ANALYSIS OF FUTURE PIPE

The Future Pipe Group is headquartered in the Netherlands and is actually a consortium of existing construction pipe and tube manufacturers and resellers, the oldest of which was founded in 1973. The companies in the group are: Gulf Eternit Industries Co. Ltd.; Gulf Eternit Trading Co.; Future Pipe Industries BV (formerly Wavin Repox BV); Emirates Pipe Industries Factory L.L.C.; Future Pipe Industries Co. S.A.L.; Ameron Gulf Ltd. (AGL); Dynaflow International; and, Future Plastrex (Future Pipe, Online).

As elsewhere in the world, the construction pipe industry is a competitive subset of the highly competitive construction industry. The companies involved in Future Pipe have a sizable market penetration in the Middle East, Europe, and the Far East and is beginning to develop inroads into the North American construction market.

A study of TubeNet, the industry business-to-business site, there are numerous competitors working the same side of the street as Future Pipe. Judging from the information presented concerning these companies, the primary competitive issues are cost, service, reliability, and reputation. Since the company has traditionally relied on the municipal and construction industries in any market, rather than a more consumer oriented market, the company has a low user profile.

An internal company report on Future Pipe detailed the competitive status for 1998-1999 and showed the following ranks (in Dutch Florens).

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rs such as the new one in Malaysia (Harrington, 2000). * More merging among construction firms as the thin margins (see above) and the increased global competition for contracts continues. * New channelizations (such as the Internet's Business to Business portals) will simplify traditional ordering problems. 3. French Management Style Learning to work in France is a challenge, one that is amplified by the fact that the small staff (three people) in the Paris office of Future Pipe is subordinate to the headquarters in the Netherlands, although the two operations are supposed to be autonomous. There are several areas of difficulty in making sure that you are functioning legally in France (Kenny & Lacy, 1994). There are a few de facto rules to follow, since France is a Latin country and operates under Civil Law instead of Common Law. The difference is extreme, and it is often suggested that one needs two interpreters -- one to understand the language and one to understand the laws. Civil Laws are not applied universally to all people all of the time. As part of the romance culture (from the Romans), doing business in Paris requires a great deal of socialization, and informal business meetings over coffee or during long l

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