Question 5: What Are the Likely Difficulties of Expansion Into: a) Europe B) Non-European Countries?

Question 5: What are the likely difficulties of expansion into:

a) Europe

b) Non-European countries?

Difficulties of expansion into Europe in general are the language barriers for advertising, Euro currencies, dispute resolution or hard copy documentation. In the case of e-commerce there are other extra difficulties. For example bans on e-commerce as a sales form, which means that some goods or services are not permitted to be sold via the Internet in certain EU countries. Others are the pure establishment requirements, because some countries have imposed local establishment requirements on foreign companies and these requirements have been designed in different ways. There are also barriers which link to sales conditions, therefore e-commerce companies are facing difficulties when they are adapting their offers to sales and consumer protection legislation according to the country. Other barriers associated with intellectual property rights, which limit online content and they are often aimed at the protection of national interests. E-commerce companies are facing legal barriers linked to payments, because they are taking payment from costumers of other EU countries. Last mentioned difficulties are barriers of e-government which appear when foreign government authorities provide e-government services.

Difficulties of expansion into Europe in general are credit rating of shippers, credit rating of carriers, trust and confidence in all parties or unreliable legal systems. In the case of e-commerce there are other extra difficulties, which are quite similar of the European one. First of all it’s a lack of information, which e-commerce companies are trying to overcome by finding the right information about the relevant laws, regulations, procedures and methods applicable to foreign markets. Others are barriers relating to customs, because customs procedures are often complicated. This also includes the corruption at the boarder which creates higher costs and...