Beckman Coulter Inc., is a company that makes biomedical laboratory instruments. Founded by Caltech professor Arnold O. Beckman in 1935 as National Technical Laboratories to commercialize a pH meter that he had invented, the company eventually grew to employ over 10,000 people, with $2.4 billion in annual sales by 2004. Its current headquarters are in Brea, California.
In the 1940s, Beckman changed the name to Arnold O. Beckman, Inc. to sell oxygen analyzers, the Helipot precision potentiometer, and spectrophotometers. In the 1950s, the company name changed to Beckman Instruments, Inc..
In 1955, Beckman established the seminal Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory as a division of Beckman Instruments to begin commercializing the semiconductor transistor technology invented by Caltech alumnus William Shockley. Because Shockley's aging mother lived in Palo Alto, California, the Shockley Laboratory was established in nearby Mountain View, California, and thus, "Silicon Valley" was born.
In 1982, the company merged into SmithKline to form SmithKline Beckman, with Arnold Beckman as vice chairman, but regained its independence in 1989 after SmithKline merged with Beecham Group to form SmithKline Beecham (now part of GlaxoSmithKline).
In 1995, the company acquired Hybritech, Inc. from Eli Lilly
In 1996, the company acquired the Sanofi portion of Sanofi Pasteur Diagnostics
In 1998, the company acquired Coulter Corporation, a company founded by Wallace H. Coulter and changed its name to what it is today.
In 2005, the company acquired Diagnostic Systems Laboratories (DSL) based in Webster, Texas.
In 2006, the company acquired Lumigen and Agencourt Bioscience.
In 2007, the company acquired the Flow Cytometry Business Group of Dako North America, Inc.
In 2009, the company acquired Lab-based Diagnostics business of Olympus Corporation Japan.
In 2009, the company moved its world headquarters from Fullerton, California to the newly renovated facility in Brea, California.[1]
In February 2011 Danaher announced that it has entered into a definitive merger agreement with Beckman Coulter.

In order to determine if Grace’s Cuisine suits to customer’s buying process in Hong Kong, the PEST analysis was conducted. PEST analysis stands for "Political, Economic, Social, and Technological analysis" and describes a framework of macroenvironmental factors used in environmental scanning. Apparently, this part of the paper aims to discuss the PEST analysis of Grace’s Cuisine.

In addition, PEST analysis is a part of the external analysis when doing market research and gives a certain overview of the different macroenvironmental factors that the company has to take into consideration. Actually, political factors include areas such as tax policy, employment laws, environmental regulations, trade restrictions and tariffs and political stability. The economic factors are the economic growth, interest rates, exchange rates and inflation rate. Social factors often look at the cultural aspects and include health consciousness, population growth rate, age distribution, career attitudes and emphasis on safety. The technological factors also include ecological and environmental aspects and can determine the barriers to entry, minimum efficient production level and influence outsourcing decisions. It looks at elements such as R&D activity, automation, technology incentives and the rate of technological change.



Political factors

Basically, political factors include regulations and legal issues and define both formal and informal rules under which firm must operate. This includes the tax policy, employment laws, environmental regulations, trade restrictions and tariffs, political stability

In Hong Kong, food products are heavily influenced and controlled by legislation relating to composition and labeling requirements, such that consumers can be confident of the wholesomeness and value for money that they represent. On a world perspective, the availability of safe food is an increasing problem in fast-growing urban populations, especially in tropical countries. Meeting this need by the provision of new food product is a major opportunity for Hong Kong as these markets develop.



Economic Factor

The market value of food companies in the Hong Kong represents a further contribution to wealth, both in the holdings by private shareholders and in those held by institutions. The balance of trade arising from Grace Cuisine products is negative because the major materials other than water have to be imported. Also, the nature of the product cost structures rule out significant inter-country shipment of such low price-dense, high bulk packs. Brands drawing on Hong Kong know-how are marketed internationally, however, and where the parent companies are Hong Kong-based, bring in invisible earnings.



Social Factors

There is now a wealth of evidence to show that consuming a high salt diet brings with it increasing health problems. High salt intake is linked to increasing blood pressure, which causes strokes and heart disease, with other less well-known effects including stomach cancer and osteoporosis. Basically, these issues might affect the establishment of Grace Cuisine since majority of their products are meat.

Of all food's connections to human society, none is more interesting than its ties to culture. As symbol, center of ritual, and marker of cultural boundaries, it is universally understood to be an expression of identity and the representation of a social group. The food that matters is shared commensally, within the family or at a public feast; and the foods employed in these daily and seasonal rituals evoke family ties, and seem to embody culture in some immemorial way. Yet the foods served, the ceremonies that go with them, and the meanings constructed around them do change.

Negotiation of status relations takes place in a wide variety of settings and via different mediums. Food is prominent among these for a number of reasons. Food and corresponding evaluations of appetite/satiation, taste/distaste, and nutritious/non-nutritious evoke associations of superiority or inferiority in many cultures. For example, control of hunger, an indicator of discipline and self-restraint, is often demanded when people undergo initiation to mark a change of status in the life cycle. Conversely, gluttonous consumption of food may indicate lack of restraint, or be seen as indicating a voracious appetite, vigor, and capacity. Foods which are preferred for their taste, such as those containing fat and other critical nutrients (Speth 1990) are often associated with well-being and confer superiority on those who can regularly produce, consume or distribute them.
 
Beckman Coulter Inc., is a company that makes biomedical laboratory instruments. Founded by Caltech professor Arnold O. Beckman in 1935 as National Technical Laboratories to commercialize a pH meter that he had invented, the company eventually grew to employ over 10,000 people, with $2.4 billion in annual sales by 2004. Its current headquarters are in Brea, California.
In the 1940s, Beckman changed the name to Arnold O. Beckman, Inc. to sell oxygen analyzers, the Helipot precision potentiometer, and spectrophotometers. In the 1950s, the company name changed to Beckman Instruments, Inc..
In 1955, Beckman established the seminal Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory as a division of Beckman Instruments to begin commercializing the semiconductor transistor technology invented by Caltech alumnus William Shockley. Because Shockley's aging mother lived in Palo Alto, California, the Shockley Laboratory was established in nearby Mountain View, California, and thus, "Silicon Valley" was born.
In 1982, the company merged into SmithKline to form SmithKline Beckman, with Arnold Beckman as vice chairman, but regained its independence in 1989 after SmithKline merged with Beecham Group to form SmithKline Beecham (now part of GlaxoSmithKline).
In 1995, the company acquired Hybritech, Inc. from Eli Lilly
In 1996, the company acquired the Sanofi portion of Sanofi Pasteur Diagnostics
In 1998, the company acquired Coulter Corporation, a company founded by Wallace H. Coulter and changed its name to what it is today.
In 2005, the company acquired Diagnostic Systems Laboratories (DSL) based in Webster, Texas.
In 2006, the company acquired Lumigen and Agencourt Bioscience.
In 2007, the company acquired the Flow Cytometry Business Group of Dako North America, Inc.
In 2009, the company acquired Lab-based Diagnostics business of Olympus Corporation Japan.
In 2009, the company moved its world headquarters from Fullerton, California to the newly renovated facility in Brea, California.[1]
In February 2011 Danaher announced that it has entered into a definitive merger agreement with Beckman Coulter.

In order to determine if Grace’s Cuisine suits to customer’s buying process in Hong Kong, the PEST analysis was conducted. PEST analysis stands for "Political, Economic, Social, and Technological analysis" and describes a framework of macroenvironmental factors used in environmental scanning. Apparently, this part of the paper aims to discuss the PEST analysis of Grace’s Cuisine.

In addition, PEST analysis is a part of the external analysis when doing market research and gives a certain overview of the different macroenvironmental factors that the company has to take into consideration. Actually, political factors include areas such as tax policy, employment laws, environmental regulations, trade restrictions and tariffs and political stability. The economic factors are the economic growth, interest rates, exchange rates and inflation rate. Social factors often look at the cultural aspects and include health consciousness, population growth rate, age distribution, career attitudes and emphasis on safety. The technological factors also include ecological and environmental aspects and can determine the barriers to entry, minimum efficient production level and influence outsourcing decisions. It looks at elements such as R&D activity, automation, technology incentives and the rate of technological change.



Political factors

Basically, political factors include regulations and legal issues and define both formal and informal rules under which firm must operate. This includes the tax policy, employment laws, environmental regulations, trade restrictions and tariffs, political stability

In Hong Kong, food products are heavily influenced and controlled by legislation relating to composition and labeling requirements, such that consumers can be confident of the wholesomeness and value for money that they represent. On a world perspective, the availability of safe food is an increasing problem in fast-growing urban populations, especially in tropical countries. Meeting this need by the provision of new food product is a major opportunity for Hong Kong as these markets develop.



Economic Factor

The market value of food companies in the Hong Kong represents a further contribution to wealth, both in the holdings by private shareholders and in those held by institutions. The balance of trade arising from Grace Cuisine products is negative because the major materials other than water have to be imported. Also, the nature of the product cost structures rule out significant inter-country shipment of such low price-dense, high bulk packs. Brands drawing on Hong Kong know-how are marketed internationally, however, and where the parent companies are Hong Kong-based, bring in invisible earnings.



Social Factors

There is now a wealth of evidence to show that consuming a high salt diet brings with it increasing health problems. High salt intake is linked to increasing blood pressure, which causes strokes and heart disease, with other less well-known effects including stomach cancer and osteoporosis. Basically, these issues might affect the establishment of Grace Cuisine since majority of their products are meat.

Of all food's connections to human society, none is more interesting than its ties to culture. As symbol, center of ritual, and marker of cultural boundaries, it is universally understood to be an expression of identity and the representation of a social group. The food that matters is shared commensally, within the family or at a public feast; and the foods employed in these daily and seasonal rituals evoke family ties, and seem to embody culture in some immemorial way. Yet the foods served, the ceremonies that go with them, and the meanings constructed around them do change.

Negotiation of status relations takes place in a wide variety of settings and via different mediums. Food is prominent among these for a number of reasons. Food and corresponding evaluations of appetite/satiation, taste/distaste, and nutritious/non-nutritious evoke associations of superiority or inferiority in many cultures. For example, control of hunger, an indicator of discipline and self-restraint, is often demanded when people undergo initiation to mark a change of status in the life cycle. Conversely, gluttonous consumption of food may indicate lack of restraint, or be seen as indicating a voracious appetite, vigor, and capacity. Foods which are preferred for their taste, such as those containing fat and other critical nutrients (Speth 1990) are often associated with well-being and confer superiority on those who can regularly produce, consume or distribute them.

Hey netra, many many thanks for sharing such an important marketing research report on Beckman Coulter which would be beneficial for many people. Well, i also did some searches and got some useful information on Beckman Coulter and going to share it with you.
 

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