantly affect its revenues and future sustainability of the firm (Paul, et al 2010).

Companies should also enforce some legal measures which will help them to significantly avoid the external accusations which worsen the company’s reputation. Company’s human resource department should work continuously to ensure that it complies with the terms. It is advisable for the firm to thoroughly follow the stipulated laws such as employment laws in order to avoid such conflicts.

The economic factors such as changes in interest rates, government taxation and government spending may also significantly affect the operations of a firm. It is, therefore, advisable for the firm to analyze such factors well before making any financial decisions within the firm. Economic factors also assist the firm to decide on where to pursue its expansion program, in case this need arises. It would be more advisable for a firm to consider locating its business in countries with weak currency and labor laws. This is because the company will be able to maximize its output through exportation and also by enjoying cheap labor.

The political changes can significantly affect the way business operates in a given country. This is because measures such as taxations and tariff barriers are politically instigated. It is therefore very important for a firm to analyze the political environment of the target nation before physically investing there. In case the country has higher tariffs and tax rates, then it means that companies will experience increase of expenses and costs. This will in turn greatly reduce the expected amount of profit. However, if firms invest in countries without trade barriers, then the company will be able to maximize its profit and thus be assured of the future sustainability (Monk & Wagner, 2008).

Majority of firms have continued to use the advances in technology to efficiently position themselves in the market. This is because with technology, companies are able to gain a comparative advantage in the market. Introducing new inventions is the driver which makes the company gain a wider market share. This is also the reason why firms should greatly invest in the research and development programs. Further, it is advisable to continue training staff to use the new inventions in order to sufficiently equip them for work. Training should be a regular thing and creativity should be encouraged by welcoming new ideas and views in the firm. Such practices will enable the firm to sufficiently operate in a more modernized manner to specifically meet their customer’s needs.

The ethical factor is considered when firms seek to evaluate their moral behavior and their overall impact on the society. In this regard firms can be perceived positively or negatively depending on their impact to the society and environment. For this reason, firms should first analyze ethical operations within a given nation before venturing into its market. This is because a firm might venture in a market, where rules are always violated. In this case, it would be extremely hard to succeed in such unfair market conditions. There are also some countries where patent and copy rights are often violated. This induces a potential threat for an innovative firm seeking to venture in such markets.

Since firms are supposed to effectively react to the external environment factors, it is advisable for them to fully analyze all the factors which may influence their operations before venturing into the market. Such analysis will not only enable them to strategically position themselves in the market, but it will also enable them compete well in the market. It is important for firms to identify what their consumers’ wants and needs are, because this knowledge will help them to produce products specifically to meet market needs (Qin, 2009). Casio should, therefore, identify the needs of its consumers and aim at satisfying them. They should also identify new competitors in the market since this will enable them to improve on weaknesses and use economies of scale to their advantage. They should also continue inventing new products with the new advancement of technology to meet the growing demand in the global market. They should also be economically ready for situations of economic turmoil. This can be done by saving certain amount of profits to assist the firm financially in case of such events. Conclusively, Casio should seek to market their products more and engage in promotional activities in order to increase product awareness in the market.