Examining Company X's Competitors and Potential Alliance Partners: Overview of Cultures
Alanen, Alisa (2021)
2021
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2021092918134
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2021092918134
Tiivistelmä
The objective for this thesis was to examine the value of researching competitors and potential alliance partners when a company is planning to expand abroad. In addition, one goal was to find out how business cultures differ around the world, and how should a Finnish company consider them.
The thesis was ordered by Company X who wanted to find information about their competitors and potential alliance partners. The firm also wanted to know about how cultures may affect international business. In addition, the value of researching competitors and potential alliance partners was examined.
The research regarding Company X’s competitors and potential alliance partners was quantitative although the details were not uncovered in this work. By searching information from Google, 54 affiliate networks were accepted into the list of potential alliance partners, and 115 other type of potential alliance partners were found.
Theoretical information about competitors, alliance partners and cultures were found through literature review. In addition, few informal online sources were used to get confirmation for the theoretical information.
The literature review showed that researching the competitors may save time and money, because with enough information about the competitor’s products, the company can differentiate their own goods. It also showed that forming an alliance with local party may be requirement in some countries for entering the market, and that alliances may be also needed for financial reasons and for marketing purposes. It also became clear that cultures affect negotiations strongly, and that if one does not study the culture beforehand, it may lead to unsuccessful negotiation.
The thesis was ordered by Company X who wanted to find information about their competitors and potential alliance partners. The firm also wanted to know about how cultures may affect international business. In addition, the value of researching competitors and potential alliance partners was examined.
The research regarding Company X’s competitors and potential alliance partners was quantitative although the details were not uncovered in this work. By searching information from Google, 54 affiliate networks were accepted into the list of potential alliance partners, and 115 other type of potential alliance partners were found.
Theoretical information about competitors, alliance partners and cultures were found through literature review. In addition, few informal online sources were used to get confirmation for the theoretical information.
The literature review showed that researching the competitors may save time and money, because with enough information about the competitor’s products, the company can differentiate their own goods. It also showed that forming an alliance with local party may be requirement in some countries for entering the market, and that alliances may be also needed for financial reasons and for marketing purposes. It also became clear that cultures affect negotiations strongly, and that if one does not study the culture beforehand, it may lead to unsuccessful negotiation.