Write about the Analysis of Ansell Limited Business Management.
The rapid growth of industrial and manufacturing businesses or activities have increased the need for safety and protection solutions. On a daily basis globally, people are exposed to various risks which require protection and safety measures. Therefore the manufacturing industry of protective solutions has immensely grown in the recent past as the countries and businesses continue to seek or work to create a safer and protected world (Badhani et al., 2015). According to a market data report conducted by the Market Business Insider on 4th of August 2017, the global protective gloves industry or market was estimated to have reached USD 8.69 in 2017 and projected to reach USD 11.26 billion in terms of profit margin by the year 2022. The main players in the industry or market include companies such as 3M Company; Ansell Limited Company, Kossan, Hartalega Company, Latex, Bull Gloves, Cordova Safety Company among other international companies. The industry is expected to growth at 12.8 growth rate. The growth of the manufacturing industry for safety and protection solutions has grown due to the continued efforts by business regulatory authorities which require compliance with health and safety regulations (Agarwal & Ansell, 2016). Ansell Company has been one of the top leading manufacturer and provider of protective solutions globally. Therefore this research project aims at providing an analysis of the company overall international strategic management.
Ansell Company is a leading global provider of protective solutions, and it operates an entirely as a manufacturing company. The company manufactures a wide range of protection solutions to meet the ever-changing individual and business needs and demands in their various markets and industries (Yasuda & Ansell, 2015). The innovative company strategy guides the manufacturing activities by manufacturing advanced protection products that will solve most challenges for the industrial workers. In its manufacturing activities, the company operates two main divisions including the industrial division and the health division (Ansell & Gash, 2017). Ansell industrial division is involved in the manufacturing and marketing of high-performance multi-use protection solutions specifically for the hands, foot and body protection for a wide range of industries. On the other hand, the Ansell Health division is involved in the manufacture of a range of healthcare surgical and examination gloves which cover all applications. It also manufactures healthcare safety devices and active infection protection products.
Ansell Limited is a public limited company, and therefore the ownership of the company is regarding shareholding capacity. The voting rights of the shareholders decide on the company through the company board of executives. The company is therefore listed on the Australia Stock Exchange where potential investors, as well as the existing company investors, can analyze the trend or how their shares are trading in the share market.
The company started as the Dunlop Pneumatic Tyre Company of Australia in the year 1899. However, in the year 1929, the company merged with the Perdrian Rubber Company a business move that led to the changing of its name to Dunlop Perdrian limited. In the year 2002, the company changed its name to Ansell Limited. It was founded by Eric Norman Ansell and has its headquarters in Melbourne Australia. It is a global leader, manufacturer, and provider of protective solutions for both industrial and healthcare range of applications.
The primary concern of the company is to protect millions of people around the world who depend on the company for both professional and personal lives. The company strives to create advanced solutions through technology and innovation that will assist in solving the challenges of industrial workers globally. The company is guided by its vision of providing innovative solutions for protection and safety, well-being and peace of mind for everyone regardless of whom they are and where they are.
The primary objectives of the company are to provide protection solutions to their markets and industries. The company also seeks to provide innovative solutions which will be able to address or meet the needs and demands of their customers in different industries globally. The company also aims to achieve corporate social sustainability which will contribute to enhancing its effectiveness in meeting the business, community, suppliers and environmental demands.
For the company to achieve its set goals and objectives, it must act or operate within specific policies which will make them unique from their competitors in the industry. The company, therefore, operates under the principle of corporate social sustainability where it seeks to meet the demands of the company stakeholders, environmental conservation, and community-based activities to promote social and economic development (Choi & Choi, 2015). The company also operates under the principle of diversity and inclusion by serving the interest of all customer groups no matter who they are or even where they are. Its policy of protection of human rights has played a vital role in meeting the demands of their customers from various markets and industries. Its service provision strategy is guided by the company principle to provide quality protection services globally. The company also has a guiding principle of compliance with the UK legislation of Modern Slavery Act.
The ownership of the company is divided into two based on data provided by the Australian Stock Exchange. The company is owned by both owned by institutions as well as by the general public. The general public owns 41.01 percent of the company and therefore giving the retail investors collective power in influencing the decisions of the company and especially on the significant policy decisions. Secondly the different institutions own 54.59 percent of the company shares and form the largest ownership group of the company. This exposes the company into the risk of volatile stock price movement if the institutions block the potential traders during open markets. There company also has insider ownership from various stakeholders in the company of 0.40 percent which means that the company has a level of shareholder alignment since the insider owners of the company choose the projects with higher returns on investment (Jaeger, 2016). However their voting power is limited compared to that of institutional owners as well as the general public. For their decisions to be implemented there is a need to develop a consensus with the other owners of the company especially in matters relating to policy implementation in the company.
The company seeks to achieve economies of scale in their operations implying that there is need to venture and develop new growth strategies. One of the regions where the company has not ventured into or diversified their operations is the African continent. Despite having established itself in the region, there is a lot of growth opportunities in the gloves protection and manufacturing industry. This plan therefore aims at developing entry strategies for the company into the East African market. The gloves protective industry in the region is not efficiently run by the existing companies and demand for quality protective industrial and medical protection devices has continued to rise (Wyatt et al., 2016). The main company in the region supplying the protective solutions is the KEMA (EA) Ltd which has become a leader in the industry through provision of quality products and related services. Ansell Limted Company has diverse range of services and products including the hands, foot and body protection gloves or products for different or a wide range of application in various industries. Under the company industrial division the company produces a range of protective products for the automotive, machinery and equipment industries, for food processing, chemical engineering protective services as well as life sciences protective solutions and metal fabric protection solutions. On the other hand, the healthcare division produces or offers healthcare protective solutions and specializes in the production of surgical gloves, specialty gloves as well as examination gloves (Bedetti et al., 2015). The provision of these services and products into the east African region will provide the company with a competitive edge and advantage in the industry since compared to the services provided by the existing firms in the region; Ansell provides quality and reliable products. The medical gloves such as the surgical gloves, latex gloves and condoms have gained great recognition in the industry due to their quality. The company can therefore use the brand name of the company to venture into new international markets. The protective clothing is also of high quality offering great services to the various employees or staffs using them in various organizations or industries compared to products made by small companies. The quality of their products can therefore be used as a competitive strategy as it grants them a competitive edge.
The company provides guardian services by helping their partner or consulting companies when making decisions to acquire protective types of equipment by assisting them to select the right personal protective equipment solution to improve the safety as well as the company productivity and performance. Such services are very vital in venturing into new international markets as through provision of guarding services the company would be able to understand the market dynamics of the region and develop effective entry strategies. The company also provides care services to different or a wide range of industries and companies (Arcury et al., 2015). The care is guided and supported by a scientific advisory network that is comprised of different physicians, researcher, leading scientists as well as educators from various parts of the world. The company also provides patent licensing services to different companies and most important to the technological and innovative companies.
The East African region has being characterized with increased population growth with countries such as Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda experiencing growth in their industrial and manufacturing industries. Improved health services have become a major concern in the region and therefore increasing the demand for protective solutions in the medial, health care and industrial sectors. with increased industrial activities there is increased demand for industrial protective gloves, while the increased populations creates a need for improved health care services and therefore increasing the demand for healthcare protective solutions such as the surgical gloves. The growth of sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV and AIDS in the region has increased the demand for protective solutions such as condoms for prevention purposes. Therefore the region has great potential market for expansion purposes for a company such as Ansell Limited which has already established itself in international gloves protection industry. The company has been able to position itself in the market and has an extensive customer base due to its vast operations network. The company has an overall healthy market share which gives it a competitive advantage over their competitors. The customer base runs across all the continents including America, Europe, Africa, and Asia and even in the Middle East and Caribbean Africa Pacific countries where demand has continued to increase due to continued focus on infection control and the need for protective devices (Goetsch & Davis, 2014). The company has a great growth opportunity in this region to provide quality services aimed at meeting the needs and desires of their clients in the region.
Competition in the Gloves Protective industry is increasing with major competitors in Australia, America and Asia Pacific competing to become market leaders. Majority of firms have therefore shifted their focus in expanding their growth strategies to the Middle East countries, China as well as in the African continent. The East African market is not dominated by key players in the industry characterized by small operations and presence of international companies. Currently the KEMA (EA) limited is the market leader in the region. Ansell limited company despite having a competitive advantage in the global gloves protective industry through diversifying their operations to many over 55 countries has continued to face increasing competition from the industry rivals. The company has not achieved its optimum efficiency, and therefore there is a need to develop effective strategies to combat the competition and gain increased competitive advantage (Hassan et al., 2014). The topmost competitor of Ansell Limited is the Cardinal health company which was founded in the year 1971. Their operations in Africa have not been largely diversified to different countries. The second competitor of the company is the priMED Company which operates as a private company having been established in the year 1995. Its operations have not also gained roots in the East African market. The protective industrial production company (PIP) is considered to be the biggest rival or competitor of Ansell Limited since they operate or offer the same services in the protection industry (Wheelen et al., 2017). The company has its operations in the East Africa Region however not fully established with operations being done by partner companies through franchise. Venturing into this market will provide Ansell Company with an opportunity to diversify their operations, gain increased growth and a competitive advantage in the international or global gloves protective industry. Understanding the various market dynamics will therefore be crucial in successful business venture in the region.
The East Africa region provides a potential favorable business climate for the growth of international businesses. The region is characterized with most developing countries which are looking into venturing into international business however they are limited in terms of their resources (Zamudio et al., 2014). The region economy is open providing opportunities for companies to open a business in the region with fewer restrictions on business operations; it is liberal as well as transparent and therefore provides support to the growth of companies in the region, investments, and trade.
According to a report released by World Bank business as well as the International Finance Corporation IFC, the region has consistently been ranked as one of the best places to conduct foreign investment. Regarding ease of doing business, the region has favors the growth of foreign direct investments and any other types of business mergers and franchise since most of the best performing businesses are international firms (Madsen & Walker, 2015). The major inderance to the success of the business in the region has been corruption with the countries having being listed amongst the most corrupt nations globally despite the efforts made by the leaders according to the data released by the Transparency International Corporation Perception Index. Therefore based on these environmental factors or business climate factors the nation can be said to offer a favorable business climate for the existing as well as the emerging business and therefore providing an opportunity for increased business growth.
A company SWOT Analysis is a very significant tool for strategic planning and business management. It can, therefore, be used by the administration of Ansell Company to conduct the situational business analysis of the company current business environment and develop effective strategies to improve business performance. It, therefore, provides an understanding of the company strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and possible threats, through which the management of the company can examine, analyze and make strategic moves to improve the performance of the business.
Strengths- the company enjoys continued support from different institutions which form part of the shareholders and therefore institutional financial support. The company has been able to engage in strategic business acquisition such the current acquisition of the Barrier Safe Information which has enabled the company to enhance its growth opportunities. The company has top performing and quality brand in the market which gives them a competitive advantage (Dhliwayo, 2014). The company global presence acts as one of the greatest strengths of the company allowing it to diversify their operations in many countries. Her ability to engage their customers in dialogues is a great strength as it enables them to manufacture and deliver quality goods which will meet their demands. Technological and innovative capacity has enabled the company to manufacture quality products.
Weaknesses- the company weaknesses can be used strategically to become the future strengths of the company management. Underperformance has been one of the weaknesses of the company despite having a global presence and great market position the company has not being able to maximize their productivity. The management of the company which is influenced by the institutions with the largest shares in the company as well as the general public affects the company growth strategies and especially when it comes to making policy decisions.
Opportunities- with the increasing population growth, there is increasing demand for medical safety and protection devices globally. This is an excellent opportunity that the company is looking forward to venturing into and supply for the needs and requirements in the market. The rapid growth of advanced technology in the modern corporate world provides an opportunity for the company to become more innovative by the use of contemporary technology in producing quality products and deliver quality services to their markets.Threats- the significant threat the company is facing is from the increasing competition in the industry with the emergence of new companies in the protection industry. Such companies are offering substitute products and services in both industrial and healthcare protection industry, and therefore the company needs to develop effective strategies to gain a competitive edge in the market.
Every business region is regulated by certain business laws and legislations which have been established as regulatory frameworks for regulating business operations. These regulations are sometimes viewed as constraints to the business operations however the laws are aimed at protecting the businesses, consumers as well as the environment. The significant limitations, however, would be the taxes for business operations. The region has imposed not only tariffs but also high taxes for international businesses. The charges are aimed to generate revenue for the governments (Palandeng et al., 2018). The tax deductions, however, depend on the type of business, location as well as the revenue generated by the companies. However, the governments of the various countries within the East Africa region have provided significant support to assist investors to establish businesses in the country. However, the support provided depends on the location of the company, the industry as well as the nature of the company.
Most of the governments and especially for countries such as Kenya and Rwanda assists investors with the aim of attracting and facilitating productiveness of their economy through foreign direct investments into the countries. The grants are available to the emerging entrepreneurs who want to start new business as well as to the existing business with the aim of expanding their business operation as well as for those engaged in research activities in the country. Such opportunities therefore provide an opportunity for new businesses which can merger or enter into franchise businesses with the Ansell Limited Company as an entry strategy into the region. The region has invested heavily on research and development activities in the region which is a great platform to understand the market dynamics regarding the growth of gloves protective products and industries in the region (Baumgartner & Rauter, 2017). The governments also offer support to new businesses through minimizing the trade restrictions or barriers in the region which is a great opportunity to provide free movement of goods and services in the region.
The East African Region has enacted several business regulation laws and regulations. The regulations have been provided to protect the consumers, the community, and the environment as well as to promote fair trading and competition in the region. One of the laws enacted by the government is the competition law or regulation which is aimed at ensuring that business or trading is fair for the businesses and the consumers (Gengler & Mulvey, 2017). The country has also enacted consumer laws which provide regulation to consumers by protecting them from unfair contract terms, product safety laws, unsolicited consumer agreements as well as consumer rights and guarantees. The law is governed by the various governments Consumer Laws.
The company has been able to position itself as the leader in most of the industries they serve. The company experienced a significant transformation in the financial year ending 2014 through which it increased its revenue and since then has continued to strategically establish itself in their various markets to achieve their overall growth strategy. Such success has been attributed to the company acquisition strategies which have enhanced their positioning in multiple markets (Busse & Mollenkopf, 2017). However success in different economic regions requires different entry strategies. There is a need for the company to develop effective entry strategies for successful business ventures into the East African region. However, they can still use the previous brand success to strategize on the new entry modes into the region. The company management through the board is confident of attaining greater efficiency and success (Datta et al., 2017). The increased innovative capability has enabled the company position itself regarding competitiveness by innovating new products and services aimed at satisfying particular consumer needs and demands. This innovative strategy can still be used by the company to develop quality products which will help the company to gain competitive advantage in the industry with the existing firms operating in the region.
Developing an effective pricing strategy is essential to any company that seeks to improve its revenue and profitability and especially in a new market. Therefore it is necessary for the company to create a good pricing strategy as a marketing tool for their products and services in the East Africa region. The company pricing strategy is consequently determined by the product or services differentiation as the company manufactures different products for both the industrial and the healthcare industries. However, the company should ensure that their pricing strategy is fair to the consumers in the region (Wu et al., 2017). The existing cost leadership strategy can still be very effective as new entry strategy to rival the existing firms in the region. Despite their economies of scale, and therefore the management of the company can choose to implement cost leadership strategy which may play an essential role in increasing their customer base, competitive advantage and also increased revenue and profitability.
The company logistics activities can be said to be good with an opportunity to improve in future. The company has a good culture and work-life balance while its operational performance can be supposed to be to be increasing as well as their customer service. The company inventories are much more optimized, and their product availability is very efficient (Patil, & Bach, 2017). Therefore the company has been able to effectively coordinate their distribution activities in a move to ensure that their customers get the best services. To achieve this company has established itself in various continents and has been able to work with a team of highly motivated and skilled labor force.
Like any other successful business, the company has engaged in various product promotions and advertising strategy however there is a need to develop new strategies for entry into the East Africa Region based on the market dynamics of the region. One of the promotion activities that the company should continue in the new venture is the SEMA Show through the Ansell Grip Challenge Promotion which involved some participants, and the winner would win him or herself some great prizes (Hayati et al., 2017). The strategy will be effective in creating awareness of the Ansell brands to the potential customers in the region and increasing their competitiveness in the industry. The use of various social media marketing platforms will also be critical such company websites as well as the multiple media platforms in helping understand the market dynamics.
The company recorded an increased sales growth in the year 2017 from the previous 2016 sale returns. The total group or company sales were estimated to be $ 1.6 billion for the year ending 2017 and represented an increase of 1.7 % of the previous financial year. The company can also be said to have experienced an organic sale growth of 3.6 percent in constant currency. The sales growth has been attributed to the good performance of the sexual welfare, the growth of the synthetic surgical markets as well as the development of new products (Mares, 2017). The sales mix can be grouped according to the different activities of the company where the industrial global business performance recorded sales returns of 41 percent of the total revenue; the medical division filed sales returns of 25 percent, sexual wellness a yield of 14 percent while the single-use global business performance recorded sales returns of 20 percent.
The company product and service promotion strategies are driven by the company desire to manufacture and deliver quality services to their clients. One of the key product and service strategy that has helped the company achieve its growth and profitability is the innovative product strategy. Such policy has enabled the company to innovate different products and services aimed at providing solutions in their markets which is very critical in venturing into new markets (Pyrek, 2018). Such approaches have been developed to enhance competitiveness in the industry and can be equally employed to venture and dominate the East Africa region.
The company cash flow analysis is used to portray the general performance or activities of the company. However, their information provided in the cash flow statements may not be reliably compared to the actual financial statements such as income statement and balance sheets which are more detailed. From the company cash flow activities, the company net operating cash flows reduced from 232.3 million dollars to 216.2 million dollars in the year 2017. This showed that the company becomes stronger regarding using short-term assets finance for the short term liabilities (Desai, 2017). The net operating activities increased from 23.7million dollars to 109.9 million dollars representing an increase in company investment activities which is an excellent move for the company and to the shareholders. The company financing activities also experienced a significant improvement through a decrease from 26.4 million dollars to 24.9 million dollars.
The company due to its continued growth and success in o most markets where its services in addition to the increased investments activities, there is an expectation of the increase in company profitability. The expansion will, however, determine the current currency fluctuation rates. More information provided.
To develop our deep understanding of the company financial performance we also look at other company operations financial statements. More information provided in Appendix C and Appendix D.
For effective management of the company, the management executive of the company has to make proposals concerning the personnel of the company as well as to the factors affecting or influencing sales. The personnel consideration that has to be made are regarding the staffing issues, their performance, and their compensation. The management has, therefore, a responsibility of ensuring that their personnel is motivated and aligned towards the strategic goals of the company. The staff must be show commitment to the business goals and objectives (Helble & Shepherd, 2017). It should develop a good compensation strategy to the team and address the issues affecting the employees in a move to enhance their efficiency and productivity. Their commitment is directly proportional to the profitability of the company and therefore has an impact on the sales growth in the company.
Due to the diverse nature of the business and the complexity of the industries and markets the company operates as well as serves, the company has a team of business advisers globally. These advisers are from different fields and industries and are experts in the various management roles. The company, therefore, has a team of accountants and statutory auditors who are engaged in advising the company and the management on the financial status and position of their companies and advise them on the appropriate measures (Tanaka et al., 2018). The Ansell-Munden accountants as well as business auditor’s work together to prepare financial statements conduct financial auditing and advise the company on appropriate measures. Ryan Ansell investment solutions work with other advisers in helping the company to make informed investment decisions and choices as well as assisting the company in potential and existing investors in making sound investment choices. Kate Ansell offers business advisory services to the company with the help of other consultancy business companies (Ramos-Torres, 2017). These groups of advisers among other not mentioned work together with company board of directors, the executive leadership and the technological leadership groups in the company to ensure that effective business strategies are developed and implemented to achieve the set targets and objectives.
A contingency plan is generated by an organization or company and represents a course of action aimed at helping the company respond effectively to a significant future. In most case, the contingent plans form part of a company or business continuous disaster recovery as well as risk management strategies (Yamakawa & Cardon, 2017). The development of contingency plan for the company is guided by the projected world demand for better protection, and therefore the company is continually investing in research and development as well as in the cutting edge product innovation and new technologies.
The company has therefore developed contingency plans aimed at the production of new products or new product development which is projected to increase their competitiveness in future and increase their profitability. The company also expects to grow concerning their market share and to achieve this company has developed more business acquisition strategies (Paulraj et al., 2017). The company has also developed plans of expanding their current footprints in the emerging markets. The company has also developed contingency plans for attaining. Significant projects have been designed to enhance the growth of nuclear activities of the company. The policies aimed at building a strong brand in the emerging markets, developing more partnerships channels, growing their market share as well as becoming more innovative concerning growing new products. The company has also developed contingency plans for attaining profitability in the future as well as improved performance in their cash flow activities (Rothenberg et al., 2017). To achieve this, the company aims at leveraging core processes for enhanced customer services, necessary insourcing materials, and technology, adopting lean management practices as well as rationalizing the brands.
Conclusions
From the above analysis, Ansell Company has continued to experience continued growth and also continued to become a leader in the protection industry. However, the company is still facing competition from other companies in the industry offering the same services. It is recommended that the company should continue its efforts of increasing their innovative capability to provide solutions to the different emerging markets. There is a need to develop effective adverting and product promotion strategies since the company is still underperforming concerning revenue growth despite their economies of scale and their competitive advantage in the different markets where the company serves.
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