Politicals situation in malaysia

The politics of Malaysia takes place in the framework of a federal constitutional

monarchy, in which the Yang di-Pertuan Agong is head of state and the Prime
Minister of Malaysia is the head of government. Executive power is exercised by the
federal government and the 13 state governments. Federal legislative power is
vested in the federal parliament and the 13 state assemblies. The judiciary is
independent of the executive and the legislature, though the executive maintains a
certain level of influence in the appointment of judges to the courts.
The Constitution of Malaysia is codified and the system of government is based on
the Westminster system.
Malaysia has a multi-party system since the first direct election of the Federal
Legislative Council of Malaya in 1955 on a first-past-the-post basis. The ruling party
since then has always been the Alliance Party (Malay: Parti Perikatan) coalition and
subsequently from 1973 onwards, its successor the Barisan Nasional (National
Front) coalition. The Barisan Nasional coalition currently consists of the United
Malays National Organisation (UMNO), Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA),
Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) and 11 other political parties.
Although Malaysian politics has been relatively stable, critics allege that "the
government, ruling party, and administration...are intertwined with few
countervailing forces." However, since 8 March 2008 General Election, media's
coverage on country's politics has been noticeably increased, making the politics
more transparent to the citizens.

2.1 1 Discuss how foreign companies manage political aspect of macro

environment.
Coca cola
The Coca-Cola Company is the world's largest beverage company and is the
leading producer and marketer of soft drinks. Today, Coca-Cola is consumed
throughout the world at the rate of more than 600 million times per day and this
figure is continuing to rise. However, Coca-Cola is not the sort of company to live on
its past glories; instead it looks to the future as a challenge and constantly seeks
new markets and ways of increasing its market share in areas where it currently has
a strong presence. It is the world's largest producer and distributor of syrups and
concentrates for soft drinks. Products developed by the Company are sold through
bottlers, fountain wholesalers and distributors around the globe. Brand Coca-Cola

accounts for about 75 per cent of the Company's unit sales volume of soft drinks.
The remaining 25 per cent consists of well known soft drinks such as Sprite, Fanta,
Fresca, Mello Yello, Surge, POWERaDE, Barq's Root Beer and many other brands. The
Company's soft drink operations are managed in 6 Groups: North America, Latin
America, Africa, Greater Europe, Middle/Far East and The Minute Maid Company (the
world's leading marketer of fruit juices and fruit drinks).
Just a few years ago, Coca-Cola attracted frequent headlines as consumers in China,
India, Eastern Europe or Russia tasted Coca-Cola for the first time. Now however,
Coca-Cola has become a well established soft drinks product for billions of new
consumers throughout the world. Today, the challenge facing The Coca-Cola
Company is to establish successful patterns of distribution to its global consumers.
This case study therefore focuses on the ways in which high quality relationships
have been established with bottling franchisees across the globe to make sure that
consumers' needs and wants can be met in the most effective way.

How coca cola manage political aspect of macro environment

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regards non-alcoholic beverages such as
Coca-Cola as within the food category. The government regulates the manufacturing
procedure of these products. Companies that fail to meet the government's
standards are subject to fines. Coca-Cola is also subject to the Occupational Safety
and Health Act and to local, state, federal, and foreign environmental regulation.
Following are some of the factors that are influencing Coca-Cola's operations:
1.
Changes in laws and regulationschanges in accounting standards, taxation
requirements (tax rate changes, modified tax law interpretations, entrance of new
tax laws), and environmental laws either in domestic or foreign authorities.
2.
Changes in non-alcoholic business eracompetitive product and pricing
policy pressures and ability to maintain or earn share of sales in worldwide market
compared to rivals.
3.
Political conditions, specifically in international marketscivil conflict,
governmental changes, and restrictions concerning the ability to relocate capital
across borders.
4.
Ability to penetrate emerging and developing marketsthis also relies on
economic and political conditions, such as civil conflict and governmental changes,
as well as Coca-Cola's ability to form effectively strategic business alliances with

local bottlers, and to enhance their production amenities, distribution networks,

sales equipment, and technology.
Political analysis examines the current and potential influences from political
pressures. The non-alcoholic beverages falls in the category under the FDA and the
government plays a role within the operation of manufacturing these products. In
terms of regulations, the government has the power to set potential fines for the
companies that did not meet their standard law requirement.
The changes in laws and regulations, such as accounting standards, taxation
requirements and environmental laws and foreign jurisdictions might affect the book
of the company as well as their entry in foreign country. Other than that, the
changes in the nature of business as non-alcoholic beverages can gain competitive
product and pricing pressures and the ability to improve or maintain the share in
sales in global market as a result of action by competitors.
The political conditions of the country are also basis of the study, especially in
internal markets and other governmental changes that affects their ability to
penetrate the developing and emerging markets that involves the political and
economic conditions. However, Coca Cola continuously monitoring the policies and
regulations set by the government.
Apple
Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in
Cupertino, California, that designs, develops, and sells consumer electronics,
computer software, and online services. Its hardware products include the iPhone
smartphone, the iPad tablet computer, the Mac personal computer, the iPod
portable media player, and the Apple Watch smartwatch. Apple's consumer
software includes the OS X and iOS operating systems, the iTunes media player, the
Safari web browser, and the iLife and iWork creativity and productivity suites. Its
online services include the iTunes Store, the iOS App Store and Mac App Store, and
iCloud.
Apple was founded by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne on April 1,
1976, to develop and sell personal computers.[5] It was incorporated as Apple
Computer, Inc. on January 3, 1977, and was renamed as Apple Inc. on January 9,
2007, to reflect its shifted focus toward consumer electronics. Apple (NASDAQ:
AAPL) joined the Dow Jones Industrial Average on March 19, 2015.[6]
Apple is the world's largest information technology company by revenue, the
world's largest technology company by total assets,[7] and the world's secondlargest mobile phone manufacturer.[8] On November 25, 2014, in addition to being
the largest publicly traded corporation in the world by market capitalization, Apple
became the first U.S. company to be valued at over US$700 billion.[9] The company
employs 115,000 permanent full-time employees as of July 2015[4] and maintains

453 retail stores in sixteen countries as of March 2015;[1] it operates the online
Apple Store and iTunes Store, the latter of which is the world's largest music retailer.

How Apple can manage political aspect of macro environment

Apple is one of a number of American technology companies that has

accumulated a large amount of cash. It had $34.7 billion in the bank on June 30,
2015. This is generating calls for higher corporate taxation in the United States,
where income inequality has become a major political issue.

Apple is heavily dependent on lower cost manufacturing in China. Social and

political unrest in China could disrupt manufacturing or increase manufacturing
costs in that country. There have been also been calls to restrict Chinese imports in
the United States in an effort to boost American manufacturing.

The cost of finding alternatives to Chinese manufacturing could be high for

Apple. This could lead to increased prices for Apple products.

Apples dependence on Chinese manufacturing and markets makes it

vulnerable to political unrest in that country.

Apple could become the target of growing nationalism and anti-Americanism

in China, which could reduce its market share.

Apples close association with China could become a political issue in

countries like the United States and Japan if China were to be perceived as a threat.

Apples dominant position in fields like music could lead to antitrust concerns
and political pressure to break the company up or limit its market share.
In 2005, 52% of sales were outside of America. Apple has no control over relations
with other countries due to America's war on Terrorism. Apple produces many of
their products outside of the USA. This includes a list such as Ireland, China, Czech
Republic, Korea. Political conflicts with any of these countries will have terrible
effects on Apple INC. Once again, Apple has no control of the wars, and lack of
communication or failed public relations with corresponding countries to the USA.
Apple performance is subject to political stability and other political factors in each
market it operates. A call by Dmitry Gorotsov, a Member of Parliament in Russia to
stop lawmakers in the country using iPhones and iPads to protect themselves from
eavesdropping by foreign special services[1] can be referred to as an example
where politics interferes with business. Another lawmaker in Russia famous for his
harsh approach towards gay propaganda has publicly suggested Apple CEO Tim

Cook to be banned from visiting the country due to the latters public
acknowledgement of his homosexuality on October 30, 2014.
These two cases can be interpreted as a clear illustration of potential impact of a
political factor on Apple sales in Russia. It is important to clarify that both cases
mentioned above relate to political factors that are associated with Apple in a direct
manner. There is a wide range of additional factors such as the impact of
international pressure groups, government-level trade restrictions and tariffs and
industry-specific government initiatives that that might affect Apple performance
along with performance of its competitors. Moreover, the nature of relationship
between Apples home country USA and other countries may impact the companys
performance in relevant countries due to the fact that substantial share of revenues
are generated outside of the US. Specifically, in 2014, net sales in US amounted to
about $68.9 billion, whereas net sales outside of US exceeded $113.8 billion

3. Suggestions on what companies should do to manage the macro environment

Demography is the study of human populations in
Technological terms of size, density, location, age, sex, race,
occupation, and other statistics. It is of major interest to marketers because it
involves people and people make up markets. Demographic trends are constantly
changing. Some more interesting ones are.
1). The world's population (though not all countries) rate is growing at an explosive
rate that will soon exceed food supply and ability to adequately service the
population. The greatest danger is in the poorest countries where poverty
contributes to the difficulties. Emerging markets such as China are receiving
increased attention from global marketers.
2). The most important trend is the changing age structure of the population. The
population is aging because of a slowdown in the birth rate (in this country) and life
expectancy is increasing. The baby boomers following World War II have produced a
huge "bulge" in our population's age distribution. The new prime market is the
middle age group (in the future it will be the senior citizen group). There are many
subdivisions of this group.
a). Generation X--this group lies in the shadow of the boomers and lack obvious
distinguishing characteristics. They are a very cynical group because of all the
difficulties that have
surrounded and impacted their group.

b). Echo boomers (baby boomlets) are the large growing kid and teen market. This
group
is used to affluence on the part of their parents (as different from the Gen Xers).
One
distinguishing characteristic is their utter fluency and comfort with computer,
digital, and Internet
technology (sometimes called Net-Gens).
c). Generational marketing is possible, however, caution must be used to avoid
generational alienation.
Many in the modern family now "telecommute"--work at home or in a remote office
and conduct their business using fax, cell phones, modem, or the Internet In
general, the population is becoming better educated. The work force is be-coming
more white-collar. Products such as books and education services appeal to groups
following this trend. Technical skills (such as in computers) will be a must in the
future. The final demographic trend is the increasing ethnic and racial diversity of
the population. Diversity is a force that must be recognized in the next decade.
However, companies must recognize that diversity goes beyond ethnic heritage.
One the important markets of the future are that disabled people (a market larger
any of our ethnic minority groups).
b. Economic Environment
The economic environment includes those factors that affect consumer purchasing
power and spending patterns. Major economic trends in the United States include:
1). Personal consumption (along with personal debt) has gone up (1980s) and the
early
1990s brought recession that has caused adjustments both personally and
corporately in this
country. Today, consumers are more careful shoppers.
2). Value marketing (trying to offer the consumer greater value for their dollar) is a
very
serious strategy in the 1990s. Real income is on the rise again but is being carefully
guarded by a
value-conscious consumer.
3). Income distribution is still very skewed in the U. S. and all classes have not
shared in

prosperity. In addition, spending patterns show that food, housing, and

transportation still
account for the majority of consumer dollars. It is also of note that distribution of
income has
created a "two-tiered market" where there are those that are affluent and less
affluent. Marketers
must carefully monitor economic changes so they will be able to prosper with the
trend, not suffer from it.
c. Natural Environment
The natural environment involves natural resources that are needed as inputs by
marketers or that are affected by marketing activities. During the past two decades
environmental concerns have steadily grown. Some trend analysts labeled the
specific areas of concern were:
1). Shortages of raw materials. Staples such as air, water, and wood products have
been
seriously damaged and non-renewable such as oil, coal, and various minerals have
been seriously
depleted during industrial expansion.
2). Increased pollution is a worldwide problem. Industrial damage to the
environment is
very serious. Far-sighted companies are becoming "environmentally friendly" and
are producing
environmentally safe and recyclable or biodegradable goods. The public response
to these
companies is encouraging. However, lack of adequate funding, especially in third
world
countries, is a major barrier.
3). Government intervention in natural resource management has caused
environmental
concerns to be more practical and necessary in business and industry. Leadership,
not
punishment, seems to be the best policy for long-term results. Instead of opposing
regulation,

marketers should help develop solutions to the material and energy problems facing
the world.
4). Environmentally sustainable strategies. The so-called green movement has
encouraged or even demanded that firms produce strategies that are not only
environmentally
friendly but are also environmentally proactive. Firms are beginning to recognize the
link between
a healthy economy and a healthy environment.
d. Technological Environment
The technological environment includes forces that create new technologies,
creating new product and
market opportunities.
1). Technology is perhaps the most dramatic force shaping our destiny.
2). New technologies create new markets and opportunities.
3). The following trends are worth watching
a). Faster pace of technological change. Products are being technologically outdated
at
a rapid pace.
b). There seems to be almost unlimited opportunities being developed daily.
Consider
the expanding fields of health care, the space shuttle, robotics, and biogenetic
industries.
c). The challenge is not only technical but also commercial--to make practical,
affordable versions of products.
d). Increased regulation. Marketers should be aware of the regulations concerning
product safety, individual privacy, and other areas that affect technological
changes. They must
also be alert to any possible negative aspects of an innovation that might harm
users or arouse
opposition.

e. Political Environment
The political environment includes laws, government agencies, and pressure groups
that influence and
limit various organizations and individuals in a given society. Various forms of
legislation regulate
business.
1). Governments develop public policy to guide commerce--sets of laws and
regulations
limiting business for the good of society as a whole.
2). Almost every marketing activity is subject to a wide range of laws and
regulations.
Some trends in the political environment include:
1). Increasing legislation to:
a). Protect companies from each other.
b). Protecting consumers from unfair business practices.
c). Protecting interests of society against unrestrained business behavior.
2). Changing government agency enforcement. New laws and their enforcement will
continue or increase. (See Table 3.2 for the various acts used to regulate and
protect commerce
and our economy.)
3). Increased emphasis on ethics and socially responsible actions. Socially
responsible firms
actively seek out ways to protect the long-run interests of their consumers and the
environment.
a). Enlightened companies encourage their managers to look beyond regulation and
"do
the right thing."
b). Recent scandals have increased concern about ethics and social responsibility.
c). The boom in e-commerce and Internet marketing has created a new set of social
and

ethical issues. Concerns are Privacy, Security, Access by vulnerable or unauthorized

groups.
f.Cultural Environment
The cultural environment is made up of institutions and other forces that affect
society's basic values,
perceptions, preferences, and behaviors. Certain cultural characteristics can affect
marketing decision-making. Among the most dynamic cultural characteristics are:
1). Persistence of cultural values. People's core beliefs and values have a high
degree of
persistence. Core beliefs and values are passed on from parents to children and are
reinforced by
schools, churches, business, and government.
Secondary beliefs and values are more open to change.
2). Shifts in secondary cultural values. Since secondary cultural values and beliefs
are open
to change, marketers want to spot them and be able to capitalize on the change
potential. Society's
major cultural views are expressed in:
a). People's views of themselves. People vary in their emphasis on serving
themselves versus serving others. In the 1980s, personal ambition and materialism
increased
dramatically, with significant implications for marketing. The leisure industry was a
chief
beneficiary.
b). People's views of others. Observers have noted a shift from a "me-society" to a
"we-society." Consumers are spending more on products and services that will
improve their lives
rather than their image.
c). People's views of organizations. People are willing to work for large
organizations but expect them to become increasingly socially responsible.

Many companies are linking themselves to worthwhile causes. Honesty in appeals is

a must.
d). People's views of society. This orientation influences consumption patterns.
"Buy American" versus buying abroad is an issue that will continue into the next
decade.
e). People's view of nature. There is a growing trend toward people's feeling of
mastery over nature through technology and the belief that nature is bountiful.
However, nature is
finite. Love of nature and sports associated with nature are expected to be
significant trends in the
next several years.
f). People's views of the universe. Studies of the origin of man, religion, and
thought-provoking ad campaigns are on the rise. Currently, Americans are on a
spiritual journey.This will probably take the form of "spiritual individualism