Ansewering the international business policy (questions) Essay

Ansewering the international business policy (questions) - Essay Example Dogs often put business strategists to their wits’ end as they worry what to do with them. Unprofitable business units, as a matter of fact, consume similar financial resources as their profitable counterparts. Hence, business strategists often undergo a serious decision-making to handle Dogs among the portfolios of companies they manage. Some of the ways to deal with unprofitable business units or product lines include: (i) establishing a partnership with a brand company that sells similar products; (ii) undergoing merger with another company; (iii) or selling the under-performing business units and invest the proceeds in other businesses that may yield some profits in the near future (Dalton et al., 2007). Selling of unprofitable companies have become the most popular option companies’ managers use to discard off low-yield business units in recent years. 2 2. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are examples of Baltic States. The prospect of finding new positions in their ma rkets may be remote due to the poor economic activities in these countries. For a new company entering the countries must resort to a policy of market development before it could assume the market leadership in these countries. The process of market development is a quite risky adventure because there is no 100% guarantee that it is going to be successful. The process involves using the company’s limited resources (both physical and human) to research the Baltic markets, analyse the available opportunities, undertake products’ publicity, and organise distribution channels that may be different from the ones available in the countries (Stonehouse et al., 2004). There are some common risks associated with market development. Some of these problems are cultural risk, financial risk, market risk and resource risk (Haberberg and Rieple, 2008). Some of the questions to be asked about this process are (i) what of if the cultures in the Baltic States are not receptive to forei gn participation in a particular industry in the country, say, hospitality industry? (ii) how could the company entering into the Baltic markets scrupulously manage its resources? (iii) And what are the possible market risks associated with this kind of business adventure? Once these burning issues can be successfully resolved, it will possible to for the new company to control the market it targets, and also reap the complete benefits this adventure will bring (Haberberg and Rieple, 2008). 3 3. In an economically viable country like Austria, competition among the business operators in the country is inevitable (De Wit et al., 2004). Engaging in â€Å"price wars† is one of the characteristic features of competition in the markets. Price wars force every player in the market to offer competitive prices that would draw consumers away from their rivals and promote continued patronage of what goods or services they offer (Winninger, 1994). To win these wars, some companies may of fer discounts on each of their products; they may also provide subsidies to state or non-private organisations to purchase large quantities of their products (Winninger, 1994). Other incentives for consumers include reduced Value Added Tax (VAT), free delivery mechanism and post-delivery services that many other companies