Assessment of Country Markets

climate conditions = might need to adapt product as well as packaging e.g. glue might not work in cold climate

weather conditions = may disrupt transport/ threaten seasonal good

if country = big business will need to have production facilities to supply whole country

country with lots of rivers + mountains = business has to be environmentally friendy to avoid bad press

whether country has natural resources - mining+ oil companies go to where the resources are + export where demand is

Technological skill - cheap labour is usually most attractive but may be trade off between cheep labour and workforce with technological skill

The existing production technology - business will go where best technology is

How easily labour can be hired and dropped

Education level - will go somewhere where people fairly educated because training costs money

Age found in the country - buying differences between age groups. if want to sell to 20 year olds you don't want to sell in Monaco where avg age is 48.9

Gender found in the country - buying differences between males and females. If want to sell to females you wouldn't necesarilly go to a country where there's more males than females

Income level: if company sells luxury good, they have to make sure population can afford products

Employment: if unemployment is high and is increasing the businesses customer base is decreasing in size 

Dominant values of local culture

• peoples values will be different in different countries
• e.g india - family orientated
• if product aimed at family could sell well
• if product is more individualist it may not

Lifestyle Patterns

• e.g. in UK it's all about everything being quick and speedy

Language Barriers

• marketing, packaging and product name may need to be changed
• some countries have more than one language
• regional promotional material with the relevant language may be necessary

• Income Distribution
• Rate of GNP growth - to show if country is going well economically
• Human Development Index - economic + social development
• Consumer profile - middle class in emerging economy = new market
• Exchange rates - undervalued exchange rate is bad because of cheaper domestic competition ( imports cost a lot so may have to produce there)

Laws

• need adequate legal safeguard to protect businesses interests
• Corrupt legal system = might not protect properly

Government Policy

• tax regime = important
• low corporation tax = attractive
• high tariffs on imports is bad b/c makes export markets less attractive

Political Stability and Corruption

• country with political unrest is unattractive
• unless business has to be there e.g. cause thats where natural resource is
• Corruption may be issue for ethical business

Ease of Doing Business Index

• created by world bank
• looks at factors e.g. ease in hiring and firing employers
• higher ranking = easier to do business
• In 2011 in first place was Singapore and Denmark and in second place was Hong Kong

Infrastructure

• vital for businesses to access suppliers, services, dirstribute their product and contact their stakeholders.
• Weak infrastructure weakens business growth

Businesses have various reasons for wanting to expand abroad.

Some businesses want to.....

diversify to spread risk
Expand their markets and increase profitability
Cut costs with cheap labour
Acquire a business abroad for inorganic growth
grow organically when they can cut costs/create a market