Standardization or Local Adaptation

Standardization or Local Adaptation
Answer 1
Executive Summary
In the current age where trade barriers and tariffs have been reduced Companies have been encouraged to participate in the global market. A number of factors make such companies to globalize their operations, the need to explore foreign markets and the local pressures exerted by the local and foreign markets are some of such factors that force these companies to globalize.
However, entering the global market has its challenges and thus a company wishing to engage should consider factors such as the language, diversity, culture and the consumer prefference of the market in which it wishes to operate in.
The pursuit of a foreign market is a daunting task because of tough competition from both the local and foreign markets in the foreign countries. Diversity across countries makes it even more challenging and these calls for commitment and expertise on the part of the company that wishes to go global.
For our company to survive in Ukraine we must be able to establish a competitive advantage of our resources and competencies so as to be able to build up ourselves in this competitive market. We need to focus more of our attention to the target consumer, competitors and the public authorities in charge of this market.
Ukraine happens to be one of the poorest countries in Eastern Europe which implies that the consumers have low disposable income. This further implies that we need to supply and produce low priced computers if we want to gain a market share in the Ukrainian market. Standardization in this market will be out of question due to the fact that by trying to standardize our computers we will be incuring more costs than we can recover from the sales in this market. Due to the competition from the local producers we need to come up with the cheapest computers and laptops since it is the only way we can attract consumers.
Ukraine’s National language is Ukrainian which implies that the laptops we produce must incorporate this language to enhance usage. We need to adapt our laptops to suit the Ukrainian market by ensuring that the commands and operations of these laptops have the Ukrainian language option. Since most computers come with the English commands we can attract more customers by ensuring that we have incorporated the Ukrainian language in our laptops.
We also need to consider the attributes of our computers and laptops depending on the ages of our target market. The features of the laptops should be customised to suit the needs of our target market in relation to the age group. If we target ages above 40 years then we should ensure that our laptops comes with features that are attractive to this particular age group. We should also consider the colours of the laptops and actually match them with the target group that is considering the sex of our target.
Answer 2
The top ten America’s Franchisers according to the Entrepreneur are: Hampton Hotels, Subway, 7-Eleven Inc, Servpro, Days Inn, McDonald’s, Denny’s Inc, H & R Block, Pizza Hut Inc, Dunkin’ Donuts.
McDonald’s Franchising
McDonald’s has been franchising since 1955 and this has ensured the success of the company. Today McDonald’s has more than 30,000 restaurants located in more than 100 countries globally.
McDonald’s succes is attached to its UK property portfolio which provides a convenient network of restaurants throughout the country for its cutomers to enjoy. Its strategic positioning of its restaurants on traditional streets, shopping centres, railway staions and airport terminus gives it an advantage over its competitors. McDonald’s is the pioneer of drive-thru restaurant concept in the UK and a world leader in the same sector.
McDonald’s intends to increase its pace of acquisition and has a target of 30 new restaurants openings per year from 2011 and aims at creating upto 1800 new job opportunities per year. It is the world’s largest chain of quick service restaurants and serves tens of millions of customers every day. Its primary expansion vehicle is the freestanding drive-thru restaurants where convenience of location is the key to ensure they achieve this goal. They intend to open up new restaurants in new or existing retail centers, leisure parks and transport hubs where people frequent alot. McDonald’s takes up leases under its name and takes them for upto 25 years.
Qualifications to Franchise
One can either buy an existing or a new franchise restaurant from either McDonald’s or from a McDonald’s franchisee. For one to qualify you must be able to pay a downpayment of 40% for a new restaurant or 25% for an existing restaurant’s total cost which must come from personal resources and not from borrowed funds.
Although the minimum amount for downpayment varies generally a person needs a minimum of $300,000 of personal resources to qualify for consideration to open a McDonald’s franchise. The other requirement for an individual is that he or she must show significant business experience that is he must have owned or managed a number of successful businesses. The person should also demonstrate ability to grow the franchise and also be able to develop and execute a business plan. Finally the person should have an understanding of financial statements, posesses good management skills, be willing to undertake a McDonald’s training, posess customer experience and have an acceptable credit history.
Support and Training
McDonald’s offers first class training programme regarding its operation and systems to help the franchisee get rewards both financially and personally. It further gives an ongoing support and advice to help progress the owner and his business through out the twenty year term.

References
Entrepreneur. (2012, – -). Franchises. Retrieved from entrepreneur.com: http://www.entrepreneur.com/franchises/toptenlists/index.html
Franchise Direct. (2012, July 20). Top 100 Global Franchise Rankings. Retrieved from franchisedirect.com: http://www.franchisedirect.com/top100globalfranchises/rankings/
Jain, S. C. (2012, July 20). Standardization of International Marketing Strategy. Retrieved from jstor.org: http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/1251525?uid=3738336&uid=2129&uid=2&uid=70&uid=4&sid=53636310154377
Mihail, C. (2011, – -). Cultural Adaptation of Products. Retrieved from mnmk.ro: http://www.mnmk.ro/documents/2011/9_Barbu%20FFF.pdf
Scribd. (2012, July 15). Product Standardization in the International Market. Retrieved from scribd.com: http://www.scribd.com/doc/46529426/Product-Standardization-in-the-International-Market


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