Roger Moser

More than 2000 years ago, Greek mathematician Archimedes might just have hit upon the perfect way to explain how investors should approach emerging markets. Professor Doctor Roger Moser looks at how ancient technology applies to doing business abroad.

The purpose of this study is to identify various challenges influencing internationalization and performance of Asian companies in Europe. Initially, ten interviews were conducted for the purpose of an initial exploration of the study's context and the identification of challenges influencing market entry in Europe. These challenges were found under three categories; Top management support, strategic and operational consideration. These challenges were then converted into a survey, tested in a sample of 40 managers from 8 different Asian countries and analyzed using the Grounded Theory technique. The study suggests that the most important challenges identified for eventual internationalization performance were: Expectation Setting, Market Entry Strategy, Human Resources, Cost Factors, Marketing Strategy and Local Management. Furthermore, it appeared that these variables are all directly influencable by managers. Overall, the identified challenges proved critical to be taken into account when internationalizing to Europe, since failing to do so might result in deteriorating performance.

For retailers moving into an emerging market it is crucial to understand whether topics relevant in developed countries are important there as well. One of these topics is the increasing demand for product transparency, i.e., information regarding a products provenance, content, or ecological impact. The results of a study with early adopters of modern retail formats in India show that even in an emerging market like India, consumers highly value the disclosure of product-related information.