Using Opportunities and Dealing with Threats
Having observed the opportunities and threats that may meet our company in India, we are now able to highlight the most crucial points and outline the ways to deal with them.
Due to the big population, India’s food market has significant potential, which makes our efforts reasonable. To become a successful market player, we need to offer products and services that will meet Indian customers’ needs. Consequently, the following measures should be taken:
1. We need to conduct a broad marketing research focused on food demand and supply in India. We need to find out Indians’ eating habits and traditions, and to find the most attractive market niches. It is important to learn what products will definitely have no popularity with the local population due to the cultural peculiarities (Davies 77-79).
According to (Luthans and Doh 145), Western foods already have certain popularity in India, mostly in hotels where Western businesspeople and tourists arrive. However, India’s big local population can also form our loyal clients in case we offer the products that will fit their taste.
A positive factor is the Indian nation’s low level of uncertainty avoidance which means the local population may meet some of the new products with enthusiasm. However, the availability of strong local and global competitors may become a threat for our business. We will need to offer the products that have substantial competitive advantages or are unique for the market.
2. Substantial work should be done in the field of the company’s marketing management. India is an active participant of the world globalization process; on the other hand, it has strong traditions that have been respected by Indians through ages (Kochanek 6), which means that in its case, it is reasonable to speak about the example of “glocalization”: the local culture is not replaced but enriched by the global trends (Mendis 3).
We will need to fulfill adaptation of our marketing strategy, especially in the field of advertising in order to find the common language with our potential customers.
Together with the abovementioned opportunity, there are certain threats that our company should consider. One of the most significant challenges is “settling” in another country. To locate our business in India, we will need to:
1. Develop a successful entry strategy (Luthans and Doh 283). We will need to find the optimal way to organize the local business and the way it will interact with the headquarter.
2. Create a strong, professional and devoted local team. This is especially important for working with remote countries with different cultures. We will need to hire local specialists who have experience in conducting business and know the local market and the local customers.
At the same time, we will need to send our specialists to India to organize and control the work. We should organize trainings for both groups in order to make them successfully cooperate (Millar 187). A big advantage is Indians’ tolerance in communication with foreigners and their ability to accept other cultures (Luthans and Doh 145). The high level of Indians’ English speaking and writing skills is a strong advantage in our case (Chiswick and Miller 256).
3. Finding an appropriate place for starting the business. As a rule, foreign businesses at first come to the large Indian cities where it is possible to hire specialists and attract customers with high paying capacity (Chandra, Rau and Ryans 61).
Another strong threat is the difficulty in becoming a market player and entering the Indian business world. Political risks, institutional barriers and bureaucracy can make this task quite challenging for a foreign company (Luthas and Doh 312). To make the impact of these factors less dangerous for our business, we will need to:
1. Study the political life of India, institutional environment and unwritten social laws. The most important issues are India’s policies and regulations in the field of international investment, business and trade, and the peculiarities of corruption in India.
2. Cooperate with the experienced lawyers and consultants. The optimal way is to create a team that consists of both our lawyers and the local Indian specialists – this will provide us with reliable, useful informational background for conducting our business.
Making Decision
Having estimated all the pros and cons of the project, we see that there is strong reasonability for entering the Indian food market. There is the substantial demand that we can address with the products of our company, and the insufficient supply that makes the market attractive for the global companies. Our company can become a strong market player that offers Indians the new high-quality products that will awaken their interest but at the same time fit their cultural peculiarities and eating habits.
In order to not miss the opportunity provided by the unsaturated market, entering the Indian business should not be postponed. Intense work and quick decisions will help us to conquer the attractive niche. However, such steps as marketing research and investigation of India’s political and business environment should not be speeded up unreasonably, as this haste may result in dramatic mistakes.
Bibliography
Chandra, Aruna, Pradeep A. Rau and John K. Ryans. India Business: Finding Opportunities in This Big Emerging Market. Ithaca, NY: PMP, 2002. Print.
Chiswick, Barry R. and Paul W. Miller. The Economics of Language: International Analyses. USA: Routledge, 2007. Print.
Davies, Paul. New Business in India: The 21st Century Opportunity. Singapore; Hackensack, NJ: World Scientific, 2008. Print.
Kochanek, Stanley A. Business and Politics in India. Berkeley: Univ. of Calif. P., 1974. Print.
Luthas, Fred, and Jonathan P. Doh. International Management: Culture, Strategy, and Behavior. 7th ed. Boston : McGraw-Hill/Irwin, 2009. Print.
Mendis, Patrick. Glocalization: The Human Side of Globalization as if the Washington Consensus Mattered. 2nd ed. Morrisville, N.C.: Lulu Press, 2007. Print.
Millar, Roderick. Doing Business with India. London: GMB Publishing Ltd, 2006. Print.