Yeovil College: Globalisation Impacts on Business Functions Project

This project investigates the positive economic, cultural, and ethical impacts of globalisation on business functions, specifically within Honda and Mercedes-Benz. The research employs both qualitative and quantitative methods, including in-depth interviews with Mercedes dealers and owners, focus group discussions, and a correlational analysis of sales data. The project aims to identify the effects of globalisation on marketing and human resource functions, such as Mercedes' "Mercedes me" technology and Honda's fuel-efficient vehicles. The analysis includes data on sales trends, customer preferences, and employee satisfaction, with a detailed breakdown of the research methodology, data analysis, and findings. The project culminates in recommendations based on the research and a reflection on the value of the project management process. The study also includes a project initiation document, a Gantt chart, and considerations of project risks and tracking methods.

What are the positive ECONOMIC, CULTURAL and ethical impact of globalisation on different
business functions within organisations?
Unit 6 Managing a successful business project
Maria Costanzo
Chris Worldge | Yeovil College

Research project description and background
Globalisation offers the scope of development in terms of economic as
well as cultural prospect. In this research I will illustrate what the positive
impact of globalisation is on business functions, such as marketing and HR
from the case analysis and data collection of Honda and Mercedes.
Considering Honda Motors as example, the globalisation has enabled the
company to attract new customers and market segment from diverse
cultural background and integrate them with hybrid automotive. Mercedes
on the other hand, adopted unique strategy, which was strategically
framed in accordance to the requirement of customers (Trefis Team,
2015). For example, in developed nations, they supplied both cars as well
as trucks and buses. In summary, based on the analysis and date
collection, it is learned that the globalisation impact from the business
activities of both companies have significant impact on the economy. The
factors include opportunity for employability, enhanced growth of national
economy. It also ensures safe driving for their customers, thus
contributing to their betterment of society.

Aim
Provide a better insight of what are the positive economic, ethical
and cultural impacts of globalisation on the marketing and human
resource function within Mercedes- Benz and Honda.
Objectives
 Identify the positive economic, ethical and cultural Impacts on the
marketing and human resource function within Mercedes-Benz and
Honda
 Produce a project initiation document
 Produce a Gantt chart
 Conduct a small-scale research collecting qualitive and quantitative
data
 Analyse research data
 Communicate recommendations
 Reflect of value of project
Management Plan
I am going to use the project initiation document as the format for
the management plan.
A. The project brief would be to examine the positive economic and
cultural impacts on marketing function within Mercedes-Benz and
to examine the positive economic and ethical impacts of HR

within Honda, by collecting and analysing some qualitative and
quantitative data on both organisations and producing a work
breakdown structure to show timeframes and stages of the
project, concluding with appropriate recommendations to draw
meaningful conclusion. In addition, reflect on the value of
undertaking the research to meet stated objectives, regarding
own learning and performance.
B. I will be conducting the project by myself with recommendations
proposed by my tutor Chris Worledge.
C. My role is to determine the aims and objectives, produce
management plan and a Gantt chart to show the timeframes and
stages of completion, carry out small scale research, analysing
data and communicate appropriate result of the research and
data analysis, meanwhile my tutor will have the role to tutor me
and assessing my performance.
D. After aims and objectives has been determined, a management
plan and a Gantt chart would be produced to show the
timeframes and the project’s stages, consequently some
research will be conducted, and data collected and analysed in
order to communicate recommendations and conclusions in the
form of a report.
E. At each stage of the project I will check the content against the
criteria requirements, and I will communicate my progress to my
tutor and ensure I am meeting the standards required within in
the learning outcomes of the assignment.

F. A Gantt chart has been used to develop the project plan. Please
see attached Gantt chart on…
G. There will not be any costs for the project except my time and
the benefits can be that I will learn how to structure, conclude
and present a research project.
H. The project risks are:
 Losing data is a medium risk and to prevent that to happen
my data is kept on my password protected laptop and I
regularly save my work as I go along
 Running out of time to complete the project is a High risk,
because of my competing priorities which I will review
regularly and to prevent that I will try to work faster on my
project
 Not achieving the criteria is a medium risk because there
is enough data to collect to prevent that to happen, I will
regularly communicate to my tutor to ensure that I am on
the right track
I. I will be tracking the project by communicating with my tutor and
verifying my work against the assignment criteria and will be
monitoring my progress based on the schedule on the Gantt
chart
L. This research project will need to be delivered to Chris Worledge
in a report format on 20/06/2019 together with a reflective
statement

QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH METHODS
Qualitative Method
The method always involves conversations and interviews, which produce
non-numerical data. It also shows the way people interpret certain social
activities. The method is effective on two situations when you need inner
description of an issue and when questions being researched need
enhancement.
Limitations of Qualitative Data
i)Qualitative data is prone to bias since it can be easily manipulated by
the researcher.
ii)Collection of data is often time consuming.
iii)Analysis of collected data takes longer time than that of quantitative
research.
There are several qualitative research methods as discussed below:
1) In-depth Interview-
This are one on one conversations between an interviewer and
interviewee. Participation in such a conversation should be
voluntary. I conducted an interview on 20 individuals who were
Mercedes vehicle dealers and Mercedes vehicle owners. The
interview lasted for approximately 60 minutes and i came out with
the following findings:
i) The individuals pointed out the Mercedes me as a positive thing that
attracted more people because this allowed customers to have unique
Mercedes ID which allowed for seamless integration between a customer’s
smartphone and car. The data collected would help to know when a
vehicle need service and therefore a prompt service appointment would
be made.

ii) Some individuals said that Mercedes had a lot of stability compare to
other vehicles. Some said that Mercedes vehicles rarely caused accidents,
and this had increased customer base since most individuals believed in
the machine.
I also used the same method to talk to Honda brand users in order to
understand the positive economic and ethical impact of globalization in
Human resource. I managed to get the following findings from helpful
Honda users.
i)Most dealers recognized the fact of salary increment. They pointed out
that the Honda brand company had increased the workers’ salaries
therefore efficiency had increased since most workers felt motivated and
appreciated.
ii)Some Honda dealers indicated that most of their customers preferred
the vehicle because of low fuel consumption. The vehicles used less, and
minimal fuel compared to other vehicles in the market.
2)Focus Group Discussions.
Focus group discussion involves a researcher having an open discussion
with a group of people who in some way have common ideas. This helps
the participants feel more comfortable with one another. Using this
method i managed to talk to 5 Mercedes vehicle owners, through the
discussions most of them pointed the following;
i) All of them said that Mercedes Benz had great stability. They noted out
that brand was rarely involved in accidents and if they did most of the
individuals involved survived. Therefore, they said that they would
purchase and recommend the brand to other users at any time.
ii) The interviewers involved in the discussions also pointed out that
Mercedes Benz considered all classes. They had vehicles that anybody
would afford according to his or her pocket and with this most people had
managed to own theirs.
iii) The individuals also noted out that Mercedes marketing strategy
focused more on providing a better brand for its customers . This has
increased its market along the regions as more demand has risen.
Using the focus group discussion research method, I also managed to talk
to 8 helpful Honda owners and admirers. The group gave out the following
findings;
i)The admirers of Honda vehicles appreciated the fact that Honda
produces hybrid cars that ensured less use of fuel. They also pointed out
that though production of Civic Hybrid was discontinued they admired the
possibilities of the vehicle and would consider purchasing it in future.

ii) The owner of Honda vehicles also pointed top safety ratings. They
supported that by arguing that Honda regularly implemented state of the
art safety features in all their models and this ensured less accidents.
iii) Some individuals pointed out the reliability of the vehicles. They
argued that the vehicles are built to last, and the fact that there are so
many models available is a true testament to the quality of these vehicles.
Quantitative Methods
This is a method that measures, analyses statistical, mathematical and
numerical data collected through questionnaires, surveys, interviews etc.
There are four main types of Quantitative research: In my research I
decided to use one method that I will explain below with the findings.
1)Correlational Research. It’s a non-experimental research method that
involves measuring two variables and the understanding the relationship
between the variables.
I used the above method to gather and compare information about
purchases made worldwide of Honda and Mercedes vehicles. Below are
my findings in a table.
Column
1
Column
2
Column
3
Column
4
Column
5
Column
6
DATA SHOWING SALES OF MERCEDES AND HONDAS
FOR THE PAST 7 YEARS
YEAR
HONDA
(MILLIONS)
MERCEDES
BENZ(MILLIONS)
2018 3000000 million 4056000 million
2017 210000 million 2786600 million
2016 200000 million 3098666 million
2015 120000 million 167000 million
2014 190000 million 245400 million
2013 85000 million 120000 million
TOTALS 3805000million
10473666
millions
DATA ANALYSIS
This is a process of applying statistical techniques to describe, illustrate
and evaluate collected data.
Qualitative Data Analysis

Before conducting the interview, I had come up with questions relevant to
Mercedes Benz and Honda vehicles that helped me in conducting the
interviews. The questions were open ended ones that needed an
illustrative statement from the interviewees had also read several articles
and got ideas on relevant questions that most individuals were yearning
answers on.
Below is semi structured in depth interview with one the Mercedes and
Honda dealers.
The researcher: What motivated you to be a Mercedes dealer?
Interviewee: Mercedes is a unique brand that puts into
consideration its customer’s preference and tastes for example the
idea of Mercedes me provides a good experience for all Mercedes
customers hence more and more people tend to believe in the brand.
The above response provide by a Mercedes Benz dealer was so relevant in
my research.
Mercedes me is a technological advancement in Mercedes brand that
promotes economic development. The aim of the advancement is to
ensure a positive impact on the customer’s experience.
Below also is some in depth interviewee with a Honda admirer. A person
who could prefer owning a Honda vehicle in the near future.
The researcher: What do you prefer Honda vehicles to other brands?
Interviewee: Honda vehicles are reliable since they last longer. They
can be used for a longer time without breakdown compared to other
brands. The vehicles also consume less fuel that other recognized vehicle
brands therefore I would easily purchase one.
From the above conversation it indicates that Honda brand has created a
culture among its vehicles whereby they consume less fuel than other
brands. Consumption of less fuel among Honda brands promotes their
ethical value outlined by the human resource department.
Quantitative Data Analysis.
In the table below I used the data collected by the quantitative method
analysis to calculate the mean, mode, median and standard deviation of
Honda and Mercedes sales made worldwide. The calculations made are
important in their own ways explained below.
Mode. This is a set of data numbers that appear more frequently. Its
useful when the most common factor is required.
Mean. This is average where you add up all the numbers then divide by
the number of numbers.They are useful because they summarize large
amount of data into a single understandable value.
Median. Middle value in the list of numbers. It is used to describe the
middle of a set of data that does have an outliner.
Standard deviation. It’s a number that is used to tell how measurement
for a group of values or numbers are spread out. The importance of this is

to show out how data is spread out. High standard deviation shows that
data most points are pretty far from average. A low standard deviation
means most points are very close to the average.
Column
1
Column2 Column3 Column4 Column
5
Column
6
DATA SHOWING SALES OF MERCEDES AND HONDA
WORLDWIDE (MILLIONS)
Trial YEAR HONDA MERCEDES
1 2018 3000000 4056000
2 2017 210000 2786600
3 2016 200000 3098666
4 2015 120000 167000
5 2014 190000 245400
5 2013 850000 120000
6 TOTAL 3805000 10473666
MEAN 761666.6667 1745611
MEDIAN 205000 1516000
MODE N/A N/A
STANDARD
DEV
1129272.627 1768477.88
3
Calculation of the standard deviation in the table above shows how in
Honda vehicles market has spread out worldwide.
The mean calculated in the table can be used to show economic impact of
Mercedes brand through the mean of sales made within the 6 years.
The sales made in the above table indicate that Honda need to put more
effort in their marketing and human resource department to have more
sales as Mercedes brand.
From the above table Mercedes sales increase partially like every year
that indicates the positive economic development it creates each year.
Recommendations for Mercedes
Improving customer relationship management by creating benefits .
Increasing brand loyalty and equity and by also creating a positive word of
mouth. This will create more market for the Mercedes brand therefore
positive economic growth.
They would also create activities that will bring close the Mercedes
community, which would later benefit increase the customer base. This
will build a cultural impact on Mercedes that will likely be followed by
Mercedes buyers and dealers all through.

Mercedes can also lead to more frequent trading information about new
cars as well as probing customers into buying by giving out relevant
information. Availability of relevant information will lead to more
customers since more buyers can easily understand the brand. Therefore,
this will positively contribute to economic growth.
Mercedes Benz should make the spare parts of the vehicle easily available
and accessible to the customers. This will reduce the struggle some
customers undergo to get spare parts when their vehicles break down.
Through availability of spare parts easily Mercedes will create a good
culture that will make the brand easily admirable among potential
customers and dealers.
Recommendation for Honda
Honda should set up departments to maintain good and healthy
relationships with its customers hence through that they might have a
positive increase of customers.
Honda should introduce low priced vehicles for low earners to be able to
afford. This will promote the relations between the brand and its users
hence the role of its human resource department would be achieved.
Honda would increase its sales by listening and changing according to
customer’s preference and tastes. Listening to customers would enhance
better relations and automatically more sales would be realized in Honda.
Customers being the base of every organization their demands must be
recognized and put into consideration before anything. This is the role of
human resource department. Better listening of customers’ needs will
create good relations and also achieve the role of presence of human
resource department in organizations.
REFERENCES
Daimer, 2017, Annual Report. [Online] Retrieved 06 Mar 2019, from
http://www.annualreports.com/HostedData/AnnualReports/PDF/NYSE_DAI_2017.pdf
Honda Sustainability Report, 2018. [Online] Retrieved 06 Mar 2019, from
https://global.honda/content/dam/site/global/about/cq_img/sustainability/report/pdf/2018/
Honda-SR-2018-en-all-02.pdf

Honda, 2016, Honda Reports on its Environmental Performance and Progress in 2016 North
American Report. [Online] Retrieved 06 Mar 2019, from https://3blmedia.com/News/Honda-
Reports-its-Environmental-Performance-and-Progress-2016-North-American-Report
Mercedes-Benz Trucks, 2019. Sustainability report. [Online] Retrieved 06 Mar 2019, from
https://www.mercedes-benz.com/en/mercedes-benz/vehicles/trucks/sustainability/
Metro Atlanta, 2018. Newsroom. [Online] Retrieved 06 Mar 2019, from
https://www.metroatlantachamber.com/about/news-press/newsroom/global-commerce-
council-welcomes-two-titans-mercedes-benz-and-porsche-for-a-discussion-on-atlantas-
automotive-ecosystem
Trefis Team, 2015. How Mercedes-Benz Accelerated Its Growth In 2015. Forbes. [Online]
Retrieved 06 Mar 2019, from
https://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2015/12/07/how-mercedes-benz-accelerated-
its-growth-in-2015/#450999b02a04