ST MICROELECTRONICS
Introduction
ST Microelectronics is a semiconductor manufacturer and recently named as the 5th largest in manufacturing semiconductor components in the industry [1]. Formed in June 1987, the Italian-French manufacturer has few headquarters representing few sectors such as manufacturing, corporate and regional [4]. Geneva, Switzerland is the headquarter for manufacturing and corporate, as also in European region. Carrollton, Texas is named as the US regional headquarter, the Asia Pacific regional headquarter is located in Singapore, the Japanese operations is headquartered in Tokyo, whille Shanghai is the headquarter for Great China region.
My Analysis - Even though the company is based in Europe, that does not mean that it cannot go global. There must be specific reasons of why they have headquarters in almost every continent. The population of each country may differ from one another, which comes to the sense where they need more labours in order to make the business running, relative to the number of population. Say Shanghai as an example, it is a big province with huge population, but the cost of labour here is cheaper than its nearby countries. Japan has a fast growing technology scene, which has drawn interest of the company to expand the business and share the knowledge and technology.
Customers, Alliances and Partnerships
ST Microelectronics has built good relationships and joint-venture agreements between customers, suppliers, competitors, universities and research institutions. Manufacturing tycoons like Bosch, Alcatel, Hewlett-Packard, Nokia, and Marelli are some of companies that have shared the technology development with ST Microelectronics [3]. Millions of dollar of investment have been carried out to develop researches and improve manufacturing resources and infrastructures, and at the same time, increasing its portfolio as one of the most innovative manufacturers. Like example, ST Microelectronics and Shenzhen High Tech Industrial Company Limited (SHIC), in Shenzhen, China has allied in a joint-venture that inaugurates the back-end assembly and test plan.
My Analysis - Some of the biggest companies that the company is cooperating with have a high reputation. In a way, the company will be affected by the name and prestige of these companies, so it will generate good business relationship, as well as to bring the company's profile to a higher level. At the same time, it will establish the company's business and welcoming more big tycoons to cooperate.
The Supply Chain Management Report
My Analysis - From the Supply Chain Management Report [5] given from the table above, we can see that the number of suppliers were stable from 2004 to 2006, which was average 165. From these 3 years, we can see that the number was increased from 2005 to 2006. This indicates the element of trust and confident of the suppliers to the company. This can be proven by the diagram below.
It is a diagram showing the barrel petroleum prices from 1987 to 2008. In between this period, we can see that the price of petroleum from 2004 to 2006 was increasing, indicating the global economy growth (since the global economy is currently depending on the fuel price) which related to the statement from the previous paragraph. Besides, if we look back, the global economy climate between these 3 years were significantly fine. The depending of company not only in manufacturing, but in sales as well as research would contribute to this matter. From time to time, they will improve the process of supplying as well as introducing the recovering plan to encourage more suppliers to cooperate with the company.
Company Structure and Shareholders
Divided into few divisions, each business unit is contributing to the total growth of the company with help of central R & D organization [2].
- Mobile Multimedia Communication: Consumer, multimedia, wireless and wireline products.
- Memory Product Group: EEPROM, Flash memories (nand & nor), serial flash memories and smartcards.
- Automotive Product Group: Analog and digital chips for the automotive market.
- Micro, Power and Analog Group: Analog and power circuits and microcontrollers.
- Computer Peripheral Group: Chips for computer peripherals (hard disk drive controllers, printers, etc)
- Front End Technology and Manufacturing: research and development.
As reported, 2005 the shareholders [6] were:
- 72.4% public
- 13.5% Areva of France
- 8.1% Finmeccanica of Italy
- 5.4% Cassa Depositi e Prestiti of Italy
My Analysis - It is a good idea to split the business into few divisions, instead of focusing into one particular area. Nowadays, many electronic manufacturers have widen their scope of product into diffrent variety of areas significantly to the market demand which is growing as time goes by. This will create a healthy competition among manufacturers and will encourage them to improve their products and introduce new technology. At the end of the day, it will affect the world's economy in a good way since the manufacturing industry can generate global economy growth. Looking at the shareholders list, we can see that more than 70% of the shares are owned by the public. This shows the faith and confident of the business itself that can contribute to a profitable income. The rest about 30% shares of the company are owned by European institutions. It seems like there is no other shareholder from outside of Europe, since the company is based in one of the most established country in the continent. Which makes other headquarters as a supportive components of the business.
References
[1]
Introduction and History -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STMicroelectronics
[2]
Product Portfolio -
http://www.st.com/stonline/company/prodrang.htm
[3]
Strategic Alliances and Industry Partnerships -
http://www.st.com/stonline/press/news/backgrounders
/b9022c.htm
[4]
Company Profile -
http://www.st.com/stonline/company/index.htm
[5]
Supply Chain Management Overview 2006 -
http://www.st.com/stonline/company/cr/2006/supply/performance/index.htm
[6]
Corporate Responsibility Report -
http://www.st.com/stonline/company/cr/2005/economic/performance/shareholders.htm
