Appendices to CBI Export Planner - crecer

CBI Export Plannermanagement’) you should always keep in mind who will pay for those costs at the end ofthe day: your customer, the market.Markets differMarkets abroad can be entirely different from what you are used to at home. A rule-ofthumbclaims: the further away a country, the greater the differences.Figure 1.3.2Distance = differencesEmergingeconomiesNeighbouringcountries, regionHome MarketThe further away, the harder it gets.In your market selection proximity willbe the first dimension. Hence, next to yourhome market, your neighbouring marketdeserves preference.IndustrializedeconomiesThese differences can be of a social, a religious or a cultural nature. Or they can beeconomical, political or technological (see next Chapter). Of all 210-plus countries in theworld, at least 150 will look unfamiliar to you, to what you have seen or learnt. Thepeople are different; their environment differs. Their language, their way of addressingothers, of living, of communicating, of consuming and buying will pose problems ofunderstanding.That explains why doing business abroad is far more difficult than domestic selling. Eventhough marketing is a universal management tool, similar for entrepreneurs around theworld, the moment that you put that instrument to work, you must take the different areasof application into account. The environment of the target market influences the mannerin which you should use the marketing instruments.Your market researchers can help you by explaining some of the differences, so that youcan decide on the right method to overcome them.First of all it is your own responsibility as a manager to have an open mind for thesedifferent facts if you want to exploit them successfully. Moreover, you should appreciatethese differences as such and not judge them according to your own feelings and norms.You should have a ‘global vision’, which is a typical asset for exporters.Secondly, the very fact that you can not physically interfere when problems arise becauseof the large distances between you and the receiving markets, puts a strain onmanagement and makes export a risky business. As such, you could look upon exportingas ‘long-distance marketing’, which weakens your managerial control over selling andoperations.12 I - Management: goals, resources and tools