The Strategic Management of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc - Essay Example

?The strategic management of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc Introduction Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. was set up in 1940 and has its headquarters in Allentown, Pennsylvania in the United States of America. The company operates its business activities under four different business segments, which are Merchant Gases, Tonnage Gases, Equipment and Energy, and Electronics and Performance materials. Packaged gases are sold under the Merchant Gases Segment. The company pack atmospheric (oxygen, nitrogen and argon), specialty gases and processed gases (hydrogen and Helium) in small quantities in cylinders or dewars. Packaged gases are mainly sold in Europe, Asia and Brazil. The industrial gases sold by the company have a variety of uses. They are used by oil and natural gas companies, health care providers, steel and general processing companies, chemical and food processing companies and research institutions such as NASA among others. Most packaged gases are sold to magnetic resonance imaging and electronics industries in the United States of America (United States Securities and Exchange Commission, 2010). Industrial gases are extracted either through separation process or chemical synthesis. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. is the largest supplier of Helium and Hydrogen in the world. The company has wide global distribution channels (branches) in nearly all continents. The company has branches in Africa (Algeria and South Africa), America (Brazil, Canada and Mexico), Asia (China, Korea, Hong Kong, Malaysia, India, Indonesia, Japan, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand), Europe (Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Slovak Republic, Spain, Turkey and United Kingdom), Middle East (Israel, Qatar, Turkey and United Arab Emirates ) and West Indies (Trinidad and Tobago) among other countries. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. is performing exceptionally well. The Unaudited report indicated that the company sales were $9,026 million, $8256.2 million and $10414.5 million in 2010, 2009 and 2008 respectively. Net profit increased from $642.7 million in 2009 to $1054.5 million in 2010. According to the company’s balance sheet, total assets were $13505.9 million in 2010 and $13,029.1 million in 2009. In 2010, common shares out standing were 213,802,865 which increased from 211,260,264 in 2009. In 2009, packaged gases constituted 25.2 percent of the total market and generated $11.2 billion (United States Securities and Exchange Commission, 2010). Managing globally dispersed operations of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc can be complex and challenging to any manager. Harrison and St. John (2009) argued that managing global firms is challenging to managers because resources, business practices and values vary. However, if the company’s management prepares well for international opportunities through strategic planning and timely implementation, the task would be easier. Strategic management involves a number of functions and actions by all key stakeholders. The actions and functions are performed mainly by the board of directors in consultation with the top management and employees. Identifying and selecting a global governing structure, management systems, networking global operations, managing physical and non-tangible assets including employees and enhancing their capabilities is critical to strategic global management. It also involves enhancing sharing of information across boarders. Furthermore, the company need to pursue corporate social responsibilities and collaborate with critical stakeholders to gain competitive advantage against other players in the international market. This will enable the company to minimise competitive and environmental risks in the environments in which it operates. Heckscher-Ohlin model According Gandolfo (1998), Heckscher-Ohlin model is an important international trade theory that states that countries produce and export goods and services whose factors of production are abundant and easily available in that country. On the other hand, countries import goods and services from countries with abundant raw materials. Heckscher-Ohlin model explain that differences in factors of production across the world determines the patterns of international trade. The theory is based on general equilibrium theory. There are a number of assumptions that the theory makes. First, the theory assumes that labour and capital flow freely across different industries. Secondly, different countries have varying amount of labour and capital. Third assumption is that there is free trade. Fifth assumption is that technology and people’s tastes are identical across the different countries. Sixth, there are no transport costs. Seventh assumption includes presence of balance of trade and output generated is produced under constant returns to scale (Ghai and Gupta 2002). Internal drivers Before setting a global management strategy it is important to identify meaningful internal and external drivers, which drive globalisation of any company including Air Products and Chemicals, Inc (Eliss and Williams, 1995). The internal drivers are divided into two broad categories; market drivers, production and cost drivers. Market drivers include distribution, customer requirements, and marketing drivers. First internal market driver is the distribution capability. First, Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has well established distribution channels for distributing packaged gases. This is evident in more than thirty eight countries in which the country operates. Efficient and effective distribution channels create competitive edge for the industrial gas business. Customers prefer companies that deliver the right product on time. This requires that the selling points should be located within a radius of two hundred miles to be able to deliver packaged gases within two days from the time it is ordered. Well established and efficient distribution channels have made the company to be leading supplier of industrial gases in the world. The first internal production driver that affects production of industrial gas is energy. Energy is one of the most critical elements of production of industrial gases. Energy is the largest cost centre in the production of industrial gases, especially for the production of oxygen, argon and nitrogen. An interruption or shortage in electricity affect the quality of the industrial gas produced. In addition, it increases cost of production, which cannot be passed on two customers without losing product price competitive edge. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc generates its own energy to cut on cost of energy and avoid power interruptions that may be inherent in the conventional energy source. Second internal production driver is management. Efficient and effective production management is important to promote production of high quality and cheaper products. Poor production management lead to loses generated by wastages on raw materials. Kuan (2004) stated that multinational firms that pursue global strategies should provide external flexibility to be able to respond to changes inherent in the external and internal environment to permit delivery of high quality goods and services to the customers. Management of global firms are often forced to respond to changing factors specific to a given country. Economic, market, legislation and political factors demand increased levels of flexibility to enable the global firm to survive in any local market. However, pressures needed to adapt to local demand often jeopardize internal efficiency. Therefore, it is important to maintain balanced tradeoffs between flexibility and internal efficiencies. Flexibility in industrial gas industry is important. This is because through flexible operations, it is possible to easily learn and adapt to better technologies in both production plants and process. First, internal cost driver of the company is new product development. This is possible through research and development. This is because through research and development, new and cheaper ways of producing, packaging and distributing the processed and atmospheric gases are developed and implemented. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (2001) asserts that research and development creates innovation and technology necessary to improve firms’ performances. Innovation can create sustained organisational growth and generate improvements in acquiring and utilising factors of production. In response, the company has developed various research and development centres to speed up its innovation and technology improvements. The company has initiated research and development project with faculty of chemical Engineering at Tianjin University, China. In 2005, the company set up the Asia Technology Center in China. Furthermore, developing research and development centres in foreign countries enable the company to enter into new markets and adapt their product and services in line with prevailing conditions in the local market. Under these types of investments in China, the company is strategically targeting vast China market. The company also offers sponsorships to masters and doctorate students to boost its innovative and technology generation capacity. Furthermore, the company is also building new liquid nitrogen production plant in Mooreland, Oklahoma. This is to dominate market leadership in oil extraction segment. Second internal cost driver of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc is economies of scale. High production capacity gives the company a competitive edge. Industrial gas business is one of the business ventures that create competitive advantage through economies of scale. Economies of scale enable the company to achieve efficient operations generated from differences in factor costs. It is more expensive to operate small production capacities in the production of industrial gases because it has high fixed costs associated with the physical and technical infrastructure. Third, internal cost driver of the company is transportation cost. If the company incurs a lot of transportation cost in bringing raw materials to the company’s production plant or taking products to the customer, then it is disadvantaged because the price paid by the final consumer will be higher. High prices driven by high transportation cost may make a company unfit for competition with identical rival companies that experience lower transportation costs. There are a number of external drivers that impact significantly to the industrial gas business. The external drivers can be grouped into two broad categories. Country specific and competitive drivers are external drivers that influence industrial gas business. According to Ellis and Williams (1995), external drivers include country and competitive drivers. The first country external driver is trade policies. Legal and regulatory environment have significant impact to companies that produce industrial gases globally. Different countries impose different standards on the production, packaging and distribution of packaged gases. For example, according to the United Kingdom’s Gas Act of 1995, all suppliers of industrial gases must obtain licences from relevant authorities. Changes in legal and regulation on import/export restrictions, taxes and environmental compliance requirements may impact negatively on the company’s operations. The legislations and laws impact on pricing of industrial gases in different countries. For example, The U.S. Bureau of Land Management increased the cost of crude helium to $75 in 2011 from $64.6 in 2010 per thousand cubic feet. The second country external driver is macroeconomic environment. Changes in macroeconomic environment influence sale of the industrial gases. Disruption occurring in the global or particular markets in the world directly affects sales of industrial gases. For example, following the 2008-2009 global financial crises, the annual revenues of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc reduced from $10,414.5 million in 2008 to $8256.2 million in 2009. However, as the global crisis began to dissolve in 2010, company’s revenue increased slightly to $9,026 million in 2010. Therefore, contraction in the global economy automatically causes decline in revenues generated by industrial gas suppliers while improved economic condition also increase revenue generated from sale of industrial gases. The third country external driver is technical requirements. According to Compressed Gas Association (1999), each country stipulates handling, transportation, use and storage and disposal industrial gases. Furthermore, there are provisions that guide connecting containers for filling, hazards, transferring or withdrawing contents as well as emergency response and safety trainings on industrial gases. The laid down guidelines concerning industrial gas are subject to regulatory authorities of specific countries. It is evident that industrial gases are used in the provision of health care, home equipment and appliances, vehicles, and extraction of oil and natural gases among others. Therefore, they must be handled and used appropriately. Production, handling and use of medical oxygen are prescribed under the European Pharmacopoeiain’s Oxygen monograph. (Haring and Ahner 2008). Consequently, all companies operating in those countries must stick to the requirements. Country specific cultural and institutional norms are the fourth factor that influences global strategy. Countries that intends to set globalise their products must understand and conform to the norms of foreign countries to be acceptable in the host country or market. The first external competitive driver is entry of new competitors. Increase in market rivalry is evident because industrial gas products are undifferentiated. Improved production technologies, packaging and delivery mechanisms among rivals directly generates a competitive edge for the implementing company. Since industrial gas products are undifferentiated, companies are compelled to innovate better ways of producing and delivering the products to cut on production costs that will result in the reduction of the final price charged on the consumer. In the industrial gas business, it is difficult to maintain brand loyalty and most companies enter into long term contract with their customers to prevent customers from switching to other suppliers within a specified period of time. However, the cost of entry is enormous and very entrants are expected. This is because setting up an industrial plant requires large capital outlay that few companies can afford. Future international strategy for Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. and the Key elements of the strategy According to Ghosal and Nohria (1993), international firms need to invest in areas that provide some degree of central control and country specific that match the global strategy. At the same time, international firms need to avoid unnecessary expenses and complexity that may complicate the strategy (Ungson and Wong 2008). International strategy dictates the product segment to operate, organisation resources, processes and structure to support success (Lasserre 2003). Therefore, international strategy for Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. should reflect expansive global vision, which considers every location in the world as market as well as source of competitive edge. Therefore, international strategies are expansive, diversified and integrated in order to nurture, protect, and exploit company’s resources and capabilities. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. intends to position itself appropriately in global markets. Therefore, it chooses certain countries and develops value propositions relevant to those countries under consideration. For Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. to position itself as a global player in the production and distribution of packaged industrial gases, the company will undertake to integrate all its global enterprises, collaborate with its global subsidiaries (branches), manage their performance accordingly and maintain good relations with suppliers of raw materials. First integrating all its global enterprises is important to ensure that all its global resources, capabilities, products and technologies are utilised appropriately in all its global markets in which it operates. The company will centralise production of its packaged gases, which shall be instructed and monitored from its headquarters to ensure that quality and efficiency is maintained across countries. However, packaging and distribution of gases shall be under the discretion of country/territorial managers to adapt to country’s specific requirements. The company shall also utilise all avenues of networking, which could be formal or informal. Secondly, to increase its market presence in the world, the company will have to build and strengthen its resources through international mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures or alliances with foreign subsidiaries or distributors to enhance the supply capability. International firms that seek to lead in global markets need to improve communications, reduce set up times as well as train all it employees to upgrade their skills to remain competitive. Furthermore, product design and layout together with equipment reliability and capabilities need to be enhanced to ensure that production process is effective and efficient at all times (Scarlett 2001). Mode of operations in foreign markets shall be dictated by a number of factors including economic, market and financial conditions in the foreign markets. The company may offer licenses or appoint agents in foreign countries that have elaborate distribution networks to reduce time and cut on costs that could have been incurred setting up new distribution channels. This is because timely delivery is an important competitive edge in the industrial gas industry and Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. cannot compromise it. In addition, the company intent to collaborate at all levels of value chain across the international boundaries. Collaboration has increasingly become an important means of cooperation among company subsidiaries. Collaboration facilitates flow of new information, technologies and innovation for the benefit of the whole company (Hansen 2009). Thirdly, the company will manage all its global operations centrally. Appropriate monitoring and evaluation of operations is key to sustain production of high quality products and services. Therefore, the company intends to relate all its operations to overall performance of the firm and the important metric to be used by the company will be the net income generated at a given trading period. Fourth, the company shall maintain good relations with suppliers of raw materials across the world. There are few suppliers of petroleum products and other gases used to produce industrial gases. Therefore, basic raw material suppliers are able exert some bargaining power and increase prices of raw material as they wish. It is important for industrial gas producers to maintain good relationship with the suppliers to secure steady supply and better prices of raw materials from them. Companies should set production plants in locations with abundant raw materials. Therefore, industrial gas production companies should always seek out new locations of raw materials and set their plants there. According to Shiryaevskaya, (2011), United State of America is running short of helium and is currently trading helium stock piles that were maintained at the time of cold war. This means that the company should explore other regions with deposits of helium because United States deposits are dwindling. According to Nekhai (2011), Russia, which is the largest producer of oil, is believed to have helium rich fields in Eastern Siberia. Siberia reserves are believed to hold about a third of the global remaining resources. United States of America currently supply 80 percent of the global helium. Qatar is also increasing it helium production following opening up of Qatar Helium second project aimed at producing about 1.3 billion cubic feet each year. As a result, Qatar will be second to United States that produces about 2.1billion cubic feet of Helium annually. Consequently, Russia may overtake the United States of America as the largest producer of helium. Therefore, Air Products and Chemicals, Inc should be considering establishing ties with Russia because it is expensive to process helium from the atmosphere as compared to exploring gas fields. It is estimated that demand for helium will rise by 2 percent or 3 percent annually over the next five years ending 2016. Eastern Siberia is likely to impact the supply of helium in the world. Elements of the Global strategy There are four elements of the developing global strategy. They include: global ambition, positioning, business systems and organisation. From the onset, the company will demonstrate global ambition through acquisition of international firms. This is to achieve international market leadership as it aim to control global distribution of packaged gases. It shall also identify and develop international networks to support its global ambition of being a global leader in the production and distribution of packaged gases. Global positioning is important for Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. The company will position itself as the most reliable, valuable and trusted supplier of packaged industrial gases globally. The company will try to develop images in minds of global customers that company’s products are of high quality. This will be done through appropriate global market mix. Kurtz et al (2009) advices firms that intend to roll their products in international markets to price, distribute, and promote their products accordingly in regard to local market conditions to be competitive. Furthermore, international firms should adapt its products and services to local culture and preference. All packaged gases need to conform to countries specificities and where admissible, cylinders and other equipment shall include native language and company’s global logo. Global business systems refer to interrelated factors of strategy that are global oriented. The company adopts global approaches for dealing with employees, suppliers, owners, customers, competitors, finances, processes and management. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will use the four perspective of implementing the strategy. The four perspectives are internal business processes, customer, learning, innovation and growth as well as financial perspective. Trent and Roberts (2009) intimated that a well coordinated global supply that is driven by learning and innovation is critical for success of international companies. Global companies should make use of global engineering and procurement processes such as global sourcing initiatives to gain competitive advantage. According to Kapil (2011), sustainable financing mechanism is very important for international firms. There is need for adequate and cheap financing to protect an international firm from dwindling finances when economic situations changes for worse. Jackson and Mathis (2007) refer global organisations as firms that operate in many different countries. Global organisations operate differently in any given country depending on the prevailing conditions. Employees and managers of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will have a global mindset and embrace different languages and work cultures. Furthermore, it will comply with international laws on labour, compensation, union relations, workplace safety, and worker privacy. Methods on how the strategy is to be developed. Developing a global strategy is not an easy task. However, through a number of coordinated efforts the task is not impossible. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. should align its resources and capacities to enable it enter into the global market effectively and minimise risks associated with international markets (Greene, 2008).There are a number of methods that are used to develop a global strategy. They include assessing company’s capabilities, analysing competitors, selecting target countries and entry points, screening countries, planning for the global strategy and adjusting the strategy to meet the prevailing circumstances. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. intends to develop its global strategy through acquisitions, joint venture and wholly-owned subsidiaries. Before any method is applied, it is important for the company to need to develop a plan that is well thought out using facts and practical assumptions relevant to the target market. The company need to state its goals and objectives and what it plans to achieve as well as global leadership ambition before it decides on a specific globalisation method. Some of the goals of the company are to generate more profits, expand, reduce costs and lead production and distribution of packaged gas in the world. Goals and objectives of the company should be based on company’s strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. The first method that the company intends to use to enter global market is through acquisitions. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc intends to purchase controlling or 100 percent interest in companies selling identical products (horizontal acquisition) in both foreign and domestic countries (Hitt et al 2009). The acquired companies will be subsidiaries within Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. portfolio. The company will only consider this method where there will be value addition through ownership of such companies. The company will acquire other companies to enter into new markets because of an opportunity identified, access raw materials and spread risk in uncertain business environment. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will acquire companies using both private equity and its own capital. The company targets companies in Asia, USA and Europe because these regions are stable and promise business development prospects. The company will also been keen to purchase companies in countries that experience higher economic growth, stable political and macroeconomic environment. Furthermore, the company will target companies in countries with investor friendly policies, laws and regulations as well as those that demonstrate highest demand prospects. Companies in countries that show low financial and marketing risks will also be considered. The second method that the company intends to enter the global market is through joint ventures. Joint venture refers to a mutual agreement between two or more companies from different countries to collaborate (cooperate) in value chain activities from research and development, distribution and marketing among many others. Joint venture is a favourable way of entering the foreign market. According to Hewitt (2005), companies should enter joint ventures with other companies that have non-conflicting objectives. Each partner need to contribute complementary skills to bring appropriate competencies to the joint venture. The company intends to not only contribute capital but also technical skills including managerial expertise, production technology and facilities as well as accessibility to limited resources. On the other hand, the other company will have to bring in knowledge of their local markets. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. plans to seek majority shareholding in joint ventures to permit the company tighter controls over the minor company. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. intent to enter into joint ventures with foreign companies that have definite advantages such as support from host government, improved technology, nearness to raw materials and proven business tactics. For example, the company intends to enter joint venture with similar companies in Russia, especially in eastern Siberia. This is to place itself strategically to benefits from abundant Helium that has been identified in parts of Russia. Russia delivered 40 cubic feed container of liquid helium to South Korea from Orenburg (Pravosudov 2011). If Russia becomes the leading producer of helium, Air Products and Chemicals, Inc will access adequate helium through its joint ventures with Russia companies. It also plans to benefit from local partners’ knowledge and culture as well as political and business systems. Other benefits that the company intends to reap include; shared risks, economies of scale and shared technology. To prevent future misunderstanding, the company will communicate openly and honestly to the other parties and all terms of the agreement shall be documented for future references to prevent confusion. The company will also review progress regularly to track progress towards achievement of company’s goals. Reviews shall be done on March, June, September and December annually to ascertain that the other parties to a joint venture are delivering desired benefits as agreed. The third method that the company intends to enter the market is through wholly-owned subsidiaries. The company establish new operations single handed or purchase 100 percent stake of a company in a host country. The wholly-owned subsidiaries shall be used to promote company’s products in the host market. This approach will be appropriate in areas with high economic growth, lower transaction costs and in locations where political and market risk will be lower. Through this method, Air Products and Chemicals, Inc will be able to realize location economies of scale realised through a standardized output (Hill and Jones, 2009). Major implications for the functional strategies of the Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. global strategy Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will have to adjust its operation priorities, invest in new global markets, increase production capacity, strengthen human resources, increase in risk level of the company and more disciplined to be adopted. The first implication is adjustment of company’s priorities. Garden (2000) asserts that companies should not be compelled to adjust to changing conditions in the market place. Therefore, management and employees of the company should understand that change is part of the global business. The second implication of adopting new global strategy is to increase investment. The company has to allocate more finances to developing company’s capacity and global distribution channels. According to Rouse (2006), increasing presence in international markets demand heavy investments in global marketing (promotions), research and development and customer support. Consequently, funds will be diverted from other departments to fund the new global strategy. As a result, some departments whose money will be diverted will complain bitterly. For example, if money is diverted from IT department, the IT personnel will complain that their department is underfunded and that the company’s IT system is outdated or lacking. The company will commit a given proportion of its revenues to research and development annually. These objectives will be annually translated into strategic plans as well as company’s financial plans. It is through research that innovative ways of distribution and packing are identified and implemented Thirdly, the company has to increase production capacity of packaged gases. This means that the company need to put more focus on packaged gas infrastructure to be able to produce more gases for sale in international markets (Leon 2008). Fourth, the company may have to strengthen its human resource base. This is to increase the capacity of employees to handle its customers. The numbers of customers purchasing packaged gases are many and varied. Therefore, it is appropriate for the company to invest more in building capacity and competencies of its employees to respond to customers’ needs. The company may have to employ regional directors in the countries of operations. The country directors who will be recruited should have the capacity to transform great businesses in their area of operations. Such directors must possess the vision and discipline to generate transformation that will produce results. The directors will be required to implement business process and systems to enable the business execute it vision. Furthermore, managers and employees who achieve and surpass their targets will be rewarded with promotions and incentives. This will commit them to meet their targets annually. The company will base it evaluation on customers’ opinions and suggestions. This means that employees will have to spend more time with customers and try to fix customer problems and issues as soon as they arise. To enhance employee reporting and evaluation, various managers of the company will spend time each week to review their departmental performances in production, packaging and distribution. Furthermore, regional directors will hold meetings where country representative chief quality officers will lead discussions and review existing customer quality issues. At the end of every year, meeting between the board of directors and top managers of the company will hold meetings to perform complete review of the company performances on production, packaging and distribution of packaged gases. Customer quality issues will also be prioritised during the meetings. Fifth, the risk level of the company will increase significantly. Managing a global enterprise is not a simple task. This is because different locations are faced with different and varied risks. Political, financial and market risks will increase significantly. Sixth, employees, top management and board of directors of the company will have to be more disciplined in their approach to business operations. This will ensure that set objective are pursued with greater inflexibility. In addition, objectives set need to be quantified and measured. All information emanating from the company will have to be well thought out and analysed. Consequently, there will be increased work load among employees because global strategy will contain stretched goals that are bold and challenging to enable them think as far as possible. The parent company will allow foreign subsidiaries some independence. Therefore, proactive and aggressive subsidiaries or agents will experience little patronage from the parent company as long as interest of the parent company is not sacrificed. Finally, the company will be in a position to maintain its leadership in the supply of packaged gases especially in production and supply of hydrogen and helium. This is a desired position of the company and employees must work hard to ensure that the company achieves its objectives. Bibliography Compressed Gas Association 1999, Handbook of compressed gases, 4 edn, Springer, Germany. Datamonitor 2010, Industry Profile: Global Industrial Gases, data monitor New York. Edwards, L 2010, The world is running out of helium: Nobel prize winner, viewed 20 April 2010,. Ellis, J. & Williams, D 1995, International Business Strategy, Pearson Education Limited. Gandolfo, G 1998, International trade theory and policy, Springer, Germany. 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