Going International - Not a walk in the park

Well, I am kinda putting my best efforts in studying for my exams and the course for which I am preparing today is International Marketing. In my lethargic attempt to read, I came across the basic reasons for a firm to consider Internationalization of its operations which quite simply were; Saturation of current product portfolio, increased global competition, need for co-operation among competing firm (an interesting rationale) and internet revolution. Boy! Is that it? If my firm is facing these problems or cites one of these reasons should I jump to the conclusion that my operations need to be globalized, let me rush towards international marketing then. This would be quite the amateurish approach anyone can ascertain, instead conduct proper research as to why, in the first place did your corporation cite these reasons which could be lack of competitive strategies undertaken, improper research activities adapted and really basic flaws that you might have negated.

Even if all these are well addressed, and still one or more of the problems still persist then you need to consider the option of internationalization. Now, why did I say consider is because although global marketing paints a rosy picture in the future for your corporation, there are various issues that need proper direction which if aren’t well heeded, would result in serious repercussions from which firms might find it arduous to recover from. A corporation like star bucks made hasty decisions in globalizing its efforts, and was so keen on entering new markets that it did not realize it needed a slowdown in its pace of such an extension, hence failing to understand the cultural authenticity of country markets like Japan. The company after conducting research on its failure in Japan realised it needed to adapt to Japan’s cultural needs and hence introduce flexible pricing, a product line that was in correlation with Japanese consumer needs and many such alterations.

So do not rush to any decision, wait, adhere to patience, conduct research and then take careful steps and not drastic ones. Watch your step.