Marketing and Strategy BUS401 CASE Writing Assignment
Assignment Overview
For this assignment you will looking at two completely different companies that sell completely different types of products. However, both companies have strong international potential. As you saw in the background materials, different types of products lead to different types of strategies regarding standardization or adaptation and whether you decide to become a global, multi-domestic, or transnational corporation.
The first business you will look at is Yogurtland, a California-based frozen yogurt franchise with 300 locations. Most of the company's locations are in the United States and Australia, but it has also opened up a small number of locations in Mexico, Venezuela, Thailand, and the United Arab Emirates. The company has been successful in part because of customer satisfaction with the flavors, and in part because its self-serve model allows for local franchise owners to open up a new location at a relatively low cost.
The second business to look at is Micromax, an Indian smartphone company that is starting to expand internationally. The smartphone business is a notoriously tough market with dominant competitors such as Apple and Samsung. Micromax is the largest local smartphone company in India and is second only to Samsung in the Indian smartphone market. Micromax has recently started to expand to Russia and is hoping to expand to other countries as well. Given the high price of smartphones from Apple and Samsung, there may be room for a lower priced competitor in the global smartphone market.
Do a careful review of the concept of standardization and adaption in Chapter 18.3 of Carpenter and Dunung (2012) and the concepts of multi-domestic, global, and transnational strategies in Chapter 14.3 of Carpenter and Dunung (2012) and Chapter 12 of Jeyarathmm (2008). Then do some research on Yogurtland and Micromax in the Trident library or other sources. Here are some articles to get you started:
Yogurtland and Sanrio launch co-brand partnership. (2011, July 26). China Weekly News, p. 282. [ProQuest]
Leung, L. (2014, July 17). Yogurtland founder returns, trims staff: Fifteen are cut as Phillip Chang looks to reinvigorate Irvine chain. Orange County Register. [ProQuest]
Micromax: Cheap and best. (2014, December 23). Financial Express. [ProQuest]
Anwer, J. (2014, January 10). Micromax to foray into Russia, sell phones, tablets (hardware). The Times of India (Online) [ProQuest]
Case Assignment
Once you have finished your research, write a 4- to 5-page paper answering the following questions:
What kind of strategy do you recommend if Yogurtland continues its international expansion? Would you recommend product standardization or localization? Which overall strategy would you recommend—transnational, multi-domestic, or global? Explain your reasoning and apply the concepts from Carpenter and Dunung (2012) and Jeyarathmm (2008). Make sure to cite some articles on Yogurtland as well.
What kind of strategy would you recommend for Micromax's international expansion? Would you recommend product standardization or localization? Which overall strategy would you recommend—transnational, multi-domestic, or global? Explain your reasoning and apply the concepts from Carpenter and Dunung (2012) and Jeyarathmm (2008). Make sure to cite some articles on Micromax as well.
Assignment Expectations
Answer the assignment questions directly.
Stay focused on the precise assignment questions, don't go off on tangents or devote a lot of space to summarizing general background materials.
Make sure to use reliable and credible sources as your references. Articles published in established newspapers or business journals/magazines are preferred. If you find articles on the internet, make sure it is from a credible source.
Reference your sources of information with both a bibliography and in-text citations. See the Student Guide to Writing a High-Quality Academic Paper, including pages 11-14 on in-text citations. Another resource is the “Writing Style Guide,” which is found under “My Resources” in the TLC portal.
I will also forward an attachment with other required reading material once the order has been paid for.
Marketing and Strategy BUS401 CASE
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Overview of Yogurtland
Yogurtland is one of the leading producers of high-quality frozen yogurt. Yogurtland offers the best self-serve frozen yogurt with different flavors, including both fresh and dry toppings. Yogurtland is popular for its friendly self-serve environment; customers are free to create their servings. The company intends to expand its products to other locations all over the world (Leung, 2014).
Recommended strategy for Yogurtland on its international expansion
Yogurtland has continued with its international expansion efforts opening several locations all over the world, especially in Southeast Asia, offering the largest variety of more than 200 flavors to choose from (Leung, 2014). Yogurtland has great confidence that it can be a global leader just like in the US (Leung, 2014).
To be the world leader, the company needs to adopt a specific strategy known as modification of existing products and services (Carpenter &Dunung, 2012). Using this strategy, the company should redesign its products and services based on the local needs (Carpenter &Dunung, 2012). Modification of existing products is the most practical strategy used by other companies like Protocol & Gamble in India. The company altered the design of Tide detergent by removing the softener (Carpenter &Dunung, 2012).
The reformulation lowered the cost of the product as compared to the original product. Such great changes are significant because the price is the most important element in this market due to the different income levels (Carpenter &Dunung, 2012). Most consumers can afford to buy the detergent when it as redesigned as compared to the original product which at times can be expensive (Carpenter &Dunung, 2012). Yogurtland needs to adopt this strategy to meet the local need to succeed in its expansion efforts.
Product standardization or localization?
Based on the dynamic nature of the market, I would recommend the company to use localization as compared to standardization; this means offering customized products for a specific market segment. With this approach, Yourgurtland can reach out to a variety of its customers worldwide by developing products that have some distinctiveness (Jeyarathmm, 2008).
Localization is a better strategy since it will enhance the company's market share and revenue targeting specific market segments. Localization strategy enables a company to stay competitive within the local market at the same time maintain its brand at the global levels (Jeyarathmm, 2008).
Even though localization strategy might not give the company the scale of economies, it will enhance its local business growth (Jeyarathmm, 2008). Localization takes into account diversity within these markets, including the local values and behavior. Localization helps in understanding local consumer preference and other specific requirements to satisfy consumer needs and wants (Jeyarathmm, 2008).
Transnational, multi-domestic, or global?
Yogurtland should adopt a multi-domestic strategy as compared to other strategies as a way of maximizing resources. The company can make certain adjustments to their products and services to fit within the local market. This means, maximizing the local knowledge to enhance its service. The domestic approach would be appropriate because Yogurtland products are customer driven brands with unique experiences to its consumer. Partnerships with local companies like Sanrio will enable the company to offer its loyal customer premium frozen yogurt within a friendly atmosphere, giving it the opportunity for collaboration with local business (Leung, 2014).
A multi-domestic approach maximizes the local market well because the local markets have different characteristics of consumer desires and needs, social norms, legal and government regulation and levels of competition (Carpenter &Dunung, 2012). Using this approach, Yogurtland needs to adopt local flavors and use local ingredients for its toppings to satisfy local customer needs and tastes to be effective in the local ma...