Market Research Report Russian Market for Pierre Herme Paris : Executive Summary + Social/cultural analysis - Essay Example

5 The company was founded in 1996 by Pierre Herme, a French pastry chef, descendent of a four generation Alsatian bakery- and pastry-making family, and Charles Znaty. A first shop was opened in Tokyo in 1998, located in the luxurious New Otani Hotel (Hotel New Otani Tokyo, 2013). In 2000 an additional Salon de The was established. The company opened their first pastry shop in Paris, France, in 2001. Today there are fourteen shops in France, twelve in Japan, two in London, Great Britain, one in the United Arab Emirates, two in Hong Kong and one in Qatar.

Most shops are either located in famous department stores like the Galleries la Fayette, luxury hotels like mentioned above in Tokyo, or popular shopping districts with famous global luxury fashion brands like the Rue Bonaparte in Paris. (Pierre Herme Paris, 2013b) 5 Another part of the concept of ‘Patisserie Haute-Couture’ (Znaty, 2011) is that all boutiques and shops share the same trendy appearance. The display of the pastries resembles more a jeweler’s shop than a bakery. Another important factor is that Pierre Herme represents one of the main actors in the movement of opening new dimensions to the art of bakery, as famous fashion magazines like the US Vogue called him the ‘Picasso of Pastry’. . 6 3.

Methodology 7 4.Limitations to Research 9 5.Macro Analysis 10 5.1.Political influences 10 The political environment of a country comprises high influence on business and should be regarded as a major factor whenexaminingnew markets. Political restrictions, risks but also opportunities can occur (Doole, O. and Lowe, R., 2012: 14). Especially in Russia some challenges and different characteristics regarding the political conditions for European companies appear. 10 For foreign investors and businesses, the consistency and safety of a political system plays an important role.

In 1993 Russia officiallybecame the independent “Russian Federation”with a semi-presidential, democratic system, after the collapse of the Soviet Union two years before. Today, under Vladimir Putin as the president (since 7th May 2012), the political regime is still stable. The executive power is shared by the president, with the dominant role, and his appointed Prime MinisterDmitriMedwedew. They are both from the same United Russia Party.The Federal Assembly of Russia holds the legislative power and consists of the two chambers State Duma and Federation Council.

The judicial system has an important and strong power and is in the hands of the Ministry of Justice (Telegraph UK by Gazeta, R., 2011). According to the latest history the political system can be defined as a stable constitution (Freedom House, 2013). 11 A critical factor in historic and current Russian politics is Corruption. “Russia appears to have a particularly bad reputation” (CNBC.com by Ellyatt, H., 2013). Although there is even an official anti-corruption strategy created under Putin (President of Russia, 2013), the bad reputation has still a negative impact on the economy.

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