Slate.com Explains why Europeans Hate Wal-Mart & Mc Donald’s

According to Slate.com, marketing professionals have feared that a global rift between the U.S. and Europe caused by the Iraq invasion would hurt America’s strongest and iconic brands. Both Coca-Cola and Mc Donald’s suffered sales repercussions but according to the article not all companies suffer equally.

General Electric in Europe

Before looking for an article, I decided to look up America’s largest corporations. The top ten were Exxon Mobil, Wal-mart, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, General Electric, General Motors, Ford Motor, AT&T, Hewlett Packard, and Valero Energy. I continued my research and found an article about General Electric in London. It stated that their sales have slipped from one year highs. The article was from Friday, October 16th and the statistics were just updated that day. IBM and Google were also mentioned; their results were disappointing as well, but they are both doing better than General Electric has been.

American Companies in the European Market

An article on Businessweek.com titled “Microsoft and Europe Near Browser Truce” by Nick Clark had grabbed my attention. American company, Microsoft, could finally possibly be ending the decade long battle with the European Union. The regulator is planning to open up different internet browsers to competitors on Windows. A main worry is that Microsoft will link Internet Explorer to Windows. If this would come to be, then users will not have a choice in which web browser they will be able to use. Mozilla Firefox would be an example of a different web browser.

Wal-Mart’s Painful Lessons

Wal-Mart has clearly seen its successes in North America. The headquarters in Arkansas gave early and easy access for the company to venture into Mexico in 1991, where the chain of stores really began to hit it off. Across North America, the strategy of “…big box – low cost model…” clicked with everyday and bargain shoppers. However, the very opposite happened in parts of Europe and Asia; after experimenting with Wal-Mart in Germany and Korea, the chain withdrew from these countries in 2006 due to poor results.

Microsoft Giving Competition a Run for Their Money?

Companies have always rivaled one another. There is always a fight to see which company can get a successful product out the fastest. Microsoft, a global company is challenging its competitors once again by launching a new set of “smart phones” in Europe. Journalist Nick Clark further discusses this controversial matter in “Microsoft Kicks Off New Phones in Europe”. The chief executive of Microsoft, Steve Ballmer visited the United Kingdom to share the Windows phones. According to Microsoft, the system will have “better browsing capabilities and quick access to services including Windows Live and search engine Bing.”

Starbucks Vs. McDonalds

For this week I found an article from ABC news entitled Coffee Wars: McDonald’s Versus Starbucks. McDonald’s McCafe is taking aim at Starbucks in Europe. They plan to have around 1,100 of there specialty coffee cafes across Europe. These Cafes are located inside of already existing Starbucks but they have a separate area with nice furniture. The goal for McDonalds is to have 200 more in Europe in order to become the number one coffee seller.

Starbucks in EU

The article talks about Starbucks chairman and chief executive Howard Schultz and his plan to make Starbucks a greater presence in Europe. The article says that over the next three years, over 150 Starbucks will open in Europe and the United Kingdom. They want to focus mainly on airports and railway stations. The key markets that Starbucks is looking to consolidate their business in are Germany, the United Kingdom, and France.

American Company in the Europe Market

I had somewhat of a difficult time finding an article that related well to the topic this week. I read two that I found in the New York Times about Apple Computers in Europe and combined the information. The first article titled, “Europe Stumbles in Computers,” talks about how behind Europe is in the computer developing market. Many powerful people in Europe do not understand why they cannot design and produce new and innovative companies over America and China. Because of this, many American companies are having greater success abroad than at home. “If you want to know where the major U.S. personal computer firms are making money these days, it’s not in the U.S.,” John Sculley, the chairman of Apple Computer Inc., based in Cupertino, Calif., said recently. “There really is no European computer industry. So we are doing well there.”

Harley Davidson in Europe

Harley Davidson is a large motorcycle company who is based out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The company only builds the motorcycles in the United States, but sales are rising in Europe so someday they are planning on building the bikes in Europe. Starting next year there are plans on opening 100 to 150 more dealerships around Europe. As of right now virtually Harley assembles all of the bikes in the United States besides the few parts that come over sees. Harley Davidson has a solid reputation of their American motorcycles known worldwide, but as the sales grow in Europe this is why they would be starting to assemble bikes in Europe.

American Companies in Europe

The article I read was on NYTimes.com, and was written on October 18, 2009. It’s titled, “In Dollars Fall, Upside for U.S. Exports”. The article is about the company Eastman Machine located in Buffalo, New York which makes cutting tools for the textile business and how the decline of the dollar is helping raise their sales in Europe. Due to the recession, Eastman Machine had to lay off almost twenty percent of its workers, but now that the dollar is so low they are expecting to sign a multi-million dollar deal in Europe. If this deal goes through owner, Mr. Stevenson may be able to hire his employees back. While the low value of the dollar is causing many American’s to not be able to travel or buy imported goods, it is good for American exports.