The top 10 businesses in the U.S
The United States of America has one of the most vibrant business environments in the world. One of the top businesses in the country is Wal-Mart. This business deals with discount retailing of household goods and other services. It has more than 3500 discount department stores and warehouses across the country (Cameron 122). The business has more than 1.4 million employees and currently ranks as the biggest global business in terms of revenue (Neff 60). One of its biggest strengths is that it has a special advantage with suppliers, thus giving it a competitive edge when it comes to pricing its goods. An opportunity that the business can exploit to its advantage is having a bigger push into organic foods to target its large customer base. Its biggest threat is the emergence of dollar stores that have more competitive prices.
The second top business in the country is Exxon Mobil, a publicly-traded multinational oil and gas company. Some of the products that the company founded in 1999 deals with include fuels, lubricants, petrochemicals, as well as refining services (Neff 73). The company has more than 75,000 employees and a number of subsidiaries across the world. Its biggest strength is high diversification, while the major threat comes from the fact that there is an oversupply of oil in the market, thus making it hard for the demand to stimulate equilibrium (Cameron 136). The third top business is Chevron, which is also engaged in the oil business with its major focus being petroleum refining. Despite the company experiencing lower profits over the last financial year, it has managed to maintain its market value share and its more than 64,000 employees (Neff 100).
The fourth top business is Warren Buffet’s, Berkshire Hathaway. This is a conglomerate business that has diverse interests in casualty insurance, diversified investments, and properties. The business has a number of subsidiaries and a workforce of more than 300,000 employees. One of the notable strengths of this business is the consistent manner in which its revenue has been growing over the years. The fifth top business is Apple, a technology company with interests in computer hardware, software, consumer electronics, and digital distribution (Cameron 150). The business has several subsidiaries and a workforce of more than 100,000 employees. The sixth top business is general motors that deals with automobiles, automobile parts, and commercial vehicles. The business, which also offers vehicle financing, has four divisions and several subsidiaries (Neff 112).
The seventh top business is Philips 66, a public traded multinational company that engages in the oil and gas business. Its major services are oil refining and service stations. Some of its products include natural gas, petrochemicals, aviation fuels, motor fuels, and lubricants. It has more than 14,000 employees. The eighth top business is general electric, a conglomerate company with vast interests in aircraft engines, electrical distribution, electric motors, locomotives, energy, health care, finance, and oil among others. Its more than 300,000 employees are spread across its eight subsidiaries.
The ninth top business is Ford Motor, a public traded company that deals with automobiles, luxury vehicles, commercial vehicles, and automotive parts. Some of its services include automotive finance, vehicle leasing, and vehicle service. It has several subsidiaries and a workforce of more than 180,000 employees. The tenth top business in the United States is CVS Health, a health retailer company with more than 200,000 employees. The company has more than 7,000 pharmacies. The company has a huge impact on the health care industry in the United States through its slogan, Health is Everything (Cameron 182).
The U.S. Trade Deficit
Economic experts define trade deficit as a tool used in assessing the ability of a country to achieve equilibrium in its trade activities in terms of import and export numbers. It represents the impact of a country’s local currency on other markets (Evans and Lindsay 20). A country is said to have a trade deficit if the number of imports is higher than that of exports. Reports indicate that the American trade deficit was on the rise over the last couple of decades (Lange par. 2). This means that there is a lot of influence from foreign currencies in the local market. Reports released by the federal government a couple of months ago indicated that the country has been buying a lot of commodities from China, yet very little of its own is being sold to foreign markets across the world (Evans and Lindsay 29). This deficit was caused by the highly anticipated release of the newest model of the iPhone by Apple. This event led to an increase in the number of imports, as traders rushed to cash in on the opportunity.
According to economic experts, this is not a good sign for the country’s economic growth because the majority of the assets in the country will be owned by foreigners (Burger 37). In addition, they predict that the more the deficit continues to expand, the harder it will be for the dollar to strengthen against other currencies across the world. The United States deficit has increased a lot because the country has been buying a lot from others more than it has been sold. In addition, most of the purchases are not made in dollars (Burger 48). This makes it hard for the company to attract direct investment into the economy because the dollar has to be traded first for the purchase to take place.
Another element that has contributed to the country’s deficit is its trade policies. According to experts, the fact that the United States has trade partnerships with various countries, most investors from foreign markets have been trying very hard to have as many assets in the country as possible (Burger 60). In return, this has created a small market for local goods and services in other markets because foreign investors keep importing commodities from their countries. These kinds of goods tend to perform very well in open markets such as the one in the United States because of their competitive prices. Americans will opt to buy commodities offered at lower prices as long as their quality is not compromised (Burger 71).
Some economic experts argue that the country is yet to fully recover from the global financial crisis, a factor that has led to inconsistency in the interest rates charged by various financial institutions for money borrowed. This often affects the competitiveness of commodities coming from the United States negatively because the dollar keeps getting stronger (Lange par. 4). Research has established that when the dollar trades very strongly against the major currencies in the world, the demand for goods from the United States often decreases (Burger 73). This also qualifies as one of the greatest contributors to the expanding trade deficit in the United States.
The U.S. Balance of Payments
Economic experts define the balance of payments as an affirmation showing various exchanges between a country’s economy and its foreign partners. The statement often shows payments involving goods, services, wages, claims, and liabilities between locals and foreigners in various parts of the world (Greene 18). Transactions recorded in the balance of payments are either a credit or a debit. This means that the balance of payment sheets must be equal unless the intention was for one party to acquire assets from the other. This normally happens in situations where transactions are one-sided. For example, the United States can buy automobiles from a Japanese firm that does not intend to buy anything back with the money paid (Greene 20).
In such a case, the Japanese firm will keep the money either in dollars or exchange them for local currency. This kind of transaction will lead to both countries gaining something through a credit and debit transaction. Experts argue that a country can experience a deficit or a surplus through such transactions. This normally happens if a country is offering both goods and services that have different levels of demand or compensation value (Greene 21). This means that in a particular year, the United States can make more revenue from offering its services compared to the profits that it will generate from selling its commodities to foreign markets.
Reports indicate that over the last couple of years, the United State’s balance of payments has increased a lot. This increase has been attributed to the increased number of business partnerships that the country has developed, as well as an increase in the number of companies offering a variety of services to customers across the world (Evans and Lindsay 103). The payments have also increased because of the high number of foreign investments. Reports by the federal government showed that the value of foreign investments owned by Americans has increased by up to three times over the last couple of years. However, the amount of liabilities owed by America to foreign investors has also been increasing due to high-interest rates and the strong competitive nature of the dollar against other currencies (Greene 30).
This means that the amount of money being paid to people outside the United States has been higher compared to that coming into the economy. According to economic experts, the ability of the United States to have an equal balance of payment sheet is highly dependent on the performance of the dollar, which affects the demand of its commodities (Evans and Lindsay 116). In addition, this phenomenon can make the services offered by American companies and professionals to be too costly for people in foreign markets to afford. Although this would mean that more money will be paid into the economy for the services offered, there is a huge possibility that it will not be close to the potential that the country can attract (Greene 36). This was evidenced during the global financial crisis when the demand for goods and services was very low and the economy experienced very little flow of financial investments (Evans and Lindsay 128). At the same time, many companies across the country had liability obligations that they were expected to meet with foreign investors.
Additional response
I would prefer to be employed in the United States. My preferable employers would be Google. The reason for this is that the United States has very strong employment policies that make the working environment very conducive. The reason I would like to work for Google is the fact that the company has a good reputation for taking good care of its employees, as well as providing opportunities for growth. This assignment took me three days of extensive research work and a few hours of compiling my findings.
Works Cited
Burger, Albert. U.S. Trade Deficit: Causes, Consequences, and Cures. New York: Springer Science & Business Media, 2013. Print.
Cameron, Kim. Diagnosing and Changing Organizational Culture: Based on the Competing Values Framework. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2011. Print.
Evans, James, and William, Lindsay. Managing for Quality and Performance Excellence. California: Cengage Learning, 2012. Print.
Greene, Joshua. The Impact of Cyclical Factors on the U.S. Balance of Payments. New York, 2012. Print.
Lange, Jason. U.S. Trade Deficit Widens as Exports Sag, Imports from China Surge, 2015. Web.
Neff, Thomas. Lessons from the Top: The 50 Most Successful Business Leaders in America- and what you can learn from them. New York: Doubleday, 2011. Print.