How to Conduct Market Analysis for International Business?

Content

1. How to Conduct Market Analysis for International Business
2. Key Considerations in Using Information Systems to Make International Business Decisions
3. The Pest Concept
4. Information Gaps
5. Market Analysis and Segmentation
6. Key Components of the International Market Information System

Market Analysis for International Business

The power of having a system to gather information from the international marketplace is phenomenal and will help to support any strategic decision being made in the organization. The starting point for any international analysis of the market will be the PEST concept, which translates into political, economic, social ‘ and technological issues affecting a target market.

An understanding of the PEST concept and its application to the country of your choice has to be supported by an analysis of your company’s strengths and weaknesses and how they match the business opportunity you are investigating. Once the match is achieved a process of segmentation will need to take place and this aspect will be explored within this article. Exercises will be used to help you consider the key aspects of the design process when introducing an international market information system into your company. One point which is certain is that competent analysis of the target marketplace is fundamental to the success of any international business.

Information is the source of all the key strategic decisions made by international businesses. The availability of information and the security and reliability of the source are important. The source of the information can vary, and the compatibility of the information with existing systems is a necessity. The information needs to ‘comply with the existing information databases you are using in your company, in order to build a greater understanding of the marketplace.

The type of information required to make strategic decisions will depend on the individual company. For example, a senior operations manager in a UK utility company may be looking to an overseas agent to provide the market intelligence that can finally enable the entry decision to be made to go into a particular If the go-ahead is not forthcoming the company may decide to shelve the whole project. The same level of urgency may not exist for a product which is entering a fast-moving consumer goods market, where government approval may not have such relevance in the international markets being targeted. Alternatively, a motor car manufacturer may not be as interested in the political aspects of the market but could be very concerned about the economic developments within the target market. 

It is very difficult for a company to operate on hearsay or intuition and this is particularly applicable in international markets. The difficulty is achieving the right level of complexity and accessibility to the information is a challenge for the management team introducing the systems for market analysis.

Continue at: Key Considerations in Using Information Systems to Make International Business Decisions