Japan Country Analysis and Foreign Market Entry Mode Choice - Case Study Example

Business Report of Japan Country Analysis and Foreign Market Entry Mode Choice School Name Course Name Name of Student December 2011 Executive Summary This business report for the company's Senior Manager provides everything require in order to assess which entry strategy is most suitable for the company. This business report is regarding the country analysis of Japan and the foreign market entry mode choice. The company has been expanding rapidly. The products that it is offering, pet care products (cat care, dog care, other pet care and pet healthcare products) have saturated in the domestic market. Hence, these products will be marketed internationally – to Japan. The national profile (macro environment) shows the facts and figures about the product or service to be marketed and about Japan provide for the relevant information needed to determine the suitablity of the chosen country for the business operation and the relevant marketing. The profile of the produts and the legal, cultural, competetive and financial aspects in Japan were also detailed. Relevant market was discussed. All the facts, data and information gathered were analysed. Entry strategies such as putting up a local office, joint venture and contracting and licensing were selected and assessed. The paper found that customers differ in their use of new technology products and services. Usually, new product functions are not used due to the complexity and lack of consumer education regarding these advanced features. Hence, a clear and differentiated go-to-market strategy, which communicates the product’s unique value proposition, target market, sales strategy and competitive differentiation, can help align a business organization around common product development, operations, launch marketing goals to achieve market success. For market entry strategy for firm like this which is marketing pet care products in the international market -- Japan, there are several keys to success. Long-term commitment of the Chief Executive Officer and Board in terms of local office, training and promotional activities is desired and a must. There should be relationship development. This established relationships are, for instance, with distributors, local government and joint venture partners. Patience with the government, culture, realistic time frames and budgets should be observed. Prove the concept in the domestic market first. In this country, there is strong domestic client base to leverage. This is specially true if the company is internationally recognised. Likewise, it is cheaper to get finance from domestic market. Other success factors are the uniqueness of product, Internet Protocol protection and strong reputation and/or confidence in ability. It is also an advantage if there is prior international experience. If not, the company can recruit internationally-experienced people. There has to be in market presence or closeness to customer. Another important qualities to posses are good interpersonal skills of staff. The people behind an international business organisation have to have cultural understanding. Another success factor is if the website is up-to-date and informative to boost credibility. All these are important parts of doing business in the international market. Playing the cards well relative to business will ensure success of the entrepreneurial endeavour. Table of Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .................................................................................... i COUNTRY AND MARKET INFORMATION Information for the Product …………………............……...........………. 1 The Country Chosen Legal ………………….………..............................................……. 2 Cultural Language ………………...................................………. 3 Ethnicity ........................................................................ 5 Religion ………………...................................………. 6 Values and Attitudes ……………….......................………. 7 Education ………………...................................………. 8 Social Organizations ............................................................. 9 Technology and Material Culture ..................................... 9 Law and Politics ............................................................. 10 Aesthetics ........................................................................ 10 Competitive ………………….………..................................……. 9 Financial Considerations ………………..........….……………. 11 Relevant Market ………………….……………................................... 10 ANALYSIS OF FACTS ………………..........….……........................………. 11 ASSESSMENT AND SELECTION OF MARKET ENTRY STRATEGIES Local Office .…….........................................................................………. 16 Joint Venture ................................................................................................ 17 Contracting and Licensing ........................................................................ 18 RECOMMENDATIONS ………….…………………………………......……… 18 BIBLIOGRAPHY ……………………………………………………………….. 20 LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Relevant Information for the Product ..................................... 1 Table 2. Japan's Ethnicity and Race as of 2008 ......................... 2 Table 3. Composition of the 1.6% Other Races who are Living in Japan Table 4 Assessment of the Disadvantages and Advantages of the Products being Marketed in Japan .……….:…….. 11 Table 5. Comparison of the Advantages and Disadvantages of Local Office .................................................................................... 17 Table 6. Comparison of the Advantages and Disadvantages of Joint Venture ........................................................................ 17 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Religious Affiliations in Japan ................................... 5 Figure 2. Merchandise Exports and Imports as a Percentage of World Total, as of 2004 ............................................................ 12 NATIONAL/MACRO ENVIRONMENT PROFILE: COUNTRY AND MARKET INFORMATION The company has been expanding rapidly but has now saturated in the domestic market with its pet care products. The pet care market consists of the sales of cat care, dog care, other pet care and pet healthcare products. Due to the saturation in the local market of the pet care products, they will be marketted internationally. The chosen country is Japan. A useful starting point in considering the country and market is to take a wider view of them. Below is the detailed information about the country and market. Information for the Product The table below presents relevant information for the product. Table 1. Relevant information for the product. Cat Care Dog Care Other Pet Care Pet Healthcare Products Features Beneficial cat care One-stop option in dog care featuring dog pens / cages / houses, kennels, fencing, and many others Pet care management through various products Products related to pet healthcare are available Benefits Make cat care more appropriate Make dog care more convenient Experience more satisfying; pet care Make healthcare more suitable Value Type Perceived Value / Measurable Perceived Value Perceived Value Measurable Focus: Internal, External, or Both Both Both Both Both Unique Strengths Yes Yes Yes Yes Value Rating 4 3 3 5 Analogies It is like enhancing the cat care with valuable feeds and accessories It is like making the endeavors more enjoyable with the aid of good products. It is like providing ectra care that will make the pets' life more comfortable. It is like making life easier with the presence of needed and healthy supplements for the pets. Legend: Focus Internal: You can reach customers more easily. External: Customers can reach you more easily. The Country Chosen Legal: Japan has highly developed parliamentary democracy. It bears longer heritage in Japan's neighboring countries. These countries resolve state affairs through their respective parliaments. They follow the procedure of parliament in accordance to their own constitutions. Parliamentary democracy kept moving in this coubntry since 1880s. This is after about one hundred (100) years of the institution of constitutional politics in the United States. Constitutional/parliamentary politics in this country has largely been influenced by the western constitutions. Contrary to supreme sacrifices of the democracy-loving people of many countries on earth, there was no bloodshed or dedication of lives in this country for establishment of parliament to get the citizens into state politics. Instead the Japanese encouraged and used their scholarly people for collecting the best information of parliamentary politics from the west to suit it in their own country. Today’s parliamentary democracy of Japan is a result of long years research and study by scholars, academics, officials and politicians. The sense of absorbing the best political practice of the democratic countries in the world by the statesmen and members of Royal family made the parliamentary democracy easier and effective in this country. There are strong demands for managerial reform in local government as decentralization proceeds. Local government takes two forms. One is ordinary local public bodies and another is special local public bodies. There have been no major terrorist incidents in Japan since 1995. It maintains heightened security measures at key facilities and ports of entry as antiterrorism precautions. These security measures may increase from time to time as a result of regional tensions with North Korea. Cultural: In high culture like Japan, context is at least as important as what is actually said (Hall & Hall, 1986). The speaker and the listener rely on a common understanding of the context. Few cultures today are as homogeneous as Japan.The Japanese system focuses on the group within which the individual works. Language The Japanese language is said to be associated to the Altaic language family. This language family includes Mongolian, Turkish, and others. It likewise also demonstrate resemblances Austronesian languages, an example of which is Polynesian. The Japanese writing system consists of diverse character sets such as Katakana, Hiragana and Kanji. Katakana and Hiragana have two syllabaries of 46 characters each. These two are together called Kana. Kanji has some thousands of Chinese characters. The Japanese texts can be written in two ways. One is the traditional Japanese style. They are in vertical columns from the right to the left side of the page. The other is the Western style. They are in horizontal rows from the top to the bottom of the page. Or it can be that in both writing styles exist side by side nowadays. Basic Japanese grammar is simple. There is almost no complicating factors (i.e. distinctions between plural and singular and gender articles). Conjugation rules for adjectives and verbs are uncomplicated. It is almost free of exceptions. Nouns are not declinated at all. They appear always in the same form. Japanese knows relatively few sounds. Pronunciation poses little problems to most learners. The biggest difficulty are accents. They exist, however, to a much lower extent as compared with the Chinese language. There are relatively many homonyms. Different words and expressions are used when talking to an unknown person or a superior. This is opposed as to when talking to a family member, a close friend or a child. For formal situations, keigo, a honorific language level is still in common use. International body language must be included in the nonverbal language of international business. Giving a finger and thumb OK sign in Japan will have indicated that a little bribe has been asked. With language one should consider whether or not the national culture is predominantly a high context culture or a low context culture (Hall and Hall, 1986). The concept relates to the balance between the verbal and the non-verbal communication. In Japan, criticism is more subtle and verbal. What is not being said can carry more meaning than what is said. Ethnicity The Japanese people (Nipponjin, Nihonjin) originated, in the Japanese archipelago. They are the predominant ethnic group in this country (Downing & Husband, 2005). There are about one hundred thirty (130) million people of Japanese descent. One hundred twenty-seven (127) million of these are residents of the country. The term ethnic Japanese may also be used in some contexts to mean a locus of ethnic groups which include the Ryukyuan, Ainu and Yamato people. Table 2 below reflects the ethnicity or race in Japan. On the other hand, Table 3 enumerates the 1.6% other races in Japan. Table 2. Japan's Ethnicity and Race as of 2008. Ethnicity and Race Percentage Japanese 98.4 Chinese, Korean, Brazillian, Filipino, etc. 1.6 Source: Diene, 2008 Table 3. Composition of the 1.6% Other Races who are Living in Japan. Nationality Number Percentage Chinese/Taiwanese 655,377 29.6 Koreans (North/South) 589,239 26.6 Brazilian 312,582 14.1 Filipinos 310,617 14.0 Peru 59,723 2.7 American 52,683 2.4 Thailander 42,609 1.9 Vietnamese 41,136 1.9 Indonesian 27,250 1.2 Indian 22,335 1.0 United Kingdom 17,011 0.8 Nepali 12,286 0.6 Bangladeshi 11,414 0.5 Canada 11,016 0.5 Malaysian 7,910 0.4 Others 141,440 6.4 Total 2,217,426 100 Source: Diene, 2008 Religion Buddhism extends its influence throughout Asia. One of them is Japan. It is an offspring of Hinduism. It has no caste system. Life is seen as an existence of suffering with achieving nirvana, a state marked by an absence of desire, as the solution to suffering. The emphasis in buddhism is on spiritual achievement rather than wordly goods (Czinkota & Ronkainen, 2007).Top of Form Bottom of Form .Confusianism has been characterise as a code of conduct rather than a religion. However, its teachings that stress loyalty and relationships have been broadly adopted. Löoyalty to central authority and placing the good of a group before that of the individual may explain the economic success of Japan. The emphasis on relationships is very evident when developing business ties with the Japanese. The preparatory stage may take years before the needed level of understanding is reached and actual business transactions can take place. In Japan, religion is demographically dominated by Buddhism as shown in figure 2 below: Figure 1 Religious Affiliations in Japan Source: Bureau of Statistics, Japan Religions in Japan vary. The nature and complexity of each of these religions present in this country differ. An international marketer, like this business endeavour, could encounter a lot of differences in each. There is a need for the business organization to ensure that the services or products will not be distasteful, unlawful or offensive to some religious sectors. Even branding and marketing promotion have to be well-thought of and in good taste for the majority. Values and Attitudes In Japanese culture, resolutions to conflict are found through personal actions from the accused individual himself, and the admission of guilt is the first step towards reconciliation (Czinkota & Ronkainen, 2007).Top of Form In Japan, conflict was inevitable, given that the individuals involved have different approaches to achieving resolutions. The inability to understand and consider cultural values in international relations can significantly weaken relationships even though all participants want to do what is right. Education Formal or informal education plays a major role in the passing on and sharing of culture (Arber, 2008). Educational levels of a culture can be assessed using literacy rate and enrollment in secondary education or higher education and information available from secondary data sources. International firms also need to know about the qualitative aspects of education, namely, varzing emphases on particular skills and overall level of the education provided. Japan emphasizes the sciences, especially engineering, to a greater degree as compared with other western countries (Czinkota & Ronkainen, 2007).Top of Form The international marketing manager may also have to be prepared to fight obstacles in recruiting a suitable sales force or support personnel. The Japanese culture places a premium on loyalty and employees consider themselves to be members of the corporate family. If a foreign firm decides to leave Japan, employees may find themselves stranded midcareer unable to find a place in the Japanese business system. University graduates are therefore reluctant to join all but the largest and best know of foreign firms. In each international market, the nature and level education of the people differ. The level may have a bearing on the kind message. It also impacts on the medium employed. In places with low literacy levels, advertisers may avoid written communications. In this type of place, advertising on radio or television would be preferable. Visual and audio messages are suited. A good example of this is the use of billboards, flyers, posters. In low places with low literacy, labelling of products may be a concern. Social Organizations Cultural Framework communicates as to how a national society is formed. A good example is the role of women in Japan society is significant. They are contributing to every aspect of its country's development. Japanese women have leadership and decision-making roles. Japan has a centralised government (Buchanan, 2000). The degree of impact of casts or class or trade unions upon a society needs to be looked into. When employing local workers, presence of strong trade unions will affect upon management decisions. Technology and Material Culture Technology includes the energy to power the products. It is also about the transport infrastructure to distribute the goods to consumers. It is concern if the local ports have sufficient cranes to offload all the containers from ships. It tells how easily does innovation diffuses. It also shows if consumers do actually buy material goods, for example, are the consumers materialistic? Mobile payment services enable consumers to pay for goods and services from their bank account using mobile phone. Mobile payments have taken off in Japan. The chief driver of mobile innovation in Japan is NTT DoCoMo. Its market power is so significant that it can impose new systems from the top down, as it did with the introduction of the i-mode which allowed consumers to use their phone for everything from trading stocks and checking movie times to playing games, instant messaging and downloading. With regards to the material culture of Japan, McCracken (1990, p. 74) mentioned that one of the most important ways in which cultural categories are substantiated is through the material objects of culture. There are complexities and dynamics of the cultural categorization of the ‘Japanese’ and the ‘Western’ in contemporary Japan. These complexities are shown through the material culture, for instance, clothing, food and others. They can also be proved by classifying project to which they are recruited’ (Douglas and Isherwood, 1996: 50). Emphasis on the contextually determined relationship between the Japanese and the Western poses a question regarding the relevance of such a colonial discourse that assumes a fixed hierarchy between the traditional and the modern (García Canclini, 1995a) in the case of Japan. Western and the Japanese are cultural constructions. Cultural marks and cultural distinctions play roles in the process of the production of the Western and the Japanese cultural categories. This distinction should not be merely understood in the straightforward manner of the Japanese attempt ‘to prove their distinction (emphasis in text)’ (Ohnuki-Tierney, 1993: 135) in a defense against the invading West, but in a much more dynamic manner that emphasizes the constant shift of hierarchies of the ‘Western’ and the ‘Japanese’. Law and Politics The sustaining social culture will motivate the legal and political landscape. The political ideology on which the society is founded will influence upon the decision to market in the target place. Japanese policy-makers are responding to the current economic meltdown with more sound proposals that will give socio-economic benefits. Public policy needs to build a virtuous circle in public life. There should be an appropriate balance among the role of the state, the strength of civil society and the market economy. Aesthetics Aesthetics relate to the senses. It refers to the appreciation or positive opinion of the artistic nature of something. This includes its taste, ambience or smell. An example is the appreciation of beauty. Does the material has fashionable design? Determination if an advert delivered in good taste is an example of aesthetic. When the color, music or architecture found to be relating to an experience pleasing, it is aesthetic. Color is often used as a mechanism for brand identification, feature reinforcement and identification. In international markets, colors have more symbolic value than in domestic markets. Black, for example, is considered the color of mourning in other countries. However, white has the same symbolic value in Japan (Czinkota & Ronkainen, 2007).Top of Form Everything relating to branding aesthetically pleasing is a concern. Aesthetics is of vital importance to the human sense of well-being. Industries catering to aesthetic satisfactions derivable from cars, pets, dwellings and body grooming, for example, are thriving economic enterprises (Porteous, 1998). Australians are willing to spend a considerable proportion of their disposable incomes on hair, body and clothing fashions and grooming. There is strong concern for scrubbing the body clean. There is a drive to eliminate bodily odours. Advertising creates ideal body images which is hard to attain by the majority. Then these people would fall prey to reduced self-esteem. They would fall into the traps of self-help books, diet programmes, whiteners, cosmetic surgery, slenderizing systems and a lot more. These make up multi-billion dollar industry. Houses, gardens, lawns are like bodies, the shrine of aesthetic concern and care. Beyond the visuals, cats are often valued for their tactility. Dogs are valued for kinesthetic sensations. Human babies maybe treated in this way as the cars. When we move from the private to the public domain, we usually find that aesthetic concerns drop to a marginal interest level. Even in terms of environmental problems, aesthetic issues are of low priority and considered as a luxury as compared with ecological concerns. Competitive: Japan has a modern economy. The skills and qualifications of the population plays a role in determining how a place fits into global economic affairs. In recent decades, Japan has increased the productivity of its workers to become major industrial exporters (Czinkota & Ronkainen, 2007). Figure 2 Merchandise Exports and Imports as a Percentage of World Total, as of 2004 Source: World Trade Organization Country Trade Profiles, 2005 Japan's export per capita continue to greatly exceed the import per capita, as reflected in Figure 2 above. Top of Form The economic performance of Japan today demonstrates that the policies of helping to stimilate foreign economies were crowned by success. Financial Considerations: Currently, this country enjoys dynamic, highly efficient and open financial markets. In here, international capital flows are largely unrestricted. On the other hand, domestic interest rates and the exchange rate for its currency are market-determined.  Financial sector regulatory and taxation arrangements have been explicitly designed so as to minimise their impact on investment decisions and on market price signals more generally.  A robust prudential framework is complemented by clearing, settlement and payments systems in line with best international practice. Relevant Market The most important fact that might be useful is that Japan's economy is dominated by its service sector. This online retailing business would contribute to the country's economy. The country has undergone economy structural reform. It used to have regulated, highly protected and inward-looking. After the reform, its economy is now internationally competitive, open and export-oriented. Among its major exports come from mining and agriculture. Among its economic refors is the reduction in tariffs. The country had removed its protective barriers to free trade. It had deregulated the financial service sector. It had liberalised access to foreign banks. It increased flexibility in the labour market. It reduced duplication. It increased efficiency between the state and federal branches of government. It had privatised several government owned monopolies. It is reforming the taxation system. This includes the broad-based GST or Goods and Services Tax. There are also huge reduction in the rates of income taxes. The major factor influencing location decision is the size of the market. That is, being in contact with a larger markets enhances the coverage generation of more income. ANALYSIS OF FACTS Following on from the facts gathered above, below are the thorough and comprehensive analyses on the information to give an evaluation disadvantages and advantages of the services or products that will be marketed in Japan. Table 3. Assessment of the Disadvantages and Advantages of the Products being Marketed in Japan. Pet care products and pet health care products Advantages Disadvantages Marketing mix elements for the products Products are innovative, good, have cutting edge above other products sold by competitors and impressive. Prices are lowered or raised depending on the features provided by the products, times for special sales, geographic location, distributors and others. Place of the business is local and the products will be marketed in Japan.Promotion is via the internet, radio, television, newspapers, magazines through publication among people who need the products, who will buy them and who will come back for additional purchases. Billboards, posters and flyers will be utilised too. Standards and consistency in product quality vary. Segmentation Caters to middle and upper income markets who look for high quality products with as much convenience as possible There are still unexplored segments of the market that may provide business opportunities. Targeting and positioning strategies Chosen image and appeal to chosen market suits Retargeting and repositioning strategies can be dome as a result of changing demographics and preferences. The validity of the information and/or its source Valid Due to unforseen circumstances, the validity of the information and/or its source may sometimes be questionable. Socio-cultural factors Socio-cultural forces has influences which formed the increased preferences towards more pet care products and pet healthcare products. The change of lifestyles and habits of Japanese have a direct impact on the consumer expenditures. Japan has high spending power and value per customer. Growing urban populations, affluent, active and ageing population and emerging middle class in developing cities are potential customers. There is an increased need for more varied pet care and pet health care products. There is increased desire for customised/specialised products. Socio-cultural changes sometimes result to drop in the demand of product. The changing consumer activities choices, needs, interests, expectations, family structure and demographics would require flexibility on the pet care and pet health care products manufacturers and retailers. Economic factors Japan is a favourable economic agent. It has huge sales potential. It has a large market size. Its market dynamics and potential are favourable factors. It is showing suitable increase in international and domestic expenditure. There is an increasing market fragmentation, and growth in niche/special interest markets. Variable exchange rate and fluctuating global economies will continue to influence pet care products and pet health care products' demand. There is Increased price sensitivity. Japan market is mature and experiencing competitive pressure. Tougher competition from other markets is occuring. Political/legal factors Political stability and safety in Japan. Advocacy on consumer rights and protection increased high expectations of product quality. Hence, in order to capture a vast majority of the market, there is a need to address the high expectations of quality. Rising overheads and operating costs affect the viability of businesses. Oil prices result from international instability. In the case of the consumer, increase cost of petroleum prices result to lower disposable income, thus, reduced purchasing power. Technological details Continuous development of digital and communication technologies creates e-commerce and new market research tools (Currimboy, 2004). Opportunity to reach new customers directly and new media technology are made possible by internet. Establishing e-exchange channels between supply chain agents turns out to be the origin of strategic advantage. This is since it generates better value chain quality control and creates the ability of fast market response. Some Japanese are not yet into online transactions. ASSESSMENT AND SELECTION OF ENTRY STRATEGIES Several market entry modes/strategies available to the company were studied. The best or most appropriate strategies were seleted based on the market research A detailed discussion is provided below. Several entry strategies can be adopted by online retailing business initiative. Each of the market entry strategies has advantages, disadvantages, legal obligation and risk. There is a need to assess the suitability of these entry modes. Local Office A local presence will be established through a local office. The office space will be rented. Staff, which could be just one person, will be hired. Table 4. Comparison of the Advantages and Disadvantages of Local Office. Advantage Disadvantage Greater control of marketing and distribution Absence of a local partner with contacts and expertise, like that in a joint venture Direct contact with customers Higher cost of setting-up an office as compared with acquiring a distributor or an agent Entryplace to local venture capital Enhanced market place credibility with customers Joint Venture A domestic company and an exporter can gain market entry in their desired target country through joint venture. They can join together to create a new incorporated company. Both companies would give resources and equity to the joint venture. They will co-manage. Losses and profits would be shared. This joint venture will be limited to the span of life of their specific project. The joint venture option is being done more frequently in countries with restrictions on foreign ownership. Examples of these countries are Vietnam, China and others. Table 5. Comparison of the Advantages and Disadvantages of Joint Venture. Disadvantage Advantage Partners do not have full control of management (Hill & Jones, 2010). Joint venture is advantageous when quick penetration of the market is needed. This is specially when competitive entry is about to occur. It is also when there is rapid technological change. Control is compromised at times Advantageous if there is unavailavility of acquire competencies or skills in-house. Decision-making is sometimes compromised. Joint venture enables faster entry and payback It may be impossible to recover capital invested. It extend widely the risk of a large project over more than one firm. Disagreement on new export markets may arise. It satisfies local content requirements and avoids tariff barriers. Partners may have different views on expected benefits. Government regulation or pressure often forced firms into joint venture. When selecting a foreign partner, there are several things to look into. These are cooperative cultures, complementary skills, commensurate risk and compatible goals (Geringer & Hebert, 1991). It may happen that the companies may have different and/or conflicting goals. There may be management style differences, which is highly possible. Some complexities may be present as in most international businesses. Complexities with regards to differences in business ethics and government policies may be found (Bearnish & Lupton, 2009). Background check on each other should be conducted. This will assess presence of any points that needs attention and reconsiderations. The decision on who to partner with will, in most cases, comes after the conduct of financial analysis. This analysis covers on how the joint venture will go. It is important to spend time making the decision. Contracting and Licensing The manufacture of the company’s services or product may be contracted if this enterprise wants to enter a market. Among those that can be contracted are, for example, shoes manufacturers, appliances makers. The products or services needed by the firm can be tailored to the requirements and conditions of the local target market (Tielmann, 2010). On the other hand, when a firm wants to enter a market entry via licensing, it can contact a licensor which will agree to permit your firm as the licensee to use their trademark, processing manufacturing, skills or technology. Any of these are provided for a fee by the licensor. RECOMMENDATIONS Recommendations with justifications regarding the above market entry mode choices discussed above are presented to senior management. This clear recommendations to management are provided together with the justifications of the recommendations supported by the country chosen which is Japan with its market analysis. For the pet care and pet healthcare products, capitalise on the Japanese distinct preference for quality products. Extensive and innovation range of products and services would be enjoyed by these high value customers. Take the opportunity on the high purchasing power of the majority of the population. This will be a chance to earn huge in the business. For the electrical household appliances, capitalise on the Australians changing lifestyles and habits. The growing affluent , active urban population would have high needs for pet care and pet healthcare products. The emerging middle class in developing cities will be active, potential customers. There are several issues with market entry strategies. Select entry strategies that can provide the edge needed to make a unique and differentiated product a market leader. On the other hand, firms may select market entry strategies, for example joint venture, to overcome barriers to entry related to scope or scale or to overcome their inexperience in operating in international markets. There is a need to have international experience and knowledge of cultural issues. There are some barriers to entry. Compounding the challenge of developing and launching a winning go-to-market strategy are the accelerating dynamics of today’s markets. Designing a good business model is a challenge. Determine if it Is cheaper to produce locally overseas or to export. Know also if it is better to license to infiltrate more markets faster. There may be a need to be insured against non-payment. Determine the ways to settle defferences and legal concerns with partners. There should be a plan for a currency increase. BIBLIOGRAPHY Arber, Ruth 2008, Race, Ethnicity and Education in Globalised Times. Germany: Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 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