Entry mode strategy for entering a foreign market with a new product

Abstract

In today’s pattern of the globalization process, international business is not limited to only large corporations. Small- and medium-sized enterprises, SMEs, are also more frequently targeting foreign markets in order to expand their respective businesses and to increase sales and profits. Targeting a new market with a new product is not without its difficulties, however, and comes with its own set of challenges and difficulties, even more so for SMEs due to its limited resources. A small business situated in Gothenburg, Sweden, is currently faced with this exact problem, i.e. how to enter a new market and commercialize a new product. Drawing upon various market research frameworks, this paper seeks to investigate and analyze the Californian glazing market in order to propose a suitable entry mode strategy for this company’s product. This paper also presents a market research framework for the SME that can be used to evaluate future markets, and given the findings, provide implications for the choice of entry strategy for these markets.