International Management

MGMT8505 – International Management

"A small business is limited in its ability to tackle the international market and should leave that market to large MNCs"

Contents

Executive summary 4

1.0 Introduction 5

2.0 SWOT Analysis 5

2.1 SWOT Analysis of small business 5

2.11 Strength 5

2.12 Weakness 6

2.13 Opportunities 6

2.14 Threats 7

2.2 SWOT Analysis of MNC 7

2.21 Strength 7

2.22 Weakness 8

2.23 Opportunities 8

2.24 Threats 8

2.3 Comparison between small businesses and MNCs 9

3.0 Approaches to internationalization 9

3.1 Traditional Approach - Uppsala internationalization model 9

3.2 Born Global Approach - New Ventures internationalization 10

4.0 Case Study - Google 10

5.0 Conclusion 11

6.0 References 12

Executive summary

This paper seeks to discuss the following statement "A small business is limited in its ability to tackle the international market and should leave that market to large MNCs".

Recent trends have shown that small businesses are competing in the international market much earlier in their life cycles as compared to the past. Globalization and the use of information technology are the key factors that affect this trend. These small companies are often "born global" and begin to target the international market from their founding day.

The strengths of small businesses are their speed in adapting to changes quickly and learning from foreign expansions. Small businesses are generally better innovators as compared to MNCs. However, small businesses lack the necessary resources to tackle the international market. These finances however could often be provided by grants or venture capitals.

MNCs on the other hand, have stronger resources to compete in the international market as compared to small businesses. However, due to their complex hierarchy structure, they often response slower to the changes in their environment. MNCs also face anti-trust issues and global economic issues which result in...