With almost 500 stores, India is an important foreign market to McDonald’s. Not too long ago, it was praised in India for its responsiveness to Indian tastes. After having had items such as the Maharaja Mac and the Aloo-Tikki Burger on its menus in India since the 1990s, the fast-food giant added more offerings to woo […]
There’s trouble in Austria’s market for sports equipment. Traditionally, the market has been dominated by a handful of domestic companies such as Gigasport, Hervis, and – one of the most established among them – the Intersport group. Within Intersport, which is less of a centrally owned and controlled company and more of a loosely controlled […]
In February 2018, Chinese company Meituan became the world’s fourth most valuable startup. Meituan, now valued at $30 billion, originally started as a group purchasing platform, similar to Groupon, which had its stab at the Chinese market. Yes, Groupon. Let’s turn the clock back for a moment. In mid 2011, American publication Forbes asked, “Can […]
In 1996, French dairy and water giant Danone entered the Chinese market. Recognizing that in order to succeed in the Chinese market, one had to have a good understanding of consumer behavior, access to suppliers, as well as outstanding network relationships – the famed “guanxi” – with government agencies and distribution channel partners, Danone decided […]
In January 2018, Swedish global fashion retailer H&M had closed several of its stores temporarily. The move was necessary to protect its employees, prevent damage to its stores, and stop further protests. What had happened? For a short while, H&M’s online store carried hoodies with a variety of slogans. One of the images showed a black child […]
For the longest time, French-based retail giant Carrefour made a good poster child for internationalization. With a presence in twice as many countries as British competitor Tesco, its expansion into foreign markets has been broader in scope and faster in speed than any other global retailer’s. Carrefour was one of the first grocers who saw […]
In a previous blogpost, I have written about global ride hailing company Uber’s woes in overseas markets such as China or Colombia. Just recently – on December 20th (2017), to be more specific – the European Court of Justice delivered a nice lump of coal to Uber for Christmas. The European Union’s highest court ruled […]
Founded in 1978 by David Overton and with more than 200 restaurants, 2 billion US$ in revenues and about 40,000 employees, the Cheesecake Factory is one of the United States’ top restaurant chains in the casual dining category. For most of its history, the Cheesecake Factory was focused on the US market, and only started […]
Looking for interesting documentaries to watch, I recently came across Power Trip, and it was fascinating. Yes, you will have experienced better film-making and more interesting storytelling, but for someone interested in international business, the documentary is an intriguing reminder how tough things can be in foreign markets. The movie tells the story of AES, […]
Only a couple of weeks ago, German supermarket chain Lidl opened its first stores in the United States (in North Carolina). With this, the company that has based its reputation on value and low prices has not only expanded into a new country market, it has also joined the ranks of many other international retailers […]
In 2012, media such as Forbes reported on a landmark deal between the world’s largest maker of spirits, British company Diageo, and India’s “King of Good Times”, Vijay Mallya. For over $3 billion (and a few other incentives including sponsorships for Mr. Mallya’s formula one racing team), Diageo acquired a 55% stake in Mallya’s United […]
The mere fact that Wal-Mart has 430 stores in China might make this look like a success story. However, the reality is that for the longest time, China has presented significant challenges to the world’s largest retailer. Since the opening of its first store in Shenzhen in 1996, Wal-Mart struggled to gain a foothold in […]