Expanding Companies Internationally

4. What issues do you see with the current model as the company expands internationally?

• Maintaining a Consistent Brand Image: In Finland, the standard of the prints made was always the best because the employees worked as a team in an informal environment that made it possible for Paakkanen to meet with them and explain specifically how she wanted a design to turn out. However, with the organization going international, she will not be able to meet her employees as often as would have been possible, and that personal touch that she craved for all the organization’s product might not be there. The standard might not be as high as those from Finland, the original country.

• Environmental scanning: International marketing is different and every country has its own cultures, methods, and even beliefs that can affect businesses. The fact that Marimekko has become a success phenomenon in Finland does not mean that it will have the same level of success outside Finland. In environmental scanning, there are usually four stages: scanning, monitoring, forecasting, and assessing. If these steps are not carefully taken, the market might be affected.

• Different Cultural Environment: There could be difficulty in having the overseas workers adopt the company organizational philosophy and policies. The different cultural environment could also pose a risk to the organization as they might focus on trying to make the overseas workers embed the company’s philosophies instead of focusing on getting their product out.

• Demand for the Product: The organization will have to tackle the problems of being sure that there is enough demand for the product. Additionally, they will have to answer the question of if there is enough need for it too.

• Ma...

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...ings discussed in class such as succession management, environmental scanning, strategic planning, HR forecasting, job analysis/descriptions, etc can be applied in a real life situation.

Finally, our conclusion is that Marimekko is a good company, which under the leadership of Paakkanen we think would continue to grow and achieve success. Although a good company, it has its own flaws and some possible problems it would face especially as it looks to expand internationally. However, we believe that if the company stick to our recommendations, they will have a much smoother ride as they open shops in the international arena.

REFERENCES/BIBLIOGRAPHY:

M. Belcourt., K. McBey., Y. Hong., M. Yap. (2013) Strategic Human Resources Planning (5th ed.). Toronto: Nelson Education Ltd.

Richard Ivey School of Business. (2006) Marimekko. (Version: (A) 2009-09-16). Ontario: Ivey.