International Buisiness

Ques 1 What is the nature of   whirlpool's domestic and international business environments? what type of risks they face?
Answer1 -
In the domestic environment things are   fast maturing so the sales volumes are declining and margins of profit are decreasing.There is intense domestic competition so the buyers are also more demanding so whirlpool needs to innovate

to distinguish its products form others at least on the domestic front. On the international front a more customised product approach is required in order to cater to needs of specific cultures worldwide.
The international trade barriers fell and this provided them with a opportunity to expand globally.
As indicated in the case study to counter the effect of less margins domestically and also internationally   they need to reduce costs on   R& D, manufacturing and services, so expanding to places like china would help in realising this

goal.
As competition is intense domestically they need to explore and expand internationally to markets where there kind of advanced products which are high on innovation are not available or simply put there is opportunity to expand   basis

their advanced stature on appliance technoogy, production and distribution systems.

So to summarise while it was getting stiff on the domestic front the international world held a host of opportunites for whirlpool.
Risks-> Whirlpool faced a risk of   non accpetance of its product line in various markets due to cultural differences . This is because people belonging to different countries or cultures have different perceptions and demands from the

appliances .This is aptly explained in the case with the example of the washing machines/refrigerators.
To counter this risk they spent a whole lot of efort on R& D,starting off with its knowledge management solution in form of the intranet website and also sending diverse groups to various international locations .
It also faces risk of canniblaisation of its local...