Week 4 Assignment – Domestic, Global & Technological Environments. Instructions
Course Objectives:
Students will become familiar with business theories and approaches relating to various business environments (Domestic, Global, Technological, Political-Legal, Socio-Cultural, and Economic).
Students will evaluate the business environments and practices of selected companies.
Students will evaluate the business environments of a company identified as a “worst” company to learn why it is not successful.
Students will apply successful company strategies and business theory to recommend a successful strategy for the “worst” company.
For your selected “worst” company (Week 1 Assignment), analyze what it takes to make it in the Domestic and Global Environments. Determine the government regulations for your company in the differing countries where your selected worst company operates. If your company operates in numerous foreign countries, choose at 2 foreign countries to compare to the U.S./Domestic (EXCLUDING Canada and Mexico). Refer to Week 3 Lesson for more information and details. Also this week you begin to identify barriers in the environments for your chosen “Worst” company. Continue to Lesson 4 for more information and details.
For the Technological Environment: This includes how the rapid pace of change in production processes and product innovation affect a business. The technological environment also consists of what affects the technology and which can create new products, new markets, and new marketing opportunities in the way a business operates in the technological environment. Consult your readings for the definitions of hard and soft technologies and apply to your discussion.
LO – 1 – Identifying one of the business environments used in this course, the student will be able to discuss that environment’s past, present, and future with the use one business theorist.
LO – 2 – Given a chosen company, the student will determine how government regulations affect the company and how to overcome barriers within the Domestic Environment using business theory
LO – 3 – Given a chosen company, the student will assess barriers raised by government regulations in the company’s Global Environment and identify strategies for success given these barriers.
LO – 4 – Given a chosen company, the student will detect and evaluate the company’s hard and soft technology using both the Domestic and Global environments of the company.
PROMPT:
Research the domestic, global, and technological environments of your selected worst company and write an essay in Help write my thesis – APA7 format that covers the following:
1. Identify the company, describe the nature of its industry, and describe the domestic environment (home company). For example, U.S. Air operates in the airline industry. Its home country and domestic environment are the United States.
a. Summarize the company’s industry, how long it has been in business and its worst attributes;
b. Investigate and explain the domestic government regulations associated with the company’s industry.
2. Describe the company’s global environment (cover at least two 2 foreign countries where the company does business — NOT Mexico or Canada);
a. What are the characteristics of the Global Environment that best suit the company for success?
3. Identify the hard and soft technologies environment used for both domestic and global environments of your company. This topic is not about computers or software; refer to the definitions of these technologies in your lesson and readings.
4. Identify and explain the barriers for your company in the domestic, global, and technological environments barriers and how the company does or can overcome these barriers?
Further Instructions:
• Organize your paper using topic headings (Help write my thesis – APA7 format)
• Research requirement: minimum 2 sources with at least one source from your required readings.
• Minimum page requirement: 4 pages in Help write my thesis – APA7 format; maximum: 6 pages.
• For further guidance please review the Grading Rubric for this assignment. How do you “grade” your draft?
Introduction
This paper will analyze the domestic, global, and technological environments of Tesla, Inc., an American electric vehicle and clean energy company. Tesla is considered by some to be one of the worst-performing companies due to its history of losses and manufacturing challenges. However, others argue Tesla is transforming the automotive industry and pushing sustainability goals. This paper will investigate the barriers Tesla faces in different business environments and strategies the company employs or could employ to overcome challenges.
Domestic Environment
Tesla operates in the automotive industry and has been in business since 2003 (Tesla, n.d.). Some of Tesla’s perceived weaknesses include an unproven ability to produce high volumes of vehicles at reasonable costs, delays in new product launches, and concerns about cash flow and future profitability (Morris, 2022). In the United States, Tesla faces regulations from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) regarding vehicle safety standards as well as emissions and fuel economy rules from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (NHTSA, n.d.; EPA, n.d.). Tesla has worked to influence regulations in its favor by lobbying for increased electric vehicle (EV) tax credits and pushing for zero-emissions vehicle mandates (Lacey, 2022).
Global Environments
In China, Tesla operates a factory in Shanghai and faces regulations from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology regarding EV production quotas (MIIT, 2022). China also provides purchase subsidies for EVs to encourage adoption (Zhou et al., 2022). In Germany, Tesla must comply with the country’s stringent automotive safety and emissions standards set by Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) (KBA, n.d.). Germany has also invested heavily in EV charging infrastructure to support its goal of phasing out combustion engines (Bundesregierung, 2022).
Technological Environments
Tesla utilizes both hard technologies like its Gigafactory battery cell and powertrain production facilities as well as soft technologies including its user-friendly infotainment systems and over-the-air software updates (Tesla, n.d.). However, Tesla faces challenges of rapidly evolving battery technologies from competitors that could surpass its vehicles’ range and charging times (Nykvist & Nilsson, 2015). The company mitigates technological risks through heavy research and development investments (Tesla, 2022).
Barriers and Strategies
To overcome its domestic profitability barriers, Tesla pursues continuous process improvements to reduce manufacturing costs and expands its Supercharger network to alleviate range anxiety (Lacey, 2022; Tesla, n.d.). In China and Germany, Tesla leverages local subsidies and regulations favoring EVs to boost sales. It also faces pressure to localize more production. To stay ahead technologically, Tesla acquires other companies to complement its capabilities and aggressively hires talent (Tesla, 2022).
In conclusion, Tesla navigates complex domestic, global, and technological environments through strategic regulatory engagement, manufacturing advancements, and relentless innovation. With an ambitious vision for a sustainable future, Tesla shows how barriers can be transformed into opportunities. Further progress depends on continued execution of this comprehensive strategy.
