Chapter 4: Anatomy of a Multinational Company.- Billabong

- Billabong has 300 stores around the world tourists and locals. in more than 100 countries, with its major regions being North America, Australasia and Europe. These regions include Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Indonesia, Singapore, Hong Kong, the United States, Canada, Brazil, Peru, Chile, Spain, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, Austria, Belgium and Holland. Outside of the key regions, Billabong also has extensive business in areas including South Africa.

- The company has approximately 1750 full time staff worldwide.

- Group sales revenue of $1.67 billion represented a 23.9% increase on the prior year.- The Company's brands are marketed and promoted internationally through association with high profile professional athletes, junior athletes and events.

-Billabong logo means a stagnant pool of water in the bed of a stream that flows intermittently.

- Costumes Experience at billabong highly interactive, engaging, and relax.

Chapter 4: External Environment

SWOT Analysis, is a strategic planning tool used to evaluate the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats involved in a project or in a business venture. The aim of any SWOT analysis is to identify the key internal and external factors that are important to achieving the objective. SWOT analysis groups key pieces of information into two main categories: Internal factors - The strengths and weaknesses internal to the organization. External factors, the opportunities and threats presented by the external environment. The external factors may include macroeconomic matters, technological change, legislation, and socio-cultural changes, as well as changes in the marketplace or competitive position. The results are often presented in the form of a matrix.

Chapter 3: Ethical Behavior in Business

All decisions and actions undertaken by Billabong International Limited are aligned to a simple vision and values statement:
Respect the past but represent the future- Within this philosophy, the Company is committed to recognizing and building on its strengths, challenging established boundaries and rewarding innovation. The Company recognizes the value of teamwork, the need to think globally but act locally, the benefits of fostering a culture of growth and opportunity, the need to act responsibly and ethically and the need to maintain the flexibility to adapt to change.

Chapter 3: Environmental Management

Be The Change You Want In The World is a philosophical challenge for people to live their life by example. In effect, it encourages individuals to proactively lead the change to a more responsible world.
Billabong has adopted Be The Change You Want In The World as the statement under which the brand's environmental and social strategies are grouped. It effectively serves as an information portal through which visitors to the Company's website can learn more about environmental and social initiatives and better understand the groups and charities supported by the brand.

11/12/09

Billabongs Supplier Policy

Billabong International has a direct workforce of in excess of 1500 people based around the surfing hubs. Staff are offered a challenging and dynamic work environment across a range of disciplines including graphic design, sales, marketing, warehousing and distribution, quality control, manufacturing, retailing, finance and administration. Billabong also understands its workforce extends beyond its direct employees and into the factories of third-party contractors within the Group's global supply chain. The work practices and employment conditions of these contract workplaces are under review by Billabong International to ensure compliance with internationally-accepted standards. These compliance among all external factory contractors which are International Labour Organisation conventions, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The audits are undertaken with the specific goal of identifying and eliminating any under-age working violations, addressing remuneration and overtime issues. Billabong International believes the move towards such a standard is the only suitable way to demonstrate their continued adherence to appropriate labour standards.

09/12/09

Some Advertisement Strategies

Wallace, vice-president, is a busy man. Months ago VAS, the company contracted to sell Billabong content around the world, was at a MIPCOM TV sales conference in Cannes marketing a 13-part series to potential buyers. “It’s centred around our athletes. It is less about the sport and more about the lifestyle of the athletes,” says Wallace. The surf label produces up to 35 hours of high-definition video a year, drawing on events around the world and its small army of athletes as the subject. A 25-strong audio visual team went to the Billabong Pro Tahiti in May to film the event, which was sells around the world. During the tournament Billabong streamed live feeds to its website, which attracted 1 million unique visitors during the event. Now it is giving Sony Handycams to its athletes, who include surfers Joel Parkinson, Andy Irons, Taj Burrow and Tiago Pires, to film every aspect of their lives. Apparently there is demand to watch them eating breakfast, or at least the edited highlights, says Wallace. For Sony’s marketing director, Toby Barbour, it is a way of getting his products before a younger audience. “We want to get them early so that we can follow them through the life stages with products such as Sony Ericsson mobile phones, Handycams and Bravia.” But to what end does all of this serve Billabong? Wallace says it is hard to measure the return on investment of producing all this content, the cost of which he will not reveal. “I guess the return on investment is about raising the profile of the sport, our athletes and, yes, ultimately our brand.”

09/04/09

Billabongs economic status

Surfwear group Billabong International Ltd has posted a 13.3 per cent fall in annual profit and reduced its final dividend. Net profit for the year ended June 30 was $152.84 million, down from $176.38 million in the previous year. Billabong chief executive officer Derek O'Neill said the result reflected the swift and unprecedented economic slowdown that impacted global economies. Billabong has cut its forecast, Mr O'Neill also said the group was approaching 2009/10 with conservative expectations, it was difficult to build a potential recovery in retailer demand and consumer spending into its forecasts. In response to current conditions, the Company continues to scrutinise and reduce costs, manage receivables and inventory levels across all regions and closely monitor and review both small and large accounts.

09/03/09
Billabong brand surf and extreme sports was funded by Gordon and Rena Merchant in 1973.It started at the kitchen table in the Merchant’s apartment in Australia, they also created the original logo that is still used today. The husband and wife began to sell board shorts to surfing shops for a $4.50 per pairs, selling a $5.000 in merchandise the first year in business. Their first facture was a 1,000 square-foot space in 1975. By 1977 sales reached a $100.000 allowing the company to re located to a bigger factory. After 1984 Billabong began to sponsor the Word Final Surfing contest, the event provided international exposure just as the company started to expand into international markers, starting in New Zeeland, Japan, and USA. Today Billabong sells its products all over the world in over 100 countries including Australia, London, and South Africa; the company also sponsors surfers, skaters and pro surfing tournaments around the world.