Contents

• Introduction 4
• STEEP Analysis of the Business Environment in TAKIMAKI 5
• Social 5
• Technological 5
• Economical 5
• Environmental 5
• Political 6
• Market Scenario of Turkey 6
• PEST Analysis of Turkey’s Electronic Market 7
• SWOT Analysis of Turkey’s Electronic Market 8
• Market Scenario of Slovakia 8
• SWOT Analysis of Slovakia 8
• Strengths 8
• Weaknesses 9
• Opportunities 9
• Threats 9
• PEST Analysis of Slovakia 9
• Political Analysis 9
• Economic Analysis 10
• Social Analysis 10
• Technological Analysis 10
• Market Scenario of Belgium 10
• PEST Analysis of Belgium 11
• Political 11
• Economic 11
• Social 11
• Technology 11
• SWOT Analysis of TAKIMAKI in Belgium 12
• Location to Start Business 13
• Choice of Method 13
• Conclusion 15
• Works Cited 16

Description

This paper is based on the following case study -
TAKIMAKI Case Study Background
TAKIMAKI is a (fictional) Japanese SME, based in Tokyo, which started in 1990. Having grown from five workers initially, it now employs 100+ staff, producing a range of consumer electronic products such as televisions, DVD players, MP3 players, hi-fi equipment etc using technology licensed from a number of multinationals.
Currently it supplies only the Japanese market, and only purchases from local suppliers in and around Tokyo. TAKIMAKI had initial success in competing on price. However it has failed to grow its sales in the past two years and is finding it increasingly difficult to compete, given its need to pay for the licences, its high wage rates relative to China and Eastern Europe, and the near impossibility of hiring research graduates (who prefer to go to better paid jobs with Japanese multinationals such as Sony and Matsushita). It is therefore in a situation where its profits have been steadily reduced and it now faces the prospect of making a loss in the next financial year (its first loss since it was started).
TAKIMAKI as a company has never had contact with overseas markets. However, all of the top management team have learnt English, and several of them have studied abroad (in the USA, Canada, France or the UK).
The TAKIMAKI management team contemplating the possibility of internationalisation are doing so mainly in order to obtain production cost reductions, access to technological expertise (to allow them to avoid reliance on large multinationals), access to new markets, and ease of creating and managing an international company. They recognise, however, that they need to examine all the options available, and the requirements for a successful strategy.
In addition, however, they also recognise that they need to act quickly, and that they may not have the optimum resources and information in place at the time they internationalise, and may need to engage in bricolage (making the best use of resources at hand for new uses). They want to create a coherent strategy that they can use to both internationalise but also take their staff with them, by clearly showing why they need to internationalise, what the key opportunities and problems are, which countries have been considered and what the final strategy should be.