Ireland Country Analysis In Terms Of Business
For this country analysis, we will be looking at several aspects of a country to determine if the United States should be doing business with that country. The country that will be analyzed is Ireland. There are many things that will help determine if this country should be applicable for business. The legal and political system, the relationship between the United States and Ireland, the population, education, and inflation of Ireland, and many other things will have an impact on if the United States will be conducting business with Ireland.
Legal and political situation
Ireland currently uses a common law legal system, which means that it is generally uncodified, so there are no comprehensive compilation of legal rules and statues. This type of legal system functions as an adversarial system, or a contest between two different partiers. Ireland has a constitution that is a legal document that consists of different Articles and describes how Ireland should be governed. This document can be read in both Irish and English for easy translation. Within the constitution, it states that Ireland is “a sovereign, independent, democratic state”. It also states that there is a separation within the power of the government into three branches, the legislature, executive, and judiciary branch.
The legislature branch consists of Parliament, which also has the Senate and House of Representatives. Their role is to make laws. The executive branch holds power in domestic as well as international affairs. This branch includes member like the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister. The Judiciary branch consists of five different courts, which include the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, High Court, Circuit Court, and District Court. Much like the United States, Ireland has a president who is elected. The role of President is known in Ireland to be very ceremonial. President Higgins, who was elected into office in November, 2011 has served as president of Ireland for the past seven year. He is the eleventh president of this country and even though the campaign was extremely brutal, President Higgins took fifty-seven percent of the vote. During his presidency, he has helped the country go through many changes, like the referendums on marriage equality and abortion.
The relationship between the US and Ireland today
According to the United State Department of State, as of March 2018, Ireland and the United States both benefit from commerce, culture, education, and scientific research exchanges between the two countries. Citizens of Ireland have been known to go to other countries to participate in different jobs or furthering their education, especially within the United States. With possible changes in Ireland regarding the situation between Nationalist and Republican groups looking to make Northern Ireland part of the United Kingdom, the United States has assisted hoping that they will encourage peace.
Ireland and the United States are connected because the United States is a product exporter to Ireland. Some of these goods include equipment, computers, pharmaceutical products, and many more. Approximately twenty percent of goods exported from Ireland are imported into the United States. This relationship between trades is continuously growing between the two countries.
Economic/financial numbers in Ireland today
As of September 25, 2018, the Irish GDP for the second quarter of the year has shown that there has been a growth when comparing the second quarter and the first quarter. According to the data, there has been an increase in exports and an increase in consumption. Within the next year, the country of Ireland is expected to continuously grow. FocusEconomics professionals foresee that Ireland’s GDP to grow approximately 5. 8% during the year of 2018, and about 3. 4% within 2019. Within 2013, and 2015 the population of Ireland was 4. 6 (million), and has grown from that time to 4. 7 (million). For the year of 2017, Ireland’s Gross Domestic Product was $333. 73 billion, with a $341. 883 Purchasing Power Parity. During that same year, the GDP per capita was $69, 119. This year, 2018, there has been an increase in the GDP. The Irish population is . 06% of the world population totaling in 4, 803, 748 individuals. Ireland has an education system that can be compared to the United States. After graduating, students are able to attend a university to achieve a higher education. The country of Ireland has a consistent level of inflation that is approximately 0. 6 to 0. 8 within a few months.
Reasons for a US company to manufacture in Ireland today
According to given resources, the Index of Economic Freedom within the country of Ireland is ranked at number six, with a score of eighty point four. This indicates that Ireland is in the top ten in having total economic freedom, which is incredible and one good reason for a United States Company to work with Ireland. The World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report evaluated how business executives felt about working with companies in Ireland and they concluded that the majority of companies have no reservations about working with this country (Corruption in Ireland, 2018). What appears to cause the most issues is having access to finances, government bureaucracy, as well as restrictive labor regulations.
Lastly, regarding corruption, there have been new provisions come into practice that create liability for the companies that are responsible for corrupt happenings by the company’s employees. With this being said, this new practice helps companies who may potentially want to do business with an Irish company that the employees will be held accountable for any illegal or corrupt business they are involved with.
Another positive reason for a company to consider using Ireland to manufacture their products is that they have had a fairly constant growth in their Gross Domestic Product. Having a fairly consistent level of inflation can also be very beneficial for manufacturing within the country of Ireland. Lastly, a reason for a United States company to consider manufacturing in Ireland is their education. Approximately half of Irish resident graduate from a university, meaning that there is the possibility of having many eligible, willing workers for the manufacturing facilities.
Reasons for a US company to compete in Ireland today
Companies of the United States always have competitors, and several of those competitors can be found in other countries, like Ireland. President Donald Trump recognizes the competitor that Ireland is. He realized that the United States may have to overhaul the tax code to bring jobs and investments back to the United States. Ireland also experiences looser immigration control than other countries that the United States competes with. This can cause an increase in the number of people within the country which creates more needs for jobs, and living situations. Because Ireland has a lower, higher education rate than the United States, this is another area where competition is big. Having these competitions between countries keeps jobs on the market and investments to help create a better community within the country.
Many companies are attracted to Ireland because of the low corporate taxes that they offer, so the United States is going to have to find a way to counteract that competition if they are wanting to bring those particular companies back to the States.
Recommendation
I would recommend that a company that is stationed within the United States seriously consider working with Ireland as their main manufacturing firm. Entering the Irish market could be a wise choice for an American company because if the company does well in this aspect, it could potentially assist them in expending their business internationally. Ireland has a good GPD, and it appears to be gradually growing at a consistent and reliable rate. In this way, they could expand on the core competencies. One problem that could arise from this is the differences in the culture and traditions. It is extremely important for the United States to understand exactly how the manufacturing would occur.
The United States could utilize the transnational strategy in working with Ireland. There are many aspects that would encourage any country to work with Ireland. Firstly, them having economic freedom and having low corporate taxes are definitely seen as assets to outside companies. Another large encourager is that companies that have previously worked with Ireland, find that they do not have to worry about corruption. If corruption was thought to be a point of distress, the company should be rest assured that the country of Ireland takes corruption extremely seriously.
In conclusion, I recommend that if possible, it would be wise for a company to do business with Ireland.
