Target Australia Company Background

Discuss about the Macro Environment Of Brazil.

This report is focused on Target Australia which is one of the largest retailers in Australia that is running its business operations with the symbol of Target group which is situated in United States, but it is possessed by Wesfarmers Limited. The report is made on the proposal to expand its operation to the Brazilian Market. The description about the company background will be defined in initial point of the report along with its entire structure. The reason will be mentioned with justification for choosing Brazil as the overseas market for expansion. Furthermore, the report will evaluate the Brazil by making depth analysis of its economic, political, and legal and socio cultural regarding to the retail industry. The cultural framework will be defined through Hofstede and Corporate Social Responsibility of Brazil will be analyzed in an effective manner. Conclusions will be drawn on the basis of micro environmental analysis.

Target Australia is an affordable department store chain possessed by Wesfarmers. It comes under largest department store in Australia through store number in which it is operating 303 stores all through the country. It has 178 Target stores and 125 Target Countries. It deals with branded clothing, home wares, cosmetics, fitness, electronics and customer electronics Reyhle & Nicole, 2014). The national support office of company is situated in North Geelong and it has been found that it will be located to Williams Landing at the end of 2018. It has been found that George Lindsay and Alex McKenzie started their first store in 1926. The retailer company was progressing throughout Victoria (Parker & Justine, 2016).

It is providing services to the middle level of market through its services and products. The revenue of Target Australia was $3.5 billion and income was $195 million in the year of 2016 (Target Corporation, 2014). The market position of the company is strong in the retail sector of Australia. The mission of Target is to operate its operation to make the quality, style and fashion at affordable prices for the family. The slogan of company is “Higher quality, lower prices.” The company is approaching several strategies such as societal orientations for its products. Furthermore, it has low cost method approach which is helpful to provide best standards of products at reasonable rate (Dunning, 2013). Currently, the company has started its online stores as well which is able to provide the low cost (Target Australia, 2017).

Overview of Brazil and its Retail Market

Brazil is the largest country of South America as well as Latin America. It is the world’s fifth largest country in the context of area and the sixth largest country in the context of populations. Brasília is the capital of Brazil and São Paulo is the most populated city. It can be seen while comparing the retail industry of Australia and Brazil that the expansion of Target Australia in Brazil would be effective. However, Brazil has number of top retail stores but the strategy of Target is different from other stores that may enhance the revenues of the company. There is a supporting industry such as manufacturer of home wares, toys, clothes in Australia, along with the effective industries of cloth making will enable target to become successful and cater to the demand of fifth’s largest country. The progress made in latest years towards the good bonding of bilateral relations (Pantano, Priporas,  Sorace & Iazzolino, 2017). The President Dilma Rousseff and Prime Minister Julia Gillard agreed to make the relationship between Brazil and Australia and take it to the level of strategic partnership. Hence, it can be justified that Brazil is viable country of choice that has been considered by Target to expand its operations.   

Economy is an important aspect of any country that may influence the retailer like Target Australia. Brazil is an effective country that has high level of probability for growth because of its large population and inflow of Foreign Direct Investment. It has been found that the gap is decreased between poor and rich due to significant growth in middle class. Furthermore, the risk of currency deflation is reduced by the banks of Brazil, which has managed the inflation rate in the country. It is the largest land in the South America which stands in 7^th world rank in terms of GDP. The top import list of Brazil entails motor vehicles, petroleum oil, medicines, fertilizers and vehicle accessories and parts. Target need to promote its business in the retail market of Brazil to get benefitted of economic situation of Brazil. The infrastructure of Brazil is efficient which can be the centre of attraction for the tourist (Brainard & Martinez-Diaz, 2009). It has been found that the Brazilian highway system is one of the largest all over the world. It has been estimated that approx 1.2 billion people travelling in the highway of Brazil. The air transport infrastructure of Brazil is comparatively well developed and has about 300 airports, of which around 50 are commercial ports. There are more than 115 million passengers every year flying into, out of and around Brazil. In terms of telecommunication, Brazil is well developed where most people of this country use internet services and the infrastructure of the telecommunication is quiet modern. The corporate income tax of Brazil is 25% and it has been found that Brazil has very strict penalty tax rule with a 75% penalty due to fill incorrect tax payments (Meyer, 2010). There are two major events in the country that being the cause of significant development of the economy that is World Cup 2014 and Olympic Games. These two events have huge contribution in boosting up the various infrastructures like the telecommunication, retail market in the country. More than 2 million jobs created in Brazil due to these events.

Economic Analysis of Brazil

It is apparent that Target need to keep focus on various strategies of government regarding tax which may impact the business of it. Company can earn huge advantages in retail industry as there are no effective retailers and due to well known retailer company can attain the huge attention of the potential customers (Vida, 2015).

The government of Brazil is stable and proactive but is hard to assume that how long it will go with it. As it has been found that Brazil became democracy in 1980 and in 2010 country in which first female president elected named Rouseff and same got elected in 2014 (Australian Embassy Brazil, 2012). Rouseff was suspended because of investigation and prosecution and Michael termer replaced her position that shows there is no stability in the government. Corruption is considered as the huge concern in the country. It has apparent that even small business has to make payment to government authorities and officials. It shows that the political factors can be reason of hurdle for Target Australia. There are two major factors Fluctuations and transformation which can affect the retail industry (Schneider, 2018).

However, the political term is not in favourable but the government of Brazil has taken various actions against corruption in which five ministers were fired due to involvement in kickbacks, bribery and influence peddling. The government of this country is endeavouring to make the transparency in the law. The local and overseas organizations are treated equally in Brazil and it has been found that labour cost in Brazil is significantly low which make the favourable condition for the business expansion of Target (Hill, 2008). However tax rates are comparatively high in comparison of Ireland and the fixed rate of corporate tax does not have plans of incentives. Brazil is a civil law country originates by Roman law. This law was executed by the Portuguese at the time of colonization. The entire system of legal is based on various codes and legislations that endorsed primarily through the federal legislature power. The legal aspect of the country is favourable for the new entrants as it helps it in case of any misunderstanding and issues (Euromonitor, 2017).

It has been found that there is economic inequality among people in the country of Brazil and approx 20% people live under poverty line. There is a high range of middle class people in this country which would be helpful for the new entrant (Rasella, Aquino & Barreto, 2013). Target Australia organization is providing various items and services to the people of Brazil at affordable rate which increase the potential of the organization and increase the revenues. The effective offer of shopping is being offered by this company to the Brazilians. The knowledge about fashion and latest trends are very much in the population of Brazil. 80% of people of Brazil are educated and FIFA World cup 2014 was hosted by this country and a majority of the population of this country has enough interest in the sports of Football. There are major factors such as geographic, psychographic characteristics and ageing population that playing the major role in affecting the demand of the retail products. It has been found that retail store size in Brazil have been reducing because of ageing population. In the context of extent of demand, according to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, there is a decrement by 4.5% in the retail volume sales in the year 2015. The foremost shopping malls of Brazil are tackling reducing tenancy rate over last 2 years (Rohter, 2012).

Political and Legal Analysis of Brazil

The cultural determinants is entire different in Brazil in comparison of Australia in many ways. There is a high psychic distance in both countries due to dissimilarity in religion, politics, language and social structures (Hawthorne, 2010). To define the cultural framework of both countries, Hofstede’s Dimension tool is effective.

Power distance

The power distance dimension shows the attitude of the society towards the inequality. The score of Australia in this dimension is low that is 36, with a score of 69, Brazil reflects the respect towards the society and accepts the inequalities.

Individualism

There is a big gap in the dimension of individualism as Brazil scores 38 and Australia has high score of 90. In contrast to the Australian employee who is initiative, Brazilian employees tend to work in family oriented and groups. Internal strategies such as creating team based performance schemes in against to individual performance schemes might be advantageous in encouraging the Brazilian workers who will be recruited by Target Australia.

Masculinity

The score of masculinity dimension of Australia is 61 while the score of Brazil is 49 that reflect there are many workers who are enthusiastic and give priority to the work. It would be advantageous point for Target Australia as the workers will be dedicated towards the work.

Uncertainty avoidance

With the score of 76 of Uncertainty Dimension, laws and rules have huge importance in the country to make the world safer. On the other hand the score of Australia is 51 which show that it would be great opportunity for the Target Australia to expand its operation in Brazil as it provides the high rate of safety.

Long term orientation

Brazil is having a score of 44 is considered to be medium long term oriented. However, the tendency of this country in saving for future is quiet low but new entrant can overcome this situation by developing its image in an efficient manner. The score of Australia is 21 which are lower in comparison of Brazil.

Indulgence

Australia has a high score of 71 in comparison of Brazil that scores 59 marks in this dimension. The society of Brazil as well as Australia has optimistic and positive attitude which is good for the Target Australia.    

The culture of Brazil Country is majorly western but it presents the diverse nature. The cultural context of Brazil is high which reflects that Brazilians place a firm highlights on how message should be perceived sooner than on the words used alone. Business people of this country are more literal. On the other hand the cultural context of this country is low, where what is said it is what it is and it should be in black and white with clear definition. The difference between cultural contexts of both countries can bring issues. It is vital for the Target Australia to provide the proper training to the employees of the company in the context of communication mechanism so that the confusion could not take place (Hofstede, Garibaldi de Hilal, Malvezzi, Tanure & Vinken, 2010).

Socio-Cultural Analysis of Brazil

The role of business ethics is vital in the Brazilian Corporate World and the value of trust is prior in comparison of any other agreement of businesses. Brazilian Corporate World is more effective and companies of this country are following the different laws related to maintain the ethics within the organization. There is a major aspect of environmental pollution as it has been analyzed that the environmental issues in Brazil involve illegal wildlife trade, water pollution, degradation of land and deforestation in Amazon. However, the government of Brazil has taken various steps to reduce the impact of it but it is essential for Target Australia to practice good corporate governance (Valenti & McGlashan, 2017).  

It has been found that many residents of Brazil are utilizing their power of buying to make change thus enhancing conscious customers in answer to the social concerns in Brazil. It shows the effective movement of people observe the way to make affirmative purchasing decisions, Ones that are conscious regarding environmental and ethical. This power of groups is represented in Brazil by buying trends. There were more than 55% of customers eager to spend more on products and services from those companies who are socially responsible. Furthermore, 82% of customers in Latin America has trust that companies must be included in developing quality of life and people’ wellbeing but only there were 46% people that thinks is different and give credit to brands for attaining it (Zendesk, 2014).

Conclusion

In the limelight of above discussion, it can be concluded that it is hard to expand business in other country but it can be done in an efficient manner by taking consideration of various aspects such as cultural dimensions, environmental aspect, political aspect and economic aspect. There are various positive factors have been found from the research that Target Australia can be benefitted to expand its operation in Brazil due to political stability, economic condition and efficient laws. World Cup 2014 and Olympic Games are major two events that contributed in huge manner to develop country. It has been analyzed that the growth rates of Brazil are high and buying behaviour of customers are increased rapidly. The strategy of offering products at affordable piece would be effective for the company as it has been found that the percentage of middle income level is high in Brazil in comparison of other income levels.

References

Australian Embassy Brazil. (2012). Brazil-Australia Strategic Partnership. Retrieved on: https://brazil.embassy.gov.au/bras/StrategicPartnershipStrategicPartnership.html.

Brainard, L., & Martinez-Diaz, L. (Eds.). (2009). Brazil as an economic superpower?: understanding Brazil’s changing role in the global economy. Brookings Institution Press.

Dunning, J. H. (2013). International Production and the Multinational Enterprise (RLE International Business). Routledge.

Euromonitor. (2017). Retailing in Brazil. Retrieved from: https://www.euromonitor.com/retailing-in-brazil/report.

Hawthorne, W. (2010). From Africa to Brazil: Culture, identity, and an Atlantic slave trade, 1600–1830 (Vol. 113). Cambridge University Press.

Hill, C. (2008). International business: Competing in the global market place. Strategic Direction, 24(9).

Hofstede, G., Garibaldi de Hilal, A. V., Malvezzi, S., Tanure, B., & Vinken, H. (2010). Comparing regional cultures within a country: Lessons from Brazil. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 41(3), 336-352.

Meyer, A. (2010). Brazil Infrastructure. Retrieved from: https://www.brazil.org.za/brazil-infrastructure.html.

Pantano, E., Priporas, C. V., Sorace, S., & Iazzolino, G. (2017). Does innovation-orientation lead to retail industry growth? Empirical evidence from patent analysis. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 34, 88-94.

Parker & Justine (2016). “Target accounting scandal: Wesfarmers taking action against staff”. ABC Online.

Rasella, D., Aquino, R., & Barreto, M. L. (2013). Impact of income inequality on life expectancy in a highly unequal developing country: the case of Brazil. J Epidemiol Community Health, jech-2012.

Reyhle, L. & Nicole. (2014).How Target stands out among its discountstore competitors. Forbes Magazine. Retrieved fromhttps://www.forbes.com/sites/nicoleleinbachreyhle/2014/08/28/target-shopping/

Rohter, L. (2012). Brazil on the rise: The story of a country transformed. St. Martin’s Press.

Schneider, R. M. (2018). Brazil: culture and politics in a new industrial powerhouse. Routledge.

Target Australia. (2017). Target Australia: Target Online Shopping, Retrieved from https://www.target.com.au/.

Target Corporation. (2014). Target 2013 Annual Report. Retrieved from: https://corporate.target.com/annual-reports/pdf-viewer-2013?cover=6725&parts=6724-6726-6727-6730-6728.

Valenti, A. & McGlashan, R. (2017). Target Corporation’s Decision to expand to Canada, University of Houston-Clear Lake.

Vida, I. (2015). Retail Expansion into International Markets: The Case of United States Retail Chains. In Proceedings of the 1998 Academy of Marketing Science (AMS) Annual Conference (pp. 502-503). Springer, Cham.

Zendesk. (2014). State of Corporate Social Responsibility In Brazil. Retrieved from: https://www.neighborfoundation.org/blog/csrbrazil.