Video Gaming Technologies (VGT) was established in 91’, the business was after the gambling market.
With the development of the Treasure Quest and Black Jack Machine the company flourished. By 96’ The Tennessee based company had a new location in South Carolina where the bulk of the machines were built, tested and sold. As the company grew VGT started outsourcing the production of the machines to a company in Ohio, which were then sent to South Carolina for testing and the computer system to be installed. By 99’ the laws in South Carolina changed forcing the company to restructure the way machines were manufactured and sold. Locations in Oklahoma and Ohio soon opened but the quick decision has some problems the Ohio location was not ideal for VGT due to laws and cultures. The company now still has the Oklahoma location and the main office in Tennessee. The South Carolina and Ohio locations were closed.
The Main operations located in South Carolina was forced out mainly due to the location of the bible belt, the bible belt is the area known for Southern Baptist, Southern Baptist are voice full in their convections and religious beliefs. Their Beliefs against Gambling ended with VGT moving their operations to a new location and the closing of the South Carolina place. Ethics and Morals are two different items; Morals are personal where ethics are an understanding for business practices. The issue is, that ethics are generally driven by morals, Morals get the ethics a start are placed in general practices. Where the Bible belt is concerned the Baptist pushes their moral beliefs because they believe they will help the community head in the right direction. Not everyone believes as the Baptist, but the hearts are in the right place.
Ethics is a global issue, Ethics and laws tend to go hand in hand. Several laws are a reflection of ethics, in the business world; the thing is with a global economy business have to research the ethics and laws of more than just their home based country. Doing business in another country calls for the knowledge of that countries laws, ethics, morals, and culture differences. In the early ‘90s ethics became a booming business, ethics plays a large part in decision for potential and existing employees, a company with good ethics is more desirable(Seglin J. 2002).
Trade agreements play a major role in the business world, the international and national trade agreements monitor, control and govern the buying and selling of any product service over boundaries between countries, states, and borders. Trade agreements like NAFTA opened the door way to trade for the countries on the North American continent (Canada, America, and Mexico). The USTF with Australia has opened even more lines of communication for the US; overall the agreements made between countries have allowed the economy to compete with the global world. When it comes to in country agreements are governed by the federal government and states laws.
The political systems in each country however, people may feel about them are the ones that promote and negotiate the trade and cultural relationships between countries. For trade to be free and welcomed there has to be a relationship with the other countries, political systems help to establish this relationship by learning the other countries culture, ethics, morals, needs, wants, and possible business agreements. International relationships can be difficult, the thing is that nothing worth doing is easy, the harder something is the greater the rewards, international relationships fall into this category, to have a strong relationship it takes work.
Culture’s are different, it’s what makes the world an interesting place, taking this into account for marketing has its own issues, a business may market to different cultures, to do so they would have different strategies for each, look at a car dealer, they focus on child friendly aspects for families and focus on speed and looks for singles. Cultures can be tricky if not careful the risk of insulting a culture can be high, and no hope for the marketing or the sale of the product. The different culture views can delay a project, as Sony discovered the workers were not doing as they were told, turns out their culture has a huge amount of machismo and to say a project is not going well is humiliating(Dutton G. 2007).
Different cultures can be found in a small area or across continents, Demographics and geography are huge aspects in the different cultures.
Demographics are a major part in the target market for the past. According to today’s society not as much the demographics are becoming less and less useful with the new mixed races and ethical behavior (Penttila C. 2005). Demographics still play a major role choosing the wrong demographic can crush the plan, and research into the cultures and demographics is a major key in marketing. Would marketing a new high cost car to the average or below average class income people be wise? No, if so the car would not have the same impact or sales as a higher income class of people.
Technology is a wonderful thing although it can make or break a company. Technology changes in the blink of an eye, what one has today can be obsolete tomorrow. In business and marketing this is a critical key in the process. Keeping up with the completion can depend on the technology used and needed. A fall back to technology is that one a new item is released, no guarantee that no bugs exist or if it will have all the components needed. So the decision to upgrade or use the technology is on the business, they need to understand if the new technology will help them, if compatibility is there for previous versions or items will the benefits out way the cost?
VGT is no different from any other business; they are affected by laws, ethics, morals, cultures, and demographics, to be influence just as another business would be. Business has several aspects to consider, especially in a global market.
Considering all the aspects and factors that can influence a business and their decisions requires some major research and planning, VGT has survived by keeping up with the technologies, researching the competition, different cultures. They restructured when needed to refocus the product. VGT will continue to grow and prosper as long as the associates are willing to do a little work and research.
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Reference list
Button G. 2007 Say? Entrepreneur Magazine. https://www.entrepreneur.com/magazine
/entrepreneur/2007/November/185738.htm
Pettily C. 2005 What Lies beneath? https://www.entrepreneur.com/magazine/
entrepreneur/2005/may/77152.html
Seglin J. 2002 Good for Goodness sake. https://www.cfo.com/article.cfm/3006546