Global Expansion Project - Research Paper Example

Global expansion During the cold war period, Western Europe was defined as a region comprising of nations that were against communism as opposed to those nations from the Warsaw Pact (Harvey 15). Western European countries are developed with strong economies and stable political and social institutions. Further, they are governed by democratic tenets, and have mixed economies associated with free markets and elements of welfare state, which allows fair competition among businesses and countries in certain products such as cosmetics and computer products.

Geographically, Western Europe is located in the Appalachian Mountains that emanates from Eurasian and north American plates. Historically, Western Europe experienced a thirty year war from 1618 to 1648 that involved Germany, France, and Spain. Other important historical events of western Europe include the protestant reformation which was led by Martin Luther in Germany, the industrial revolution that began in Britain, the counter reformation, the French revolution and the age of enlightenment (Harvey 24).

The economic environment of western European countries is viable for doing business. The Euro-zone crisis affected the economy of Western Europe, which negatively affected emerging markets from maintaining their economic development pace (Kourdi 81-3). The debt crisis continued as Western Europe countries tried to implement stability measures and bailouts to offer support for the affected nations in Western Europe. The austerity programs that were introduced as part of economic support has badly dented these countries as majority of them are still in recession.

However, the economy of Germany has been growing more rapidly than the rest of Western Europe countries. This has been attributed to enhanced export sector and low interest rates. Despite the challenges from the Euro-zone crisis, the market structures in Western Europe are viable for doing business. The market structures in Western Europe allow Microsoft Company to operate in a pure monopolistic market because it will be a single seller of computers in most of Western Europe countries such as Greece and Portugal.

Further, it will be important to expand to this region because Microsoft will be the only company providing computing services and products. Those companies that offer the same products and services in Western Europe are not as dominant as Microsoft because of the high technology that it uses. This will in turn bring less competition for the company. This is a good idea investing in Western Europe because our products will be sold at relative fair prices in order to decrease consumer costs on Microsoft products and services while offering stiff competition to existing companies that offer the same services and products.

Global consolidation of software and computer products is triggering market opportunities in almost every market in the world Western Europe included. The geographic location of the region is suitable for our products and services to a new marketplace. If Microsoft expands to Western Europe, it will utilize various non-price strategies in attempt to preserve and enhance its sales in the region (Stross 59). For instance, the company might opt to use private levels where it can increase sells through expanding their private label categories.

The current economy in Western Europe has consumers looking for ways to save cash because of the euro-zone crisis and the value of Microsoft private label products ought to be appealing to the consumers and the company. In addition, the company should adopt the strategy of Leveraging selling General Administrative Expenses (SG &A), where Microsoft Company can request suppliers to initiate efficiencies in product transportation to Western Europe. This can include supplying PCs to distribution centers and stores in western, which will enable customers to purchase Microsoft products and services with ease (Stross 92-7).

Because of the welfare state of market in Western Europe, Microsoft can implement some measures in order to remain in a competitive position. For instance, since this is a foreign market, it will engage in agreements with its competitors in windows operating system to avoid conflict of interest in the software. Further, it should agree with other firms on the issue of buying, promoting, and other exclusionary agreements that prevent other firms from distributing, or using Microsoft products and technology.

It can also tie its internet browser to its operating system instead of competing on the merits (Walker 45-46). When expanding to Western Europe, we should be aware that software and Computer Companies in the region use an open source commercial model by adjusting and then dispensing open source software to customers at insignificant costs. This in turn earns them more revenue on complimentary products and services. We should note that such businesses do not bear the total costs of development and research for the software.

Works Cited Harvey, Robinson. An Introduction to the History of Western Europe. New York: Nebu Press, 2010. Print. Kourdi, Jeremy. Business Strategy: A Guide to Taking Your Business Forward. Boston: Bloomberg Press, 2009. Print. Stross, Randall. The Microsoft Way: The Real Story of how the Company outsmarts its competition. New York, NY: Basic Books, 1997. Print. Walker, Gordon. Modern Competitive Strategy. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill International, 2004. Print.