International Business & U

Do’s and Taboos of International Business

Craig MaginnessExIn Global Strategies

Denver, ColoradoFebruary 2013

Where in the World . . . ?

What do our customers buy? - value proposition

What’s our core competency? - value delivery

How do we make money? - profit generation

Who do we compete with? - competitive situation Does our business

translate?

How Did We Wind Up Here?

80% of companies wind up in a foreign market because theyreacted to an external event.

-- a conference on China -- an order from Thailand -- a contact at a convention -- a rumor about a competitor

Failure or Success

Simple Translation . . . or . . . Cultural Adaptation

What do people consider valuable?

It’s Hard to Find Good Help

TIME

PATIENCE

HONESTY

TRUST

But it doesn’t have to be

Corruption Conundrum

American lawthe Foreign Corrupt Practices Act

Foreign lawthe economic hostage problem

Market differentiationself select the good customers / suppliers from the bad

Internal Culture Shock

tooling changesdesign preferencesshipping logistics

customer service

inventory sku’scredit te

rms

metrics

who speaks the customer’s language?

travel demands

can we protect our IP?

Does this lead to outsourcing?

We’re not in Kansas anymore . . .

1. Be proactive -- Plan with intention

2. Do the due diligence– Be patient– Use available resources

3. Seek strategic alignment– Don’t let the tail wag the dog

What to Do!

Decide why and where you’re going before you decide how you’re going to get there.