SLEPT analysis of Spain
Social/ Cultural
In a society as static as that of Spain, the surge of modernization that has overtaken the nation during the past three decades has had an impact more akin to that striking post-colonial societies of the Third World than the rate of evolutionary change common elsewhere in Europe. Spain is an old country that feels new, it transformed in a few years from a backward almost third world nation to a powerful state. Spain's greatest writers, composers, artists and architects of today, like their predecessors, exist within the European mainstream. It was only when one moved down from the level of high culture into that of popular culture that one found what was distinctively Spanish. To a large extent, this is still the case. Ordinary Spaniards continue to pass time in a variety of ways that are peculiar to their country (Griffin & Ortiz-Griffin 2003). Still, the passing of time has accelerated in the last quarter of the twentieth century. Traditional activities have been changed by the demands of expediency, the intrusion of novelties, and the loosening of long established restraints. The archetype of Spanish recreation, bullfighting, no longer occupies the central place in the nation's sporting life, an honor now largely conceded to soccer (Griffin & Ortiz-Griffin 2003).
The ever multiplying means of passing his increasing amount of leisure time now tempt the average Spaniard with a host of publications ranging from the romantic to the pornographic as well as mass-appeal television and cinema that offer a global array of trivia. With the passing of time, the nature of popular pastimes could draw the Spanish people into a homogenized Euro-culture (Griffin & Ortiz-Griffin 2003).The society of Spain is a mixture of various cultures. Spain is known for its culturally diverse heritage. The state was influenced by various countries and individuals throughout its history. Spain is an industrial and highly developed country, and most of its inhabitants live in an increasingly modern urban society. Almost all people live in urban areas, while farmers and agriculturalists live in the rural villages or small towns. About 76% of Spaniards belong to the Roman Catholic religion; 2% identify with another religious faith, and about 19% as non-religious. Most people in Spain still follow a number of age old traditions in addition to the latest fashion and cultural trends. The society would not be the cause of more problems for any company but the society due to its religious upbringing would be cautious to any advertisements that they would deem to be unacceptable. Any advertisements made by companies would be closely monitored by certain members of society. The culture of Spain is a combination of different races, nationalities and religion that has stayed in the country. The country has combination of the different cultures of people that have stayed in the country, each culture has a distinct characteristic which one person may or may not like. Each culture is sensitive to various issues and any disrespect to the culture may cause a company more problems and negative image to society. A company who wants to enter the Spanish market can make use of the various cultures as a way to determine further innovations that they can still make to their products. The various cultures will also help the company in having a better image in its industry because it can serve all types of culture.
Legal
The evolution of the Spanish Constitution seems to prove the assertion that Spain considers itself a social and democratic state, though this does not mean that everything has been done nor that The evolution of the Spanish Constitution seems to prove the assertion that Spain considers itself a social and democratic state, though this does not mean that everything has been done nor that there are not areas that could be improved (Hesse 1995). In general, however, it can be said that constitutionalism has taken root, despite the doubts which existed while it was being established. This uncertainty was the consequence of a turbulent history and the many years of dictatorship which the country experienced. That the Constitution has rooted itself firmly can be appreciated from the frequent repetition of the popular phrase 'this is unconstitutional', used on the streets when there is a possible infringement of human rights, or when state policies are unpopular. The Constitution has become the property of the people and has helped to create a political consciousness which was sadly lacking before (Hesse 1995).
Nevertheless, there is still much to be done as far as constitutional development is concerned, giving special attention to those areas pertaining to basic human rights, economic rights, the improvement of the system of autonomous communities, and achieving full conformity of the administration and the courts to a new legal reality. These are issues not only for which it is necessary to provide further theoretical guidelines, but which also need to be made more applicable in practice. This means full conformity with the existing constitutional reality, and alignment with socioeconomic, political, and constitutional evolution in other European countries. It is, perhaps, also necessary to make the political class more aware of the problems which affect other sectors of society (Hesse 1995).The sources of law in Spain include the law, customs and general principles of law. The supreme Spanish law is the Spanish Constitution of 1978. The constitution serves as the primary consultant with regards to creating new laws. The constitution regulates the functioning of public bodies. It makes sure that the fundamental rights of the Spanish people are respected. It also makes sure that the rights of organizations and the competencies of the different autonomous communities are given proper reverence. The Constitution enjoys a material supremacy that determines the rest of the laws in Spain. All laws enacted must be declared compatible with the Constitution. A public body has been created; they make sure that they regulate the fulfillment of this rule. The laws of Spain were enacted to give freedom and restriction to the people and businesses operating in Spain. The laws of Spain provide assistance in distinguishing what are the things that the people can and cannot do. It brings a situation of order in the democratic state. The laws of Spain should and will not be a hindrance to the growth of any company operating within its territories. It will provide the much needed help in making sure that the company will achieve its goals. The laws of Spain give guidance to the organization so that the company can achieve its goals without major issues from the government.
Economic
Since the 1950s, the country has undergone a transformation from conditions of backwardness, with the share of industry increasing over that period. While the share has declined in more recent decades it remains of fundamental importance. Within industry, there has been some shift towards sectors with a higher technological content, particularly motor vehicles, with Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) playing an important part in consolidating activities. Yet overall, there continues to be real competitiveness issues, due substantially to problems of technological weakness, which have become more acute as the economy has become more internationalized. While foreign investment has led progress in some sectors, there is still a lack of domestic innovative capacity. As a result, there is still a high dependence on foreign technology even if there is a higher capacity for absorbing foreign technologies as a consequence of the upgrading of local technological effort and capabilities (Mcgowan, Radosevic & Tunzelmann 2004).
The role of FDI and the ways in which it connected with Spanish institutions and firms changed substantially. To summarize these changes four types of links can be differentiated: property relations, technological activities, participation in public policies and those derived from the economic activity of the foreign companies themselves (Mcgowan, Radosevic & Tunzelmann 2004). Spain’s economy is considered to be one of the most successful in the world. The Spanish economy is credited for having avoided the virtual zero growth rates of some of its largest partners in the EU. The country's economy has created more than half of all the new jobs in the European Union. The Spanish economy has thus been regarded lately as one of the most dynamic within the EU, attracting significant amounts of foreign investment. During the last four decades the Spanish tourism industry has grown to become the second biggest in the world. More recently, the Spanish economy has benefited greatly from the global real estate boom. The downside of the real estate boom has been a corresponding rise in the levels of personal debt; as prospective homeowners struggle to meet asking prices, the average level of household debt has tripled in less than a decade. Ever since the 1990s some Spanish companies have gained multinational status, often, but not only, expanding their activities in culturally close Latin America. As Spain enters the second term of its current Prime Minister Rodríguez Zapatero, it has been seriously hit by the world liquidity crisis stemming from the American sub prime mortgage crisis. The American credit crunch became worldwide by the second half of 2007 and it is now affecting the rest of Western economies, especially predating on Spain by means of the burst of the Spanish property bubble, which used to account for much of the Spanish growth. The Spanish banking system has been credited as one of the most solid and best equipped among all Western economies to cope with the worldwide liquidity crisis, thanks to the Spanish banking rules and practices that oblige banks to have very high provisions. The government of Spain believes that it can withstand the financial crisis the world is facing. It believes that it made use of all strategies to avert the damaging effect of the crisis.
Political
It is difficult to argue that Spain constitutes a model for a well-timed move from consensus to competition. The fortunate outcome was serendipity wherein many of the decisions were taken in terms of partisan interest, and the balance of forces, plus the broad support of the population and a bit of luck, secured democracy. Consensus democracy may indeed require a consensual political culture, and a consensual political culture requires social as well as political actors to be willing to engage in negotiation and compromise. Spain is perhaps fortunate that the more intransigent sectors of its political and social elite held off their fire until the most dangerous phases of the transition had passed (Balfour 2005). Throughout the years since its accession to the European Union (EU), Spain was both an ardent supporter of integration and a major beneficiary of its largesse, largely through the Structural and Cohesion Funds. Entry to the European club was in fact a high point of the long post-Franco transition period, marking the culmination of the reformist aspirations of the previous decade. Membership was to consolidate a process of political and economic modernization envisaged in the principles and aspirations of the Spanish Constitution approved in 1978 (Balfour 2005).
The newly created social democratic state was constructed in part around the notion of the myth of Europe, which epitomized everything that was modern. Among those who shared the myth was the belief that Spain must rejoin Europe, which was critical to the reinvention of a democratic consciousness. Even before accession to the EU, national political elites identified the national interest with European interests. This particular perception of Spain's interest was reflected in the linkage between national identity and European identity. Subsequently, political discourse centered upon bringing together national identity and European common interests to legitimize domestic policy and the requisite adaptation to European institutional frameworks (Balfour 2005). The politics of Spain takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic constitutional monarchy, whereby the Monarch is the Head of State and the President of the Government is the head of government in a multi-party system. Executive power is vested in the government. Central legislative power is vested in the two chambers of parliament. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. The political pressure groups compose of Business and landowning interests; free labor unions; Catholic Church and other religious organizations and armed rebellion. The political pressure groups contribute in shaping the political reforms the government introduces. The pressure groups serve as a conscience in government decisions. The democratization of Spain has made a big impact with its success economically. The democratization of Spain made sure that businesses can try to venture in that country. A business has to make sure that they were aware of the political situation of Spain and the company has to make sure that it has a reasonable position with regards to political issues. A company must pass tests done on the product before it can be sold in the market. The company must make sure that it correctly places the products contents in its labels so that they will not face penalties.
Technological
After the First World War Spain came through its industrial revolution with basic industries concentrated in the Basque country and assembly or transformation industries in Catalonia. There was at this time no significant institutional interest in technology, and so by the 1920s Spain established what would become a heavily dependent relation on foreign expertise in communications technology. This set a pattern of dependence on imported technology that deepened through three national development plans. By 1978, Spain's dependency on foreign technology in the sector of electronics components, which includes telecommunications, reached an estimated 93 percent (Kinder 1997). At the same time, Spain was investing less capital in research and development as a percentage of its wealth than any other European country; and it was notably weak in contracting license agreements and even weaker in assimilating the technology it was licensed to use. Nowhere was the internationalization of capital more clearly expressed than in the communication and information technology sector. This sector is usually divided into professional and consumer electronics goods. The enormous power held by transnational electronics firms indicates one of the more influential sectors among the business, as well as political, elites (Kinder 1997).
This pressure was played out most decisively in the formulation of Spain's telecommunication policy, and in political efforts surrounding the union of Spain with European Union. In relation to the regional broadcasters, transnational electronics firms were able to expand into new markets when the absolute control of the central government over purchases of communication technology was challenged by the regional authorities (Kinder 1997). Technology is an important factor for a success of a country. The advancement in technology contributes in a state’s achievement of goals. The advancement in technology helps a country be competitive in the global market. The failure to adjust to new trends to technology leads to poorer services to people and businesses. The technology in Spain is vastly improving. The businesses in that country offered new innovations in its technological aspect and introduced new concepts with regards to its industry. Since technology rapidly changes. Spain makes sure they are updated to what is happening and they can adjust to these changes. If other companies use new technologies to provide services, Spain and businesses within it has the technology capable of competing with such technologies. A new company can make use of its various technological innovations to have no problem entering the Spanish market. Technology is a big help to Spain, its people and businesses within it. Technology made a huge impact in the way people does their daily activities, it created an impact on how company does its business and it changed the landscape of businesses in Spain. The technology available in Spain will not serve as a hindrance to the growth of any new business in that market, instead it will provide additional means for the company to reach its goal in the newer market. The technologies that will be used by the people and businesses passed international standards and its benefits were proven by various companies.
Opportunities for Barbour
An opportunity for the company Barbour is to find out more ways to give a distinctive look and features to their actual stores. The stores of Barbour should be designed in a way that clients will come back over and over again. The retail stores of Barbour should feature the best of their products and the products that are well patronized by clients. By doing this the company will have competitive advantage over other firms. It will attract clients who have various tastes. An opportunity for the company is to improve the features of their website. By doing this it can attract more markets. The company should focus on the online purchase function of their website. The company should make sure that the online buying function of the website would be working to prevent any problems with the clients There should be less downtime for the website to prevent the loss of loyal or projected clients. The company should also continue to improve its supply chain so that different issues and problems can be resolved ahead of time. It should device faster means to deliver supplies to prevent shortages of products in their branches. The supply chain system should have lesser errors so that the operation of the company would not stop. Lastly an opportunity for Barbour is to continue to reach newer territories where it can offer its products and services. This newer territories may be in a country that has recently just improved its economy. Barbour can try to reach the Asian Region particularly countries like Singapore and Hong Kong. The company’s product lines will do well in the region because there are some people in the region that has the same taste in fashion as the European and American clients.
Barriers for Barbour
A barrier to the growth of Barbour is the high cost of operations. Companies such as Barbour have to consider cost of operations in the domestic market. In terms of cost retail firms can incur more cost than other firms. Materials used by manufacturing firms may be brought in at lower prices but the products being offered in the retail industries cannot be lowered and each personnel have different values for a different kind of service. The manufacturing firms can still lower its operational cost while the retail firms have a limited chance to do that because of personnel costs and product costs. To manage the barrier of higher cost, Barbour can buy more than one product from the mother company of the products they are selling. Another barrier to the growth of Barbour is the high cost of personnel hiring and maintenance. Since the personnel cost cannot be reduced, Barbour can minimize the use of expensive ornaments or display in the domestic branch. The company can reduce the use of displays and other attractive without sacrificing the uniqueness of a branch. Ornaments have lesser importance than the quality of service. A barrier to the growth of retail firms such as Barbour is the tariffs and taxes that the retail companies have in the different countries they operate in, each countries has its own rate of taxes and tariff that creates additional expenses for a retail firm such as Barbour. Lastly a barrier to the growth of Brought is the culture of some clients in other countries they operate in. Some people may not like the new culture that is brought by retail firms and its expansion into newer markets. Some people may protest against some of the materials used in creating the products.
References
Balfour, S (ed.) 2005, The politics of contemporary Spain,
Routledge, New York.
Griffin, WD & Ortiz-Griffin, JL 2003, Spain and Portugal
today, Peter Lang, New York.
Hesse, JJ (ed.) 1995, Johnson, N 1995, Constitutional
policy and change in Europe, Oxford University Press,
Oxford.
Kinder, M (eds.) 1997, Refiguring Spain: Cinema, media,
representation, Duke University Press, Durham, NC.
Mcgowan, F, Radosevic, S & Tunzelmann, S (eds.) 2004, The
emerging industrial structure of the wider Europe, New
York.
0 comments:
Post a Comment