Globalisation – A Case Study of Renishaw PLC

Globalisation – A Case Study of Renishaw PLC
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Executive Summary
The report provides a critical evaluation of Renishaw PLC’s international management strategies on the dire business issue of globalisation. Among the major aspects of globalisation that the report focuses on to establish the management effectiveness of Renishaw PLC include the company’s corporate structure, the cross-cultural competence, and the company’s strategy towards the market dynamics associated with globalisation. Renishaw PLC has done exceptionally well in positioning itself as a global entity by implementing a matrix organisational structure to leverage the combined benefits of functional and product organisational structure. Cross cultural competence, an important aspect of globalisation and international management, is also well thought-out within Renishaw PLC, evidenced by the highly diversified workforce. To offset the market dynamics that may impede entry into emerging markets, Renishaw PLC has done exceptionally well in in investment on research and development, quality of products, and customer support.
Globalisation – A Case Study of Renishaw PLC
Introduction
The desires for economic growth and social transformation has led to a dramatic shift in the world of business. The industrial revolution revolutionised almost every aspect of the business world including agriculture and craftsmanship that were regarded as the core business operations in the past. In the contemporary era, a myriad of organisations and enterprising entities have emerged, specialising in different domain areas and producing products and services for profit. Although the concept of sole proprietorship and local business enterprise development still exists, emphasis has been placed on international corporations as the main drivers of the world economy. Now and then, periodical evaluation and listing of world-leading corporations are done by authoritative organisations such as the United Nations Conference and Trade Development (UNCTAD) and a few others primarily based on three criteria: revenues, capital power, and foreign assets (Jaworek & Kuzel, 2015). According to a ranking by foreign assets of the multinational corporations in 2016, Royal Dutch Shell PLC from the United Kingdom emerged as the top company, with foreign assets valued at $ 349720 million (Hunkar, 2017).
A multinational corporations (MNC), which can be defined in simple terms as a company that makes business transactions and delivers products and services in more than one country, has to battle common business issues to emerge a successful and notable global corporation (Wettstein, 2020). Some of the most common issues have to do with globalisation, corporate social responsibility, business ethics, innovativeness, cybersecurity, geopolitics, among other business issues. This paper purposes to analyse the different aspects of globalisation and how successful multinational corporations, in particular Renishaw PLC, manage the complexities that comes along with the idea of globalisation. The paper focuses its findings on the theoretical arguments of different scholars on the various aspects of globalisation and the empirical data on Renishaw PLC from the relevant sources, including the company websites and other authoritative sources.
Background Information
Globalisation
Globalisation from a business perspective implies that a business entity has its operation spanning a larger geographical area with disregard to international boundaries. It also means that a business entity has its products and services conforming to the global standards and have mechanisms under which products and services can be transferred from one end of the world to the other. Globalisation cuts across the various aspects of a business environment, not only being an economic factor but also influenced by other external factors such as communication, innovation, and technological advancement (Gopinath, 2018). Vast markets and the urge to garner the competitive advantages that come as a result of being a global entity remains the major driving force for the emergence of multinational corporations. Innovative technologies and the geopolitical stability that enhance the free trade is the other major motivating factor towards globalisation (Ardalan, 2017). Although globalisation can be viewed as a big step forward toward the global economy, there are impending challenges that MNCs must overcome, necessitating the establishment of international management strategies.
Renishaw PLC
Renishaw PLC is a British multinational corporation founded in 1973 that is considered a key player in the manufacturing industry. The company specialises in the delivery of high precision, control and reliable metrological products and solutions applicable in diverse industry sectors including healthcare, agriculture, transport, electric and electronic industry (Renishaw plc, n.d.-a). Additive manufacturing(AM) has lately been the major focus for Renishaw PLC, with the acquisition of RenAM 500Q additive manufacturing system enabling the company to develop high-performance products and sour competitive advantage in AM (Renishaw plc, n.d.-b). The company has its presence in 37 countries and has over 5000 employees with more than half of them being based in the UK where most manufacturing, research and development are undertaken (Renishaw plc, n.d.-a). The two major product segments for Renishaw PLC are metrology and healthcare. Also the Far East market segment is the largest contributor to the company's revenue, accounting for 280.8 million British Pounds in the financial year 2017/18 (Statista Research Department, 2020).
Renishaw International Management
Corporate Structure
Being a global corporation demands that a company puts in place mechanisms that would make the company favourable to the diverse marketplace in the global environment. Renishaw PLC has adopted the typical organisation model of any regular multinational corporation by subdividing the global market into distinct geographical regions: UK and Ireland, Americas, EMEA, and APAC (Statista Research Department, 2020). Most of the research and development and manufacturing within Renishaw PLC is done in the UK where a majority of its employees is stationed, the country acting as a centralised hub for manufacturing. There are also national units in the different regions to complement the centralised production hub in the UK, with the company having its facilities in countries as far as Mexico, Peru, Slovenia, India (Renishaw plc, n.d.-c). The regional subsidiaries and the facilities of Renishaw PLC are strategically placed to further the functional and product production roles of the parent company in the UK. In essence, Renishaw PLC depicts a matrix international organisational structure (Lunenburg, 2012). The matrix organisational structure combines the functional and product organisational structures.
Cross-cultural Appreciation
One of the most important and critical aspects of globalisation for the prosperity of a multinational corporation in a global environment is culture. The ability to recognise the differences in language, customs, beliefs, market structure and even some element of etiquette that are the building blocks of culture demonstrates the cultural competence of an organisation necessary to thrive in the global economy. Effective communication, a key component in the management of an ...