Seminar paper from the year 2002 in the subject Business economics - Business Management, Corporate Governance, grade: 1,5 (A), University of New South Wales, Sydney (Faculty of International Business), course: International Business Strategies, 9 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: The objective of this report is to ...

Seminar paper from the year 2002 in the subject Business economics - Business Management, Corporate Governance, grade: 1,5 (A), University of New South Wales, Sydney (Faculty of International Business), course: International Business Strategies, language: English, abstract: The objective of this report is to evaluate the strategy and performance of Wilkhahn AsiaPacific (WiAP). The focus will be on the business-level strategy. An analysis will beconducted to identify if a match between the strategy pursued by WiAP and the internal andexternal environment exists. Subsequently, we will synthesize the information gained fromthe analysis in order to identify possible proble ms and generate alternative strategic solutions.Finally, we will offer recommendations to WiAP on future strategies based on an evaluationof the strategic solutions.WiAP is a subsidiary of the German multinational commercial furniture manufacturerWilkhahn GmbH. WiAP started its operation in Australia in 1999 with its regionalheadquarters in Sydney and sales offices in Melbourne and Brisbane. The company hasgrown rapidly and has recently established a presence in Asia through sales offices inSingapore, Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur. After the first two very successful yearsWilkhahn Asia Pacific has recently experienced a decreased sales performance.We have considered Wilkhahn as an interesting firm for our report, given that it is amultinational company with presence in Australia. Given our own nationalities, German andSwedish, we found it interesting to evaluate the performance of a northern European firmoperating in Australia. The reason we choose the office furniture industry is that one of us haspreviously worked in the industry in Europe.With the help of WiAP’s Managing Director, Michael Prenzlau, and his staff, we were able tocollect valuable information about the office furniture industry (external environment) and thecompany itself (internal environment).