Market Entry Strategies - Essay Example

? Supply Chain 2 Part A The actions during the simulation process mainly comprised conduction of a proper analysis in relation to determining the actual demand and requirement of personal computers and raising profitability. These actions have been primarily followed for the purpose of gaining a global competitive position over the chief business market competitors of ABC Limited. The relationship between the actions and simulation results had strong implications. Each and every step undertaken was intended to study the consumer preferences for personal computers, and various marketing strategies for launching a particular product in the business markets. Question 1 The product design for personal computers was mainly developed by way of analyzing the need for that particular product in the business market. Specifically, there were certain product design decisions that were made during the simulation. In this regard, the major decision was about determining the manufacture of products that are user led product decisions. It can be affirmed that these sorts of decisions have been made in order to serve the best interests of the consumers and comply with their requirements. Before making the product design, the requirement of personal computers was analyzed in an in-depth manner. Based on this analysis, it had been found that personal computers were in high demand given the IT industry booming at a significant level. It was thus decided to penetrate the market with a high amount of sales of personal computers by ABC Limited. In terms of product design decisions, it was determined to sell personal computers, laptops, desktops, and hard drives as these products were in high demand, as revealed by the market analysis. It had been determined that in the past decade there has been a rapid development in demand of such products due to an increase in the number of information technology users such as students, office users and other general business users. Thus, it can be said that this product design decision influenced the branding as well because the company felt that the focus on such high demand products in terms of branding will certainly lead to high end business outcomes. Regarding the branding decision pertaining specifically to the developed computers, the company needs to taken into concern certain important factors. These factors comprise generating a loyal brand team, establishing the objectives relating to branding and advancing concept development among others. In the simulation, development of brand image was given significant priority as in the modern competitive world branding can create the ultimate differentiation and can render competitive advantage. As these products are high in demand, these have been selected while making the product design decisions. Also, the simulation method was used in making the product design and for adopting and executing appropriate marketing strategies. It can be affirmed that the above discussed analysis would broadly influence branding decisions such as standardization and customization of personal computers through determining the factors favoring customization along with standardization of the product. Specially mentioning, the decision of launching the concerned product was made after conducting a proper simulation analysis. Question 2 The decision pertaining to selection of target market would be considered by taking into concern the location of sales offices. The sales office location should represent the major cities along with towns in a particular country. In addition, if provided with the opportunity to repeat the simulation process, the decision of changing the target market i.e. the location of sales offices should not be made. This might be owing to the reason that the sales offices are strategically situated at the heart of the big towns along with cities in the nation proving much beneficial for the company to attract maximum number of customers and most vitally to enhance its overall productivity. It can further be reiterated that no changes in the target market would have been made due to the fact that the domestic market has brought forward certain emerging opportunities as there were no such leading brands that served the basic quality requirements of the local customers. The chosen market for ABC would be based upon different business segments such as Workhorse, Traveler along with Mercedes. In this regard, the company would target the business segment of Workhorse by selling its computers for an assortment of office workers to utilize. In relation to Mercedes business segment, the company would sell its high performance computers especially to those who desire to pay more for availing the products of greater performance. Finally, with regard to the business segment of Traveler, the company would sell its products especially to the traveler customers particularly to sales people and executives among others. Question 3 If given an opportunity to repeat the simulation process, changing of the sales office locations already selected would not be required. The sales office was tactfully located at the heart of big cities along with towns in the nation. This sales office selection can facilitate to serve a major proportion of consumers as in this city, there must be a considerable amount of demand for computer based products. This can be for the reason that the sales location was chosen after undertaking a deep analysis, which was situated in the central position of the business market. This particular location was identified to be densely populated, and lot of activities relating to trade and commerce were much prevalent in this particular location. Therefore, the sales office location would not require change. Question 4 In case of the marketing research process, it can be strongly recommended that this should be changed. It needs to be altered because the process of market research undertaken previously involved a lot of expenses and the overall process proved to be quite costly. A total of around $15,000 was spent in the whole process. However, relating to this particular process, the marketing research team acquired valuable information that proved to be much useful. It is therefore affirmed that an appropriate marketing research process is needed to be followed, which involves a low amount of costs. This would eventually result in saving unnecessary expenses and raising profitability. Furthermore, the change in spending differently especially on marketing research would not only support in lessening the expenses but would also raise the efficiency of the overall process to a considerable extent. Most importantly, if there is a chance to run the simulation again, there would not arise the requirement of providing training to the market research associates, and therefore it will result in saving a lot of redundant revenue and the estimated amount of spending can be reduced to around $8,000. It is estimated that out of this amount, a total of $3000 will be spent for travelling purpose and $3500 will be needed for market orientation. The rest of the amount will be incurred in relation to distribution of brochures and additional advertizing materials. Thus, on the basis of the above discussion, it can be affirmed from a broader outlook that the facet of marketing research needs to be changed along with spending differently on this particular important aspect. Part B With regard to analyze the factors that have been duly considered during the simulation, it can be apparently observed that ABC Limited has taken into account various significant factors in deciding whether to establish a presence in international markets or not. In this similar respect, there lay certain specific factors that were considered by ABC Limited during the simulation when deciding on international expansion. These factors comprised the capability of the company to attain superior competitive position in domestic business market, accessibility of valuable information and prevalence of business market competition among others. Moreover, the other factors encompassed market size, objectives of the customers for using the computers, the prices they are willing to pay and the costs related with the supply chain. Most importantly, in terms of specific factors considered for international expansion, it is determined that the company wanted to make a strong market presence, increase its profitability, and create a strong brand image in order to penetrate the technological market. These factors are quite important as it might help ABC Limited to successfully conduct its business in international business markets. The company also required to consider the aspect of developing customer loyalty as in an international market it can facilitate to develop brand image. It can be affirmed that based on the aforesaid aspects, the company will be able to decide to expand its business in international markets. It can be suggested that the company needs to acquire a better idea about the exact demand of the business market in terms of modernization so that it can comply with the requirements of the customers effectively (Tielmann, 2010). Part C There exists certain additional factors that ABC Limited needs to consider when analyzing whether to expand internationally or not. In this regard, initially the company needs to review the current marketing trends of that particular country or business market wherein it is planning to enter for carrying on the business. In addition, the company is required to conduct mass advertisements for promoting its personal computers and based on consumer responses, it needs to broadly analyze the preferences of the consumers. By analyzing this particular aspect, the company can generate sufficient ideas regarding the extent to which the products will be consumed in the market. Besides this particular aspect, the company will also have to take into account the broad governmental rules and regulations regarding trade and commerce in that particular country or business market. These additional factors would eventually aid the company in terms of gathering an explicit idea on whether to enlarge its business in the international business markets or not. It is worth mentioning that the company would require analyzing the level at which the targeted country and marketplace prefer the adoption and execution of advanced technologies. If the targeted country and marketplace are viewed to favor technology, this might prove to be quite beneficial especially for ABC to launch its personal computers in the international business market (Tielmann, 2010). References Tielmann, V. (2010). Market entry strategies. Germany: GRIN Verlag. Read More