MK9709 Global Consumers and Marketplaces Assignment Sample 2023
Section 1
1.1Evaluation of organization’s strength
1.1.1 Internal Environment Analysis
| Strengths
● Maintains a diversified business to counter aunty economic uncertainties. ● Holds the capacity to build integrated business solutions (balfourbeatty.com, 2022) ● Effectively incorporate cost efficiency programmes
● Large and skilled workforce |
Opportunities
● Offers effective opportunities in emerging countries ● Growing trend within power sector ● Strengthening business framework through acquisition of smaller firms. |
| Weaknesses
● Capabilities are declining in debt financing creates a tough condition for refinancing ● Enhancement in liability due to deficit within pension funds
● Highly dependent on UK market |
Threats
● Constant increase of competition within the industry ● Enhancement in regulatory pressure |
Table 1: SWOT Analysis
(Source: Self-created)
Balfour Beatty is a well-diversified company with as the business is spread across many markets and geographies. This diversification acts as strength for the company with that internal management is quite strong in providing integrated business solutions even in uncertain times. Therefore, this company operates successfully within construction industry of UK through gathering global knowledge across the “infrastructure lifecycle”. The company’s targeted markets are UK and US for extracting maximum revenue. Currently, depending on its strengths this company is expanding in a developing economy such as Brazil. This company provides “world-class infrastructure services” in the support of its strengths and opens up a whole new set of opportunities to flourish smoothly. Furthermore, the company is able to maintain a strong brand image by following an effective vision and aligning it within its mission. However, with increasing cut-throat competition within this sector a rise of operational risk becomes visible for this company. The company might have to pressurize its “operating margins” (Pavlishyna and Kot, 2020). Furthermore, construction activities are highly regulated by the government due to maintenance of security and safety. Such regulatory pressures create a threat to future prospects.
1.1.2 External Environment Analysis
| Political (P) | ● Political stability within the UK and importance of construction industry within country’s economy.
● Interference and bureaucracy by government within this sector ● Establishment of antitrust laws |
| Economic (E) | ● Maintenance of infrastructure quality
● Labour cost and productivity balance ● Economic growth rate ● Nearly 1.4 million workers within UK are joined with the construction industry. |
| Social (S) | ● High entrepreneurial spirit within broad societal nature of the UK
● Power structure, hierarchy and class structure is available within the society(Mendoza Cassere et al. 2018). |
| Technological(T) | ● Government’s fund for technological development
● Value chain structure impact on construction sector ● Increasing rate of technological diffusion within UK ● Advancement of technology creates a positive impact on cost structure |
Table 3: PEST Analysis
(Source: Self-Created)
The above table reflects external business environment for Balfour Beatty that indicates the home country for this company is strong to operate construction business successfully. The UK government encourages this sector for generating maximum revenue for pulling up the level of “gross domestic product” value. Balfour Beatty gets a strong skilled workforce within this society that helps it to maintain a renowned brand image among the customers (Pavlishyna and Kot, 2020). Furthermore, the UK government promotes technological improvement that creates a positive impact for this company. The company is able to prepare an effective cost structure for delivering service at a competitive price and sustain within market for a longer tenure.
1.2 Analysis of the organization’s Goal
| Mission | Vision |
| “We deliver the quality communities’ people are proud to call home. We create exceptional living experiences by managing our communities with a relentless commitment to customer service.” | “Our behaviours reflect the things we will do to consistently deliver the standard set out in our Values.” |
Table 3: Mission and Vision Statement
(Source: balfourbeatty.com, 2022)
The mission and vision statement has been provided in Table 3, to define Balfour Beatty’s approach as well as objective in conducting the business. Furthermore, the information from this table fulfils the purpose of gathering knowledge on understanding desired future activities by the company.
1.2.1 Relationship with its customer
Product:
Balfour Beatty maintains certain elements while providing a product to its users such as quality, varied features, augmented products and delivery of service. All these minute elements are considered within an infrastructure project for retaining brand image.
Price:
The company uses “price penetration strategy” for setting a lower through a competitive price for its services compared to competitors. Balfour Beatty expanded in Hong Kong by building up an international infrastructure group. Application of this strategy helped this company to flourish within the new market.
Place:
Primarily, this company targets the entire market available within UK for promoting its operational activities. Currently, it is diverting its perspective and investing in developing economies to expand its customer base.
Promotion:
The company defines itself in front of customers by preparing “unique selling propositions” for fulfilling customers’ preferences effectively and limiting a shift in brand choice (Eisenberg, 2018). Promotional strategies by this company follow awareness, desire, action and interest to reach customers easily.
Following the concept of 4P this company is going to build up a relationship with its customers. Among the provided 4Ps this company is going to build up a strategy on price and place to attract more customers. The internal management is going to set competitive prices after analysing economic condition of a geographical location. Globalisation is common element present within every sector as a result adoption of 4P concept helps in removing challenges from organisational operations.
1.3 Explanation of the organization’s commercial contexts
The above picture depicts revenue collection from operational activities provides a fluctuating trend. Therefore, the construction industry faces a sudden downfall after the hit of Covid-19 pandemic situation which also impacted Balfour Beatty. This company has both internal and external stakeholders whose decision creates an impact on the ongoing operations. Major stakeholders of an infrastructural project of Balfour Beatty are contractor, project manager, client and government (Steenkamp, 2020). Internal or external stakeholders, both are connected with the outcome of a project. Hence, this company tries to pull out maximum outcomes for satisfying every level of stakeholders.
Section 2
2.1 Explanation of needs and characteristics of Target market
The target market is the place where there has been a group of potential customers with different tastes in the product and services. The particular target market has been segregated among the income, lifestyle and location, age, and nature of buying. The target market has been helping to conduct the company’s survey of the new product expansion to different kinds of people. Through targeted markets, any business and organization have the scope of determining the nature of the competitive products, product consumption nature of that particular market (Wang et al. 2019). This target market concept has the benefit of target market research and scope of featuring the needs of the new customers and clarifying tube price range. The needs of the target market create a frequency among the potential customers and other customers.
Brazil has increasing developing growth related to building development and interior businesses. In this aspect, the country expands the market requirement for new companies related to construction businesses. The market forecast report of 2017 to 2026, explains that there is increasing demand for the construction businesses as construction is vastly involved in the country’s development. Hence, there are also an increased number of competitive infrastructure companies. Some leading companies are MRV, OAS, Andare Gutierrez, and many others. It is expected that in 2026, the number of competitors will increase and the percentage of the market expansion will also be increased.
2.2 Achievement between the existing market and new market expansion
Balfour Beatty is a UK-based infrastructure company that wants to target the market to Brazil and its construction industry. In the UK, construction business growth is expanding to 20.40% compared to the previous year. As the UK is the most developing country its construction industry has been in high demand. It has been analyzed that the annual rate of raising the construction business in the UK is $2.4 trillion over the five consecutive years. Balfour Beatty is one of the middle-sized construction organizations in the UK, providing services to more than 2800 structural works (balfourbeatty.com 2022). This information helps to understand that the company is expanded successfully within the existing market. The achievement and knowledge of this expansion is going to help in flourishing within the new market without any disruptions. In the UK that are requirements for rail infrastructure, delivery multi-disciplinary projects, trackwork, and power supply projects. The company mainly provides these construction-related services in the UK as there are requirements for those services.
In Brazil, the needs of the construction industry are in certain growth which has been overlapping the UK’s growth. Brazil recently wanted to develop the country and through this, its record growth of the construction business is 9.80%. Brazil has opened the construction market of the new company’s, so it is being forecasted that it might be beneficial for the company. Brazil has an increased requirement of development of construction, so it might have the market scope and the number of potential customers is high compared to the UK. the forecast report also being discussed that in Brazil that are young creative new businessmen who want to have the chance to the different outside companies to combine with them. So it is justified that compared to the UK, Brazil can provide the company high scope of marketing of the products along with the potential customers (Arkhipkin et al. 2021). Lastly, there has been an option of the partnership with the existing company in Brazil which might help the company to better understand the construction condition of the country and reduce the risks of the competition with the existing companies.
2.3 Critical evaluation of the concept using theory
4Ps marketing elements should help to justify the company’s marketing growth and other capacity achievements in the new market. The nature of the target market is mostly to identify the product’s nature and its requirement to provide to the customers. On the other hand, the target market is being justified based on the product price in the home country and selecting the process of the new area of the business. Price selection is the main requirement of the business expansion to the other area. As potential customers are mainly attracted to the product through justifying the price lists of the products and services. As per the view of Lawrence (2020), the target market nature explains that selection of the place has been important to attract more customers. Place selection has provided more profitable benefits to the company and helps to create a comparison with the competitor company. Promotion is the main aspect of the business expansion in the new market as it is going to expand about the company and product on the new marketplace. This component of the target market might have the entire scope to spread the advertisement regarding the new entry of the product to the new market’s existing customers. Promotion has helped Balfour Beatty to reach many new clients and the company is able to showcase its achievements within the new markets. Adding up new projects has become possible through promotion that lowers the gap between economy and productivity. Market expansion is the strategy that has been involved within the current products to the new market. It is explained that Balfour Beatty has been wanting to expand its infrastructure services business, selecting the Brazil market as a target market. The company going to provide the target market creative infrastructure service facility.
The company should go for the option of merging with the existing construction business in the Brazilian market. It is being suggested to the company that this option has the opportunity to understand more the nature of Brazil’s construction market and customers. This should reduce the future market risk of the new expansion in the target market. The merger marketing strategy might help the company to use the 4p’s market element precisely (Ogunseiju et al. 2021). Additionally, it is explained in the below section that, it is forecasted Brazil has increased development growth within the year 2026, which denotes that the company might achieve profitability in near future.
2.4 Recommendation to target consumers in the new market
In Brazil’s highly competitive market, target customers are mainly the Brazilian government and various organizations that are related to residential development within the country. Additionally, some lending companies are related to the engineering and construction sectors in Brazil.
Adoption of this strategy is going to help the company in identifying strengths and weaknesses. The company has flourished in UK with great achievement and will expand successfully in Brazil. Inclusion of new channels is going to help in adding up value to the company as smooth communication will be possible to reach out new clients. Hence, both the stated recommendations have separate significant value and being discussed with in-depth analysis.
- Improving quality of service by keeping a focus on niche markets: Incorporating innovation after entering into the new marketplace of Brazil might bring a drastic change. Innovation suggests a small change in the existing functionality with a broad effective outcome from operations (Maier and Wieringa, 2021). Furthermore, such small changes with innovation are going to enhance existing vision of Balfour Beatty. An improvement in mission becomes possible that paves a strategic path to new competitors within penetrated market. The company can also become appealing to smaller segments of new market in Brazil. Additionally, a new customer base will be built up with an attraction of getting innovative service from an infrastructural project.
- Developing new channels for accessing new markets: This company will have to segregate the entire existing market of Brazil for preparing a better target customer base. Furthermore, building up connections with suppliers is highly recommended to understand which part of the economy needs to be tapped for generating maximum productivity (LEE and KIM, 2021). Going global is a big decision as a result recognizing risk barriers and making necessary investments within potential areas is highly suggestive. Gathering knowledge on trading environment is going to bring quick success with less risk in the near future.
References
Journals
Arkhipkin, O.V., Cherutova, M.I., Skorobogatova, Y.A. and Bovkun, A.S., 2021, April. Analysis of the concept of the construction market and its segments in Russia. In IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science (Vol. 751, No. 1, p. 012131). IOP Publishing.
Dixon, L.R. and Umeokafor, N., 2021. Determinants of smart technology adoption in the construction phase of projects: a scoping study of the United Kingdom.
Eisenberg, P., 2018. Kier Group Plc: business and financial performance analysis and evaluation. The International Journal of Business Management and Technology, 2(6), pp.20-42.
Lapteva, E.V., Ogorodnikova, E.P. and Remizova, V.F., 2020, October. Development trend of the construction market in Russian regions. In IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering (Vol. 945, No. 1, p. 012015). IOP Publishing.
Lawrence, J., 2020. Works Control Manager| Balfour Beatty| Services| Living Places. Lea.
LEE, J. and KIM, K., 2021. Impact of Social Consumption Crisis Strategy on Distribution Marketplaces’ Relationships. Journal of Distribution Science, 19(3), pp.61-70.
Maier, E. and Wieringa, J., 2021. Acquiring customers through online marketplaces? The effect of marketplace sales on sales in a retailer’s own channels. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 38(2), pp.311-328.
Mendoza Cassere, D., Valencia, G.E. and Cárdenas-Gutiérrez, J.A., 2018. An integral PEST study of biomass as energy resource. Contemporary Engineering Sciences, 11(64 (2018)), pp.3167-3176.
Ogunseiju, O., Akanmu, A. and Bairaktarova, D., 2021. Sensing Technologies in Construction Engineering and Management Programs: A Comparison of Industry Expectations and Faculty Perceptions. EPiC Series in Built Environment, 2, pp.505-513.
Pavlishyna, N. and Kot, L., 2020. The Preconditions For The Emergence And Drivers Of Marketplaces Development In E-Commerce. Baltic Journal of Economic Studies, 6(5), pp.137-147.
Steenkamp, J.B.E., 2020. Global brand building and management in the digital age. Journal of International Marketing, 28(1), pp.13-27.
Wang, W., Zhang, S., Su, Y. and Deng, X., 2019. An empirical analysis of the factors affecting the adoption and diffusion of GBTS in the construction market. Sustainability, 11(6), p.1795.
Websites
Balfourbeatty.com, 2022. About us Available at: www.balfourbeatty.com [accessed on 11th January 2022]
Satista.com, 2022. Revenue of Balfour Beatty Available at: www.satista.com [accessed on 11th January 2022]
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