Operational Strategies: Location

Assisted Areas: Parts of the UK that have relatively low levels of economic activity and high and persistent unemployment.

Industrial Inertia: The tendency for firms to remain where they are, even though the original reasons for location no longer apply.

External Economies of Scale: The benefits gained by a firm as a result of the concentration of an industry in one location.

External Diseconomies of Scale: The disadvantages arising from the concentration of an industry in one location.

Multi-Site Locations: Where a business chooses to operate from a number of different sites, as opposed to a single-site location. These sites may be within one country or located in many different countries.

Offshoring: Where companies outsource business activities overseas, largely because labour and facility costs are much cheaper there.

Outsourcing: Where companies give responsibility for some of their activities, such as IT support, catering or manufacturing processes, to other businesses.

Trade Barriers: Methods of restricting trade (usually used to limit the level of imports into a particular country)

Protectionism: A decision by a country or countries to place restrictions on trade between ntions, in order to help (protect) domestic firms competing with foreign companies.