Introduction to export management summary:
Chapter 1: introduction export planning.
Countries compete with each other, for example on tourism, medication, health centres, logistic
ports, trading, and financial services. Countries need to position themselves in order to maintain and
have further development of their economies and enable their population to enhance their income
and quality of life.
Another aspect, for countries as well as for companies, is the development of customer markets and
regions to execute the sourcing and manufacturing. Smaller countries form regional trade blocks to
create a substantial internal market and enable local regional sourcing at attractive regional duty and
tax rates, for example European Union or NAFTA.
Four questions are relevant for internationalisation of companies:
1) What are drivers for export development and internationalisation?
The most common drivers behind companies’ international ambitions are:
• Market development as a strategy: refers to growth model of Ansoff. When
companies reach a mature stage in their home market.
• Need to follow its customer: refers to the demand/requirement of the company to
follow the customer abroad, for example automotive suppliers have to follow the big
car manufacturers into low-cost countries to keep their business.
• Competition
• Opportunities: market opportunities in certain countries or regions.
2) Is internationalisation similar to globalisation?
Perlmutter described four types of organisation that have a different internationalisation
process. This model is called the EPRG model:
• Ethnocentric organisation: the organisations home market drives the organisation.
Export orders that are handled out of its home market are viewed as additional sales
• Polycentric organisation: locally oriented, meaning each foreign country has its focus
on local culture and needs. Each host country is unique in foreign countries
• Region-centric organisation: focus on regional market needs instead of country
needs. Sees similarities and difference in a world region: is ethnocentric or
polycentric in its view of the rest of the world.
• Geocentric organisation: acts as a transnational organisation that views the world as
its marketplace and creates centres of excellence in regions where it makes most
sense. There is no difference between the firm’s home market and other
international markets.
Globalisation: the result of trading, selling, and sourcing in different markets, on a worldwide scale.
Internationalisation: can have its scope on a smaller scale, focusing on international trade between
certain countries. So, internationalisation is a part of globalisation
3) What is exporting?
Exporting means marketing, selling, and distributing goods or services from one country to
another country or countries. It included importing and reselling goods or services as well.
4) Is exporting the same as international marketing?
International marketing basically only covers the marketing part, however during the last
few years international marketing has more or less been treated equal to exporting and
, export management. (In the book exporting and international marketing are being treated
the same).
Export policy
When companies decide to start export development and internationalisation of their firm, it is
essential to follow a systematic strategy formulation and decision making process. How to execute a
systematic strategy formulation and decision making process? The book shows the international
strategy definition process or in other words, the export policy process:
The international strategy definition is part of the overall export policy process. The export policy
process reviews whether export development is attractive for the company, whether it fits in the
vision/mission, and how to organise export planning and execution.
The elements in export policy process:
Based upon the strategic fit with the vision/mission, the company will start planning its export
development and internationalisation activities. At planning level, the potential markets for the
different product lines and services will be analysed (SWOT analysis), a definition of the international
strategy will be made, and an export plan (which is an international marketing plan) will be created
including the resource allocation of personnel and investment capital needed.
Export planning has 4 phases:
1. Export policy (why): do we want to internationalise our company? It refers to international
strategy development of the company. After analysing internally, the strategic position and
direction of the company, and externally the trends (DESTEP), international strategy
definition will be made based on the different strategic alternatives.
, 2. Export audit (where): do we want to focus on the selected countries or markets? It refers to
the market entry analysis of the company.
3. Export plan (how): is this export plan a sound proposal? It refers to the international
marketing plan.
4. Export roll-out (what/when): has our first sales and shipping order been successful? It refers
to the implementation of the export plan
10-step export plan structure: + page 34+35
Chapter 2: internal and external analysis
In order to systematically start the internationalisation process, a company needs to develop an
export policy: a strategic framework with principles and international strategic business directions
that form the basis for the export initiatives. The following three steps need to be taken to complete
the export policy plan:
1. Company overview:
Description of the vision/mission, business definition and objectives of the company,
followed by a description of which product lines the company is selling on what geographic
markets.
• A vision provides a big picture perspective of who we are and what we do and where
we are headed. A mission describes how to fulfil the vision.
• The business definition describes in what business the company is active, whom they
service and how they do that. According to Abell the three dimensions focus on: the
needs of the customer (what), the customer groups which have these needs (who),
and the technologies used to fulfil these needs (how).
• Once the business definition is completed, the objectives of the company can be
formulated. Objectives can be short term (1-2 years), mid term (2-4 years), or long
term (>5 years).
• The last element of the company overview refers to product lines and geographic
markets. For example, pie charts:
, 2. Internal and external analysis
The internal analysis mainly consists of three elements: the organisation structure of the
company, its management framework, and its capabilities to go abroad.
• Organisation structure: provides a good first overview of how a company is
structured in terms of its functions, regions, and decision lines.
• Management framework (7s model): the 7S model describes 7 factors to organize a
company in a holistic and effective way:
o hard factors:
o strategy outlines the allocation of scarce resources, over time, to reach the
firm’s objectives.
o Structure outlines how the different units of an organisation are structured:
centralised or decentralised; functional, geographic, matrix.
o Systems outlines procedures, processes, and routines for the execution of
work within a company, like recruiting, appraisal and performance systems,
financial systems, and information systems.
o Soft factors:
o Shared values outlines what an organisation stands for and what it believes
in. it takes the central place in the model and interconnects all the other
factors.
o Staff outlines the number and types of personnel within an organisation
o Style outlines the cultural style of an organisation and how key managers
behave in achieving the organisation’s goals.
o Skills outlines specific, differentiating competences of the personnel of the
organisation.
• Capabilities: whether or not a company is capable of going international depends on:
o Size of the company
o Company culture
o Experience of the company
o Type of product
The external analysis of a market normally consists of a consumer and customer analysis, an
environmental DESTEP analysis, an industry analysis, and a competitor analysis.
• DESTEP analysis: consists of six environmental factors:
o Demographic: population, household reduction, higher life expectancy,
higher education etc.
o Economic: employment rate, economic growth, currency value, development
GDP
o Social: both partners working, shorter working hours, health
o Technology: Bluetooth, wind/solar energy, voice-over, etc.
o Ecology: bio-food, save-the-earth, product recycling