Environmental Factors 1

Environmental Factors in Marketing

Matthew Bean

University of Phoenix

Marketing MKT/421

Gerry Blouin

Jan. 30, 2010

 Environmental Factors 2

In selecting Games Workshop PLC, a company that conducts both domestic and global

marketing, the following factors will be identified and addressed, the environmental factors that

affect Games Workshops global and domestic marketing decisions. Next, an analysis of the

influences of global economic interdependence and the impact of trade practices and agreements

will be discussed. The importance of demographics and physical infrastructure will be explained

how it relates to Games Workshop. Additionally the following will be discussed; an analysis the

influence of cultural differences and the importance of social responsibility, the ethics versus

legal obligations, and the effect of political systems and the influence of international relations.

Finally, the influence of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act as well as the influence of local,

national, and international legislation will be discussed as to effects on Games Workshop.

Finally, the impact of technology and how it affects Games Workshop marketing plan.

Games Workshop is an international corporation with corporate headquarters, design, and

manufacturing in Nottingham, United Kingdom. In the United States of America, Games

Workshop maintains corporate operations in Glen Burnie, Maryland, and manufacturing

facilities in Memphis, Tennessee. The first environmental factor that Games Workshop

addressed is physical location. With direct sales operations in the United Kingdom, the United

States, Canada, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Japan, and Australia. The company needed to set

up operations in the United States to overcome the cost of shipping from one central European

location. Another global issue that Games Workshop over came is currency exchange rates. By

maintaining operations in the United States, the cost of international shipping is alleviated.

Tariffs which are normally incurred from importing products into the United States are
 Environmental Factors 3

eliminated. Finally, with dedicated corporate operations based in United States, the sales and

marketing department can focus solely on the United States markets, thus avoiding language and

time zone issues.

In 1993, the New York state government passed in to law the following public health law

for the protection of the public health,

§ 1376-a. Sale of consumer products containing lead or cadmium.

In the absence of a federal standard for a specific type of product, the

commissioner shall establish the maximum quantity of lead or cadmium

(and the manner of testing therefor) which may be released from glazed

ceramic tableware, crystal, china and other consumer products.

(Laws of New York)

With the change in New York law and other American states contemplating adopting

similar laws, Games Workshop and several other miniature manufacturing companies chose to

switch to lead-free alloys and plastics for as the material of choice for miniature production.

Even though the New York law provided an exception for the casting of lead-based miniatures,

Games Workshop and other miniature manufactures chose to continue manufacturing with lead-

free alloys. This decision was based on that future trade practices that may ban the use of lead in

miniature production and environmental and health laws which may not provide exceptions, not

only in the United States, but Europe and other future markets.

The importance of demographics for Games Workshop and the company’s marketing

strategy. By knowing the market segmentation that is purchasing Games Workshop product, the
 Environmental Factors 4

marketing and sales departments can create and adjust the marketing strategy to improve the

company’s target goals. In addition, with products “sold through our own chain of over 300

Hobby Centres and more than 4,000 other toy and hobby shops around the world. These outlets

are complemented by our mail order and online sales businesses” (Games Workshop). Thus,

company management can choose to open new corporate stores in burgeoning markets or to open

more accounts with independent retailers.

In the case of Games Workshop, the influence of cultural differences is minimal. Games

Workshops target markets reside either in North America or in Europe. Therefore, the biggest

issue is language. Thus, all written information on placed on or in a product must be translated

into the language of country that the product is to be sold within.

Games Workshop took social responsibility by making the decision to change what

material was used in the manufacturing of miniatures. Whereas the New York law allowed for

Games Workshop to continue producing miniatures made from lead, a known material hazardous

to human health, the decision was made to socially and ethically responsible to the company’s

stakeholders.

The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act is “A law passed by the U.S. Congress in 1977 that

prohibits U.S. firms from paying bribes to foreign officials” (Perreault, W., Cannon, J. &

McCarthy, E. p. 197). Games Workshop is a corporation that primarily based in the United

Kingdom, thus subject to similar British laws. However, Games Workshop corporate presence in

the United States requires that all company employees in the United States are subject to this

law.

The use of the Internet has allowed Games Workshop the technological advantage to

reach new consumer markets. Before the adoption of the Worldwide Web as a means for
 Environmental Factors 5

customers to purchase Games Workshop material, customers were limited to making purchases

either through mail order or brick-and-mortar locations.

By selecting Games Workshop PLC, a company that conducts both domestic and global

marketing, the following factors have been identified and addressed, the environmental factors

that affect Games Workshops global and domestic marketing decisions. Next, an analysis of the

influences of global economic interdependence and the impact of trade practices and agreements

was discussed. The importance of demographics and physical infrastructure was explained and

how it related to Games Workshop. Additionally the following was discussed; an analysis the

influence of cultural differences, the importance of social responsibility and the ethics versus

legal obligations, and the effect of political systems and the influence of international relations.

Finally, the influence of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act as well as the influence of local,

national, and international legislation was discussed how it affected Games Workshop. Finally,

the impact of technology and how it affected Games Workshop was discussed.
 Environmental Factors 6

References

Perreault, William Jr., Cannon, Joseph. and McCarthy, Jerome. (2009) Basic

Marketing: A marketing strategy planning approach. Boston: McGraw-Hill Irwin

Games Workshop Group PLC (2005) Investor Relations Brochure retrieved Jan.

26, 2010 from http://www.games-workshop.com

Laws of New York, § 1376-a. retrieved Jan. 26, 2010 from

http://public.leginfo.state.ny.us/menugetf.cgi?COMMONQUERY=LAWS