Nowadays every business is wanting to expand its market to the globe. There are several factors that help the company to achieve in the business world such as making new products, a good marketing plan and knowing the important factor of cultural diversity in each country. Procter and Gamble (P&G) is one of the most successful companies in the world. Caused by effective business procedure through cultural variety, P&G has become one of the most successful organizations. P&G is the largest consumer goods creation company on the globe and popular surrounding the world with a long history. P&G is concerned about cultural variety plus they place an importance onto it. Robert Mcdonald, Chairman of the Table, President and CEO and Linda Clement-Holmes, Recent Chief Diversity Official, and Senior Vice President, Global Business Service point out that "Even during a challenging business local climate, Diversity & Inclusion remains an integral priority. We imagine diversity and addition is a competitive advantage". Therefore P&G is a good example in the education of young business employees and other companies to achieve international business. This paper focuses on the problem of a worldwide workforce by relating how P&G manages a worldwide workforce and remains successful in international business.
II. Company Guide:
Procter and Gamble (P&G) is a company focused on consumer goods development. The company provides brands and plans goods involved with Beauty, Grooming and Home Care. The business was founded by William Procter and James Gamble in 1837 and is headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. P&G is the greatest company on the globe that serves 4. 6 billion consumers globally, produces and trading markets more than 300 brands and offers in more than 180 countries. To better support the global industry, P&G divided their geographic framework into four locations North America, Asia, Latin America, and Europe/Middle East/ Africa.
P&G's History
William Procter who was candle maker and James Gamble who was soap maker both of them immigrated from England and Ireland. They can be found to Cincinnati Ohio. From then on, their father-in-law persuaded them to joins a company partners. Therefore, Procter and Gamble was founded in 1837.
In the 1880s, the company produced a new product called Ivory. Ivory was an inexpensive soap that didn't sink in drinking water. Through the American Civil Conflict in 1858-1859, the business signed to supply the Union Army with soap from Procter and Gamble. Furthermore, to increase revenue and product demand, it developed a lot of product lines which were related to soap such for locks, laundry and dishwashers. Moreover, in 1887, P&G started a profit sharing program for company individuals. The program helped the workforce join their important duty with the business's success.
In 1915, P&G started to build factories beyond your United States as a result of demand for products. P&G exposed another product facility in Canada for soap and Crisco.
Radio grew popular in the 1920s and 1930s, and P&G sponsored radio programs. This is the origin of the term "soap operas". Additionally, P&G is the first company to control data based market research with customers. This research helps the company improve customer understanding and react to consumer needs.
P&G is the first company that instituted the Consumer Relationships Department to reply and connect with the consumer in 1941. In addition, in 1973, the company created a toll-free phone number an e- email in the 1980s to boost customers' ability to contact the company.
In 1984 P&G was one of the top 100 Best companies to work. Every year, the company receives many global honors for diversity, value, and improvement of lives.
P&G obtained the honors from the U. S. Government's Country wide Medal of Technology in 1996. Since P&G is the business that improved and created move forward technology for reaction to the consumer needs.
In 2010, P&G grasped the consumer needs and created the modernization program for help touch, on consumers' needs. This improved consumers' lives to complete the company's goal. In addition, P&G was one of the sponsors of the London Olympic Game titles in 2012.
Products
For more than 170 years, P&G has provided 50 leading brands around the world and 25 brands have significantly more than $1 billion in gross annual sales. About 4. 6 billion consumers use P&G products every day. For consumers better life style and brand commitment, P&G tries to boost their products by watching and testing in order to get the best appropriate products for his or her customers. P&G's brands can be divided into two teams: Beauty and Grooming; and Home Care. The most notable products are the following :
Beauty and Grooming: Gillette, Olay, SKII, Head and Shoulders, Herbal Essences, Pantene, Rejoice, Guard, Always Ivory, Oral-B, Gucci Fragrances, Dolce & Gabbana Aesthetic and CoverGirl.
Household Care and attention: Duracell, Mr. clean, Swiffer, Pampers, Tide, Downy, Dash and Gain.
Figure 1: P&G Popular Products
P&G SWOT Evaluation
Strengths
Most important market position accumulated on a convincing brand portfolio
Significant R&D and marketing investments
Durable cash productivity
Weakness
High example of product recalls
Opportunities
Future increase plans with focus on progress attention on its essential good-looking business and bettering its consumers base
Increase investment in creation ability in producing countries
Threats
Rising inflation might lead to considerable increase in the task cost
Fake goods
SWOT Examination Overview
P&G is the major consumer products company on the planet. From past until now P&G still leading market position collected on a strong brand portfolio with incomes of $78, 938 million and serves products to 4. 2 billion people. In addition, P&G also provided significant research and development and marketing investment to investigation the merchandise for respond the market. P&G invested big money with R&D part and marketing. The business use R&D by try to hook up with customer across the world for research and learn customer habit and focused on consumer understanding.
However, P&G is the company with a notable difference kind of product and large size but sometimes mistakes can occur in production. Some product brands are often recalled such such as November 2009 P&G recalled Vicks Sine X nasal spray from Germany, UK and US because of the company found bacteria B. Cepa cia from product that produce in Germany. Later in March 2010 P&G recalled Pringles the potato ship because of Food and Drug Supervision (FDA) found the Salmonella bacteria that reason behind hazard with healthy.
Repeated products tend to be recalled cause the business less in consumer trust and impact with company financial. In addition in the foreseeable future P&G has plan to focused on development attention on its essential good-looking business and bettering its consumer bottom for keep up with the company that largest consumer product on the globe.
The attractive point from research is how P&G change and develop diversity troubles to be its power for improve business becomes to durability business strategies and develop products for respond consumer around the world.
The particular concern the company has to face in global workforce
Over its 175 -season record and professional background, the other factors that make P&G success in the world is understand using its employees, consumers patterns and culture variety. Although P&G is an American company but it has strong progress from the mid 1940's to 2000 on international. P&G products are available in North America, Latin America, Central and Eastern European countries, Western Europe, the center East, Africa, Asia, New Zealand and Australia. Therefore the one essential task of P&G is a worldwide Workforce.
Although P&G has come across with global workforce and culture variety, understanding the difference and issue of culture variety and framework of international business can help P&G is successful in global market. In addition company will need to have learned how to improve and how to resolve the issue to the company for success running a business world.
When the company needs to work in several culture, employees must have to comprehend and consider about the culture in each country. Worker is highly recommended which country is low context or high context by observing individuals patterns in each country. If the employees understand the culture and known how it comparison with one another it's the important step to complete intercultural effectiveness and increase capacity to working in global office.
If the business wants to be successful in global business, there are numerous types of behavior suggestion that needs to be applied and avoided in order to increase a performance of intercultural communication. Therefore, the following recommendations will help the company improve and develop the culture diversity obstacle for company successful in international business.
Obstacle of intercultural communication
Stereotype is a distorted attitude of groups of men and women related to their race, nationality and erotic orientation. As stereotypes lead to bias and disregarded the variety within groups, stereotypes should be averted.
Prejudice is an aggressive frame of mind about many people or group. Prejudice is not predicated on experience but predicated on misunderstanding and generalization.
Ethnocentrism is notion in your own culture that right, realistic and much better than the other cultures.
Discrimination is the evident action to except, bypass or split up oneself from the other groups.
Language Variations is people who from different culture or different country may pick up the vocabulary of a new culture. This example lead to misunderstanding between people.
Suggestions for develop communication among diverse work place audiences
Seek training. Especially in international organizations that face to diversity problems. Companies should provide training to employees about labor force variety and increase employees' skill about intercultural communication.
Understand the value of differences. Diversity makes n group creative. If the business recognizes the difference and need for each customer categories, the company will be able to run it.
Make fewer assumptions. Companies shouldn't assume that all customers wants the same products or like the same products. Companies should produce product variety for customer's option.
How P&G apply suggestions for develop communication among diverse work environment audiences with the P&G's case.
Seek training
In order to comprehend the culture and habit of customers is challenging because different culture, difference group and difference years it makes different demand of customers. Therefore P&G recognizes the value of employee's diversity training. At P&G diversity training is one part of management programs that explain different about diversity attitude that make the business successful. P&G's employees must learn the goodness of diversity culture through program called "Cultures AT THE JOB". The program is educated about culture framework that consist of high context cultures such as Asia cultures are much more likely thoughtful and instinctive and low context cultures such as German and UNITED STATES communicators will use linear logic.
Understand the worthiness of difference
A whole lot of companies such as Wal-Mart must failed when grow the branch to overseas country because of culture diversity. Like P&G the key problems of P&G are face with variety staff and communication problem in international employees. The fundamental of company strategy P&G want to support employee's culture variety by proven the seven corporate affinity groupings for understand about staff culture and action in each group. Commercial affinity groupings are consist of African Ancestry Leadership Network (AALN), Corporate Women's Leadership Team (CWLT), Gay, Ally, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Employees (GABLE), Asian Pacific North american Leadership Team (APALT), Hispanic Leadership Team (HLT), Native American Indian Leadership Team (NAILT), and folks with Disabilities (PWD). P&G understand the value of diversity table chief. Thus 11 mother board people of P&G are consist of two are Black, is Asian, an example may be Latino and four are women.
Make fewer assumptions.
Procter and Gamble avoid the idea that the product is available in one country will be accessible abroad. From errors before such just as Mexico P&G produced the Downy Solo Rinse the product help clean clothes. However P&G didn't think about the differences washed clothes way between American customers and Mexican customers. American use washer while Mexican washed clothes in rivers. Therefore, this product was failed in Mexico out of this case it creates the P&G try to research customer patterns and exert time and money for explore marketplace. Because of this, P&G design to run the "Living It" marketing campaign to be able to authorize company employees to reside with consumers in their house, go to shopping with consumers for notice consumer patterns when they want to buy some products. Additionally, P&G design another associated advertising campaign "Working It" advertising campaign in order to aid "Living It" advertising campaign by company workers hang out the tiny shop and observation about shopper habit and products in shelves for assemble information and take it to build up company product in the future. From this advertising campaign bring the P&G become to success available market and can extend the product via a great deal of countries.
Conclusion
P&G global workforce problem can be solved by the company attempts to understanding and growing the culture diversity and international communication. Another factors that makes the P&G complete in global market is research the client patterns, develop and improve the product that support the customer want. As many of cases of days gone by P&G always to studies and studies about customer culture in each country and develop the new products for support the client and find the best way to run business across ethnical. In addition, P&G applying the techniques for enhancing communication between diverse office that help the company to handle with the condition of the global work place and improve employee's potential to work in international market.
