BUSI1604 Scholarship and Research For Astrageneca and Morrison

International collaboration for competition- a comparative study between Astrageneca and Morrison

Introduction

International collaboration is an important aspect for the companies and organizations, dreaming foreign market penetration. According to the present concept of business, competition is considered as one of the efficient means to conquer the foreign markets. However, with the advancement of thoughts and perceptions, international collaboration has faded in its significance. This has given way to the international competition, which reflects the real nature of the market (Verbeke 2013). The mention of the word “market” in the previous sentence contradicts the limitations of United States in particular. This assignment attempts to develop a comparative study between AstraZeneca and Morrison, peeking into their strategies for entering into foreign markets. This attempt is necessary in terms of enhancing the clarity of the businesspersons regarding the efficient means of marketing.

Overview of AstraZeneca

AstraZeneca is an Anglo-Swedish multinational pharmaceutical company, with its headquarters recently shifted in United Kingdom. The company serves biotechnology industry. The company was formed on April 6, 1999 under the guidance of Leif Johansson and Pascal Soirot. According to the annual report of 2014, the number of employees has been recorded as 50,000 (Astrazeneca.com 2017). Dedication and commitment of these employees has escalated the revenue of the company to 23.002 billion US dollars. Quality within these products has taken the company into the global markets. According to the annual report of 2016, the annual income of the company has been recorded as 3.406 billion US dollars. One of the other striking features of the company is that the total assets of the 60.12 billion US dollars.

Overview of Morrison

Morrison, with its headquarter in Bradford of United Kingdom, occupies fourth position in the supermarket chain after companies like Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury. The company was formed in 1899. The aspect of “rags to riches” seems apt for all of the companies and organizations including Morrison. Dedicated approach of Andrew Higginson and David Potts has helped the company to reach new heights of success. Typical evidence of this fact lies in the annual revenue, which is 16,317 million pounds, as per the annual report of 2017 (Morrisons.com 2017). Providing quality products to the customers have mounted the company’s operating income to 468 million pounds. However, total income of the company is 305 million pounds. The major drive behind all these is the effective utilization of the preconceived skills, expertise and knowledge by 132,000 employees. The company has 498 stores all over the world.

Main discussion

This portion deals with the comparative study between the international collaboration of AstraZeneca and Morrison.

Competitive strategies of Morrison

Delivering quality customer service is one of the criterions, which helps the Morrison personnel to achieve business expansion. The employees are trained in such a way, so that they are flexible in terms of competing with the contemporary supermarkets. Within this, effective utilization of social media is included. This social media is one of the direct agent, which helps the company to reach to a large number of audience (Morrisons.com 2017). Adopting cost effective methods to set the prices of the products helps the personnel to achieve loyalty, trust and dependence from the customers and retain it. Maintaining fairness in marketing practices reflects the fairness in business activities, which helps the company to indulge in fair competition with the contemporary brands. Herein, 3c Model can be related.

                                                                         Figure 1: Components of 3c model

Customers occupy the central position in the business of Morrison. The facts, which support the statement, are: advertisements of the newly launched products and evaluation of the after sales service. Maintaining consistency in the execution of these steps helps the company personnel to stand out from the contemporary brands (Morrisons.com 2017). One of an important aspect of this evaluation is conducting interactive sessions regarding the queries related to the assessment of the after sales service. Involvement of the customers in this process is a deviation in terms of the traditional notions of marketing. Providing access to the all the customer for the loyalty cards is one of the other strategies adopted by Morrison for achieving competitive edge in the market. This access is the medium between the company and the customers for companies including Morrison (Morrisons.com 2017).

Competitive strategies for AstraZeneca

Strategic approach has enabled AstraZeneca personnel to conquer many of the foreign markets. The following are the statistical information for the global partnership adopted by the company:

• United States- All total the market share is 7365 million dollars. In 2014, the share was 10, 120 million dollars, which decreased to 9474 million pounds in 2015. This was due to the gradual emergence of the company in the US market.
• Europe- In Europe, the company made sales revenue of 5064 million pounds. Here, selling quality medicines to the patients recorded the revenue as 6683 million pounds in 2014. This reduced to 5323 million pounds in 2015 (com 2017).
• Operations in the countries of Canada and Australia have enabled the company personnel to achieve sales revenue of 3096 million dollars. As a matter of specification, in 2014 the revenue was 3510 million dollars, which encountered a decline of 300 million dollars in 2015.
• Along with this, the company acted as a start up in the threshold of North and South America, Africa, Asia. Here, the company achieved a revenue of 5974 million dollars. In 2014, the revenue was 5827 million dollars and in 2015 it was 5833 million dollars (com 2017).

In all of these facts, decline in the global market share is a common factor. This attaches a negative connotation to the aspect of competition as a whole. However, the widespread presence of Research and Development centers around the world possess enough flexibility for training the employees and preparing them for overcoming the fissures in the aspect of foreign market penetration (Astrazeneca.com 2017).

Critical reflection on the competitive strategies of Morrison and AstraZeneca

Social media ties both the multinational companies in the same thread in terms of expanding the scope and arena of the business. Delving deep into the marketing strategies of both the companies, social media has already exposed the company to new heights of success. However, security software is needed for ensuring the wellbeing of the customers in an efficient and effective manner. Indulging in meetings and conferences with the foreign delegates helps the personnel to understand their needs, demands and requirements (Wild, Wild and Han 2014). This understanding helps in the creation of customer centric products, which escalates the sales revenue and adds maximum value to the profit margin. Effective consideration of theoretical approach is assistance in terms of exposing practical approach towards the execution of the business activities. Herein lays the appropriateness of the 3c model, which assists both the companies to practice fair competition with the contemporary brands (Cavusgil et al. 2014).

After-sales service can be correlated with the act of evaluation, which brings to the forefront the major drawbacks of the marketing. Spontaneity in modification of these drawbacks enhances the personality of the personnel. On the contrary, lackadaisical attitude strains the personality of the personnel, which is an obstacle towards the enhancement of the brand image. In business terminology, evaluation includes the strengths as well as the weakness of the exposed performance (Beamish 2013). Countering this, this evaluation crosses the professional boundary, as evaluation is also used by the employees for assessing the self-performance of the personnel towards fulfilling the needs, demands and requirements of the stakeholders and shareholders.

Prior to all these, market survey is done by both the multinational companies. This enhances their knowledge about the real market scenario. Achieving an understanding in this direction helps the personnel to act wisely for maintaining their position within the competitive ambience of the market. Absence of this wiseness poses as an obstacle for the company in terms of expanding the scope and arena of the business in case of both the considered multinational companies (Dunning 2013).

Why it is more important to collaborate rather than competing?

Collaboration strengthens the power of the companies like AstraZeneca and Morrison in terms of competing with the contemporary brands. Collaborating with the associate agencies and partners helps the personnel to form strategies as how to proceed with the business projects. On the contrary, self-attempts to compete with the contemporary brands proves harmful for the personnel in terms of securing their market position.  As a matter of specification, the individual attempts are good in terms of the professional development. On the other hand, lack of oriental approach in these attempts might compel the company personnel to encounter risks, which degrades their reputation. The significance of collaboration is also reflected in the process of developing strategies for risk mitigation. Countering this, the importance of collaboration lies in  every workplace activity for enhancing the productivity.

Conclusion

This assignment provides an insight into the dynamics of international business. As a matter of specification, the assignment develops a comparative study between two multinational companies, AstraZeneca and Morrison, representating two different sectors. This study possesses flexibility to enhance the clarity of the readers, especially the businesspersons regarding the efficient ways and means to expand the scope and arena of their business. The aspects of market survey, social media and strategies acts as agents, which enable the companies to expose appropriate attitude in the market for gaining loyalty, trust and dependence from the customers. These attributes are the stepping-stone for the considered multinational companies of AstraZeneca and Morrison.

References 

Morrisons.com (2017). Webshop. Available at: https://groceries.morrisons.com/webshop/startWebshop.do [Accessed on 13th October 2017]

Astrazeneca.com (2017). Annual report of 2016. Available at: https://www.astrazeneca.com/investor-relations/annual-reports/annual-report-2016.html [Accessed on 13th October 2017]

Wild, J.J., Wild, K.L. and Han, J.C., 2014. International business. Pearson Education Limited.

Cavusgil, S.T., Knight, G., Riesenberger, J.R., Rammal, H.G. and Rose, E.L., 2014. International business. Pearson Australia.

Beamish, P., 2013. Multinational joint ventures in developing countries (RLE International Business). Routledge.

Dunning, J.H., 2013. Multinationals, Technology & Competitiveness (RLE International Business) (Vol. 13). Routledge.

Jenkins, R., 2013. Transnational Corporations and Uneven Development (RLE International Business): The Internationalization of Capital and the Third World. Routledge.

Enderwick, P. ed., 2013. Multinational Service Firms (RLE International Business). Routledge.

Penrose, E., 2013. The Large International Firm (RLE International Business). Routledge.

Meyer, K. and Peng, M.W., 2016. International business. Cengage Learning.

Zander, I., McDougall-Covin, P. and Rose, E.L., 2015. Born globals and international business: Evolution of a field of research. Journal of International Business Studies, 46(1), pp.27-35.

Verbeke, A., 2013. International business strategy. Cambridge University Press.