Throughout This semester you will work in a small group(maximum four Essay

Throughout This semester you will work in a small group(maximum four persons)to analyse the strategic activates and decisions of - Essay Example The importance of location when expanding internationally is further verified through the study of Luo (2000). According to the above researcher, the expansion of each firm internationally is likely to be influenced by three factors: ‘ownership advantages of a firm, location advantages of a market, and advantages related to the internal processes of a firm’ (Luo 2000, p.103-104). It is made clear that choosing the appropriate location can affect the internationalization efforts of a firm, depending on the existence of increased or decreased location advantages in regard to the country chosen. According to Neelankavil (2007) choosing the appropriate country for entry is quite important due to the following reason: the selection of an inappropriate country for entry ‘can lead to severe damages on a firm’s performance while the time period required for recovering from such damages can be quite long’ (Neelankavil 2007, p.82). ... This means that the location chosen should secure the achievement of the above target, even in the long term (Ebner 2011). China meets the above term; the country’s population is quite high and the demand of products of such type, i.e. of products related to the nutrition of babies, is quite high, as also analyzed below. 3.2.2 Geographic distance When reviewing the appropriateness of a country as a target market emphasis should be also given to the distance between the home market and the target market (Tallman 2007). Indeed, ‘geographic distance’ (Tallman 2007, p.295) is often regarded as a factor that can highly influence the success of a product in a new market (Tallman 2007). Developing strategic alliances locally can be an excellent method for limiting the risks related to such initiatives (Tallman 2007, p.295). 3.2.3 Local demand for similar products The level of demand of products of similar characteristics is critical for choosing the location of a firmâ⠂¬â„¢s international expansion. In the case under examination the choice of China as a target market for Aptamil Power milk can be characterized as fully justified. In terms of its economy China ranks among the most powerful countries worldwide. In a report published by Economist (2013) emphasis is given to the power of the Chinese economy but also to the threats that the particular economy has to face since it is mainly ‘consumer – led’ (The Economist 2013). For Aptamil Power milk the Chinese market seems to be an excellent destination due to the following two reasons: a) the demand for products of the particular type is quite high in China (BBC News 2013), b) a recent scandal related to the quality of such