International Markets of Canada, Australia and the UK - Case Study Example

Student’s Name] [Instructor’s Name] [Class Name] The Three Countries Introduction As our company expands into the international markets, we need to find locations where our products will be accepted as readily as they are in the local arenas. Towards this purpose, the identification and analysis of three countries is important since they can act as pilot projects for all our business systems before we can venture out into other regions of the world (Levy and Powell, 1998). The countries which are similar to America in terms of the legal, cultural and economic environment would receive our products most favorably (Bartlett & Ghoshal, 1998) therefore the nations of Canada, Australia and the UK are at the top of the expansion list. Canada Being our old ally and neighbor, Canada is particularly important for America as a trade and resource partner and there are quite a few similarities in terms of laws, the environment and business processes which connect the two countries. In terms of size it is the world's second-biggest country with regard to governed area and it stretches from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. The country was founded like America as a set of British colonies but it only gained full independence from the UK with a peaceful incremental process that started in 1867 and ended in 1982 with full independence (Statistics Canada, 2007). Unlike America, Canada is a federal constitutional monarchy which is ruled by the Queen of England but it also a parliamentary system of democracy. Culturally, Canada is a bilingual country since a significant population speaks French therefore both French and English are official languages (Statistics Canada, 2007). In terms of doing business, it might be useful for us to have a French speaker or two if we really want to sell our products to the French speaking regions of the country. However, the advantage of doing business in Canada comes from its technological base and high standard of living as well as high support from the government for the health system which should put our products in a positive light (UNDP, 2007). The diversity in Canada, added to the sense of social responsibility makes it more likely that our products would be used by a diverse market which will also let us know if there are any modifications or adjustments which we need to make before we launch into other countries of the world. Politically, the country is stable and there should be no problems in political terms for getting our products into the country or getting money transfers out of the country. Of course the taxation structure in Canada is different from the American system therefore before we establish our set up in Canada it would be best to get consultation from international tax advisors so as to best set up the company (Statistics Canada, 2007). One significant problem which we might have in Canada is the system of measurements which is a reflection of the technological and sociological factors in Canada since the metric system is the primary system for the country. Our product manuals and information guidelines which are currently using the British system may need to be reprinted in English and in French using the metric system for products that are sent to Canada. However, despite some changes required to the packaging and the supporting information, it does not seem likely that we will have to change our safety standards or even bring significant changes to the products themselves. Australia In fact the same situation can develop in Australia which is also a country more or less equal to Canada in terms of regional development and the level of civilization but uses the metric system instead of the British system. The only drawback of having a presence in Australia is the lack of a significant population size which might be interested in our products. The total population is about 20 million which is mostly concentrated in the urban centers of the country but the advantage of having an office in Australia is the similarity in time zones with China and a large part of Asia where our suppliers are based (DFAT, 2007). In terms of political structure, Australia is a commonwealth country with a governmental system similar to Canada and it has good links to both the UK and the United States. It invites businesses from around the world to invest in the country and does not have a heavy tax structure unlike Canada. Health and social security are subsidized by the government (DFAT, 2007). It was ranked just ahead of Canada in terms of human development and the main language of the country remains English which does not need any translation or cause business related issues for our company (UNDP, 2007). While the country is religiously diverse it is very accepting of diversity and follows the same business ethics which are a part of the corporate environment in the rest of the western economies. The political machinery in Australia is stable and the currency as well as the economy can play to our advantage due to the current exchange rate between Australia and America (DFAT, 2007). While the distance between the countries is rather significant, if we use our suppliers in China we can easily make sure that our supply chain to Australia is not compromised. Perhaps the only issues which we could have while doing business in Australia come from the time zone differences which separate America and Australia. However, since Australian offices can effectively coordinate with our Chinese suppliers that advantage outweighs the disadvantage of having a delay in communications with the Australian branch. Additionally, the cultural similarities and the cultural connections between America and Australia make it easy for us to venture into the continent without seeking much help from linguists or language translators. The UK The third country which we can look into for expansion of our international business is the UK. The primary advantage for expanding to this country is the market access which puts us in touch with not only the United Kingdom but also with the rest of Europe since the UK is a full member of the European Union. The acceptance of our products is also improved by the fact that the human development index rank of the UK is higher than France, Germany or Spain which are also members of the EU. It is the second largest economy in the EU and the fifth largest in the world (CIA, 2007). The political links between America and the UK are quite strong since both are long standing allies in many different treaties. Both are members of the G8 and partners in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) as well as the United Nations with a permanent membership of the Security Council. The level of diversity in the UK is similar to Canada’s diversity measures but the main language remains English which means that we would be at an advantage for doing business in the UK (CIA, 2007). Politically, the UK has had its periods of social unrests and government upheavals in the past but nothing so scary that international businesses would be pushed away from the country. Technologically, it is as advanced as America or Canada and our products would be well received in a country where the National Health Service provides mostly free health aid to all citizens (CIA, 2007). Of course this would mean that our products would have to meet the safety standards and regulations of the government organization but since we already meet all American regulations the British demands would not affect us much. Conclusion It must be pointed out that while we could have started our business in locations such as Dehli in India, Lagos in Nigera or even Lahore in Pakistan we must be careful since it is our first international venture. While we do not have the experience to deal with countries which are very different from us in terms of business culture and corporate government (Bartlett & Ghoshal, 1998), we should not venture into the market. Once we have established our venture in Canada it should be easier for us to venture into the British market. From the British market we can further expand eastwards into the EU and gain more and more clients for ourselves. Similarly, if we can gain a foothold in Australia, it would be easier for us to use that as a base of operations and then expand the business northwards into south Asia and other markets. Our Australian operations could one day oversee how we run our company in Thailand but before our products can be sold in Phuket, it would be advisable to have them established in Australia or England. Word Count: 1,539 Works Cited Bartlett, C. & Ghoshal, S. 1998, Managing Across Borders: The Transnational Solution to Managing Across Borders, 2nd ed. Hutchinson. Levy, M and Powell, P. 1998, ‘SME flexibility and the role of information systems’, Small Business Economics, vol. 11, no. 2), pp. 183-197. DFAT (Department of Finance and Trade, Australia), 2007. ‘An overview of Australia’, [Online] Available at: http://www.dfat.gov.au/geo/australia/overview_aus.html UNDP. 2007, ‘HDI Rank by Country’, [Online] Available at:http://hdr.undp.org/statistics/data/country_fact_sheets/cty_fs_CAN.html CIA. 2007, ‘United Kingdom’ [Online] Available at: https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/uk.html Statistics Canada. 2007, ‘Canada Summary’, [Online] Available at: http://www41.statcan.ca/ceb_r000_e.htm Read More