Question: StarLink service and India & General Guidance for GMS A1FT - PMA

04 Apr 2023,1:39 PM

 

General Guidance for GMS A1FT - PMA

International market selection and international market segmentation, targeting and positioning provides managers with the knowledge and skills of how to identify the international/global opportunities; to implement the generic international/global strategies, to serve the customers more effectively in the international/global contexts.  Successfully applying relevant academic theory and practical knowledge based on the models/frameworks in global marketing, ensures that the firm can exploit the international/global opportunities, develop international /global competitive advantages, develop global brand positioning, and enhance the performance.

Students are expected to have read the following textbooks covering the main topics:

International market selection and international STP: Schlegelmilch, B.B. (2016); Schlegelmilch, B.B. (2022); Hollensen, Svend (2022) (part II; Solberg, Carl Arthur (2018); Doole, Isobel; Lowe, Robin; Kenyon, Alexandra J (2019) [These books are available in the library either as either as e-books or with hard copies]

International SP: Majaro, Simon (2003); Gilligan, Colin and Hird, Martin (2013); Hollensen, Svend (2022) [These books are available in the library either as either as e-books or with hard copies]

 International market selection: In addition, students are expected to read both seminal and current journal articles from the academic literature on international market selection: e.g. Cavusgil, S.T. (1985); Gaston‐Breton C, Martín OM. (2011); Bosáková, L., Kubák, M., Andrejkovič, M. and Hajduová, Z., 2015; Górecka, D. and Szałucka, M., 2013; Wood, V.R. and Robertson, K.R., 2000; Cavusgil, S.T., Kiyak, T. and Yeniyurt, S., 2004; Andersen, O. and Buvik, A., 2002. Papadopoulos, N., Chen, H. and Thomas, D.R., 2002. Bosáková, L., Kubák, M., Andrejkovič, M. and Hajduová, Z., 2015. Andersen, O. and Buvik, A., 2002; Ragland, C.B., Widmier, S.M. and Brouthers, L.E., 2015. Ozturk, A., Joiner, E. and Cavusgil, S.T., 2015. Sakarya, S., Eckman, M. and Hyllegard, K.H., 2007; Swoboda, Schwarz, and Halsig (2007); He, Xinming and Wei, Yingqi (2011); plus the current ones from 2020 - 2021! [see the reference for the details of these papers]

International segmentation, targeting and positioning: Hassan, S.S., Craft, S. and Kortam, W., 2003; Steenkamp, J.B.E. and Ter Hofstede, F., 2002; Hofstede, F.T., Wedel, M. and Steenkamp, J.B.E., 2002; Domzal, T. and Unger, L., 1987; Hassan, S.S. and Craft, S.H., 2005; Hassan, S.S. and Craft, S., 2012; Gaston-Breton and Martin, (2011) plus the current ones from 2020 - 2021! [see the references for the details of these papers]

Students should produce a professional approach and express their work in plain business English in the third person for the question. Students must comply with the recommended University requirements on format, declaration sheet, word count limits, plagiarism and apply a suitable referencing system (preferably Harvard).

Q: By using the materials that you have been supplied with from the module, from your own research from books, journals, the Internet, and your own experience, you would select a product/service from the country of your choice. You would launch the product/service in a country where the product is not currently available. You would develop an international/global segmentation, targeting and positioning strategy for this product/service to be launched.

In the introduction there needs to be a critical evaluation statement about definitions/models of international market selection and the fact there is no universal consensus about what comprises the factors and screening process for international market selection. This needs to be followed by critical evaluation statement about how STP strategies can be developed in the international/global context. This needs to be followed by a brief statement of how the various concepts/models/frameworks across the literature are interrelated e.g. the international/global strategies are related to the international market selection and also the international STP etc.

The strategic and operational significance of managing the organisation’s international market selection and international STP in terms of enhancing financial performance, better managing of customer value, improving competitiveness.

Q1 international market selection

Part 1 Critical Evaluation i.e., ability to evaluate international market selection using evidence to support your choice of the model/framework for international market selection

Students need to critically evaluate the academic theories that detail the benefits and limitations of concepts and tools of international market selection whether these are specific to international market selection e.g., international/global strategic opportunities, where to compete, the global market selection process, international market selection model, international market potential, international market selection approaches, market-screening model or general concepts and tools e.g. for corporate growth (Ansoff), international/global strategy, international/global market orientation, for the analysis of foreign market characteristics e.g. PESTLE, CAGE,  for the analysis of the industry e.g., five forces, globality of the industry.

The critical evaluation is not limited to the advantages/benefits and disadvantages/limitations of international market selection theories on their own as individual concepts/models/tools/techniques but can be evaluated critically too for their usefulness for the product category and industry of your choice.

After the critical evaluation, students should state their position on international market selection because just like real world managers there is considerable scope for judgement. The uncertainty and complexity of the environment means that the exercise of this judgement involves the resolution of apparently conflicting opposites i.e. competitiveness of the country and the competitive advantages of the firm; responsiveness and standardisation, preparedness of the firm and industry globality. All of this is complicated because it takes place in the context of the uncontrollable forces of diversity, risk, crises of the macro environment and the controllable aspects of international/global strategy and marketing mix, and the situational aspects of the industry forces.

After this a focus is required on the particular definition/model of international market selection that you felt was most applicable to your context along with justification for the reason you chose it for your organisation over other definitions/models in order to provide the criteria for evaluating the management of international market selection. An identification of real-life examples/illustrations in terms of the specific forces i.e. external, internal that influence be it enhancement or limiting the organisation’s current level and potential status of internationalisation/globalisation is required. The following are the main specific issues for students to consider and choose examples from to support their argument:

• External: PESTLE factors; Industry factors (five forces model); global industry factors (globality); and Country of Origin factors etc
• Internal: Corporate resources; Vision, Mission, Values; international/global Strategy; Organisation Structure & Culture

Based on the analysis, the students need to consider and then propose the model/process of international market selection that would be employed to select the market to launch the product/service you have selected.

Part II  Application in practice i.e. ability to apply the international market model/framework to real life situation:

Students must select an organisation and provide evidence and/or state their assumptions about that organisation’s approach to the international market selection. The student’s conclusion from their critical evaluation of international market selection needs application to their chosen organisation’s identified product/service that will identify the market for the company to launch the product/service.

Students need to include an overview (two-page maximum) of the organisation in their appendices, as there is no allocation of marks for providing a company overview within the main text of their answer and argument. Students need to include the analysis of different models/frameworks to support the stages, decisions and conclusions of the country/market selection and refer to the analysis in the appendices in the argument.

Part III Conclusions & Recommendations:

Students need to state the implications of their critical evaluation in terms of conclusions and recommendations for:

• International market selection for their chosen company
• The international market selected for the firm to launch the product/service
• Managerial practice for international market selection

 

Q2 Critical Evaluation i.e., ability to evaluate international segmentation, targeting and positioning using evidence to support your argument:

Students need to critically evaluate the academic theories that detail the benefits and limitations of concepts and tools of international segmentation, targeting and positioning whether these are specific to international segmentation, targeting and positioning e.g. , international Market Segmentation Approaches; International/global Marketing strategies and International market segmentation; international segmentation basis; international segmentation and global brand positioning; international/global targeting approaches; market segmentation on a global scale; or general concepts and tools e.g. the customer-oriented marketing strategy, competitive advantages, business strategies, the segmentation bases, the evaluation of the attractiveness of the segments, targeting strategies, brand positioning, perceptual positioning, and value propositions.

The critical evaluation is not limited to the advantages/benefits and disadvantages/limitations of international market segmentation, targeting and positioning theories/approaches/strategies on their own as individual concepts/models/tools/techniques but can be evaluated critically too for their usefulness in the context of the product and firm you have chosen.

After the critical evaluation, students should state their position on international market segmentation, targeting and positioning because just like real world managers there is considerable scope for judgement. The uncertainty and complexity of the environment means that the exercise of this judgement involves the resolution of apparently conflicting opposites i.e. responsiveness and standardisation, internationalisation/globalisation and localisation. All of this is complicated because it takes place in the context of the uncontrollable forces of diversity and differences and the controllable aspects of international/global strategy and marketing mix, and the situational aspects of the industry forces, customer needs. 

After this a focus is required on the particular definitions/models of international segmentation, targeting and positioning that you felt was most applicable to your context along with justification for the reason you chose it for your organisation over other definitions/models in order to provide the criteria for evaluating the international segmentation, targeting and positioning strategies. An identification of real-life examples/illustrations in terms of the specific forces i.e. external, internal that influence be it enhancement or limiting the organisation’s current level and potential status of international STP and internationalisation/globalisation is required. The following are the main specific issues for students to consider and choose examples from to support their argument:

• External: PESTLE factors; Industry factors; global industry factors; and Country of Origin factors, etc
• Internal: Corporate resources; Vision, Mission, Values; international/global Strategy; Organisation Structure & Culture

Based on the analysis, students need to consider and propose the model/process of international market segmentation, targeting and positioning that would be employed to develop the STP strategies for the product/service to be launched in the market(s) you have selected.

Q2 Application in practice i.e. ability to apply the international market model/framework to real life situation:

Students must select an organisation and provide evidence and/or state their assumptions about that organisation’s approach to the international segmentation, targeting and positioning. Students’ conclusion from their critical evaluation of international STP needs application to their chosen organisation’s identified product/service that will be launched in the market you have chosen (in part I). then students need to propose the STP strategy for the selected product in the chosen market.

Students need to include the analysis of different models/frameworks to support the stages, decisions and conclusions of international STP in the Appendices and refer to the analysis in the appendices in the argument.

Q2 Conclusions & Recommendations:

Students need to state the implications of their critical evaluation in terms of conclusions and recommendations for:

• International market STP for their chosen product to be launched in the chosen market
• Managerial practice for international market STP

 

References:

Journal articles for international market selection

Swoboda, B., Schwarz, S. and Hälsig, F., 2007. Towards a conceptual model of country market selection: Selection processes of retailers and C&C wholesalers. International review of retail, distribution and consumer research, 17(3), pp.253-282.

Sakarya, S., Eckman, M. and Hyllegard, K.H., 2007. Market selection for international expansion: Assessing opportunities in emerging markets. International Marketing Review.

Ragland, C.B., Widmier, S.M. and Brouthers, L.E., 2015. A factor endowment approach to international market selection. Journal of Strategic Marketing, 23(6), pp.497-511.

Ozturk, A., Joiner, E. and Cavusgil, S.T., 2015. Delineating foreign market potential: A tool for international market selection. Thunderbird International Business Review, 57(2), pp.119-141.

Cavusgil, S.T., 1985. Guidelines for export market research. Business Horizons, 28(6), pp.27-33.

Gaston‐Breton C, Martín OM. (2011) International market selection and segmentation: A two‐stage model. International Marketing Review. 2011 May 31.

Bosáková, L., Kubák, M., Andrejkovič, M. and Hajduová, Z., 2015. Doing business abroad: utility function model for country selection in preliminary screening phase. Central European Journal of Operations Research, 23(1), pp.53-68.

Papadopoulos, N. and Denis, J.E., 1988. Inventory, taxonomy and assessment of methods for international market selection. International marketing review.

Górecka, D. and Szałucka, M., 2013. Country market selection in international expansion using multicriteria decision aiding methods. Multiple criteria decision making, (8), pp.32-55.

Wood, V.R. and Robertson, K.R., 2000. Evaluating international markets: The importance of information by industry, by country of destination, and by type of export transaction. International marketing review.

Cavusgil, S.T., Kiyak, T. and Yeniyurt, S., 2004. Complementary approaches to preliminary foreign market opportunity assessment: Country clustering and country ranking. Industrial Marketing Management, 33(7), pp.607-617.

Andersen, O. and Buvik, A., 2002. Firms’ internationalization and alternative approaches to the international customer/market selection. International business review, 11(3), pp.347-363.

Papadopoulos, N., Chen, H. and Thomas, D.R., 2002. Toward a tradeoff model for international market selection. International business review, 11(2), pp.165-192.

Bosáková, L., Kubák, M., Andrejkovič, M. and Hajduová, Z., 2015. Doing business abroad: utility function model for country selection in preliminary screening phase. Central European Journal of Operations Research, 23(1), pp.53-68.

Andersen, O. and Buvik, A., 2002. Firms’ internationalization and alternative approaches to the international customer/market selection. International business review, 11(3), pp.347-363.

He, X. and Wei, Y., 2011. Linking market orientation to international market selection and international performance. International Business Review, 20(5), pp.535-546.

Journal articles for International STP

Hassan, S.S., Craft, S. and Kortam, W., 2003. Understanding the new bases for global market segmentation. Journal of Consumer Marketing.

Steenkamp, J.B.E. and Ter Hofstede, F., 2002. International market segmentation: issues and perspectives. International journal of research in marketing, 19(3), pp.185-213.

Hofstede, F.T., Wedel, M. and Steenkamp, J.B.E., 2002. Identifying spatial segments in international markets. Marketing Science, 21(2), pp.160-177.

Domzal, T. and Unger, L., 1987. Emerging positioning strategies in global marketing. Journal of Consumer Marketing.

Hassan, S.S. and Craft, S.H., 2005. Linking global market segmentation decisions with strategic positioning options. Journal of Consumer Marketing.

Hassan, S.S. and Craft, S., 2012. Examining world market segmentation and brand positioning strategies. Journal of Consumer marketing.

Gaston‐Breton C, Martín OM. (2011) International market selection and segmentation: A two‐stage model. International Marketing Review. 2011 May 31.

 

 

Q1: International Market Selection Outline

 

I. Introduction

• Critical evaluation statement on definitions/models of international market selection and lack of consensus
• Critical evaluation statement on the development of STP strategies in the international/global context
• Statement on interrelated concepts/models/frameworks in the literature

II. Critical Evaluation of International Market Selection

• Evaluation of academic theories on benefits and limitations of international market selection concepts/tools
• Evaluation of the usefulness of concepts/tools for chosen product/service and industry
• Position statement on international market selection
• Real-life examples/illustrations of external/internal factors influencing internationalization/globalization.

III. Application in Practice

• Selection of organization and assumptions on their approach to international market selection
• Overview of organization in appendices
• Analysis of different models/frameworks to support country/market selection decisions.

IV. Conclusions & Recommendations

• Implications of critical evaluation for international market selection and managerial practice

Q2: International Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning

I. Introduction

• Statement on the importance of international segmentation, targeting, and positioning
• Critical evaluation statement on benefits and limitations of related concepts/tools in literature

II. Critical Evaluation of International Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning

• Evaluation of academic theories on benefits and limitations of related concepts/tools
• Evaluation of the usefulness of concepts/tools for chosen product/service and industry
• Position statement on international segmentation, targeting, and positioning

III. Application in Practice

• Selection of organization and assumptions on their approach to international STP
• Overview of organization in appendices
• Analysis of different models/frameworks to support international STP decisions

IV. Conclusions & Recommendations

• Implications of critical evaluation for international STP and managerial practice