To get an even better sense of the international scope of Toys "R" Us, take a look at their company homepage:

Toys "R" Us http://www.toysrus.com

a) As you peruse this site, use the FIND A STORE link to make a list of all the foreign countries in which Toys "R" Us operates retail outlets. Be sure to indicate the number of stores in each country. Based on this list, describe the geographical pattern of the Toys "R" Us international expansion. Which new international markets might you expect this company to tap into next?

b) Using the COMPANY & CAREERS link, gather all the information you can about this corporation's future plans for international expansion. For any specified countries or regions, why do you think the sites were chosen? What challenges and barriers might you expect Toys "R" Us to face in these new markets?

All of the following companies are well known for conducting business in international markets, but which specific organization structures do they represent? Using Table 20-1 as a guide, identify and describe the organization structure for each firm's international operation:

Motorola http://www.mot.com

McDonald's http://www.mcdonalds.com

Baxter International http://www.baxter.com

Molson http://www.molson.com

What are the advantages and disadvantages of each organization structure?

The purpose of this exercise is to have you construct your own list of international marketing information resources available via the Web, most of which are provided free of charge by the U.S. government. These resources can help marketers assess the viability of other countries and regions for international market expansion. The information available ranges from socio-cultural profiles to economic forecasts to summaries of international trade law.

A handful of university Websites have done some of the work for you already. The following homepages feature collections of reference sources relevant to international business and marketing. As you peruse the links on these homepages, make an annotated list of the most useful Web resources. Each list entry should include the name of the resource, its URL, a brief summary of the information provided by this site, and a note about why this information is important for U.S. companies considering expansion into foreign markets.

http://www.cob.vt.edu/market/faculty/faure/class/mkgintl.html

http://www.lib.memphis.edu/gpo/intermkt.htm

http://ciber.bus.msu.edu/busres.htm

http://www.craig.csufresno.edu/dprtmnt/intlinks.htm

(Note: Don't worry if one or two of the above URLs have expired by the time you get to this exercise. There is considerable overlap between these Websites, so you should have no problem finding plenty of useful resources.)

For this exercise you will need to imagine that you are the marketing director for an American manufacturing firm. First, describe your company's product - the more specific the better for the purposes of this exercise - its target market, and its domestic channels for distribution.

Next, select a specific foreign country as a possible site for your company's first foray into international marketing. Using the resources you collected in Exercise 20-3, prepare a report that evaluates the market potential for your product in this country. Be sure to address all of the relevant environmental factors listed by the authors on pp. 543-551. What barriers and challenges can you identify? What conditions lead you to believe that your product would do well in this market? What additional market research would your company need to do before making a decision with respect to this expansion?

The Web affords us a unique opportunity to see how individual companies advertise the same (or similar) products in different countries. First, let's take another look at the Levi Strauss (LS) Website:

Levi Strauss http://www.levi.com

As you can see, the LS homepage features different links for its customers in North America, Canada (a special site separate from the North America site), Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region. In fact, given the proper software, you can even view various television commercials currently running in these markets.

Identify and describe the similarities and differences among the LS advertising campaigns aimed at these four geographical market segments. Which macroenvironmental factors (i.e., socio-cultural, economic, political, etc.) might account for the differences you noticed?