Marketing Strategy of Lenovo for Entry in Foreign Market - Essay Example

? Marketing Strategy of Lenovo (Chinese Brand) for entry in Foreign Market Introduction to Strategic marketing Strategic marketing is one of the most significant elements in business. It helps to outperform the competitors and helps in making marketing decisions for expansion in marketing operations to increase profitability. According to Mintzberg’s phenomenological approach he defines strategy as a “plan, ploy, pattern, position and perspective” (Prevos, 2005, p.2). This definition define strategic planning phenomenon completely and helps to understand its importance in marketing. Every company requires good marketing knowledge and creative skills to sell their products in the market. Strategic marketing plan of an organization helps in segmentation of market, targeting of consumers and positioning of their products & services towards their target market. Strategic marketing plan depends on the formulation of different marketing strategies and its implementation by top level management of an organization (Kotler, 1972, p.40). In this present era, market has become highly competitive and volatile. So, in this competitive and volatile market, a strategy is needed by an organization for offering their products or services to the market which will enable them to do better business than their substitutes offered by the rival firms. To develop a marketing strategy for business the top management should focus on two main elements product and market. According to Ansoff’s Product-Market matrix to get competitive edge and expand business for high profitability an organization have to penetrate or develop the market otherwise develop or diversify its product line (Product/Matrix Grid (Ansoff), n.d.). The Product-Market matrix conveys, when there is an existence of market and demand for existing product an organization must follow market penetration model by cost leadership or cost differentiation marketing strategy. But when a product is at its decline stage of PLC (Product Life Cycle) then an organization must invest its best resources to develop the product for the existing market or by developing new markets for the existing products. But if the company holds a strong position in its domestic market then it must focus on diversification strategies to spread the risk due to the unpredictable or volatile nature of the market. Diversification is the most risky of all the marketing strategies, but helps the company in product line and brand line extension and venture in new markets. Many organizations think going into abroad markets is quite risky but smart organizations focuses on global marketing and international expansion. Few reasons for favoring it are expansion in number of internet users, increment in purchasing power of consumers, currency exchange rates, economic fluctuations and a rewarding experience. But to understand the concept of marketing in foreign soil one has to be completely aware of domestic marketing as well as international marketing. In this paper we will try to introduce brand Lenovo in a foreign market in which it has no marketing base. As, Lenovo is a well known brand world-wide it is very tough to find a country in which it has no market existence. But after studying the website Lenovo.com and IT related industry segment of Iran it was understood Lenovo is brand is non-existent over there and it has a huge opportunity to capture one of the emerging economy of Asia. In later part of the paper, the details of approaching the foreign market, global PC industry analysis, market analysis, strategic market planning, tactical market planning and consumer behavior of the Iranian market is discussed. (Maadiran Group, n.d.), Brand Lenovo approaching Foreign Markets Lenovo Group Ltd. is the focus of study in this paper because it adopted some significant steps to establish itself as a brand and tried to generate brand recognition like Coca-Cola, Adidas and Samsung within this last 2-3 years and achieved some success. Beijing Olympics was a glorious moment for China and they defined this moment by establishing themselves as an economic super power. Lenovo also took up this opportunity and took 2 full years to strategize their moves before the Olympic torch was lit. They also extended their product line of desktops namely KaiTian for targeting the event organizers and for the business executives. They also prepared an advertisement campaign which appeared in 200 countries. At that time Lenovo as PC maker was a small wonder globally, but an emerging brand with high profile in China (Bremner, 2006). Lenovo at that time wanted to emerge as a global player dominant in the domestic nation and wanted to strengthen its position by creating consumer awareness abroad. Now, Lenovo is 4th largest PC maker behind Hewlett Packard, Acer and Dell but they are ambitious enough to reach the ‘numero uno’ spot. So, recently in July 2011, Lenovo initiated a joint venture with NEC Corp. a Chinese PC maker to expand its marketing prowess to Japan and gain a firm ground in the Japanese market (Qiaoyi, 2011). In this paper we will discuss about the formulation of marketing strategy by Lenovo for expanding its marketing operation and creating a niche for their product in a country where it does not have any existence. Iran is country which will give Lenovo a very favorable environment in respect of competition as in Iran the only brand is Meva for PC and other electronic goods. The brand is under Maadiran Group; it is the only leading IT Company and offers sales support to companies like Sharp Corporation, LG Group, Olivetti, AOC, etc. It will also be the first of the global brand to explore and establish their company in the Iranian market. (Maadiran Group, n.d.), As mentioned earlier, to understand marketing in foreign soil it is very much necessary to have a concept of domestic marketing as well as international marketing. The Chartered Institute of Marketing defines marketing as “Management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitably.” (Doole & Lowe, 2008, p.5) It means marketing comprised of activities like customer need and want recognition; to identify best methods to satisfy the customers; implementation of the methods in generating customer satisfaction; and achieving organizational objectives successfully. By following these steps an organization can achieve competitive edge and to maintain it a vigilant eye is needed on the SLEPT (i.e. social, legal, economic, political and technological) factors. Environmental Influences on international marketing Socio-cultural (religion, aesthetic values, sub-cultural influences and language, etc.) Political (operational restrictions, physical actions, different discriminatory restrictions, etc.) Environmental influences on international marketing. Economic (developed economics, emerging, economics, less developed economics Technological (satellite communication, ISDN, internet, www, etc.) Legal (local domestic laws, international laws, home domestic laws.) In order to understand the market prospect of Lenovo in Iran an individual should have a clear insight of international marketing. International marketing process consists of the same framework. But there are two main disparities between domestic and worldwide processes. Firstly, an organization can approach international marketing to different levels. Different levels of marketing can classified as export marketing, international marketing and global marketing. Secondly, due to numerous markets in the global marketplace the functioning of the firm becomes more complex and multidimensional, especially for the different uncontrollable elements of the market environment (Doole & Lowe, 2008, pp.5-6). In international marketing, an organization operates across different foreign countries with complexity in functioning due to many uncontrollable elements within the external business environment, but these uncontrollable elements differ significantly from market to market. The other controllable factors like different cost, price structures and promotion methods also differ significantly. The collective effects of all these factors mainly arises these complexity in operating and functioning while doing marketing in international level. Global marketing is much more complex than international marketing as it operates in much larger arena. The competitors of Lenovo are big names like Dell, Hewlett Packard, Apple, Acer etc. which will offer them a great challenge globally. But in Iran the most established local brand is Meva which will offer Lenovo tough competition. But the brand Meva is under Maadiran Group which generally offers sales support to companies like LG Electronics, Sharp, Epsom, etc. So, they will also help to develop the market of Iran and create a firm base for the future to do business with higher profitability. This shows there is a large opportunity for Lenovo to establish itself in Iran. (Maadiran Group, n.d.), Understanding the Market in Iran After gaining an insight of the international marketing theories and Lenovo’s Global and Iranian competitors, focus should be given on the market potential of the brand in Iran. It can be only attained through performing secondary and primary research. When performing secondary research the researcher must focus on different analysis like PC industry analysis, Porter’s Five Forces analysis, situation analysis and macro environment analysis. Performing an analysis of the global PC market and a situation or SWOT analysis of Lenovo Group Ltd. is necessary to focus on knowing about the changes Lenovo should adopt to perform the business profitably and establish them in Iranian market. PEST analysis should be performed to get an understanding of the macro environment factors of Iran i.e. political social, technological, economic, social and legal factors. Moreover, to understand the market potential of Lenovo brand and its products an extensive primary research work is also necessary on the market channels and consumer behavior of Iran. The primary research should consist of both quantitative and qualitative method approach to attain a grasp on the marketing method, marketing channels, different marketing models, learn about the different marketing strategies of their competitors. It will also enable Lenovo to get a clear understanding of the consumer needs and wants, consumer’s demographic profile, socio-economic profile of their target market, consumer’s subconscious and underlying feeling about the Lenovo brand. Outcome from all these analyses will help the top management to develop the strategic market plan of Lenovo in Iran. Different analysis for performing business successfully in Iran PC Industry Analysis: Global Growth Indicators Low prices of products. Companies replacing their old systems. Economic recovery of European nations. Growing consumption rate of Asian countries Chinese Growth Indicators The major role played by the domestic players. The entry of foreign MNC’s in Chinese Market like DELL. Government Policy Transfer of technology between the firms performing business through joint venture. Porter’s Generic Analysis: Porter’s Five Forces Chinese Market Iranian Market Global Market Rivalry Among Existing Firms High Low High Threats of New Entrants High Low Low Threat of Substitute Products Low Low Low Bargaining power of Buyers High Moderate Moderate Bargaining power of Suppliers Low High High From PC industry analysis & Porter’s Five Force analysis it is clearly evident that rivalry between firms in global market as well as in Chinese market is very due to existence of established firms which are all big names with different product lines in offering for their target market. In Iran threats of new entrant is very low due to non-existence of firms like Dell, HP, Acer, etc. in their market. The threat of substitute products are also less as most of the customers still prefers desktop or laptops. But as the technology is playing an ever evolving role and Iran is a country with a growing economy in Asia, it will embrace innovative products in near future. While, bargaining power of buyers and suppliers will not affect much on Lenovo when operating business in Iran. Lenovo has established itself as a brand world-wide and the bargaining of buyers and suppliers faced by them will be nominal (Saxena, 2009). Situation or SWOT Analysis of Lenovo Group Ltd.: Strength Its powerful domestic image in China. Knowledge about local market. Strong Research & development division. High manufacturing capability Quick responsiveness towards market. Emerging as a pure electronic manufacturer with high technology i.e. smartphones, tablets etc. SWOT Analysis of Lenovo Group Ltd. Opportunities Increasing global demand. Increase in huge number of tech savvy internet users. Growing demand of wireless PC market. Association of Government to support the industry. Weakness Global brand perception is poor. After sales service not adequate. Limited knowledge of global market. Pure electronic product line is weak. Threats Heavy competition from both global and local competitors. The industry is reaching maturity stage so needs diversification. The issues related to software piracy and counterfeit products decreasing the exclusivity of brands. The rapid growth of small firms marketing products in lower prices are gaining market share. A basic situation analysis of SWOT shows they should focus on the brand management, after sales service and increase their product line in pure electronic sector i.e. television, dvd/mp3/mp4 players, mobiles etc. as it will also help them to gain market share in Iran and many other countries. To neutralize the threats and utilize the opportunities it is better for Lenovo to focus on their strengths and weaknesses. It will make them confident and enable them to convert their weaknesses into strengths to attain the competitive edge. Macro Environment Analysis of Iranian market: PEST analysis of Iranian market Political Supreme leader of Iran Ayatollah Khamanei is elected by cleric’s council and controls the police, military and other power levers. While, Mohammad Khatami President of Iran during 1997-2005 elected by universal suffrage is a progressive moderate and supported by woman and young generation of the nation. Under Khatami Iran started rebuilding itself in regard to civil society and respect for lawful ruling. His call for debt reduction, economic liberation and normalization of foreign relations except Israel is awakening a new dawn in Iran. Still now, these policies are being followed by Iran's current President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Economic Government’s policy of allowing foreign participants in gas, mining and oil sector is gaining a slow momentum. But the extent of imports in Iran is dependent on the oil revenue generation of the country. Social There are conservative Islamists and support to strict Islamic fundamentals within Iran and due to the hindrances created by Khamanei social liberation and change is proceeding slowly. But the woman and young people are very much enthusiastic to bring social liberation and they elected Khatami as President to lead their Nation to emerge as a developing nation and the recent Preident Ahmadinejad is following Khatmai’s footsteps to develop the nation. Technological Iran Government had planned a Five Year Development Plan earlier on the telecommunication sector to develop the fixed line and internet development. The telecommunication sector has also developed itself with mobile and broadband. It will also enable Iran to develop it IT related industry in near future. The growing population of Iran is also providing a favorable environment for technological growth in Iran. (Doing Business in Iran, n.d.; TMC News, 2010) The PEST analysis of Iran shows, still now there is fundamental Islamic ideology persisting in the social structure of the nation. It is mainly due to the conservative idea of Islamic clerics; they are hindering the social liberalization of Iran. But the resurgent young people and woman society is in favor of Iran with social liberty and develop Iran into an emerging economic power in Asia. Politically, the power levers of Iranian Governments are in hands of Khmanei where as Khamtai is the President of Iran backed by the mass. Technologically, Iran is developing its telecommunication infrastructure to develop its administrative functioning and emerge as a developing economy. The mass is also accepting the new technology and enthusiastic with the possibilities it can bring for them for a better living. It will also help to develop IT related industries and ensure less ‘brain drain’ from Iran due to less scope of employment and career growth. Economy of Iran is still dependent on the oil revenue, but now gas and mining sector is also emerging with collaborations and participation with other foreign countries. Economy of Iran provides enough scope to import products and is more or less stable, but when the revenue generated from oil decline Iran regulates its imports. So, there are great possibilities for Lenovo to do business in Iran keeping the Islamic views and ideology in mind to generate their acceptance within the Iranian culture. Cross-cultural influences will create an effect in the consumer behavior of the target market in Iran. Lenovo have to understand some questions and find answers, those are “(1) Who constitutes the market? (2) What market buys? (3) Who participates in buying? (4) How market buys? (5) Where does the market buy? (6) Why does the market buy?” (Consumer Behavior ,n.d., p.2). It will help to understand the psychology of the target market and the underlying feeling associated with the purchase of Lenovo brand. Consumer behavior is a complex process which is more or less same within all the customers but influenced by different factors like culture, subculture, values, social status, reference group, personality, perception, emotion, motive, learning and marketing activities of the firm. These factors influence the customer’s attitude towards the brand (Consumer Behavior, n.d., p.3). As mentioned earlier the problem of Lenovo will be the mass acceptance of the Lenovo brand. As, conservative Islamic nation like Iran with strong religious sentiments and ideologies generally try to impede technological advancement. So, Lenovo must search in depth about the views and ideologies of the conservative Iranian leaders and mould the strategies to establish the brand within Iranian market. They should project Lenovo as a friend to help find success and develop the capabilities of their target market. It can also project itself as a brand which is bringing in technological innovation in Iran to develop the individuals and excel in their career. In this way they can gain acceptance in conservative and Islamic fundamentalist country like Iran. They should also employ these findings during developing their marketing strategy in Iran. Strategic market planning of Lenovo in Iran The strategic marketing planning consists of three essential elements i.e. market segmentation, target market and product positioning. The initiation of brand building process for Lenovo should start through this strategic market planning phase. Step-1 Segmentation of market Step-2 Selection of target market Step-3 Positioning of products Segmentation of market: Lenovo should segment the market by focusing on three aspects, namely customer types, customer preferences and customer personalities. They should choose household, office, small/medium business house, large enterprise, public sector offices and educational institutes as their market segment. The customer preferences like price, design, technology and size factor should be kept in focus. The personality within the customers like conservative, sophisticated, active, tech savvy nature, economic and high self-esteem too should be kept in mind. As in Iran most of the people are not accustomed of technology, so Lenovo will have to concentrate on marketing through market skimming strategy of pricing. Selection of target market: The target markets of Lenovo should be active, young and enthusiastic people. They can also target business executive, government institutions and educational institutions. Lenovo should also target the tech savvy and trendy people. Iranian market is a less competitive market and less technologically advanced so Lenovo will also get a broad base for marketing their old products. Positioning of products: Mission statement of Lenovo, “Lenovo strives to be a new world company that makes award-winning PCs for our customers. We operate as a company uninhibited by walls or organizational structures using world sourcing to harness the power of innovation across our global team. We design innovative and exciting products and services to meet our customers’ needs.” speaks about their ideas and innovativeness (Lenovo, 2011). A new tagline “Embrace Innovation, Embrace Success” especially for Iran, will reflect their new ideas for innovation and stress in making the life of people successful. The statement like “Lenovo is the other name of innovation and enables world to embrace success.” will also help to create brand awareness and position itself as a brand with distinctive features like good design, functional capabilities and high quality to generate maximum satisfaction level from the customers end. Figure 1. This illustration reveals the comparison of different brands in respect of four attributes i.e. style quotient, high function, basic function and conservative look. These are depicted in this figure from my personal observation when going through shopping malls, retailing shops and personal opinions of acquaintances using these brands of laptop, notebook and desktops. So, surely Lenovo can position itself as a brand of quality providing the customers high functional and stylish product. It will also help to attract the young and enthusiastic people as they are very choosy about the style, design and functional capabilities of the products. But there is no initial need for Lenovo to position their product to its target market by creating a niche. As mentioned earlier IT oriented market in Iran is less developed, so to develop a niche Lenovo have to give time to the market to develop substantially. Branding Strategies of Lenovo in Iran After developing the marketing strategy plan Lenovo should focus on the branding strategies with a vengeance as Dell its biggest rival will give them a tough competition by trying to enter the market where Lenovo will be operating. To establish Lenovo as a brand and go global they already made a great foundation worldwide during the Olympic event of 2008 which was held in China. As mentioned earlier, they chalked out their plans to project themselves as an innovative global brand in the IT and hardware sector during this sports extravaganza. They tirelessly worked on advertising campaigns to promote brand awareness about Lenovo across 200 countries. They also conducted Public Relation campaigns like “Olympic & Lenovo Thousand County Tour” across mainland to strengthen their domestic market and increase their brand equity. (Bloomberg Businessweek, 2006) So, Lenovo have a fair amount of brand awareness worldwide. So, their work becomes easier by adopting some branding strategies along with promotional activities in the Iranian market. It will help them to get a competitive edge by making customers familiar with the brand and by reducing the focus on their partners like IBM’s & NEC. Corp.’s brand image. They should also launch their new product line in Iran. Recently, they have extended their old product lines of desktop and notebook with more features and functionality. Some product line extensions in notebook section are ThinkPad, IdeaPad and Essential notebooks. While in desktop the product line extensions are ThinkCentre, Ideacentre and Essential desktops. They should promote these products as displays along with the other product lines which are cheaper than them. This will help in creating a brand for future benefit of the company. But main stress on promotion should be given on the product lines which are cheaper as it will be much more acceptable to the Iranian market. (Lenovo, n.d.) Recently, they are in an innovation spree by launching tablets against the iPad launched by Apple. Now, Lenovo has joined the league of companies like Research In Motion Ltd. maker of BlackBerry, Samsung Electronic Co., etc to diversify their product line and extend their brand to seek new source of revenue. Lenovo started selling tablet at China in March which uses Anaroid operating system and they are also pushing mobile devices inclusive of smartphones for sale. These tablets will be either operated by Microsoft’s Windows 7 software or Google’s Android OS, and their starting prices will be similar to the iPad. IdeaPad Tablet K1 launched by Lenovo will be also available in the U.S. and worldwide, it will run on the latest "Honeycomb" version of Google's Android OS. They should introduce these products through web marketing only as these products are expensive and the market of these products is yet to be developed in Iran. But with small Public Relation campaigns through magazine and newspaper will help to create awareness within the market about these products and generate a hype to develop potential market an embrace these products with cutting edge technology. It will also help to create brand awareness and may be a niche if the technology is accepted by the business class of Iran. (Fletcher, 2011) (Fletcher, 2011) With its various product lines in its kitty Lenovo should follow either cost differentiation (Jones & George, 2009, p.314) or niche marketing strategies (Kotler, 2009, p.201). As, cost leadership requires proper operational competencies within an organization to reduce costs. (Porter, 1998, p.13) If Lenovo follow cost leadership strategy and have a high operating cost it will incur loss. It will also affect the brand exclusivity of their product. So, as mentioned earlier, Lenovo should adopt a cost differentiation strategy which will help them to create a brand name in the Iranian market. This strategy will also help Lenovo to generate brand equity and it will also incorporate trust and loyalty within its customers and increase brand association. After achieving high brand equity in near future they can follow the niche marketing strategy with vigor. (Grant, 2005, pp.242-243) Tactical market planning of Lenovo in Iran After formulating the strategic market plan Lenovo have to formulate the tactical market planning. The tactical market planning should be well framed. As, tactical market planning consists of the marketing mix or 4P’s of marketing. The 4P’s i.e. product, price, promotion and place are the most essential elements of marketing. The 4P’s of marketing stands for ‘product, promotion, price and place’. All these elements are very much vital in marketing as any business should have services and product or products which have demand in the market. Promotion or communication with the customers is needed to create the awareness within the people about the products manufactured by the business concern. The price element is also very important as it enables an organization to cover up the different costs incurred during the production, administration and other operations like transportation of the products by the business house. It also helps to attract the customers from the rivals for making purchase of the product. To perform the business operations and distribution of the products a business concern must have a location it can afford and convenient for operating the business. So, the place element also acts as a vital element in marketing. (Kotler, 1972, pp.24-25; Clemente, 2002, pp.241-243) The ultimate truth is there is no perfect blend of these 4 elements and it has to be changed according to the market position and the product life cycle. This blend of 4 elements is very important because it helps to maintain the strategic market plan formulated by the top management. The product element helps to decide which market segment to aim. The promotion helps to create mass awareness by electronic media, print media and word of mouth. The different pricing strategies like penetration pricing, market skimming and cost plus pricing helps the concern to generate profits. The place factor helps to perform business which will be convenient for the suppliers and customers through different distribution channels. (Clemente, 2002, pp.241-243) The products should be of good quality, good design, good new technology and variety. The price should also attract customers and ensure profitability. The distribution outlets should be easily accessible by the consumers. Promotion of the products should be made with utmost care as it should maintain a line of balance between company’s profit maximization, sales target fulfillment and market share increment objective as well as it should evoke purchase interest within shoppers to lure them from the competitors. These all points should be kept in mind during formulating the perfect marketing mix during entry to Iranian market. Promotional tools will also be a very vital element during entry of Lenovo in the Iranian market as it will help them to create awareness within the target market. Promotion is also necessary to create a brand image by positioning its products to the market. So, Lenovo should use the promotional tools which its competitors are using and which will be appropriate to reach its target market. The media planning should be accurate in selection of media i.e. electronic, print, internet and alternative media like video replays, movie trailers, yellow pages, mall kiosks, transport terminals, buses, cabs, etc. and media scheduling for attaining the perfect blend of reach, frequency and continuity of the advertisement campaign. As, it will just enter the Iranian market it should allot an arbitrary media budget according to the size and nature of campaign. The campaign should have creativity with a strong message. This will enable Lenovo to share the media space and time as well as at the same time they will be also able to attract its competitors’ customers. (Batra, Mayers, & Aaker, 2009, pp. 63-66) The three types of promotional strategies which can be used are given in the figure below: Above-the-line promotion: Here traditional media of advertisement like electronic media i.e. TV and radio and print media i.e. press can be roped in. Advertisements on billboards, mall kiosks, transport terminals, video trailers, etc. are also good option. Below-the-line promotion: The promotions through leaflet drops near shopping malls, movie theatres and multiplexes with discount offers will also enable to attract shoppers. Direct marketing through e-mail newsletters will also help to reach the tech savvy shoppers. Public Relations (PR): PR is also a way to develop good will between the organization and the public. They can sponsor sports events and can help to initiate IT educational fairs and IT educational programs to educational institutions which will help to position them as a brand and create niche. A very innovative way of promotion can be used by using direct marketing technique in which direct e-mail would be sent to consumers with discount offers for first 1000 customers. It will also generate hype within the target market and make them enthusiastic about the brand. Online marketing option for the shoppers with delivery service within a stipulated time with free delivery of the product for first 1000 customers will also create some value addition for the brand. Concluding Remarks After discussing all the factors of global PC industry and Iranian electronic and IT related industry it is clearly evident Lenovo will get a huge market in Iran for their IT related goods and PC. Though Iranian market is less developed they will get the benefit of marketing their older product line and gain a market share as they will be the first global PC & IT related brand to enter Iran and perform their marketing operation by itself in Iranian soil. Eventually they can also promote their newer product lines through less cost incurring promotional tools to create a niche for their brand. Iran is a conservative nation with Islamic fundamentalism. So, Lenovo should try to position their product as a media to gain knowledge and embrace a better living trough the help of technology. In this way they will gain the awareness as well as mass acceptance in Iran. As mentioned earlier, it should opt for a cost differentiation strategy and after developing the market and establishing itself in Iran can embrace a niche marketing strategy. References 1. Batra, R., Mayers, J. & D. Aaker (2009), Advertising Management, Delhi: Pearson Education India 2. Bremner, B., (2006), “BW's 20 Best Chinese Brands”, Bloomberg BussinessWeek, Available at: http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/aug2006/gb20060825_962228.htm (Accessed on July 22, 2011) 3. Clemente, M. (2002), The Marketing Glossary: Key Terms, Concepts and Applications, New Jersey: Clemente Books 4. Consumer Behavior (n.d.), Available at: http://www.newagepublishers.com/samplechapter/000160.pdf (Accessed on July 22, 2011) 5. Doing Business in Iran (n.d.), Available at: http://www.iraniantrade.org/doinbiz/poly.asp (Accessed on July 22, 2011) 6. Doole, I. & R., Lowe (2008), International marketing strategy: analysis, development and implementation, London: Cengage Learning EMEA 7. Fletcher, O. (2011), “Lenovo Presses Tablets”, The Wall Street Journal, Available at: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303795304576457024285832188.html?mod=googlenews_wsj (Accessed on July 22, 2011) 8. Grant, R. (2005), “Contemporary strategy analysis”, Australia: Wiley-Blackwell 9. Jones, G. & J. George (2009), Contemporary Management, New York: Tata Mc-Grawhill 10. Kotler, P (1972), Marketing – Management, Delhi: Pearson Education India 11. Kotler, P. (2009), Marketing – Management 13th Edition, Patparganj: Dorling Kinderslay (India) 12. Lenovo Products (n.d.), Available at: lenovo.com (Accessed on July 22, 2011) 13. Lenovo (2011) Our Company, available at: http://www.lenovo.com/lenovo/au/en/our_company.html (accessed on July 26, 2011) 14. Maadiran Group (n.d.), Available at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Maadiran-Group/109739082377387 (Accessed on July 22, 2011) 15. National Business Competition (2006), “Lenovo Countering Dell Challenge”, Available at: http://www.bracuniversity.net/nbcc/06/findu.pdf (Accessed on July 22, 2011) 16. Porter, M. (1998), Competitive advantage: creating and sustaining superior performance, New York: Free Press 17. Prevos, P. (2005), Strategic Management and Business Performance, Available at: http://prevos.net/ola/performance.pdf (Accessed on July 22, 2011) 18. Product/Matrix Grid (Ansoff) (n.d.), 12 Manage The Executive Fast Track, Available at: http://www.12manage.com/methods_productmarketgrid.html (Accessed on July 22, 2011) 19. Qiaoyi, L, (2011), “Lenovo completes JV deal with NEC”, Global Times, Available at: http://www.globaltimes.cn/NEWS/tabid/99/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/664555/Lenovo-completes-JV-deal-with-NEC.aspx (Accessed on July 22, 2011) 20. Saxena, R. (2009), Marketing Management 4E, New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill Education 21. TMC News (2010), “Iran Telecom Market: A Comprehensive PEST Analysis Overview”, Available at: http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2010/04/22/4744677.htm (Accessed on July 22, 2011) Read More