Fortune 500 Business Companies not doing Business with the U.S

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to enlighten and explore a company that is listed in fortune 500, and engaged in global operations around the world except the United States. In addition, this paper would propose several recommendations to the selected organization (Metro Inc) that would be supported by diverse logical reasons for tapping the market in the United States. The paper will explore strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats for Metro Inc in the U.S market. Moreover, the paper will recommend diverse strategies through which Metro Inc can effectively cater cultural and operational barriers while targeting the U.S market.

Table of Contents

Introduction4

Metro's Interest for Operations in the United States4

Potential Cultural Issues5

Remedies for Cultural Issues6

SWOT Analysis6

Strengths6

Low Prices and Global Reach6

Strong Presence in Large Emerging Markets7

Weaknesses7

Domestic Department Stores and Hypermarkets7

Opportunities7

Media Market/Saturn and Online Growth7

Emerging Markets Growth Opportunities8

Threats8

Price War with Wal-Mart8

Potential Loss In Group's Scale of Operations8

Recommendations to the CEO of Metro8

Proposed New Store Formats8

Strategy for Internet Retailing9

Strategy for Tapping the U.S Markets9

Conclusion9

References11

Fortune 500 Business Companies not doing Business with the U.S

Introduction

According to diverse sources, there are several companies that operate beyond the country of their origin; in addition, these companies are the most successful in the corporate environment as they cater a huge target market. Fortune 500 is the list of top 500 successful companies in the world. The companies listed in fortune 500 are effectively coping with every force that influences their success. This paper selects a fortune 500 registered company that has not started its operations in the United States. Metro Inc is listed in fortune 500 and is one of the leading retail corporations in the world. Metro's stock was listed in July 1996, and the first restructuring of the newly-formed group followed in 1998, when many unprofitable business interests were divested, new ones acquired, and new marketing and business strategies were introduced. Metro has undergone several restructuring processes since then.

Metro's Interest for Operations in the United States

In recent years, there have been profound changes in the industry of supermarkets in the United States, whose main trends are: increasing industry growth, low pricing and in- crease of hypermarkets. There are causes of supply and demand after these changes. The supermarket industry of the United States has become concentrated in the world in recent years. Additionally, the market share of the 50 largest companies increased from 20.3% in 1987 to 25.7% in 1997 (Gurdjian, Kerschbaumer, Kliger, Waterous, 2000, 89-96). Today, this share has increased to almost 60%, and continues to grow. The concentration of the supermarket industry is a direct result of the emergence of economies of scale and scope from the late eighties in the world. They generate strong incentives for Metro to increase the size of its operations by tapping the market of the United States. Hence, it is suggested that Metro must expand its operation by tapping the market of the United States in order to achieve a competitive edge in the global era (Gurdjian, Kerschbaumer, Kliger, Waterous, 2000, ...