International Market Entry and Development Essay - 4

International Market Entry and Development - Essay Example International context is frequently grounded in ad hoc decisions and intuition, instead of a systematized market research to match companies with appropriate foreign target markets. The paper seeks to clarify some of the issues surrounding international market entry and development. The process of market research seeks to unravel the market potential of the foreign market. This entails exploring whether the export market of interest possesses the necessary means to purchase imported products, as well as to whether the needs of the market are being adequately satisfied. The analysis of foreign market potential takes into account information regarding aspects such as competition, market size and the country's growth rate, and existing trade barriers. The analysis of market potential also involves competitive intensity analysis by analyzing the number of competitors in the market, as well as the relative size distribution of the market shares (Sakarya, Eckman & Hyllegard, 2007). Market size analysis entails an assessment as to what share of the total market within the country that the firm can reasonably expect to obtain, based on factors such as competition and product pricing. Market growth analysis involves an assessment of current demand and future demand, as well as untapped or unfilled demand (Sakarya, Eckman & Hyllegard, 2007). There are several competitive strategies that might influence the selection of markets such as entering a market in order to forestall the entry of related companies or entering a market in which large competitors are absent. Product adaptation deals with a wide range of issues ranging from quality and appearance of products to other aspects such as materials, production, packaging, style, and modeling. A product may have to be adapted in several ways so as to meet physical, social, or mandatory requirements of a fresh market (Ajami, 2006).