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Development of a Market Selection Concept for the B2B Segment of C.O.W. Handels & Marketing KG
(2017)
Advertising specialties, from simple calendars to small electronic devices such as USB drives, constitute one of the classic and one of the oldest advertising media. The advertising specialties industry is a profitable but fiercely competitive B2B market where innovative ideas are the key to success. C.O.W. Handels & Marketing KG, a manufacturer of jewellery and other accessories made from wood, leather and steel, entered this market with the launch of its Cowstyle Corporate Designs segment in 2014. After initial success in Austria, the Central and Eastern European (CEE) region was identified as a potentially profitable target for expansion of the segment. However, the company lacks international business experience in this region. Sixteen CEE countries were identified as potential expansion candidates, and this high number makes selection of the right target market even more difficult. Therefore, the goal of this thesis is to develop a market selection concept for the Cowstyle B2B segment for use in the CEE region. Consequently, a market selection analysis was carried out to identify the most attractive country markets for the segment in this region. In the theoretical part of the thesis, all relevant elements of the market selection concept were illustrated to define the theoretical market selection concept for companies in the advertising specialties industry. In the practical part, a selection concept tailored to Cowstyle Corporate Designs was developed based on the theory in the previous part. Market selection criteria were defined and weighted and a four-stage selection procedure with different evaluation methods was created. The first stage subjected all 16 countries to an elimination procedure using the checklist method to eliminate countries which did not meet specific minimum requirements. The next two stages evaluated the remaining countries based on both macroeconomic and industryspecific criteria using the scoring method. In the last stage, on the basis of qualitative expert interviews, the top three countries from the previous stages were ranked in the categories of market attractiveness, market risks and barriers, as well as strategic advantages. The three most promising countries in this analysis are the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Estonia, in that order. In the final chapters, specific recommendations for action are presented based on the analysis results. Furthermore, the procedures and methods used in the market selection concept are critically discussed to further improve the concept for future use by Cowstyle.
Nowadays, more and more companies are forced to internationalise due to the increasing globalisation and the need to remain competitive. Especially for small firms, an international expansion could lead to cost savings and the establishment of greater know-how and competencies. However, many firms fail in going international due to a poor entry planning. Thus, companies have to consider the importance of a well-developed market entry concept, which requires a thorough analysis, planning, implementation and control phase. In this master thesis, the market entry of small-scale enterprises in the British software market will, on both a theoretical and practical level, be investigated. The thesis aims to develop a market entry concept for Koerbler GmbH, a small Austrian web agency situated in the south of Styria. Based on one already existing customer in the UK, the company wants to expand its business there by entering the British software market with its CRM software brand KundenMeister. Therefore, this concept focuses on SMEs, the B2B sector as well as on the UK software market. In order to gain greater insights into the UK business environment, 15 qualitative expert interviews with internationalisation institutions, B2B/service companies already entered the UK market, and with companies selling their software in the UK are carried out. A comparison of theory and practice suggests that due to great cultural differences in the business etiquette of Austria and the UK as well as the limited financial and personnel resources of Koerbler, the company should enter the UK market via direct export by using a distributor. Furthermore, the highly competitive market area requires a so-called ‘verticalisation’ of the firm’s CRM software by focusing on specific industry sectors, which are in the case of Koerbler the consultancy and health sector. Thus, target groups of the firm are primarily distribution partners, but also SMEs operating in those industries. In order to differentiate from other CRM software firms, Koerbler GmbH should position itself as solution-oriented and dynamic company in the UK market. This positioning should be emphasised by defining a stellar USP that is communicated uniformly across all means. In this context, communication instruments suitable for the UK are personnel selling, a website with .co.uk domain, trade fairs and social media, in particular LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. Finally, as a certain level of trust is needed in UK business deals, branding, references and building up a wide network of partners are necessary entry measures.