There is no doubt about it. Doing business becomes more complicated every year.
There is not only the extreme worldwide competition to contend with. Execs need to know the rules of the game ,too. And that's not just the rules set down by the federal government: it also includes laws past by each of the 50 states as well as the laws of foreign countries in which a U.S. company may be doing business.
That is more than a full-time job for anyone or, for that matter, any group of people. Product planners need to be concerned with rules of the National Highway Traffic Administration, Environmental Protection Agency, European Union, and Canadian Motor Vehicle Safety Standards just to name a few. And those are the Americas and Europe. We haven't even scratched the surface of regulations that must be complied within Asian countries. There are some rules that apply in Japan and Canada and not in the U.S and vice versa. If a car company does not know the rules, it could lead to recalls and major fines.
And the regulations are ever changing. For example, the United States now requires that all vehicles weighing less than 10,000 pounds be equipped with electronic stability control systems. And the control panel must have some kind of warning to show that the system is on or off.
A company called InterRegs, which is based in the United Kingdom, provides relief to confused and hassled automaker execs. The company keeps information on vehicle crash worthiness, fuel economy, and emissions rules. And clients are willing to pay handsomely for it. It is said that an average client pays $9,700 and some have been known to pay as much as $500,000 a year.
To keep up with regulatory changes, InterRegs aggressively researches government websites. A staff of 20 people compiles the new information and organizes it among the previous rules and regulations. Much of this material has been put on CD or is available from InterRegs through the Internet.
Our take? As business becomes more complicated and more specialized, one can only say, "Thank goodness" for companies like InterRegs.