Treść książki

Przejdź do opcji czytnikaPrzejdź do nawigacjiPrzejdź do informacjiPrzejdź do stopki
Internationalisationoffirmsandmarkets
Acharacteristicfeatureofthecontemporaryeconomyisitsincreasinginterna-
tionalisation.Itcanbeanalysedatthemacroeconomiclevel,throughtheobser-
vationofthegrowinginternationalisationofnationaleconomies,atthemezzo
economiclevel,whereitexpressesitselfintheincreasedinternationalisationof
marketsandsectors,andatthemicroeconomiclevel,whichreferstocompanies
inparticular.Movingtoalowerlevelofanalysis,wecantalkabouttheinterna-
tionalisationofacompany,sparticularactivitiesorprocesses,suchasproduc-
tion,researchanddevelopment(R&D)andfinally,marketing.Alltheselevelsof
internationalisationareinterrelated,e.g.theliberalisationofacountry,sforeigneco-
nomicrelationsisultimatelyreflectedintheinternationalisationofitsmarketsand
sectorsandlastbutnotleastcompanies,activities,includingmarketingones.
Companiesinternationalisetheiractivitiesfornumerousreasons.Thesearchfor
newmarketsandresourcesavailableabroadisindicatedasthemostcommon
motive.Theyalsoseekpossibilitiesforincreasingefficiencyandimprovingac-
cesstostrategicresourcesandcompetencieswhichcanbeacquiredthroughco-
operationwithforeignpartners.Thesemotives,or,inotherwords,driversfor
acompany,sactivityintheinternationalmarket,canberoughlyclassifiedinto
threegroups:economicmotives,market(marketing)motivesandlegal(politi-
cal)motives[Wiktoretal.,2008,pp.24-28].
Themajorgroupofmotivesaretheeconomicmotivescompaniesinternatio-
nalisetheiractivitiesbecauseitisprofitable:internationalisationprovidesan
opportunitytoincreaseturnoverand/orreducecosts.Turnovermayincreasedue
toariseinsalesachievedbyenteringnewforeignmarkets,whichwouldbeim-
possibletoaccomplishinasaturatedhomemarket.Theremaybeseveralsour-
cesofcostreduction,i.e.acutinoperatingcostsperunit(production,R&D,
marketing,etc.),resultingfromeconomiesofscaleandsynergyeffectswhich
occurwhenacompany,smarketscopegetsbroader.Costscanbereducedbe-
causethecostsoflabour,rawmaterialsandenergy,transport,financialservices
andothersmaybelowerabroad.Obviously,theinvolvementinforeignmarkets
leadstoanincreaseincosts,too.Itisnecessarytoinvestinthedevelopmentof
large-scaleproduction,createnew,usuallylonger,distributionchannelsinfore-
ignmarkets,incuradditionalexpensesformarketandmarketingresearchand
advertisinginthenewmarkets.Therefore,beforeundertakingactivitiesonan
internationalscale,acompanyshouldperformaneconomiccalculation,takinginto
accountboththeresultsthatcanbeachievedandtheoutlaysthathavetobemade.
10