Review of the Strategic situation of DeBeer's Essay

Review of the Strategic situation of DeBeer's - Essay Example In view of the emerging challenges, DeBeers had to g back to the drawing board and strategize how it would remain relevant in the market, having lost its monopolistic powers and its market share reduced to 60%. The image of the company had also been tainted for engaging in non-business friendly and illegal practices when it was the market leader as it tried to wade off competition. The company had to change its strategy from a ‘buyer of a last resort’ to a more demand driven strategy that bore in mind the need for a good brand image. A good analysis of this strategy indicates that the company is still going to be a relevant contributor to the industry in the foreseeable future amid the challenges it faces. TABLE OF CONTENTS Title page 1 Executive Summary 2 Introduction 4 Body Analysis of business environment 6 Analysis of the Organization’s strategy 8 Appraisal of the strategy 10 Conclusion 10 Reference list 11 Word Count 12 DeBeers’ Diamond Dilemma Introdu ction Natural diamonds are formed as a result of carbon atoms beneath the surface of the earth bonding in to cubic structures due to excess heat and pressure in a very hard transparent compound. With the discovery of diamond deposits in various parts of the world in the 18th and 19th century, extraction process begun leading to the establishment of the diamond industry as one of the biggest economic sectors of most countries with diamond deposits (Hesse, R. W. 2007). Diamonds are heterogeneous minerals and were initially not considered as commodities in the market like other minerals such as copper and gold. Natural diamonds have widely been used in making jewelry and other precious and coveted ornaments. One of the countries naturally endowed with diamond deposits is South Africa. Other countries with huge deposits of diamond include Angola, Botswana, Democratic republic of Congo, Russia, Australia, and Canada. Together, the seven countries account for about 96% of global productio n of diamond and about 88% of the value of diamonds produced. Initially the diamond producing countries would export the rough diamond to other countries for processing (Carlson, 2005). Diamond processing involves cutting and polishing the rough diamonds into precious items. India was the most dominant diamond processing country in the beginning, while the situations has now changed since most of the producing countries now have diamond processing plants locally. DeBeers, a diamond extraction company in South Africa has for a long time been the market leader in the global diamond industry, controlling about 80% of total diamond supplies and produced about 45% of global production of diamonds. As a market leader, DeBeers could control the prices of rough diamonds globally by regulating supply. In a bid to expand its market share, the company engaged in various practices that aimed at killing any competition. So9me of the company’s practices were illegal in other jurisdictions and contributed to creation of a negative image of DeBeers on the global scene. From the early 1990s to date, the position of DeBeers as the market leader has been overtaken due to various factors that led to establishment and growth of other competitors as well as the popularity of synthetic diamonds and the shifting of the diamond market to adopt the demand-supply structure as the main price determinants. The dissolution of the Soviet Union led to

International strategic management Individual assignment Essay

International strategic management Individual assignment - Essay Example However, before plunging into the deeper perspective of the said topic, looking into the history of democratic government of Russia as well as its inclusion to the G8, and how G8 was formed, is an important thing to do to further assess the capability of the said country to lead in a prestigious and important group such as the G8. Also, there are those who doubt the capability of G8 as some have claimed that Russia has still remnants of communists' ideology which is in contrary to the ideals of G8. In this case, there are those who claim that the country's loyalty to G8 is still in question as there are still hanging issues with regards to the country, and therefore the country must first arrange its internal problem before venturing into such issue. If we are to deal with history, the country has engaged into cold war with the United States and other countries. This was due to the decision of the former Soviet Union to have a socialist/communist government in the aforementioned country. This made USSR engaged in a long-tern economic hiatus on trade, investments and other related endeavors which deprived the country of enjoying several economic benefits and international tie-ups with regards to trade and investments. However, in 1991, the country has experienced a tremendous change... The reforms immediately devastated the living standards of much of the population, especially the groups dependent on Soviet-era state subsidies and welfare entitlement programs. Through the 1990s, Russia's GDP fell by 50 percent, vast sectors of the economy were wiped out, inequality and unemployment grew dramatically, while incomes fell. Hyperinflation wiped out a lot of personal savings, and tens of millions of Russians were plunged into poverty. In August 1991, Yeltsin won international plaudits for casting himself as a democrat and defying the August coup attempt of 1991 by hard-line Communists. But he left office widely despised as a desperate, ailing autocrat among the Russian population. As president, Yeltsin's conception of the presidency was highly autocratic. Yeltsin either acted as his own prime minister (until June 1992) or appointed men of his choice, regardless of parliament. His confrontations with parliament climaxed in the October 1993 Russian constitutional crisis, when Yeltsin called up tanks to shell the Russian White House, blasting out his opponents in parliament. Later in 1993, Yeltsin imposed a new constitution with strong presidential powers, which was approved by referendum in December" The said move was deemed by the Russian as the dawn of the new day for them as they have seen several investors and trade agreements which boosted the economy of the said country. However, in 1998, the country has experienced downfall of the economy in line with the economic crisis in the world. This prompted Yeltsin to tender his resignation on the eve of New Year in 1999. Vladimir Puttin succeeded the leader and has