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ASSIGNMENT STEP #3FAURCIA - NATASHA BENNETTINITAL IMPRESSIONSTo begin with, I am glad that we are assigned a firm instead of having to sought one ourselves. The unit coordinator and teaching staff select companies that fit their criteria of having depreciation and inventories. I am glad that this was done by the unit coordinator, as it is then one less thing that I needed to do. Well… I am happy that I was given a firm, but I am not pleased with the firm I was given. In ACCT11059 I was given an Australian supplement manufacture, Blackmores. Whilst in this class I was extremely grateful, as it is a well-known Australian company. My company for ACCT11081 is Faurcia. Do you know what that is? Well I certainly do not! I was praying that I would get a good company in this class as I did in the last class, but I was disappointed and knew there was nothing I could do about it. I simply accepted what I was given and moved on. I have been delaying this step, as I didn’t like my company and didn’t have an interest in learning about it. I would have preferred a company like I had in the last class, a well-known Australian company. I am thankful that when I was given my company, I was also told which country it originates from and minor information about the firm, so that I was not left completely dreading this step and my company. I was concerned that the company was going to be hard for me to understand and relate to, and that the financial reports were going to be in French and I would have no idea what I was looking at. Upon examining my company's financial statements slightly, I have found that they are in fact in English and they are set out very simply. This means that it is easier to understand my company. I am thankful that Faurecia sets out its financial statements so that information is easily found, as I am able to investigate the financial statement better.MY FIRMFaurecia is a global leader in technology, automobile parts and providing innovative solutions to automotive challenges. Listed on the NYSE Euronext (similar to the ASX), Faurecia was formed in 1998 through the merger of two French automotive component suppliers. Faurecia is in the top 10 automotive companies worldwide and has their technology in approximately one third of vehicles worldwide. In 2001, Faurecia acquired the automotive division of Sommer Allibert, thereby becoming Europe's leading automotive component supplier. Faurecia is the ‘cockpit of the future,’ being connected, versatile and predictive, with technology that is working towards a zero emissions world. The current CEO, Patrick Koller, began leading the company in 2016 with his extensive knowledge in the automotive industry. The company’s headquarters is situation in Nanterre, France, although, the company operates in 37 different countries worldwide. As can be seen by the ‘Automotive News Europe’ article, the majority of media outlets portray Faurecia’s image well. Its business ventures into China have been highlighted, along with how well the company’s sales are rising. Its joint ventures within the last several years have been highlighted, showing that Faurecia is expanding its business, creating relationships and an image for growth. This article by ‘Automotive News’ shows that whilst Faurecia operates in 37 different companies, incidents in one of those countries can still impact its profits heavily. Highlighted in the article is the General Motors strike in the United States of America that impacted the business, with a $25.5 million loss incurred. Despite the strike and a six percent decrease in light vehicle production, Faurecia is still targeting an increase in its operating income and operating margin of at least seven percent for 2019. The article is not all negative, as it stated that Faurecia’s third-quarter sales had risen by 4.3 percent from a year earlier. The ‘IMPINJ’ wrote an article about Faurecia that captures its vast profile and explains its developments. The article explains the new ‘RAIN RFID’ systems that Faurecia is beginning to implement throughout its factories. Since 2015, the company has engaged in strategic transformation of its manufacturing operations to optimise its production lines. The media is not biased about Faurecia, showing all aspect of the companies challenges and successes. Faurecia is portrayed well in the media, with its research and development to create better manufacturing process and business expenditures all highlighted. The company has also had its troubles shown, to allow the public a complete and unbiased view of the company progression. CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES AND THOUGHTS I found my company’s annual report simple to understand. Even though Faurecia is a French company, its annual reports are set out simply with the financial statements being called by their basic names. I was able to find information about my company quite easily, as the information was simply labeled, and the report was well structured. Since 1903 the French automotive industry has led the world with over 30,000 vehicles produced by over 30 manufactures. Faurecia is a global automotive supplier based in Paris, France. With the technological revolution, Faurecia and all automotive companies must adapt rapidly and anticipate new demands. Modern vehicles are becoming complex, with more parts and electronics required, which has led to an increase in the number of parts manufactured by suppliers. Major megatrends are shaping the world and its future: environmental concerns, new technologies and economic conditions have shaped the industry into its present form, gravitating towards driverless automobiles. 2019 has had many economic and social changes, currently the trade war is creating significant economic uncertainty for imports from Mexico to America. As the possibility of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) being replaced or terminated, the automobile parts industry has become uncertain. The changing of the NAFTA impacts manufactures heavily as they rely upon imported raw materials and assemblies from Mexico to America. With this uncertainty, automobile parts manufactures are having to prepare to source their materials and components differently if future changes will impact them negatively. Faurecia operates in both the U.S. and Mexico, and if the NAFTA is altered, operations in both countries are likely to be impacted heavily. Faurecia is confident that it will suffer from the potential import duties on products made in Mexican factories and exported to the U.S. as much as any other automobile parts manufacture that utilises the same processes. Although, Faurecia expects to benefit through its U.S. company with the tax overhaul, which is forecast to reduce the group’s overall effective tax rate. The reduction of the corporate tax rate is an advantage for Faurecia, which is why they are not heavily impact by the import duties tax on Mexican imports to the U.S. The automobile industry has been described as ‘undergoing the most significant change since 1908,’ with the new generation challenging classic mobility concepts. The biggest technological development is the addition of cars where human control is not required, driverless cars. These technological developments allow automobile companies to adapt and continue their business into the future. Research and development for driverless automobiles has been underway for many years, with consumers recently beginning to convert to zero emission vehicles. The development for driverless cars is continuing to advance and become more mainstream, despite a range of setbacks including operator errors, safety concerns and country legislation.Faurecia is aiming to provide intelligent solutions for sustainable mobility, with gross research and development costs being €1,093.1 million for 2018. The company is continually adapting its business to the needs and wants of consumers in the market in terms of supply, production, services and research and development. Faurecia is continually working towards future development, which includes working with academics in open innovation networks so that it does not lag in its innovations. Faurecia is a leading automotive technology company that develops solutions for sustainable mobility. The company aims to provide a more versatile, connected environment and a personal experience when using its products and services. Faurecia has swiftly seized the opportunity to be the ‘cockpit of the future,’ by leveraging its unique competitive advantages of seating and interior expertise. Future mobility will be connected, autonomous, shared and electrified. Faurecia is an innovator and has anticipated these trends, whilst developing a strategy to benefit from them. The current automobile market has begun to convert to a more sustainable, electric automobile. This shift has caused a majority of automobile suppliers, manufactures and resellers to transform their business into electric automobiles. This conversion has occurred due to environmental concerns and external pressers expecting the automobile industry to convert to emission less vehicles, causing a rapid rise in the want for hybrid vehicles. Faurecia is attempting to seize opportunities and emerge as a technology leader. Its strategy is to provide intelligent solutions for sustainable mobility and be the ‘cockpit of the future’ based on its leading position in seating, interiors, lean mobility and strong customer intimacy. Faurecia spent over €1 billion in its research and development areas in 2018 to be innovative, achieve profitable growth and be the ‘cockpit of the future.’ The business has a three-pronged strategic plan for sustainable mobility: develop innovative solutions, develop ultra-clean solutions and develop solutions for zero emissions. This process of becoming better acquainted with my company has been insightful. I have been dreading this step and have put it off until the last possible moment. I preferred my company in the previous unit and that encouraged me to quickly learn more about it. For this class I was given a French automobile company that I had never heard of, therefore causing my avoidance to learn more about the business. After completing this step, I feel like I would be able to explain some key points about my company and what it does. I am now glad that I was given a company that I had not heard of before, which allowed me to further my knowledge. I did not have any difficulties within this step, as the company seems to be a major automotive business that has plenty of information and is coping well with the uncertain economy. PEER DISCUSSIONS I think the communication that is required for the assignment in this unit is fantastic, as it encourages the students to interact and learn off each other. Unlike in ACCT11059, I have been attending the PASS session each week. I have found these sessions to be a time for reassurance of my knowledge, a chance to ask questions and also an opportunity to interact with other students and help each other out in our learning process. Generally, the same few people attend the PASS session each week and in our second session Danielle allowed us time to discuss our individual company’s and find similarities and differences. Cassie Phillips, Samantha Edser and I each introduced and discussed our companies. This interaction allowed me to begin to investigate my company further so that we could find similarities and interesting activities that out companies did. Samantha’s company was called G4S and Cassie’s company was a funeral home in Australia, which I forgot to write down its actual name. We found that all our companies, whilst in very different industries, all operated in several countries and all included diversity strategies in their annual reports. The security company, G4S, and my company, Faurecia, were both listed on their relevant stock exchange. I was shocked to know that the funeral home, that operates in several countries was not on a stock exchange. Although, the company had experienced a decrease in profits, when compared to the previous year, so it’s uncertain profits may be the cause. All of our companies listed their potential risks in their annual report but failed to elaborate on how they were going to control or minimise them. I found this a bit strange, as I thought investors would want to know that the company has a strategy for any potential problems. When looking at each other’s annual reports, it was found that they were all labelled different. Faurecia’s are simply called balance sheet and income statement, whereas the others varied, and some were called statement of financial position and profit and loss summary. I found interacting with other students made me more eager to learn about my company, so that I could share it with others if I was asked. Currently, I have not spoken about my company with the students in my class, they are not as progressed in this assignment as of yet. Although, I have had fun interacting on the Facebook page and falling other people’s blogs, as you can see below. ................
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