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Learning objectives:

• Explain the cut throat competition in the industrial world• Dilemmas on deciding how and which markets to enter by

the industries.

Introduction:Hello, how are you doing? You will have to come out of thelocal market and get into the global market, don’t worry I amnot taking you abroad or asking you to leave the country, butwhat I am trying to say is that you will now study the globalenvironment and the global market in this chapter for gettingready to face the challenges.

Competing on a Global BasisYou know that competition is tough and you need to pull upyour socks for your survival or else ready to get doomed. So letslearn how to get more competent and get through in this toughcompetitive world. Although some U.S. business may want toeliminate foreign competition through protective legislation, thebetter way to compete is to continuously improve products athome and expand into foreign markets. Ironically, althoughcompanies need to enter and compete in foreign, markets, therisks are high; huge foreign indebtedness, shifting borders,unstable governments, foreign-exchange problems, tariffs andother trade barriers, corruption, and technological pirating. Still,we argue that companies selling in global industries have nochoice but to internationalize their operations. To do this, theymust make a series of decisions. Each of these decisions will beexamined here.You should know that the global industry is an industry inwhich the strategic positions of competitors in major geo-graphic or national markets are fundamentally affected by theiroverall global positions. A global firm is a firm that operates inmore that one country and captures R & D, production,logistical, marketing, and financial advantages in its costs andreputation that are not available to purely domestic competitors.Global firms plan, operate, and coordinate their activities on aworldwide basis. Ford’s “world truck” has a European-madecab and a North American-built chassis, is assembled in Brazil,and is imported into the United States for sale. Otis Elevatorgets its door systems from France, Japan; it uses the UnitedStates for systems integration. A company need not be large tosell globally. Small and medium-sized firms can practice globalnichemanship. Even a sports league can be global:I am trying to explain to you the concept by giving the examplesfor your reference. The NBA When the NBA season is over,basketball’s big stars do not head to Florida for rest andrecreation, shaquille O’Neal is to South Korea, Karl Malone toHong Kong, Allen Iverson to Chile. Deployed by the NBA andglobal sponsors Coca-Cola, Reebok, and McDonald’s thesewell-paid traveling salesmen hawk soda, sneakers, burgers, andbasketball to legions of young fans. The NBA, which has more

than 100 global staff members, has emerged as the firstAmerican sports league to truly go global. In 2001, NBA gameswere broadcast to 210 countries in 42 languages. The league hassigned on global sponsors such as Yahoo! And IBM; and theleague and its partners have sold roughly $1 billion of NBA-licensed products outside the United States in the past fiveyears.

Deciding Whether to go AbroadDon’t you want t go abroad either for a holiday or career, agood job with the luxuries in the advanced countries. In thesimilar way our companies also have to decide whether theywant to stay domestic or go abroad because its not as simple asyou take a decision for Yourself. Most com12anies would preferto remain domestic if their domestic market were large enough.Managers would not need to learn other languages and laws,deal with volatile currencies, face political and legal uncertainties,or redesign their products to suit different customers needs andexpectations. Business would be easier and safer. Yet severalfactors are drawing more and more companies into theinternational arena;Global firms offering better products or lower prices can attackthe company’s domestic market. The company might want tocounterattack these competitors in their home markets.• The company discovers that some foreign markets present

higher profit opportunities than the domestic market.• The company need’s a larger customer base to achieve

economies of scale.• The company wants to reduce its dependence on anyone

market.• The company/s customers are going abroad and require

international servicing.Before making a decision to go abroad, the company mustweigh several risks;The company might not understand foreign customer prefer-ences and fail to offer competitively attractive product.• The company might not understand the foreign country’s

business culture or know how to deal effectively with foreignnations.

• The company might underestimate foreign regulations andincur unexpected costs.

• The company might realize that it lacks managers withinternational experience.

• The foreign country might change its commercial laws,devalue its currency, or undergo a political revolution andexpropriate foreign property.

Because of the competing advantages and risks, companiesoften do not act until some event thrusts them into theinternational arena. Someone- a domestic exporter, a foreign

LESSON 20ENTERING INTO NEW MARKET,

HOW TO ENTER INTO NEW MARKET

UNIT 5MANAGEMENT OF STRATEGIES

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importer, a foreign government-solicits the company to sellabroad, or the company is saddled with overcapacity and mustfind additional markets for its goods.

Deciding which markets to enter:In deciding to go abroad, the company needs to define itsmarketing objectives and policies. What proportion of foreignto total sales will it seek? Most companies start small when theyventure abroad. Some plan to stay small; others have biggerplans. “Going abroad” on the Internet poses special challenges.(See “Marketing for the New Economy;www.TheWorldsYourOyster.com: The Ins and Outs of GlobalE-Commerce.”)

Marketing For The New Economywww.TheWorldsYourOyster.com: The Ins and Outs of GlobalE-Commerce Companies small and large are taking advantageof the disappearance of traditional market boundaries. Majormarketers doing global e-commerce range from automakers(GM) to direct-mail companies (LL Bean and Lands’ End) torunning shoe giants (Nike and Reebok) to Internet start-upslike Amazon.com, which purchased three European companiesto build its European book and video sales.For some, marketing has been a hit-or-miss affair. They put upcontent in English for the American market, and if nayinternational users stumble across the page and end up buyingsomething, great. Hyperspace Cowgirls, a six-year-old New YorkCity-based developer of children’s multimedia software, hasseveral European deals in the works, even though it has nomarketing effort overseas. “We don’t advertise overseas at all, “says Susan Shaw, president of the company, whose Webaddress is www.hyperspacecowgirls.com.”People just find you”.Other marketers have made a strategic decision to become partof the cyber bazaar. They are using the Web to reach newcustomers outside their home countries, to support existingcustomers who live abroad, to source from internationalsuppliers, and to build global brand awareness. Some of thesecompanies adapt their web sites to provide country-specificcontent and services to their best potential internationalmarkets, ideally in the local language. Reebok has launched amultilingual European Web site-available in English, French,German, Spanish, and Italian- in an attempt to increase brandawareness in its individual markets. The site, located atwww.reebok.com,is aimed at sports and fitness enthusiasts andincludes information on local events in each market. So nowyou know why these companies are rated number one in theirrespective products or services.Before companies decide to expand their Web presence interna-tionally, they need to find the companies or regions with thelargest potential online population. The biggest area for growthtoday would be the Asia-Pacific region. The number of Internetusers in the region is raising as access costs decline, local-language content increases, and infrastructure improves. By2004, the number of Internet users in the Asia-Pacific region usexpected to swell to 188 million. Europe is another hotspot forInternet growth. Internet penetration in Europe is expected torise to 33 percent by 2003. By then, the five countries with thehighest levels of Internet penetration-Germany, France, the

Netherlands, the united Kingdom, and Sweden-will haveonline populations totaling 60 million in 1999.Despite these encouraging developments, however, Internetmarkets sometimes overstate global opportunities. Althoughdeveloped countries offer many choices for Internet access, lessdeveloped countries in Central and South America or Africahave fewer or none at all, forcing users to make internationalcalls to go online. Only 6 percent of the world’s population hadInternet access in 2000. Even with adequate phone lines and PCpenetration, high connection costs sharply restrict Internet use.In Asia, ISP subscriptions can run up to $60a month, triple theaverage U.S. rate.In addition, the global marketer may run up against govern-mental or cultural restrictions, In Germany, a vendor cannotaccept payment via credit card until two weeks after an order hasbeen sent. German law also prevents companies from usingcertain marketing techniques like unconditional lifetimeguarantees. On a wider scale, the issue of who pays sales taxesand duties on global e-commerce is murkier still.Finally, you may have understood that business needs to realizethat the web does not offer complete solutions for transactingglobal business-and probably never will. Most companies willnever cut a final deal via e-mail. People will still need to see andfeel products at international trade shows. The Web will notsurmount customs red tape or local regulation. The Web alsocannot guarantee that goods will arrive in perfect condition.What the Web can do is make foreign customers aware of one’sbusiness. The web has certainly done that for upscale retailerand cataloger. The sharper Image, which now gets more than 25percent of its online business from overseas customers. Thecompany is thrilled about its global prospects but admits it isstill overwhelmed by the logistical challenges of servingoverseas markets.

How Many Markets to EnterNow you should know that once the company has decided toenter the international market the next decision depending onthe response is how many markets to enter, you should knowthis is difficult because if you go to a new restaurant for a mealyou tend to get confused in making a decision of what to haveright from deciding the cuisine like Indian, oriental or continen-tal, why? Because you don’t know what would be theirspecialization or would it be to your liking, right? The companymust decide whether to market in a few countries or manycountries and determine how fast to expand. ConsiderBoo.com.Boom.com When online retailer Boo.com was founded in 1998,the company expressed the ambitious goal of becoming the“first truly global-e-tailer, with world-wide sales, marketing anddistribution capabilities. “The bold plan attracted numerousinvestors, and the company raised $135 million in venturecapital that it used to build high-tech e-commerce sites in sevenlanguages in 18 countries. Boo.com constructed satellite officesin six cities, including Munich, Paris, and New York. Aftermonths of delays, the site went live in November 2000 and wasimmediately criticized for an interface that was too complicatedand confusing. Monthly sales of $1.1 million month could not

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Tmake up for mounting expenses, which ran to an estimated $1million a week by May 2000. In June of that year, American e-retailer fashionmall.com purchased the company at liquidationauction for less than $500,000.

In Contrast, Consider Amway’s Experience:Amway Consumer-product Company Amway expanded intoAustralia in 1971. In the 1980s, Amway moved into 10 morecountries. By 1999, Amway had evolved into a multinationaljuggernaut with a sales force of more than 3 million indepen-dent distributors hauling in $5 billion in sales. Today, Amwaysells products in 43 countries worldwide. Its goal: to haveoverseas markets account for 80 percent of its sales. This is notan unrealistic or overly ambitious goal considering that Amwayalready gains 70 percent of its sales from markets outside NorthAmerica.Generally speaking, it makes sense to operate in fewer countrieswith a deeper commitment and penetration in each. Ayal andZif have argued that a company should enter fewer countrieswhen• Market entry and market control costs are high.• Product and communication adaptation costs are high.• Population and income size and growth are high in the

initial countries chosen.• Dominant foreign firms can establish high barriers to entry.

Do You Agree with the Above Points?The company must also decide on the types of countries toconsider. The product, geography, income and population,political climate, and other factors influence attractiveness. Theseller might have a predilection for certain countries of regions.Kenichi Ohmae recommends that companies concentrate onselling in the “triad markets”- the United States, WesternEurope, and the Far East-because these markets account for alarge percent of all international trade. Although Ohmae’sposition makes short-run sense, it can spell disaster for theworld economy in the long run. The unmet needs of thedeveloping world represent huge potential markets for food,clothing, shelter, consumer electronics, appliances, and othergoods. Many market leaders are not rushing into EasternEurope, China, Vietnam, and Cuba, where there are manyunmet needs to satisfy.

Regional Free Trade ZonesYou may what is free? So lets study it, Regional economicintegration- trading agreements between blocks of countries-has intensified in recent years. This development means thatcompanies are more likely to enter entire regions overseas thando business with one nation at a time.

The European Union:You need to know the European market because it’s a very bigmarket along with the U.S. Certain countries have formed freetrade zones or economic communities-groups of nationsorganized to work toward common goals in the regulation ofinternational trade. One such community is the EuropeanUnion (EU). Formed in 1957, the European Union set out tocreate a single European market by reducing barriers investment,it has a small population. Although many countries in central

Europe possess an eager, hungry-to-Learn labour pool, theirinfrastructures create difficulties. The team evaluating a newmarket must determine whether the company could earnenough on its investment to cover the risk factors or othernegatives. (For a neglected area of global market opportunity,see “Marketing Memo: Going After Poor Markets Around theGlobe”.)

Deciding How To Enter The MarketSo lets continue with the previous example of the restaurantlike choosing the meal, next question would be what will berequired 0 eat the food with chopsticks? Or knife and fork andspoon or fine with hands? That’s how do I eat it? Similarly oncea company decides to target a particular country, it has todetermine the best mode of entry. Its broad choices are indirectexporting, direct exporting, licensing, joint ventures, and directinvestment. These five market-entry strategies involve morecommitment, risk, control, and profit potential.

Indirect and Direct ExportThe normal way to get involved in a foreign market is throughexport. Occasional exporting is a passive level of involvement inwhich the company exports from time to time, either on itsown initiative or in response to unsolicited orders from abroad.Active exporting takes place when the company makes acommitment to expand into a particular market. In either case,the company produces its goods in the home country andmight or might not adapt them to the foreign market.Companies typically start with indirect exporting-that is, theywork through independent intermediaries. Domestic-basedexport merchants buy the manufacturer’s products and then sellthem abroad. Domestic-based export agents seek and negotiateforeign purchases and are paid a commission. Included in thisgroup are trading companies. Cooperative organizations carryonexporting activities on behalf of several producers and are partlyunder their administrative control. They are often used byproducers of primary products such as fruits or nuts. Export-management companies agree to manage a company’s exportactivities for a free. Indirect export has two advantages. First, itinvolves less investment; the firm does n6thave to develop anexport department, an overseas sales force, or a set of foreigncontracts. Second, it involves less risk; because international-marketing intermediaries bring know-how and services torelationship, the seller will normally make fewer mistakes.Companies eventually may decide to handle their own exports.The investment and risk are somewhat greater, but so is thepotential return. University Games of Burlingame, California,has blossomed into a $50-million-per -year internationalcompany through careful entry into overseas ventures.University Games Bob Moog, president and founder ofUniversity Games, says his company’s international salesstrategy relies heavily on third-party distributors and has a fairdegree of flexibility. “We identify the foreign markets we wantto penetrate”, says Moog,” and then form a business venturewith a local distributor that will give us a large degree of control.In Australia, we expect to run a print of 5,000 board games.These we will manufacture in the United States. If we reach arun of 25,000 games, however, we would then establish a sub-

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contracting venture with a local manufacturer in Australia orNew Zealand to print the games”.I am giving to you how the company can canyon direct export-ing in several ways:• Domestic-based export department or division: Might

evolve into a self-contained export department operating as aprofit center.

• Overseas sales branch or subsidiary: The sales branch handlessales and distribution and might handle warehousing andpromotion as well. It often serves as a display and customerservice center.

• Traveling export sales representatives: Home-based sa]esrepresentatives are sent abroad to find business.

• Foreign-based distributors or agents: These distributors andagents might be given exclusive rights to represent thecompany in that country, or only limited rights.

Whether companies decide to export indirectly or directly, manycompanies use exporting as a way to “test the waters” beforebuilding a plant and manufacturing a product overseas. Thisstrategy worked well for IPSCO, Inc. In the early 1980s. ThisSaskatchewan-based steel producer exported its steel pipe andflat steel to the United States from Canada-despite significanttransportation costs. Once the company realized there was asignificant U>S demand for its products; it decided to set upshop there.One of the best ways to initiate or extend export activities usedto be to exhibit at an overseas trade show. With the WorldWide Web, it is not even necessary to attend trade shows one’swares to overseas buyers and distributors. Electronic communi-cation via the Internet is extending the reach of companies,particularly small ones, to worldwide markets. The Internet hasbecome an effective means of everything from gaining freeexporting information and guidelines, conducting marketresearch, and offering customers several time zones away asecure process for ordering and paying for products.Finding free information about trade and exporting has neverbeen easier. Here are some places to start your search:www.its.doc.gov(the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Interna-tional Trade Administration). www.exim.gov (theExport-Import Bank Of the United States).www.sba.gov (the U.S. Small Business Administration).www.bxa.doc.gov(the Bureau of Export Administration, abranch of the Commerce Department). ww.tscentral.com(TradeShow Central, a Wellesley, Massachusetts, company).Also, check with your state’s export-promotion office to learn ifit has online resources and allows business to link to its site.Then check “Marketing Memo: Making Your Web Site World-wide and Worldly Wise” for tips on Web sites that attract, ratherthan frustrate, overseas customers.

LicensingYou need a license for driving a two-wheeler, or keeping a pistolfor your safety, or a passport and visa to travel by air abroad,and without this license all these things are considered illegaland you can be convicted by the court of law. Licensing is asimple way to become involved in international marketing. The

licensor licenses a foreign company to use a manufacturingprocess, trademark, patent, trade secret, or other item of valuefor a fee or royalty. The licensor gains entry at little risk; thelicensee gains production expertise or a well-known product orbrand name. E- Trade Group, the Palo Alto, California, onlinebroker-dealer, entered into a licensing agreement with JerusalemGlobal Ltd., an Israeli investment banking operation. E- Trade’sagreement with the Israeli firm is part of a strategy to formlicensing agreements and international joint ventures in aneffort to bring its brand of no-frills investing to people abroad.E- Trade has created E- Trade Australia, Canada, Denmark,Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Norway, South Africa,Sweden, and U.K.Licensing has potential disadvantages. The licensor has lesscontrol over the licensee than it does over its own productionand sales facilities. Furthermore, if the licensee is very successful,the firm has given up profits; and if and when the contractends, the company might find that it has created a competitor.To avoid this, the licensor usually supplies some proprietaryingredients or components needed in the product (as Coca-Coladoes); but the best strategy is for the licensor to lead ininnovation so that the licensee will continue to depend on thelicensor.There are several variations on a licensing arrangement. Compa-nies such as Hyatt and Marriott sell management contracts toowners of foreign hotels to manage these businesses for a free.The management firm may even be given the option topurchase some share in the managed company within a statedperiod. Another variation is contract manufacturing, in whichthe firm hires local manufacturers to produce the product.When Sears opened department stores in Mexico and Spain, itfound qualified local manufacturers to produce many of itsproducts. Contract manufacturing gives the company lesscontrol over the manufacturing process and the loss ofpotential profits on manufacturing. However, it offers a chanceto start faster, with less risk and with the opportunity to form apartnership or buyout the local manufacturer later.Finally, a company can enter a foreign market through franchis-ing, which is more complete form of licensing. The franchiseroffers a complete brand concept and operating, system. Inreturn, the franchisee invests in and pays certain fees to thefranchiser. McDonald’s, KFC, and Avis have entered scores ofcountries by franchising their retail concepts.KFC CORPORATION although the initial reception in Japanwas great, KFC still had a number of obstacles to overcome.The Japanese saw fast food as artificial, made by mechanicalmeans, and unhealthy. KFC’s ad agency in Japan, McCann-Erickson Japan, knew that it had to build trust in the KFCbrand. Agency personnel flew to Kentucky to film an authenticversion of Colonel Sanders’ beginnings. To show the philoso-phy of KFC-the southern hospitality, old American tradition,and authentic home cooking-the commercial showed ColonelSanders’ mother making and feeding her children KFC chickenmade with 11 secret spices. It conveyed the fact that “KFCchicken is not artificial. It’s made by hand, and good enough foryour children to eat, “The campaign was hugely successful, and

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Tin less than 8 years KFC expanded its presence from 400locations to more than 1,000.

Joint VenturesForeign investors may join with local investors to create a jointventure company in which they share ownership and control.For instance;• Coca-Cola and Nestle joined forces to develop the

international market for “ready to drink” tea and coffee,which currently sell in significant amounts in Japan.

• Procter & Gamble formed a joint venture with its Italianarchrival Fater to cover babies’ bottoms in the UnitedKingdom and Italy.

• Whirlpool took a 53 percent stake in the Dutch electronicsgroup Philips’s white-goods business to leapfrog into theEuropean market.

A joint venture may be necessary or desirable for economic orpolitical reasons. The foreign firm might lack the financial,physical, or managerial resources to undertake the venture alone;or the foreign government might require joint ownership as acondition for entry. Even corporate giants need joint venturesto crack the toughest markets. When it wanted to enter China’sice cream market, Unilever joined forces with Sumstar, a state-owned Chinese investment company. The venture’s generalmanager says Sumstar’s help with the formidable Chinesebureaucracy was crucial in getting a high-tech ice cream plant upand running in just 12 months.Joint ownership has certain drawbacks. The partners mightdisagree over investment, marketing, or other policies. Onepartner might want to reinvest earnings for growth, and theother partner might want to declare more dividends. Jointownership can also prevent a multinational company fromcarrying out specific manufacturing and marketing policies on aworldwide basis.

Direct InvestmentYou must have seen your parents investing for your and theirsafe and secure future, as you fear an insecure future; similarlycompanies also have to invest for security and sustenance. Theultimate form of foreign involvement is direct ownership offoreign-based assembly or manufacturing facilities. The foreigncompany can buy part or full interest in a local company orbuilds its own facilities. If the TI1arket appears large enough,foreign production facilities offer distinct advantages. First, thefirm secures cost economies in the form of cheaper labor or rawmaterials, foreign-government investment incentives, andfreight savings. Second, the firm strengthens its image in thehose country because it creates jobs. Third, the firm develops adeeper relationship with government, customers, local suppli-ers, and distributors, enabling it to adapt its products better tothe local environment. Fourth, the firm retains full control overits investment and therefore can develop manufacturing andmarketing policies that serve its long-term internationalobjectives. Fifth, the firm assures itself access to the market incase the hose country starts insisting that locally purchasedgoods have domestic content.

The man disadvantage of direct investment is that the firmexposes a large investment to risks such as blocked or devaluedcurrencies, worsening markets, or expropriation. The firm willfind it expensive to reduce or close down its operations, becausethe host country might require substantial severance pay to theemployees.

Strategizing Your Next Move in The Global Game

Are you looking for ways to find new markets and customers?Companies today realize marketing their brand and selling theirofferings only in the United States is becoming even morechallenging. Businesses are facing fiercer competition, smallercustomer segments resulting from corporate downsizing orbusinesses closing their doors, as well as the change in con-sumer-buying behaviors fueled by an unpredictable economy.All types and sizes of companies in a variety of industries arefinding undertaking a global approach is imperative if they planto keep their competitive edge and secure their future survival.Becoming a global player is even more of a necessity today.Doing it well is critical to help ensure a smooth entry into newmarketplaces-and being fully prepared to “go global” is essentialto ensuring long-term success and meeting return on invest-ment (ROI) expectations.To do it right, businesses today have to be committed tospending the quality time needed to strategize and test theirglobal game plan.Too often we hear, “I have a global presence. The company’scommunication materials and vehicles are translated to speak toour international audiences.” Unfortunately, translating one’sWeb site or print materials into different languages isn’t theonly requirement to ensuring your business is ready to “goglobal.”Understanding how your internal operations and employeeswill function and manage a global business model is key togetting out the gate with a running head start.Why Globalize?• Expansion into new markets = new revenue streams• Create new distribution channels• Increase market share• Increase brand reach and awareness, introduce products/

service to new customer markets• Adhere to the market’s needs and demands!• Establish your brand as a global player giving your business

the competitive advantageYou may begin to ask, “What are the right questions to ask tobe sure we are prepared and capable at this time to ‘go global?’”Or, “What if it doesn’t work?” Keep in mind you don’t haveto tackle all markets at once.Develop a pilot program-focus on one market at a timeutilizing and leveraging what you learned in prior marketexpansion practices to help enhance and strengthen new marketentries. The pilot approach will also help to gradually ease yourstaff into their new roles in the global marketplace.

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Here are some questions to begin with to help determine if andwhen your company will be ready to enter the global market-place and what is needed to do so:1. Is the corporate leadership committed and involved in going

global?2. Who should be involved in our global game plan and

strategizing sessions? What are their specific roles andresponsibilities?

3. Have we done any market research to determine: What globalmarkets have a demand for our offering? Who would wecompete with in each market-how are we the same anddifferent? Does our offering (products/services) have to berestructured or rebuilt to include specific features andoptions?

4. What do we anticipate in operations cost increases? Does therevenue potential in that market support that increase?

5. Does our enterprise system have the capability to supportmultiple languages and currencies?

6. Should we acquire foreign companies or partner with existingbusinesses in the local markets to support expansionstrategies? Or should we build our own operations?

7. What operations should be local and which ones shouldnot?

8. As we continue to enter new markets, how will we integratethem into the overall marketing and communicationsstrategy as well as those operations and processes already inplace?

9. Will we need additional staff to provide language expertiseby market, cultural and geographical understanding, legalsupport, etc.? Should this staff be localized in the areas wedo business in? Or should we consider outsourcing to thosewho offer services to support our needs in key markets-i.e.,multilingual contact centers to provide customer support orwarehousing for fulfillment and shipping?

10.Once our global game plan is finalized, how do we introduceit to the entire organization to generate excitement,ownership, accountability and enthusiasm? What marketingand communication efforts should we focus on to launchour new corporate international mission to our customersand partners-should we focus domestically and/or globally?

If your organization is a pure dot-com or is interested in“localizing” its Web site presence to support efforts in newmarkets, then also ask yourself these types of questions:I. Are the markets we are targeting equipped for Web

connectivity?2. Have we done our homework prior to “building our online

presence” to completely understand our target market and itslocal customers? Do we really know how our online audiencebehaves, what their shopping traits are like, what paymentmethods they use, what sort of information they need tomake a purchase and how do they want that presented tothem?

3. Have we localized our site graphics, content and navigationalstructure to support the target audience and their culturalpreferences? Does our brand image (logo) and corporate

message make sense to our target markets? Are our corporatecolors or content wording culturally offensive in anyway?

4. Who will manage the content on the site-updating, accuracy,messaging, etc.? Do we have a qualified partner to help ustranslate all our Web content? Does the partner have localtranslators in country to do the translation? What portion ofthe site and its content should be translated? Should thecontent be translated verbatim to what we say in our locallanguage, or should we rewrite portions of it to bettercommunicate to our target audience?

5. Who will manage the site’s performance, daily functionalitychallenges, IT, etc.?

6. What criteria will be used to measure the success (Return OnInvestment) of our global expansion online?

7. Does our e-commerce site support the local-market currency/conversion frequency, payment methods, taxes, tariffs, VATs,language, logistics, supply chain fulfillment, customer serviceand support, distribution channels, legal practices, etc. Do wehave technology to handle multilingual email inquiries,accounting and payment needs, etc.?

8. Should we forge partnerships with individual banks tohandle our online transactions or with a “payment hub” thatalready holds relationships with banks in specific markets?

9. Do we have a logistics partner(s) who understands globalshipping and handling requirements based on ourwarehouses and ship-to markets?

While it is imperative for businesses looking to expand theirofferings to new markets and customer segments to gainfoothold in these markets, beware of the ‘must build’ mental-ity. Take the time to ask the questions and challenge yourexisting business strategies and practices before taking yourbusiness to new frontiers.You have one chance to make a positive impression, no matterwhat market you are in! 10 Traits That Put You on Top of theWorld:In today’s turbulent global business environment, there is nobetter time than now to put effective global leadership traitsinto place. What are those traits? Here are my top-ten favoritesbased on over 15 years of experience in running a globalenterprise:1. Smarts. You don’t need Ivy League credentials.Commonsense business judgment and a fair degree ofemotional intelligence will help you navigate most situations.And be good at learning: processing lots of information,analyzing data and forever refining your vision is a must whenyou’re in unfamiliar territory.2. Motivation. You’ve got to be a self-starter. When you’recarving out your own path, you can’t expect round-the-clocksupervision and guidance. Don’t rely on anyone except yourselfto get you going - you must get you going.3. Initiative. The more ambitious and innovative you are, thegreater the need to take an inspired action and make somethinghappen. Pick up the phone, send e-mail, jump in your car, ask aquestion, make a contact, and make an offer. Put a process inmotion and reap the rewards.

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T4. Endless energy. Run around the block where you live andsee how tired you get. When you’re a global leader, you’ll be hitwith the equivalent of that run around the block at least ahundred times day, and you’ll have to deal with it, tired or not.And when you do close your eyes to sleep, put that time towork - ask your creative unconscious what you should do orwhere you should go next. Endless energy gets you places.5. Perseverance. Keeping up the struggle when there’s notangible benefit in sight nor any sign of light at the end of thetunnel takes perseverance. Keep at it. Even if you don’t like thefinal result, at least you’ve produced something - and you canalways take it from there and improve.6. Imaginative scope. There are idle daydreamers. There arepeople with delusions of grandeur. And then there are globalleaders, who are capable of combining a vision of the seeminglyimpossible with a plan to make it happen.7. Positive attitude. Focusing on the good in any situationdoesn’t mean you’re naive. It means you do not want to wasteyour time on negative thinking. Taking the constructiveapproach seeing what your options and resources are, andmaking use of them - will always get you somewhere.8. Patience. International pursuits take time to develop.Knowing when to remain calm and hang in there will increaseyour chances for global success.9. The four C’ s: Courage. Confidence. Conviction. Commu-nication.Courage - You must face painful issues, you must conqueryour fears, and you must confront adversity head-on in order togrow. Moving forward at any pace when you’re dealing with theunknown takes courage. Apply it in everything you do.Confidence - Even if you don’t know what you’re doing, act asif you do, and soon you’ll be convinced! Confidence comesfrom knowing that you are in control of yourself, no matterwhat happens to you. Conviction - Stick to what you stand for.Demonstrate a willingness to live by your noblest valuesregardless of consequences. Don’t forget that every day whenyou wake up, you will have to face yourself and live with yourdecisions.Communication - Know how to talk to anyone, anywhere inthe world. Better yet, become an expert at listening. Communi-cation skills and a keen insight into human nature helps youmotivate others to join you in getting a job done.10. Showmanship. If you know you have what it takes tobecome a global leader, get out there and toot your horn. Howelse will the world know about you?Global leadership doesn’t happen overnight. It’s a slow processthat requires thought, discipline and lots of hard work. Starttoday by putting some of the Ten Traits into action. Maybe youhave the potential to become a global leader!

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