Honda Motor Co. Ltd – Business Risk Analysis
Essay title: Honda Motor Co. Ltd – Business Risk Analysis
Honda Motor Co. Ltd has always sought to provide genuine satisfaction to people around the world. We are striving to deliver the products and services that customers in each locality want most. To ensure that we meet local needs, we go beyond establishing local sales networks; we have structured our operations so that many of our products are not only manufactured, but also developed in the regions where they will be used. The result is over 124 manufacturing facilities in 28 countries outside of Japan, producing the motorcycles, automobiles, and power products that bring us into contact with over 17 million customers each year. This paper focuses on the business risk analysis for building, owning, and operating a manufacturing plant in Croatia. This plant will produce Hybrid vehicles and introduce the Hybrid technology to this region.
Considerable research was conducted on the Republic of Croatia and the region and a SWOTT Analysis was prepared to determine the benefits and risks of conducting business in this country. Political, economic, and market risks have been researched and a detailed description of the risk and how to manage the risk is included.
SWOTT Analysis
SWOTT for Croatia ЎV Opening a Honda Hybrid plant in this country
Strength
Strategically located in the Adriatic Sea (distribution)
Open to FDI
Member of the WTO
Scheduled to become a member of the EU in 2010
Scheduled to become a member of NATO in first decade of 2000
Proactive mindset for protecting the environment
Competitive advantage in the production of steel and rubber
Aggressive tax incentives to corporations (Honda)
Low tax rate
English well spoken in Croatia
Weaknesses
High unemployment rate may affect car sales
Managing a multicultural population comprised of enemies ethnic groups
Judiciary system challenges ЎV ineffective court system
Potential political instability due to new government party HDZ, which depends on support of the HSS party for continued ruling
Limited motorway network/capacity
Inadequate Railway system
Post-communist era economy, judicial and political system plagued with corruption
Opportunity
Underdeveloped country
Honda expects to provide employment opportunities in Croatia
Increased road network investments
Increased access to EU transit network
Railway investments started in 2005
Opportunity to create a positive impact on Croatia through charitable donation
Threats
EU overturns of existing FDI tax incentives
Reticent relations between Croatia and International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY)
Internal organized crime
Double taxation
Trends
Increasingly high cost of fuel
Instability of the Middle East, larger producer of oil
EU increased demand for fuel efficient automobiles
Worldly initiatives to preserve the environment
Political/Legal/Regulatory Risks
Croatia is a very young political country. The current government has only been in power since 2003. Variations of the current government have run the country in the years previous to 2003, but the current government represents a position more significantly on the center than predecessors. Trends are showing a deep alienation of Croatian public from Croatian political establishment.