Entering Into New Market How To Enter Into New Market

UNIT 5 MANAGEMENT OF STRATEGIES

LESSON 20 ENTERING INTO NEW MARKET, HOW TO ENTER INTO NEW MARKET

• Explain the cut throat competition in the industrial world • Dilemmas on deciding how and which markets to enter by

the industries. Introduction: Hello, how are you doing? You will have to come out of the local market and get into the global market, don’t worry I am not taking you abroad or asking you to leave the country, but what I am trying to say is that you will now study the global environment and the global market in this chapter for getting ready to face the challenges. Competing on a Global Basis You know that competition is tough and you need to pull up your socks for your survival or else ready to get doomed. So lets learn how to get more competent and get through in this tough competitive world. Although some U.S. business may want to eliminate foreign competition through protective legislation, the better way to compete is to continuously improve products at home and expand into foreign markets. Ironically, although companies need to enter and compete in foreign, markets, the risks are high; huge foreign indebtedness, shifting borders, unstable governments, foreign-exchange problems, tariffs and other trade barriers, corruption, and technological pirating. Still, we argue that companies selling in global industries have no choice but to internationalize their operations. To do this, they must make a series of decisions. Each of these decisions will be examined here. You should know that the global industry is an industry in which the strategic positions of competitors in major geographic or national markets are fundamentally affected by their overall global positions. A global firm is a firm that operates in more that one country and captures R & D, production, logistical, marketing, and financial advantages in its costs and reputation that are not available to purely domestic competitors. Global firms plan, operate, and coordinate their activities on a worldwide basis. Ford’s “world truck” has a European-made cab and a North American-built chassis, is assembled in Brazil, and is imported into the United States for sale. Otis Elevator gets its door systems from France, Japan; it uses the United States for systems integration. A company need not be large to sell globally. Small and medium-sized firms can practice global nichemanship. Even a sports league can be global: I am trying to explain to you the concept by giving the examples for your reference. The NBA When the NBA season is over, basketball’s big stars do not head to Florida for rest and recreation, shaquille O’Neal is to South Korea, Karl Malone to Hong Kong, Allen Iverson to Chile. Deployed by the NBA and global sponsors Coca-Cola, Reebok, and McDonald’s these well-paid traveling salesmen hawk soda, sneakers, burgers, and basketball to legions of young fans. The NBA, which has more 11.154

than 100 global staff members, has emerged as the first American sports league to truly go global. In 2001, NBA games were broadcast to 210 countries in 42 languages. The league has signed on global sponsors such as Yahoo! And IBM; and the league and its partners have sold roughly $1 billion of NBAlicensed products outside the United States in the past five years. Deciding Whether to go Abroad Don’t you want t go abroad either for a holiday or career, a good job with the luxuries in the advanced countries. In the similar way our companies also have to decide whether they want to stay domestic or go abroad because its not as simple as you take a decision for Yourself. Most com12anies would prefer to remain domestic if their domestic market were large enough. Managers would not need to learn other languages and laws, deal with volatile currencies, face political and legal uncertainties, or redesign their products to suit different customers needs and expectations. Business would be easier and safer. Yet several factors are drawing more and more companies into the international arena; Global firms offering better products or lower prices can attack the company’s domestic market. The company might want to counterattack these competitors in their home markets. • The company discovers that some foreign markets present

higher profit opportunities than the domestic market. • The company need’s a larger customer base to achieve

economies of scale. • The company wants to reduce its dependence on anyone

market. • The company/s customers are going abroad and require

international servicing. Before making a decision to go abroad, the company must weigh several risks; The company might not understand foreign customer preferences and fail to offer competitively attractive product. • The company might not understand the foreign country’s

business culture or know how to deal effectively with foreign nations. • The company might underestimate foreign regulations and

incur unexpected costs. • The company might realize that it lacks managers with

international experience. • The foreign country might change its commercial laws,

devalue its currency, or undergo a political revolution and expropriate foreign property. Because of the competing advantages and risks, companies often do not act until some event thrusts them into the international arena. Someone- a domestic exporter, a foreign

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Learning objectives:

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importer, a foreign government-solicits the company to sell abroad, or the company is saddled with overcapacity and must find additional markets for its goods. Deciding which markets to enter: In deciding to go abroad, the company needs to define its marketing objectives and policies. What proportion of foreign to total sales will it seek? Most companies start small when they venture abroad. Some plan to stay small; others have bigger plans. “Going abroad” on the Internet poses special challenges. (See “Marketing for the New Economy; www.TheWorldsYourOyster.com: The Ins and Outs of Global E-Commerce.”) Marketing For The New Economy www.TheWorldsYourOyster.com: The Ins and Outs of Global E-Commerce Companies small and large are taking advantage of the disappearance of traditional market boundaries. Major marketers doing global e-commerce range from automakers (GM) to direct-mail companies (LL Bean and Lands’ End) to running shoe giants (Nike and Reebok) to Internet start-ups like Amazon.com, which purchased three European companies to build its European book and video sales. For some, marketing has been a hit-or-miss affair. They put up content in English for the American market, and if nay international users stumble across the page and end up buying something, great. Hyperspace Cowgirls, a six-year-old New York City-based developer of children’s multimedia software, has several European deals in the works, even though it has no marketing effort overseas. “We don’t advertise overseas at all, “ says Susan Shaw, president of the company, whose Web address is www.hyperspacecowgirls.com.”People just find you”. Other marketers have made a strategic decision to become part of the cyber bazaar. They are using the Web to reach new customers outside their home countries, to support existing customers who live abroad, to source from international suppliers, and to build global brand awareness. Some of these companies adapt their web sites to provide country-specific content and services to their best potential international markets, ideally in the local language. Reebok has launched a multilingual European Web site-available in English, French, German, Spanish, and Italian- in an attempt to increase brand awareness in its individual markets. The site, located at www.reebok.com,is aimed at sports and fitness enthusiasts and includes information on local events in each market. So now you know why these companies are rated number one in their respective products or services. Before companies decide to expand their Web presence internationally, they need to find the companies or regions with the largest potential online population. The biggest area for growth today would be the Asia-Pacific region. The number of Internet users in the region is raising as access costs decline, locallanguage content increases, and infrastructure improves. By 2004, the number of Internet users in the Asia-Pacific region us expected to swell to 188 million. Europe is another hotspot for Internet growth. Internet penetration in Europe is expected to rise to 33 percent by 2003. By then, the five countries with the highest levels of Internet penetration-Germany, France, the

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Netherlands, the united Kingdom, and Sweden-will have online populations totaling 60 million in 1999. Despite these encouraging developments, however, Internet markets sometimes overstate global opportunities. Although developed countries offer many choices for Internet access, less developed countries in Central and South America or Africa have fewer or none at all, forcing users to make international calls to go online. Only 6 percent of the world’s population had Internet access in 2000. Even with adequate phone lines and PC penetration, high connection costs sharply restrict Internet use. In Asia, ISP subscriptions can run up to $60a month, triple the average U.S. rate. In addition, the global marketer may run up against governmental or cultural restrictions, In Germany, a vendor cannot accept payment via credit card until two weeks after an order has been sent. German law also prevents companies from using certain marketing techniques like unconditional lifetime guarantees. On a wider scale, the issue of who pays sales taxes and duties on global e-commerce is murkier still. Finally, you may have understood that business needs to realize that the web does not offer complete solutions for transacting global business-and probably never will. Most companies will never cut a final deal via e-mail. People will still need to see and feel products at international trade shows. The Web will not surmount customs red tape or local regulation. The Web also cannot guarantee that goods will arrive in perfect condition. What the Web can do is make foreign customers aware of one’s business. The web has certainly done that for upscale retailer and cataloger. The sharper Image, which now gets more than 25 percent of its online business from overseas customers. The company is thrilled about its global prospects but admits it is still overwhelmed by the logistical challenges of serving overseas markets. How Many Markets to Enter Now you should know that once the company has decided to enter the international market the next decision depending on the response is how many markets to enter, you should know this is difficult because if you go to a new restaurant for a meal you tend to get confused in making a decision of what to have right from deciding the cuisine like Indian, oriental or continental, why? Because you don’t know what would be their specialization or would it be to your liking, right? The company must decide whether to market in a few countries or many countries and determine how fast to expand. Consider Boo.com. Boom.com When online retailer Boo.com was founded in 1998, the company expressed the ambitious goal of becoming the “first truly global-e-tailer, with world-wide sales, marketing and distribution capabilities. “The bold plan attracted numerous investors, and the company raised $135 million in venture capital that it used to build high-tech e-commerce sites in seven languages in 18 countries. Boo.com constructed satellite offices in six cities, including Munich, Paris, and New York. After months of delays, the site went live in November 2000 and was immediately criticized for an interface that was too complicated and confusing. Monthly sales of $1.1 million month could not

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In Contrast, Consider Amway’s Experience: Amway Consumer-product Company Amway expanded into Australia in 1971. In the 1980s, Amway moved into 10 more countries. By 1999, Amway had evolved into a multinational juggernaut with a sales force of more than 3 million independent distributors hauling in $5 billion in sales. Today, Amway sells products in 43 countries worldwide. Its goal: to have overseas markets account for 80 percent of its sales. This is not an unrealistic or overly ambitious goal considering that Amway already gains 70 percent of its sales from markets outside North America. Generally speaking, it makes sense to operate in fewer countries with a deeper commitment and penetration in each. Ayal and Zif have argued that a company should enter fewer countries when • Market entry and market control costs are high. • Product and communication adaptation costs are high. • Population and income size and growth are high in the

initial countries chosen. • Dominant foreign firms can establish high barriers to entry.

Do You Agree with the Above Points? The company must also decide on the types of countries to consider. The product, geography, income and population, political climate, and other factors influence attractiveness. The seller might have a predilection for certain countries of regions. Kenichi Ohmae recommends that companies concentrate on selling in the “triad markets”- the United States, Western Europe, and the Far East-because these markets account for a large percent of all international trade. Although Ohmae’s position makes short-run sense, it can spell disaster for the world economy in the long run. The unmet needs of the developing world represent huge potential markets for food, clothing, shelter, consumer electronics, appliances, and other goods. Many market leaders are not rushing into Eastern Europe, China, Vietnam, and Cuba, where there are many unmet needs to satisfy. Regional Free Trade Zones You may what is free? So lets study it, Regional economic integration- trading agreements between blocks of countrieshas intensified in recent years. This development means that companies are more likely to enter entire regions overseas than do business with one nation at a time. The European Union: You need to know the European market because it’s a very big market along with the U.S. Certain countries have formed free trade zones or economic communities-groups of nations organized to work toward common goals in the regulation of international trade. One such community is the European Union (EU). Formed in 1957, the European Union set out to create a single European market by reducing barriers investment, it has a small population. Although many countries in central

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Europe possess an eager, hungry-to-Learn labour pool, their infrastructures create difficulties. The team evaluating a new market must determine whether the company could earn enough on its investment to cover the risk factors or other negatives. (For a neglected area of global market opportunity, see “Marketing Memo: Going After Poor Markets Around the Globe”.) Deciding How To Enter The Market So lets continue with the previous example of the restaurant like choosing the meal, next question would be what will be required 0 eat the food with chopsticks? Or knife and fork and spoon or fine with hands? That’s how do I eat it? Similarly once a company decides to target a particular country, it has to determine the best mode of entry. Its broad choices are indirect exporting, direct exporting, licensing, joint ventures, and direct investment. These five market-entry strategies involve more commitment, risk, control, and profit potential. Indirect and Direct Export The normal way to get involved in a foreign market is through export. Occasional exporting is a passive level of involvement in which the company exports from time to time, either on its own initiative or in response to unsolicited orders from abroad. Active exporting takes place when the company makes a commitment to expand into a particular market. In either case, the company produces its goods in the home country and might or might not adapt them to the foreign market. Companies typically start with indirect exporting-that is, they work through independent intermediaries. Domestic-based export merchants buy the manufacturer’s products and then sell them abroad. Domestic-based export agents seek and negotiate foreign purchases and are paid a commission. Included in this group are trading companies. Cooperative organizations carryon exporting activities on behalf of several producers and are partly under their administrative control. They are often used by producers of primary products such as fruits or nuts. Exportmanagement companies agree to manage a company’s export activities for a free. Indirect export has two advantages. First, it involves less investment; the firm does n6thave to develop an export department, an overseas sales force, or a set of foreign contracts. Second, it involves less risk; because internationalmarketing intermediaries bring know-how and services to relationship, the seller will normally make fewer mistakes. Companies eventually may decide to handle their own exports. The investment and risk are somewhat greater, but so is the potential return. University Games of Burlingame, California, has blossomed into a $50-million-per -year international company through careful entry into overseas ventures. University Games Bob Moog, president and founder of University Games, says his company’s international sales strategy relies heavily on third-party distributors and has a fair degree of flexibility. “We identify the foreign markets we want to penetrate”, says Moog,” and then form a business venture with a local distributor that will give us a large degree of control. In Australia, we expect to run a print of 5,000 board games. These we will manufacture in the United States. If we reach a run of 25,000 games, however, we would then establish a sub-

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make up for mounting expenses, which ran to an estimated $1 million a week by May 2000. In June of that year, American eretailer fashionmall.com purchased the company at liquidation auction for less than $500,000.

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contracting venture with a local manufacturer in Australia or New Zealand to print the games”. I am giving to you how the company can canyon direct exporting in several ways: • Domestic-based export department or division: Might

evolve into a self-contained export department operating as a profit center. • Overseas sales branch or subsidiary: The sales branch handles

sales and distribution and might handle warehousing and promotion as well. It often serves as a display and customer service center. • Traveling export sales representatives: Home-based sa]es

representatives are sent abroad to find business. • Foreign-based distributors or agents: These distributors and agents might be given exclusive rights to represent the company in that country, or only limited rights. Whether companies decide to export indirectly or directly, many companies use exporting as a way to “test the waters” before building a plant and manufacturing a product overseas. This strategy worked well for IPSCO, Inc. In the early 1980s. This Saskatchewan-based steel producer exported its steel pipe and flat steel to the United States from Canada-despite significant transportation costs. Once the company realized there was a significant U>S demand for its products; it decided to set up shop there. One of the best ways to initiate or extend export activities used to be to exhibit at an overseas trade show. With the World Wide Web, it is not even necessary to attend trade shows one’s wares to overseas buyers and distributors. Electronic communication via the Internet is extending the reach of companies, particularly small ones, to worldwide markets. The Internet has become an effective means of everything from gaining free exporting information and guidelines, conducting market research, and offering customers several time zones away a secure process for ordering and paying for products. Finding free information about trade and exporting has never been easier. Here are some places to start your search: www.its.doc.gov(the U.S. Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration). www.exim.gov (the Export-Import Bank Of the United States). www.sba.gov (the U.S. Small Business Administration). www.bxa.doc.gov(the Bureau of Export Administration, a branch of the Commerce Department). ww.tscentral.com(Trade Show Central, a Wellesley, Massachusetts, company). Also, check with your state’s export-promotion office to learn if it has online resources and allows business to link to its site. Then check “Marketing Memo: Making Your Web Site Worldwide and Worldly Wise” for tips on Web sites that attract, rather than frustrate, overseas customers. Licensing You need a license for driving a two-wheeler, or keeping a pistol for your safety, or a passport and visa to travel by air abroad, and without this license all these things are considered illegal and you can be convicted by the court of law. Licensing is a simple way to become involved in international marketing. The 176

licensor licenses a foreign company to use a manufacturing process, trademark, patent, trade secret, or other item of value for a fee or royalty. The licensor gains entry at little risk; the licensee gains production expertise or a well-known product or brand name. E- Trade Group, the Palo Alto, California, online broker-dealer, entered into a licensing agreement with Jerusalem Global Ltd., an Israeli investment banking operation. E- Trade’s agreement with the Israeli firm is part of a strategy to form licensing agreements and international joint ventures in an effort to bring its brand of no-frills investing to people abroad. E- Trade has created E- Trade Australia, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Norway, South Africa, Sweden, and U.K. Licensing has potential disadvantages. The licensor has less control over the licensee than it does over its own production and sales facilities. Furthermore, if the licensee is very successful, the firm has given up profits; and if and when the contract ends, the company might find that it has created a competitor. To avoid this, the licensor usually supplies some proprietary ingredients or components needed in the product (as Coca-Cola does); but the best strategy is for the licensor to lead in innovation so that the licensee will continue to depend on the licensor. There are several variations on a licensing arrangement. Companies such as Hyatt and Marriott sell management contracts to owners of foreign hotels to manage these businesses for a free. The management firm may even be given the option to purchase some share in the managed company within a stated period. Another variation is contract manufacturing, in which the firm hires local manufacturers to produce the product. When Sears opened department stores in Mexico and Spain, it found qualified local manufacturers to produce many of its products. Contract manufacturing gives the company less control over the manufacturing process and the loss of potential profits on manufacturing. However, it offers a chance to start faster, with less risk and with the opportunity to form a partnership or buyout the local manufacturer later. Finally, a company can enter a foreign market through franchising, which is more complete form of licensing. The franchiser offers a complete brand concept and operating, system. In return, the franchisee invests in and pays certain fees to the franchiser. McDonald’s, KFC, and Avis have entered scores of countries by franchising their retail concepts. KFC CORPORATION although the initial reception in Japan was great, KFC still had a number of obstacles to overcome. The Japanese saw fast food as artificial, made by mechanical means, and unhealthy. KFC’s ad agency in Japan, McCannErickson Japan, knew that it had to build trust in the KFC brand. Agency personnel flew to Kentucky to film an authentic version of Colonel Sanders’ beginnings. To show the philosophy of KFC-the southern hospitality, old American tradition, and authentic home cooking-the commercial showed Colonel Sanders’ mother making and feeding her children KFC chicken made with 11 secret spices. It conveyed the fact that “KFC chicken is not artificial. It’s made by hand, and good enough for your children to eat, “The campaign was hugely successful, and

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Joint Ventures Foreign investors may join with local investors to create a joint venture company in which they share ownership and control. For instance;

The man disadvantage of direct investment is that the firm exposes a large investment to risks such as blocked or devalued currencies, worsening markets, or expropriation. The firm will find it expensive to reduce or close down its operations, because the host country might require substantial severance pay to the employees.

• Coca-Cola and Nestle joined forces to develop the

Strategizing Your Next Move in The Global Game

international market for “ready to drink” tea and coffee, which currently sell in significant amounts in Japan. • Procter & Gamble formed a joint venture with its Italian archrival Fater to cover babies’ bottoms in the United Kingdom and Italy.

Are you looking for ways to find new markets and customers? Companies today realize marketing their brand and selling their offerings only in the United States is becoming even more challenging. Businesses are facing fiercer competition, smaller customer segments resulting from corporate downsizing or businesses closing their doors, as well as the change in consumer-buying behaviors fueled by an unpredictable economy.

• Whirlpool took a 53 percent stake in the Dutch electronics

group Philips’s white-goods business to leapfrog into the European market. A joint venture may be necessary or desirable for economic or political reasons. The foreign firm might lack the financial, physical, or managerial resources to undertake the venture alone; or the foreign government might require joint ownership as a condition for entry. Even corporate giants need joint ventures to crack the toughest markets. When it wanted to enter China’s ice cream market, Unilever joined forces with Sumstar, a stateowned Chinese investment company. The venture’s general manager says Sumstar’s help with the formidable Chinese bureaucracy was crucial in getting a high-tech ice cream plant up and running in just 12 months. Joint ownership has certain drawbacks. The partners might disagree over investment, marketing, or other policies. One partner might want to reinvest earnings for growth, and the other partner might want to declare more dividends. Joint ownership can also prevent a multinational company from carrying out specific manufacturing and marketing policies on a worldwide basis. Direct Investment You must have seen your parents investing for your and their safe and secure future, as you fear an insecure future; similarly companies also have to invest for security and sustenance. The ultimate form of foreign involvement is direct ownership of foreign-based assembly or manufacturing facilities. The foreign company can buy part or full interest in a local company or builds its own facilities. If the TI1arket appears large enough, foreign production facilities offer distinct advantages. First, the firm secures cost economies in the form of cheaper labor or raw materials, foreign-government investment incentives, and freight savings. Second, the firm strengthens its image in the hose country because it creates jobs. Third, the firm develops a deeper relationship with government, customers, local suppliers, and distributors, enabling it to adapt its products better to the local environment. Fourth, the firm retains full control over its investment and therefore can develop manufacturing and marketing policies that serve its long-term international objectives. Fifth, the firm assures itself access to the market in case the hose country starts insisting that locally purchased goods have domestic content.

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All types and sizes of companies in a variety of industries are finding undertaking a global approach is imperative if they plan to keep their competitive edge and secure their future survival. Becoming a global player is even more of a necessity today. Doing it well is critical to help ensure a smooth entry into new marketplaces-and being fully prepared to “go global” is essential to ensuring long-term success and meeting return on investment (ROI) expectations. To do it right, businesses today have to be committed to spending the quality time needed to strategize and test their global game plan. Too often we hear, “I have a global presence. The company’s communication materials and vehicles are translated to speak to our international audiences.” Unfortunately, translating one’s Web site or print materials into different languages isn’t the only requirement to ensuring your business is ready to “go global.” Understanding how your internal operations and employees will function and manage a global business model is key to getting out the gate with a running head start. Why Globalize? • Expansion into new markets = new revenue streams • Create new distribution channels • Increase market share • Increase brand reach and awareness, introduce products/

service to new customer markets • Adhere to the market’s needs and demands! • Establish your brand as a global player giving your business

the competitive advantage You may begin to ask, “What are the right questions to ask to be sure we are prepared and capable at this time to ‘go global?’” Or, “What if it doesn’t work?” Keep in mind you don’t have to tackle all markets at once. Develop a pilot program-focus on one market at a time utilizing and leveraging what you learned in prior market expansion practices to help enhance and strengthen new market entries. The pilot approach will also help to gradually ease your staff into their new roles in the global marketplace.

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in less than 8 years KFC expanded its presence from 400 locations to more than 1,000.

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Here are some questions to begin with to help determine if and when your company will be ready to enter the global marketplace and what is needed to do so: 1. Is the corporate leadership committed and involved in going global? 2. Who should be involved in our global game plan and strategizing sessions? What are their specific roles and responsibilities? 3. Have we done any market research to determine: What global markets have a demand for our offering? Who would we compete with in each market-how are we the same and different? Does our offering (products/services) have to be restructured or rebuilt to include specific features and options? 4. What do we anticipate in operations cost increases? Does the revenue potential in that market support that increase? 5. Does our enterprise system have the capability to support multiple languages and currencies? 6. Should we acquire foreign companies or partner with existing businesses in the local markets to support expansion strategies? Or should we build our own operations? 7. What operations should be local and which ones should not? 8. As we continue to enter new markets, how will we integrate them into the overall marketing and communications strategy as well as those operations and processes already in place? 9. Will we need additional staff to provide language expertise by market, cultural and geographical understanding, legal support, etc.? Should this staff be localized in the areas we do business in? Or should we consider outsourcing to those who offer services to support our needs in key markets-i.e., multilingual contact centers to provide customer support or warehousing for fulfillment and shipping? 10.Once our global game plan is finalized, how do we introduce it to the entire organization to generate excitement, ownership, accountability and enthusiasm? What marketing and communication efforts should we focus on to launch our new corporate international mission to our customers and partners-should we focus domestically and/or globally? If your organization is a pure dot-com or is interested in “localizing” its Web site presence to support efforts in new markets, then also ask yourself these types of questions: I. Are the markets we are targeting equipped for Web connectivity? 2. Have we done our homework prior to “building our online presence” to completely understand our target market and its local customers? Do we really know how our online audience behaves, what their shopping traits are like, what payment methods they use, what sort of information they need to make a purchase and how do they want that presented to them? 3. Have we localized our site graphics, content and navigational structure to support the target audience and their cultural preferences? Does our brand image (logo) and corporate 178

message make sense to our target markets? Are our corporate colors or content wording culturally offensive in anyway? 4. Who will manage the content on the site-updating, accuracy, messaging, etc.? Do we have a qualified partner to help us translate all our Web content? Does the partner have local translators in country to do the translation? What portion of the site and its content should be translated? Should the content be translated verbatim to what we say in our local language, or should we rewrite portions of it to better communicate to our target audience? 5. Who will manage the site’s performance, daily functionality challenges, IT, etc.? 6. What criteria will be used to measure the success (Return On Investment) of our global expansion online? 7. Does our e-commerce site support the local-market currency/ conversion frequency, payment methods, taxes, tariffs, VATs, language, logistics, supply chain fulfillment, customer service and support, distribution channels, legal practices, etc. Do we have technology to handle multilingual email inquiries, accounting and payment needs, etc.? 8. Should we forge partnerships with individual banks to handle our online transactions or with a “payment hub” that already holds relationships with banks in specific markets? 9. Do we have a logistics partner(s) who understands global shipping and handling requirements based on our warehouses and ship-to markets? While it is imperative for businesses looking to expand their offerings to new markets and customer segments to gain foothold in these markets, beware of the ‘must build’ mentality. Take the time to ask the questions and challenge your existing business strategies and practices before taking your business to new frontiers. You have one chance to make a positive impression, no matter what market you are in! 10 Traits That Put You on Top of the World: In today’s turbulent global business environment, there is no better time than now to put effective global leadership traits into place. What are those traits? Here are my top-ten favorites based on over 15 years of experience in running a global enterprise: 1. Smarts. You don’t need Ivy League credentials. Commonsense business judgment and a fair degree of emotional intelligence will help you navigate most situations. And be good at learning: processing lots of information, analyzing data and forever refining your vision is a must when you’re in unfamiliar territory. 2. Motivation. You’ve got to be a self-starter. When you’re carving out your own path, you can’t expect round-the-clock supervision and guidance. Don’t rely on anyone except yourself to get you going - you must get you going. 3. Initiative. The more ambitious and innovative you are, the greater the need to take an inspired action and make something happen. Pick up the phone, send e-mail, jump in your car, ask a question, make a contact, and make an offer. Put a process in motion and reap the rewards.

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4. Endless energy. Run around the block where you live and see how tired you get. When you’re a global leader, you’ll be hit with the equivalent of that run around the block at least a hundred times day, and you’ll have to deal with it, tired or not. And when you do close your eyes to sleep, put that time to work - ask your creative unconscious what you should do or where you should go next. Endless energy gets you places. 5. Perseverance. Keeping up the struggle when there’s no tangible benefit in sight nor any sign of light at the end of the tunnel takes perseverance. Keep at it. Even if you don’t like the final result, at least you’ve produced something - and you can always take it from there and improve. 6. Imaginative scope. There are idle daydreamers. There are people with delusions of grandeur. And then there are global leaders, who are capable of combining a vision of the seemingly impossible with a plan to make it happen. 7. Positive attitude. Focusing on the good in any situation doesn’t mean you’re naive. It means you do not want to waste your time on negative thinking. Taking the constructive approach seeing what your options and resources are, and making use of them - will always get you somewhere. 8. Patience. International pursuits take time to develop. Knowing when to remain calm and hang in there will increase your chances for global success. 9. The four C’ s: Courage. Confidence. Conviction. Communication. Courage - You must face painful issues, you must conquer your fears, and you must confront adversity head-on in order to grow. Moving forward at any pace when you’re dealing with the unknown takes courage. Apply it in everything you do. Confidence - Even if you don’t know what you’re doing, act as if you do, and soon you’ll be convinced! Confidence comes from knowing that you are in control of yourself, no matter what happens to you. Conviction - Stick to what you stand for. Demonstrate a willingness to live by your noblest values regardless of consequences. Don’t forget that every day when you wake up, you will have to face yourself and live with your decisions. Communication - Know how to talk to anyone, anywhere in the world. Better yet, become an expert at listening. Communication skills and a keen insight into human nature helps you motivate others to join you in getting a job done. 10. Showmanship. If you know you have what it takes to become a global leader, get out there and toot your horn. How else will the world know about you? Global leadership doesn’t happen overnight. It’s a slow process that requires thought, discipline and lots of hard work. Start today by putting some of the Ten Traits into action. Maybe you have the potential to become a global leader! Notes -

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