International Marketing Management Research Paper

International Marketing Management - Research Paper Example International Marketing Management The purpose of this paper is to understand the trading simplex between United States and China, the country of choice for this paper. The idea is to define the scenario as it stands i.e. the historical facts and figures with regards to the trading activities between the two countries, and then try to identify the reasons that the said patterns have been ascertained. The process followed for the creation of this research paper was simple; primarily the figures relevant to the trading activities were ascertained and subsequently secondary sources of literature review were perused in order to understand the reasons behind the said patterns. Most of the literature review is secondary and the trading figures are availed from both the people’s republic of China and the USA.From the Figure given below, with either belong to the Chinese or the US, the US runs a trade deficit with the Chinese, however, there is a marked difference between the two figures that are reported by each count ry as the Chinese report a trade surplus of $114 billion in 2005 whereas the United States state that this figure is $201 billion, about 76.32% times higher than the one reported by their Chinese counterparts.There is also a marked disparity between the span of time which has seen the US report a trade deficit against the Chinese as they claim it to be since 1983 whereas the Chinese only report the trade surplus to have originated from 1993 onwards. It is also important to note that not only is the size of the trade deficit that is being run by the U.S. against the Chinese exorbitant, but there is another facet that is equally important in the grander analysis i.e. the inordinate imbalance that lies between the imports from China and the exports to China by the US. Taking 2005 as the base year, the Japanese exported about 0.4 times the amount that they exported to the US while the Canadians and the Mexicans also reported figures of 1.3 times and 1.4 times respectively. As compared t o these, the Chinese exported a whopping 5.8 times the value of goods to the US as compared to the value of goods that they imported making it abundantly clear that the Chinese is not a destination of choice for US exported products. (Lum et al, 2007) Figure 1: U.S. Exports to China From the table 1 given below, it can be seen that from the top twenty exports from the US to the Chinese in 2005, the items rated the top five include (in no specific order) transport equipment, metalliferous ores, general industrial machinery, electrical machinery and oil seeds and fruits. The exports of the oil seeds and fruits and metalliferous ores have expanded over a period of six years, beginning from 1999, by 6 times and 12 times respectively. This clearly indicates that the Chinese requirement for the agricultural commodities as well as the raw materials has expanded in line with that of the need for office machines and general industrial machinery. Over the span of the five years starting from 2000 to 2005, textile fibers has expanded the most amongst all the items exported from the US to China, having supplanted itself by about 969%. China’s top ten imports from all around the world (in no particular order) in 2005 were: organic chemicals, optical and medical instruments, mineral fuels, vehicles, iron ores, copper articles, plastics, iron and steel, machinery, and electrical machinery. (Lum et al, 2007) U.S. Imports from China From the Figure given below, it can be seen that from the list of the top 20 items that are imported by the US from the Chinese, in dollar amount, in no particular order include: Miscellaneous manufactured articles Furniture and bedding Electrical machinery Telecommunications and sound equipment Apparel and accessories Office machines and automatic data processing machines It is a significant fact to note that the value of the US imported item under the umbrella of office and data processing m

Constructing three chapters of proposal Dissertation

Constructing three chapters of proposal - Dissertation Example In 2011, a pipeline fire killed 100 people and seriously injured 120 in Nairobi. In 2010, a Pemex (Petroleos Mexicanos) pumping station in Central Mexico exploded, killing 27 and injuring 50 (Ellingwood, 2010). In 2006, a pipeline explosion in Nigeria killed up to 500 people (BBC News, 2006), but the fatalities in this incident are only second to the Ufa train disaster in Russia in 1989, where train sparks set off a gas leak from an LPG pipeline and killed 645 people (Observer-Reporter, 1989). Oil and gas accidents can have catastrophic results, all the more underscoring the importance of assessing the crisis management systems in this industry, and ascertaining whether or not these are within acceptable standards to ensure the protection of the public. 1.1 Background of the Study One of the more comprehensive and meticulous definitions of â€Å"crisis,† as it is conceived in business crisis management, is that of Fink (1986, quoted in Reid, 2000, p. 2), who states that  "A crisis is any situation that runs the risk of: 1. Escalating in intensity. 2. Falling under close media or government scrutiny. 3. Interfering with the normal operations of business. 4. Jeopardizing with the positive public image presently enjoyed by a company or its officers. 5. Damaging a company’s bottom line in any way.† Fink’s well-crafted enumeration of the attributes of a crisis situation noticeable lacks one element: that of being â€Å"unforeseen† or â€Å"unexpected.† This is a defining trait of a crisis for other authors (Hoff, 2001; Boi, 2005; Laws, Prideaux & Chon, 2007), but apparently not for Fink, whose definition focuses on the impacts rather than the causes of the crisis situation. In many instances, crises are so characterised not because they are unforeseen. Rather, they are foreseen (or at least foreseeable), but are historically and statistically deemed so unlikely to happen that precautionary and preventive measures against them are overlooked (Loveridge, 2009; Daft & Marcic, 2011). Warranting the necessity for the enhancement of crisis planning, prevention, assessment, and mitigation for the oil and gas industry are the deleterious effects of the 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico (Casale, 2010). Despite the serious harm to the environment and to livelihoods in the affected area, the potential closure of large oil and gas companies or the shutdown of their pipelines is a risk which major oil producers could not be take because of their critical role in the world economy (Omolara & Olayide, 2011; Kamal, 2012). The matter of oil and gas crisis management to ensure continuity, therefore, becomes an important area of study. Unfortunately, there are few academic studies which have addressed this area. Lee Clarke of Rutgers University underscored the fact that all most oil and gas companies have to rely on currently are what he calls â€Å"symbolic planning† and â€Å"fantasy documents† upon which crisis strategies are built (Morse, 2004). 1.2 Statement of the Problem In defining the research problem, it became apparent to this researcher that the threat of impending crises (i.e., crises that are unlikely, but may eventually happen) confront all organisations in varied ways. Consequently, all organizations need some