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Carefully check the assignment submission due date, time and the instructions provided with the assignment. Late submissions will NOT be accepted. 2. Ensure that you give yourself enough time to complete the assignment by the due date. 3. You must take responsibility for managing your time effectively. 4. Non-submission of work without valid reasons will lead to an automatic REFERRAL. You will then be provided alternatives to complete the assignment during the resit diet. 5. Take great care that in the event you use the work or ideas of others in your assignment, you appropriately reference them, using the HARVARD referencing system, in your text and any bibliography, otherwise you may be guilty of plagiarism. Statement of Originality and Student Declaration I hereby, declare that I know what plagiarism entails, namely to use another’s work and to present it as my own without attributing the sources in the correct manner. I further understand what it means to copy another’s work. 1. I know that plagiarism is a punishable offence because it constitutes theft. 2. I understand the plagiarism and copying policy of the University of the West of Scotland. 3. I know what the consequences will be if I plagiarize or copy another’s work in any of the assignments for this programme. 4. I declare therefore that all work presented by me for every aspect of my programme, will be my own, and where I have made use of another’s work, I will attribute the source in the correct manner. 5. I acknowledge that the submission of the assignment answer document, constitutes my agreement of the above. ASSESSMENT TASK GLOBAL outlook of the tire industry and the impact with the novel COVID The global tire market reached a volume of 2,268 Million units in 2021. Looking forward, exhibiting a CAGR of 2.80% during 2022-2027. Factoring in the uncertainties of COVID-19, we are continuously tracking and evaluating the direct as well as the indirect influence of the pandemic on different end use industries. Tires provide traction between the vehicle and the road while providing a flexible cushion that absorbs shock. They are manufactured using various materials, including natural and synthetic rubber, carbon black, polyester, rayon, steel, silica and vulcanization accelerator. Nowadays, there is a wide variety of tires available in the global market, which caters to the requirement of different kind of vehicles. Due to the unprecedented nature of this crisis, the players in the tire industry call for firm and rapid action at both the local and national level to enact policies that will remediate the impact of this crisis on tire manufacturers. The tire industry is invariably the prime connectivity to most of our tractions in our day to day lives. Global tire market is forecast to surpass $ 319 billion by 2023. On the basis of vehicle type, the global tire market is broadly classified into six categories – passenger car tire, light commercial vehicle (LCV) tire, medium and heavy commercial vehicle (M&HCV) tire, two-wheeler tire, three-wheeler tire and the OTR tires. During 2012-2016, both automobile production and sales grew at sluggish pace in majority of regions, which led to slow growth in the tire market globally. The global automobile production and sales grew at a CARG of 1.75% and 2.32%, in the volume terms, during 2012-2016, respectively. Backed by slow growth in automobile sector, the global automobile fleet (excluding two-wheeler and three-wheeler) exhibited a CAGR of 3.66% during the same period. Considerable population growth – especially in the emerging economies primarily in Asia Pacific has fueled the industry growth. Vehicle ownership expects to rise significantly, which in turn will drive the growth in the tire industry. The increasing car ownership will be largely driven by demographics and wealth. Greater affluence among the middle class in emerging economies will lead to a significant increase in those able and wanting to own vehicles. The new middle class in these regions is demanding premium vehicles, including sport utility vehicles, luxury passenger cars and sports cars that are likely to be fitted with high performance tires. The high-performance tire sector has become very popular with original equipment (OE) manufacturers and with consumers in the replacement tire market. As a result, tire producers are targeting the OE segment for further growth and R&D spending. These low-profile tires that are built for higher speeds, account for more than half of the global OE tire market, according to research by Smithers, which has made them an integral part of vehicle design and the driving experience. Auto manufacturers began using high performance tires mainly as factory equipment on luxury passenger cars. Over the years, they have grown in popularity among drivers of premium sport utility vehicles and most recently crossover utility vehicles. Sales of these vehicles continue to climb in correlation with the growing global middle class and their desire for status and mobility. Improving fuel efficiency is a growing theme in the tire industry. In terms of tire design, this is mainly achieved by reducing rolling resistance. Government regulations that are demanding higher fuel economy from vehicles are probably the most immediate and important driver for change in the way high performance tires are being made. Fuel economy standards like corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) in the US are playing a major role in controlling tire technologies and markets. Better vehicle fuel economy will also improve air quality standards. Around the globe, serious targets have been set to protect the climate, driven by the Kyoto protocol. In the European Union (EU), transportation is the only economic sector where CO2 emissions are constantly increasing, especially in vehicular transportation. Led by the EU, tire labelling has created a set of mandatory minimum standards for a number of tire properties, especially fuel efficiency. Tire labelling is considered by many to be one of the most important legislative initiatives in recent times and it gives consumers key information on tire properties, including fuel efficiency, which will help them make more informed choices. Leading tire makers are continuing to employ new technologies in the development of ultra-high performance tires that push the limits of size, speed and performance characteristics. Most players are in a vision of producing product grades under next-generation performance tires These tires are primarily for the true sports car enthusiast and are often proven on the race track. It is also for the electric car segment with low noise and power generation. They are developed with proprietary technology, specialized polymer and silica compounds, as well as unique tread designs to achieve their desired performance results. To meet evolving customer demands, many of these nextgeneration high performance tires now claim multi-season driving safety, ride comfort, low noise, better fuel efficiency and extended tread wear. Major players such as Micheline have already commenced introducing these tires to the market. Building an international business strategy for a Tire manufacturer in Asian Markets Select a tire manufacturer of your choice who is a player in the auotomative tire industry and craft an international business strategy in achieving greater market penetration in the Asian market space that is not in operations currently. The player can be an Asian tire manufacturer looking for Asian pacific markets or any other European brands venturing in to a Asia pacific. Attempt all the four tasks below and present your findings in the form of a report (3,000-4,000 words) divided into appropriate sections by Introduction, strategic Position, Strategic choices and Strategic action. Your report should also contain an Executive Summary (250 words) bibliography and references. 1. Introduction to the Tire manufacturer and its logical business explanation representing tire industry under passenger tire segment. Further explain in brief its current and future market/business trends and justification of the chosen player’s market capitalisation. (10% of marks) 2. Considering the opportunity in the chosen Asian pacific market, carry out a comprehensive examination of the macroeconomic business environment using appropriate analytical tools in order to position an international strategy for the automatize tire manufacturer. Build a strategic positioning by examining its internal capabilities, culture & purpose and discuss details of its readiness to build a sustainable business in the chosen Asian market. (25% of marks) 3. Examine the changing nature of the “Market dynamics/climate” of the chosen tire manufacturer and develop an extensive frame work in choosing and recommending a winning strategy for the selected market in the Asia Pacific. Draw upon your rationale by using the exploring strategy model in building the strategic choices for the chosen player. (30% of marks) 4. Success and effectiveness is a result of a well-coordinated implementation process been executed of a finalized strategy. Discuss the efficiency in the context of strategy in action and by using its model to explore your recommendation with details of practicalities of managing to achieve sustainability. (25% of marks) Word limit - 3,500 words. Procedure & Assignment guidelines (5% of marks for following the guidelines below) A. This is an individual project, leading to the production of an individual report using the Harvard style of assignment assembling. B. All the data and information you need to complete this assignment is in the public domain and is easily accessible via electronic means. Do not approach the companies for help with this project. Extra Lines Evaluate using various modes of entry available to the firm and recommend with justification based on the findings of your analysis. Use the most suitable mode of entry that will enable this strategic international expansion to be a success for the chosen tire manufacturing company. Your evaluation of the various modes of entry available to the firm, and your recommended / justified mode of entry, should be presented in the final section of the main body of your report. Remember to include a list of references used at the end of the report (presented Harvard style). MARKING CRITERIA Meets Inadequate Criteria expectations/Adequat Good Excellent 51% - 70% 71% - 100% e 0% - 39% 40% - 50% Task 1 (10%) Excellent critical evaluation with Good critical as many evaluation with suitable and Adequate solutions some solutions appropriate with limited critical combined with solutions evaluation (3-5%) some practical combined with examples (6- different 7%) practical Inadequate and Critical introduction (10% ) inappropriate solutions with no evidence of critical evaluation (<3%) examples (810%) Task 2 (25%) Insufficient Good Excellent comparison comparison comparison of Comparisons with very limited Adequate comparison with limited strategies with through strategic details of the with limited details of details of the excellent positioning available the available marketing available detailing of the (10%) marketing strategies (3-5%) marketing available strategies strategies (6- strategies (8- (<3%) 7%) 10%) Realistic and Realistic and Realistic and good excellent appropriate recommendatio recommendatio recommendation with n with well- n with well- sufficient discussion (3- structured structured 7%) discussion (6- discussion (8- 7%) 13%) Good Excellent justification justification (2.6-3.5%) (3.6-5%) Unrealistic Recommendatio recommendatio n by using n with strategic tools insufficient (10%) discussion (<3%) Practical Unrealistic Justification justification (5%) (<2%) Adequate justification (2-2.5%) Task 3 (30%) Insufficient Focus & focus on Adequate focus on Relevance to the elements of elements of task and task & Strategy task and relevance to the key recommendation relevance to the elements of the task (3- (15%) key elements of 5%) the task (<3%) Unrealistic Realistic opinion Opinion analysis opinion with recommendation with (15%) insufficient adequate analysis (3- details (<3%) 5%) Good focus on elements of task and relevance to the key elements of the task (6-7%) Realistic and good opinion with wellstructured analysis (6-7%) Excellent focus on elements of task and relevance to the key elements of the task (810%) Realistic and excellent opinion with well-structured analysis (810%) Task 4 (25%) Good Excellent demonstration demonstration Adequate solution with with as some with as many no demonstration of suitable and suitable and applicability (3-5%) appropriate appropriate solutions (6- solutions (8- 7%) 10%) Inadequate and Demonstration of Solution (10%) inappropriate solutions with no evidence of applicability (<3%) Good Application of Inadequate and Adequate and application of strategic tool inappropriate appropriate tool with strategic tool (10%) tools (<3%) limited detailing ( 3-5%) with good detailing (6-7%) Inadequate Suitability reasoning on Adequate reasoning on mapping (5%) the suitability (< the suitability (2-2.5%) 2%) Structure/ Written, Quality of structured and Communicatio presented work n/ Presentation in insufficient of the work/ format (<3%) Good reasoning on the suitability (2.6-3.5%) Written, structured and Well written, presented work in structured and adequate format (3- presented work 5%) (6-7%) Excellent application of strategic tools with excellent detailing (810%) Excellent reasoning on the suitability (3.6-5%) Excellently written, structured and presented work (8-10%) Referencing Style (10%) [Total: 100 Marks] OTHER REQUIREMENTS List of Contents This should list in sequence, with page numbers. List of Tables and Figures The lists of tables and figures (diagrams, graphs, illustrations) should follow the list of contents and each has their own numbering sequence. List of references In text referencing should match with the list of references attached to the end of the assessment work. It should be represented in Harvard Referencing Style.