This is it? This is the final lecture of international business. And it's actually  going to be a shorter one, because you've learned so much over the past 11  lectures that most of this you have heard before you've studied and you've  thought about, so we're going to talk about assessing and entering international  markets and what that means and what that looks like. So there is market  screening that occurs. Obviously, as we've talked about, you got to understand  the political forces and the economic forces and the monetary forces and all  these different forces before entering a foreign market. And we talked about that, and one of the things that that can be conducted at is either the country level,  like we've mostly discussed, or it can be talked. I could talk about a segment, so  an example of a segment of the population would be, would be, you know,  teenagers or Millennials or baby boomers, and some products are more aligned  with certain segments. So you target those segments, and then you pull back on anything that is not part of that segment. So one of the first things you're going  to do when starting an international business is you're going to think about the  basic needs. So that's influenced by climate, geography, natural resources.  There are some needs that are easy to assess, like industrial goods, like you  know, everybody is going to need certain products, but some of them are more  difficult. So, you know, something, you got to figure out what people desire, what people want, and and think, you know, think about chocolate, you know, I think  everybody wants that, but not everybody does. So understanding the culture  and understanding the need there is important, and data on that is going to  include imports, local production, those kind of things are going to help you  determine what the market need is financial and economic forces. We talk a lot  about inflation and currency exchange and interest rates and credit availability  and paying habits and rate of return and all these market factors we've talked  about, you know, how what a market looks like, and what the country's health is, and and their inflation rate and their GNI, and you remember all these terms. So  those are the things that we need to look at. You do that through market  indicators, which it measures the relative market strength. You do that through  market factors which discuss the need for the product. You do trend analysis to  see what the future value is of of your market. For instance, you know some  companies know that something like I'll give you a great example. So when  records fell out of popularity in the United States, they were still popular in  certain markets. So there was a trend analysis on that said, Okay, record  players will work for five more years in these places, or cassette players, or  whatever CD players. And so companies would go in, take all these products, go in and then just do a cash grab for those four or five years, and then get out. So  it's understanding that kind of stuff as well, and then a cluster analysis, which is  statistical techniques that divide objects into groups based on similarity. And all  these screenings occur to determine the financial and economic forces and  viability of the market. The third screening will be the political and legal forces. 

And we've talked at length about these as well. What are the barriers to entry?  What's the political environment, what's the legal regulations? Is your product  even allowed? Is it going to be viable? Is there not are there strong protection  walls which will prevent you from operating there, or are there weak protection  

walls, which will mean that anybody can duplicate your product? Is your product  can be protected? What are the government policies? Remember, we want  stability. Always, always, always, always want stability along those lines? Well, I  guess not along those lines, but a fourth screening is cultural forces. Remember that culture is subjective. It's interpretive, it's something that is not well defined.  It's based on norms and values and learned lessons and things like that. So all  those factor in as well. Your fifth screening will be competitive forces. That's a  review of your competitors. Obviously, entering into a highly competitive market  can have advantages, but you would rather enter a market where there's no  competitors. So that's the fiscal. Screening, and then the final selection is, go to  the country. Figure out that's good idea like, go visit it, collect data. Go look at  the consumer products, talk to the people, do a segment screening, figure out  what the population looks like, what they want. Is it worth the effort? Is to plan  actionable, remember all those marketing principles that that are important to  employ, which is product placement, the four P's, and then know if they have the ability to compete. So often when we seek out market opportunities. We have to  scan and we have to go through all those different things to find out if, if a  market is going to be a buy a viable so remember that when you research a  local market, home research country, home country, research methods may be  used and they may not be used. So, you know, surveys may work very well in  the United States, but they may not work in Russia. You know, surveys may be,  may be, not a cultural practice that that would work there. So I remember that  there also has to be a modification. You have to be willing to go in and make  changes. When you talk about these processes, I'm sorry when you're doing  these research methods, remember that there could be language related issues. Remember when we talked about translation issues with KFC and it went from  finger looking good to eat your fingers off. Certainly those are issues. I  remember that there may be low levels of literacy, which may prevent you from  doing mail surveys or doing reading things that that find out about your market,  the market potential. And then remember that there's a well you may not know,  but there's this thing called social desirability bias, and what that means is you're going to try and please somebody. So let's say you knew that I like chocolate ice cream. Actually, I'm a vanilla person, so let's say I'll just use me as an example.  So I like vanilla ice cream, and you know, I love vanilla ice cream, so I give you  a vanilla ice cream, and I give you a chocolate ice cream, and you're gonna rate  the vanilla ice cream higher because you want to please me, because, you  know, I like vanilla ice cream. So that would be a obviously, don't want that when you're talking to people, and certain cultures are very are not very forthright 

about their feelings because they don't want to offend and that's not a good  thing when you're trying to figure out if your product or service will work in a  foreign country. Something else that can help you is online databases, online  research. Certainly, big data is increasing. Analytics is becoming important. That means that there's a lot more data out there that can be used, that can be  managed. So understanding that as well, remember that if you do exporting, so  if you export your product, that's a little investment, and it's a little it's a little bit  lower level of risk, where if, if you are doing another method, it may require  more. So if you do do franchising and exporting and those kind of things, there  may be issues with it. Remember, we talked a lot, a lot, a lot a lot about the  issues with licensing and franchising and the legal issues that surround that. So  as we close, I just want to hammer home a few points. As I said, this is going to  be a shorter lecture, because, you know, we've, we've covered a lot of material,  but there are a few things. There's a bunch of forces. There's a bunch of factors  that that are present in international business, a lot of legal forces, a lot of  political forces, a lot of social force, a lot of economic forces. There's issues with exchange rates. There's all this complexity, complexity that exists when  operating International. There's a complexity for leaders. There's complexity for  legal departments. There's a complexity in the organizational structure and how  you organize when operating in this method, there is a there is a need, because  everything is so complex on an international stage, there is a need for stability.  So remember, companies like stability. They do not like change. They like  maximizing profits by getting a competitive advantage. And if they can predict  that competitive advantage and and figure out what consumers want and then  accurately forecast, they can be very successful. But if something like a war or  violence or a pandemic or any of those things happen, then it derails to. Plans,  and it has a causes them to be able to adapt. And that's one of the other things  that I wanted to mention, is that as a global leader and as a global business, you have to be highly adaptable to understand the market forces. So you obviously  go through that strategic planning exercise that we talked about, but you also  got to be willing to change your plans, adjust and adapt to whatever the market  is telling you. So you you are seeing that now as if you remember from lecture  number one, as we go from manufacturer product based, product based  economy to a service based economy. So you are seeing some of those  changes. So if you are a manufactured company that manufactures something,  then obviously offering services will ensure your long term survival. Apple has  done that by offering digital musical service and music services Apple TV and  those kind of things as well. So with that, I just want to thank you for your time  and attention. I want to thank you for everything you have done to make this  class successful, your prayers, your support, just your engagement. So thank  you. And then, before we close, I promised you that I would I would show you  our last company. So as I have done with every other lecture, I want to show you

an international company. And today, we are picking Google. Google is our  international company. So this is right off the bat I want, I don't know if you've  ever looked down here, but it says carbon neutral since 2007 so you can see  their commitment to the environment. Some other things that you'll notice is as  advertising, how you advertise with them, but they have a focus on inclusivity.  They talk about their different products, which they have a lot, like nest. They do  have products as well as services, and their goal is to do no harm and to  improve people's lives. So they do that through diversity, inclusion, through food  insecurity, and they do that across the nation, if you're interested. One of the  things to look at, and I think this is relevant, is the way that companies are  differently dealing with COVID and returning to the office. So so what I would  like you to see is you will see that they that you have to be vaccinated to work  there. There is a voluntary work from home policy. So certainly they're handling  things differently than some of the other companies that are out there. So just  wanted to share Google. I think we sometimes forget that Google is a very  global company and a global force in this world. But I couldn't think of a better  way to close than to discuss the international nature of Google. So let's close in  prayer for the final time. And unlike any other time, I don't have another lecture  to preview. So here we go. Heavenly Father. Thank you for this class. Thank you for each individual, for their time, their attention, their effort. Lord, I pray that this  was a fruitful class for them, that it will help them to transform their  understanding of international business. It will help them to have businesses  that can be fruitful and further your kingdom. Lord, that it will help them to to just  grow in their understanding of this complex world and being a Christian in this  complex world, Lord, we have prayed about the things that you have done for  us, but I just want to again, thank you for blessing each and every one of us to  be able to attend this class, to be able to talk together and work together over  these past, you know, several lectures. It's just an honor, and it's just a  testament to how you're constantly teaching us and helping us grow and helping us to establish our our worldview so we can do great things for you and tell  others about you, and tell others about what you have done for us. So Lord,  thank you so much for your word. Thank you so much for for Jesus. Thank you  so much for the Holy Spirit which indwells us. Thank you for the ways in which  you bless us. Thank you, Lord, for this class. Thank you Lord, for this time  together. And I pray that you will continue. You to bestow many blessings on  these students as they continue to learn and grow in Jesus name. Amen. Thank  you so much for your time and attention. I've really, really appreciated spending  some time with you. So enjoy these lectures, and if there's ever anything I can  do to reach out for you, certainly we are committed to your success. Thank you. 


Last modified: Thursday, May 1, 2025, 8:30 AM