Riassunto analitico
The current master thesis provides an in-depth analysis of the expansion of companies' international presence, with a particular focus on the decisions that firms need to take during the planning of their international strategy. In particular, this research deals with the assessments and choices that a company must take after entering a foreign market. Therefore, the focus is not on the initial entry into a new international country, but on the already established presence in that market and its subsequent evaluation. In essence, this research explores the applicability of the International Market Selection process (IMS) in evaluating a company's ongoing presence in foreign markets beyond the initial entry. The goal is to determine whether it remains economically and strategically reasonable for the company to maintain its presence in these markets, even after the initial expansion phase has been completed. Moreover, the research has been applied to a case study, which is that of System Ceramics. Through an international market selection over 11 countries (Italy, Brazil, Spain, India, Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, Turkey, Mexico, USA and China) the Company’s aim is to understand where it is strategically important to remain and to implement greater investments in the sale of decoration, and packaging machines.
However, to begin with, a comprehensive literature review was conducted to investigate the theory related to the internationalization of companies. In particular, the methods and approaches to select foreign markets, the evaluation of their attractiveness and accessibility, the classification of emerging and advanced economies are analyzed. Subsequently, the section methodology takes place, where the IMS process is applied to System Ceramics. The aim of the study is to create four rankings of countries which identify the most attractive and accessible countries for the Company, where it is strategically important to increase the sale of its machines and where these investments can more easily be implemented. Furthermore, this section also provides explanation on all the procedures followed for data collection of the variables of attractiveness and accessibility, their standardization and their weight, in order to create the final rankings. The last chapters, called results and discussion, retrieve the answers to the research questions, by concluding that the IMS can offer insights and guidance in making decisions about the continued viability of existing international operations, even if limitations and concerns may arise. In addition, conclusions and managerial implications represent the final sections of the research.
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