International strategic management

Before going international a company needs to a have a good marketing plan. Planning can be defined as exercising foresight regarding the anticipated outputs of an organization in order to maximize the inputs available (Ansoff, H. I. , 1965). If the required inputs in terms of advertising, promotion, production and personnel are beyond the firm’s capability then the goal should be modified to reflect available resources. This will be through a marketing plan (Winer, R. S. , 2007).

Marketing plan can only be effective if it has the following the following should be implemented; an investigation of the present situation, consider alternative causes of action, select one of the alternatives, provide both human and material resources, communicate with everyone involved so that each knows his or her particular role in the process and evaluate progress periodically in order to ensure that action is taking place according to the plan (Ansoff, H. I. ,1965).

Like any other marketing plan a good international marketing plan lays out the broad marketing objectives and strategy based on the analysis of the current market situation and the opportunities. A marketing plan assists business strategic units achieve their objectives in the market hence there is need for a good marketing plan. Managers of a company have to follow a marketing plan in order to achieve their objectives (Ansoff, H. I. ,1965). They have to work within plans set by people above them for the company’s goals.

This consists of analyzing the current marketing opportunities, researching and selecting the target markets, then they will design marketing strategies, plan the marketing programs. Then the process of organizing, implementing and controlling the marketing effort follows. A marketing plan is vital for each company, product line or even brand, for effective achieving of goals. A good international plan will assist an international company in the marketing process. A marketing plan has the following main features:

Executive summary- This is where there are presented all the information that regard the data on the sales, profits, market, competitors, distribution and channels and all the environmental factors that are relevant for the company. Opportunity and issue analysis- Here, major opportunities are identified so that they can be exploited. Threats are also identified so that they can be evaded. At this point, the company does a short analysis on issues facing the international market (Winer, R. S. , 2007).

Objectives- Here there is the relation of the plans financial objectives and the marketing objectives because a good plan is that which has less cash but brings high sales volumes. Marketing strategy- Here the planner will develop a good game plan for the company, a careful course of action to accomplish the company’s objectives. This is done in consultation with all parties of the company i. e. finance, purchases, production and marketing(Winer, R. S. ,2007). Action programs- A good marketing planner identifies the broad objectives that will assist the company to achieve business objectives.

What will be done, who and how much it will cost. Projected costs- Here the plan budget is drawn and both the profits and losses will be considered and the financial outcomes and finally the plan controls will be developed to indicate how the plan will be mentioned (Wernerfelt, B. , 1984 and Weitzel, W. & Johnson, E. , 1989). A good international marketing plan will enable a company to enter a given country with each other. It must however be a continuous process to respond to the international changing conditions.

Marketing plans vary from company to company and have various names. Some call them game plans and also marketing plans. They should be taken seriously if company goals are to be achieved (Winer, R. S. ,2007).. Transnational segmentation across international boundaries. Market segmentation involves the systematic analysis of market characteristics: the relationship between the demand and certain consumer traits, needs and preferences and the manner in which specific goods fits into certain market segments in the process of need – satisfaction.

In most cases market segmentation is applied on the basis of geographical, demographical and psycho graphical information or a combination of such data. Every marketing problem, however must obviously be approached in the light of particular objectives and circumstances. Consequently the research needs and the criteria used for purposes of marketing segmentation will differ from one product to another and one type of market segment to another(Winer, R. S. ,2007).

In traditional marketing research survey were mainly aimed at collecting information on standardized demographical and social economic variables such as age, population group, language differences, and levels of education, occupation and income groups. A more recent development in research for market segmentation purposes is the analysis of the market in terms of consumer motivation and expectation as well as actual buying behavioral patterns (Ansoff, H. I. ,1965). There are a certain groups of variables which are employed for the purposes of segmenting market for consumer goods.

These include geographical, demographical, socio –economic and psycho graphical factors in an analysis of consumer characteristic and behavior. Depending on the nature of the relevant products and the distinguishing nature of market segments, the analysis of certain variables might be superfluous and it might be necessary to give special attention to the other variables (Winer, R. S. ,2007). The market can go further and try to analyze certain consumer reactions (changes in behavioral patterns) to his policy and strategy for segmentation purposes.

There are a number of aspects that should be take into account in analyzing such possible consumer reactions. The approach is that both objective and subjective criteria must be employed in an attempt to study consumer reactions to each of the elements of the marketing mix. The methods used to investigate these reactions are of course qualitative, difficult and expensive to apply and the results are often unreliable (Wernerfelt, B. , 1984 and Weitzel, W. & Johnson, E. , 1989).