Impact of country on competitor Essay Example

state may have varying requirements to maintain its well-being and advance independently. Thus, Deutsche Bahn would be providing varying levels and types of railway services to these states depending on their particular needs (lcweb2. loc. gov, 2005).

Germany's government structure is accompanied by its unique cultural differences that are present within its internal states. Each state, through its own means, works towards building a strong and prosperous region while coexisting with others to obtain diverse goods and services. It is essential to have an efficient transport system, especially railway services, to sustain this coexistence. Deutsche Bahn, due to its vital role in providing transport services in the country, plays a crucial part in this context. Moreover, railway systems are a significant part of Europe's history and traditions, including those of Germany. Over recent history, railways have been frequently used to facilitate cross-country and intra-country travel for various reasons like refugee transportation, migration, employment and education.

Gov (2002) states that the competitive advantage of Deutsche Bahn is determined by the demographics of Germany. The country has a population of 82 million people, making it the largest in Europe and a crucial factor. As at 2006, Germany ranked third globally with the highest percentage of international immigrants, accounting for 19% of its population - which totals to 10 million out of 191 million migrants. Furthermore, Deutsche Bahn's achievement as a primary transportation service provider also depends on the economy of the country.

Germany boasts one of the strongest economies globally, with Europe's most massive economy that surpasses both Japan and the United States. The country focuses primarily on exporting goods and services, which depend heavily on efficient transportation systems like

railway networks. Deutsche Bahn is crucial to Germany's export trade industry as it holds a favorable position as the only provider of domestic railway transport compared to France's Train a Grande Vitesse (TGV), which shares its market with two other firms. This advantage enables Deutsche Bahn to target a broader audience (Hunt, 2001; Zeilinger, 2003).

Even though TGV trains have advanced technology and high speeds, neighboring countries like Belgium, Switzerland and Italy have already established their own high-speed lines. This limits the reach of TGV's services. Additionally, TGV concentrates its railway services primarily in Paris and Lyon, while other systems such as Eurostar and Thalys take charge of the other networks (Bouley). Furthermore, these countries have a strong appreciation for tradition and history. Railway transport has been a significant mode of transportation, both for passengers and cargo, and its efficiency continues to be popular despite the existence of more modern modes of transport. (http://www.)

According to the CIA World Factbook (cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/fr.html), Germany and France possess similarly organized economies, regardless of how they are ranked. The dominant enterprises in these industries, such as infrastructure, electricity, railway and telecommunications, remain under the influence or ownership of the respective governments.

While Germany and France both have diverse populations and mobility, their economies have different focuses. Germany's strength is in exporting goods and services, while France focuses on receiving foreign direct investments and developing transport technologies such as airplanes. TGV has an advantage over Deutsche Bahn in terms of passenger turnout due to its location in the heart of Paris and nearby cities, which are popular tourist destinations. However, France's lower population results in lower passenger turnout compared to Germany, giving Deutsche

Bahn a competitive advantage due to the country's higher fluidity of passengers.

Conclusion: The success and longevity of Deutsche Bahn, a railway company serving a whole country, are greatly influenced by various external factors that continuously change over the years, including politics, economics, culture, migration, and population. Government policies also play a crucial role in the company's success, and any alterations in these factors may affect the company's existence. However, most of these factors, except politics, experience slight cyclical fluctuations, so changes affecting the company would not be solely because of them, maintaining their advantageous position compared to competitors across the country.

The sources provided are "On the Fast Track: French Railway Modernization and the Origins of the TGV," 1944-1983 (review) by Stefan Zeilinger in Technology and Culture - Volume 44, Number 3, July 2003, pp. 613-614 and "From Reunification to Economic Integration: Productivity and the Labor Market in Germany" (with Michael Burda) by Jennifer Hunt.

The webpage "http://www.jrtr" contains an article titled "A Short History of 'High Speed' Railway in France before TGV" written by Jean Bouley, published in Volume 2 of the Brookings Papers on Economic Activity in 2001.The web address for the PDF file named "f49_bou.pdf" is "net/jrtr03/pdf/f49_bou.pdf" and it is located on the server "lcweb2.loc".The Library of Congress Research Division published a country profile on Germany in December 2005, which can be accessed through the URL http://lcweb2.loc. The source is attributed to the government. The information is contained within a paragraph tag in HTML format.The link to the profile of Germany provided on the cia.gov website in 2002 is http://www.gov/frd/cs/profiles/Germany.pdf.The website cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/fr.html is available within a HTML paragraph tag.