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BSBMKG606
Manage international
marketing programs
Learner Guide

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BSBMKG606
Manage international marketing programs

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Table of Contents
Table of Contents...................................................................................3
Unit of Competency............................................................................................. 7
Performance Criteria............................................................................................ 8
Foundation Skills................................................................................................ 10
Assessment Requirements................................................................................. 11
Housekeeping Items............................................................................................. 12
Objectives............................................................................................................. 12
1. Formulate international marketing objectives....................................13
1.1 Select viable international marketing opportunities and develop objectives
consistent with the organisation's capabilities and resources..............................14
Viability.............................................................................................................. 14
What are your costs going to be?......................................................................14
Conduct a SWOT or a PEST analysis..................................................................15
Developing objectives........................................................................................ 16
Activity 1A......................................................................................................... 17
1.2 Identify measurable international marketing objectives consistent with
organisation's strategic direction, and identify nature and extent of goals for
international market............................................................................................. 18
Measurable international marketing objectives.................................................18
The nature and extent of goals for international market...................................18
Activity 1B......................................................................................................... 19
1.3 Formulate strategic objectives and related key performance indicators by
product, service, country or international grouping, and overall..........................20
Key performance indicators............................................................................... 20
Product.............................................................................................................. 20
Service............................................................................................................... 20
Country or international grouping......................................................................21
Overall............................................................................................................... 21
Activity 1C......................................................................................................... 22
1.4 Develop a risk management strategy to manage contingencies, and ensure
marketing objectives are met in accordance with overall organisational
requirements........................................................................................................ 23

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Risk management strategy................................................................................ 23

Identification of risks......................................................................................... 24
Controlling/preventing risks............................................................................... 25
Monitoring risks................................................................................................. 26
Activity 1D......................................................................................................... 27
2. Determine international marketing approach.....................................28
2.1 Research international marketing opportunities and determine global or
customised approaches for promotion of products or services.............................29
Research international marketing opportunities................................................29
Determine global or customised approaches for promotion of products or
services............................................................................................................. 29
Australian E-commerce Best Practice Model Australian Guidelines for Electronic
Commerce......................................................................................................... 30
Australian Government Policy Framework for Consumer Protection in Electronic
Commerce......................................................................................................... 32
Australian Standards and international standards.............................................32
Anti-discrimination legislation and ethical principles.........................................34
Consumer laws.................................................................................................. 35
Extra-territoriality provisions of the Trade Practices Act now Competition and
Consumer Act 2010........................................................................................... 36
Foreign investment limits.................................................................................. 38
Labour laws........................................................................................................ 38
Legal aspects of bilateral and multi-lateral trade agreements...........................39
Privacy laws....................................................................................................... 41
Taxation laws..................................................................................................... 42
World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute resolution system..............................42
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) International
Guidelines for Consumer Protection in the Context of Electronic Commerce.....42
Activity 2A......................................................................................................... 44
2.2 Evaluate options for choice of marketing approaches..................................45
Evaluate options................................................................................................ 45
Activity 2B......................................................................................................... 47
2.3 Select a marketing approach to meet marketing objectives, international
market conditions and consumer preferences......................................................48
Select a marketing approach.............................................................................48
SWOT or a PEST analysis................................................................................... 49
Activity 2C......................................................................................................... 50

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3. Determine operational structures.....................................................51

3.1 Evaluate business culture and consumer preferences, and identify
compatible marketing structures..........................................................................52
Evaluate business culture and consumer preferences.......................................52
Identify compatible marketing structures..........................................................53
Activity 3A......................................................................................................... 54
3.2 Identify options for operational marketing structure and rank them for
strengths and weaknesses in servicing international markets..............................55
Options for operational marketing structure......................................................55
Ranking options................................................................................................. 56
Activity 3B......................................................................................................... 58
3.3 Choose operational structure that best fits international market and product
or service.............................................................................................................. 59
Choose operational structure............................................................................. 59
Activity 3C......................................................................................................... 60
4. Manage international marketing performance....................................61
4.1 Communicate international marketing objectives across the organisation to
suit culture, customs, levels of knowledge, experience and needs of personnel. .62
Communicate international marketing objectives.............................................62
Activity 4A......................................................................................................... 63
4.2 Identify and agree roles, responsibilities and accountabilities of staff and
contractors involved in all elements of marketing effort.......................................64
Roles, responsibilities and accountabilities of staff and contractors..................64
Belbin's team roles............................................................................................ 64
Roles in marketing............................................................................................. 66
Activity 4B......................................................................................................... 67
4.3 Develop communication strategy to ensure personnel responsible for each
element of marketing mix work together to meet organisation's marketing
objectives.............................................................................................................. 68
Communication strategies................................................................................. 68
Cross-cultural communication and negotiation styles relevant to the country/ies
where international marketing activities take place..........................................69
Activity 4C......................................................................................................... 71
4.4 Manage marketing effort to ensure it is directed towards areas of greatest
potential for the organisation................................................................................ 72
Directing the marketing effort........................................................................... 72
Activity 4D......................................................................................................... 73

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4.5 Manage integration of marketing, promotional and any sales activities in

accordance with international marketing objectives.............................................74
International marketing objectives....................................................................74
Integrated marketing......................................................................................... 74
Promotional and sales activities........................................................................74
Economic, social and industry directions, trends and practices.........................75
Industry product and service knowledge...........................................................75
Activity 4E.......................................................................................................... 76
5. Evaluate and improve international marketing performance...............77
5.1 Monitor product, pricing and distribution policies in relation to market
changes, objectives of marketing plan and organisational requirements.............78
Monitor product, distribution, pricing and marketing communication policies...78
Activity 5A......................................................................................................... 79
5.2 Monitor overall marketing progress against performance targets to ensure
activity, quality, cost, and time requirements are met.........................................80
Marketing metrics.............................................................................................. 80
Statistical and data evaluation techniques to measure marketing performance
.......................................................................................................................... 81
Activity 5B......................................................................................................... 83
5.3 Analyse, review and revise marketing outcomes and objectives.................84
Analyse marketing outcomes............................................................................. 84
Review marketing objectives and outcomes......................................................85
Activity 5C......................................................................................................... 86
5.4 Analyse successes and performance gaps as to cause and effect, and use to
improve international marketing performance......................................................87
Performance gap analysis..................................................................................87
Improving marketing performance....................................................................87
Activity 5D......................................................................................................... 88
5.5 Analyse changes in market phenomena, and identify and document their
potential impact on international marketing objectives........................................89
Analyse changes in market phenomena............................................................89
Activity 5E.......................................................................................................... 90
5.6 Document review of marketing performance against key performance
indicators in accordance with organisational requirements..................................91
Document review of marketing performance.....................................................91
Activity 5F.......................................................................................................... 92
Skills and Knowledge Activity............................................................................ 93

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Major Activity An opportunity to revise the unit.................................................94

References............................................................................................................ 96

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Unit of Competency
Application
This unit describes the skills and knowledge required to formulate, assess,
strategically manage, evaluate and improve international marketing programs.
It applies to experienced individuals who are required to manage a team and are
responsible for evaluating international marketing opportunities, setting marketing
objectives and determining approach and operational structure for an organisation
marketing internationally.
No licensing, legislative or certification requirements apply to this unit at the time of
publication.
Unit Sector
Business Development Marketing

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Performance Criteria
Element
Elements describe
the essential
outcomes.

Performance Criteria
Performance criteria describe the performance
needed to demonstrate achievement of the
element.

1. Formulate
international
marketing
objectives

1.1
Select viable international marketing
opportunities and develop objectives consistent
with the organisations capabilities and
resources
1.2
Identify measurable international marketing
objectives consistent with organisations
strategic direction, and identify nature and
extent of goals for international market
1.3
Formulate strategic objectives and related
key performance indicators by product, service,
country or international grouping, and overall
1.4
Develop a risk management strategy to
manage contingencies, and ensure marketing
objectives are met in accordance with overall
organisational requirements

2. Determine
international
marketing
approach

2.1
Research international marketing
opportunities and determine global or
customised approaches for promotion of
products or services
2.2
Evaluate options for choice of marketing
approaches
2.3
Select a marketing approach to meet
marketing objectives, international market
conditions and consumer preferences

3. Determine
operational
structures

3.1
Evaluate business culture and consumer
preferences, and identify compatible marketing
structures
3.2
Identify options for operational marketing
structure and rank them for strengths and
weaknesses in servicing international markets
3.3
Choose operational structure that best fits
international market and product or service

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Element
Elements describe
the essential
outcomes.

Performance Criteria
Performance criteria describe the performance
needed to demonstrate achievement of the
element.

4. Manage
international
marketing
performance

4.1Communicate international marketing objectives

across the organisation to suit culture, customs,
levels of knowledge, experience and needs of
personnel
4.2Identify and agree roles, responsibilities and
accountabilities of staff and contractors involved
in all elements of marketing effort
4.3Develop communication strategy to ensure
personnel responsible for each element of
marketing mix work together to meet
organisations marketing objectives
4.4Manage marketing effort to ensure it is directed
towards areas of greatest potential for the
organisation
4.5Manage integration of marketing, promotional
and any sales activities in accordance with
international marketing objectives

5. Evaluate and
improve
international
marketing
performance

5.1
Monitor product, pricing and distribution
policies in relation to market changes, objectives
of marketing plan and organisational
requirements
5.2
Monitor overall marketing progress against
performance targets to ensure activity, quality,
cost, and time requirements are met
5.3
Analyse, review and revise marketing
outcomes and objectives
5.4
Analyse successes and performance gaps as
to cause and effect, and use to improve
international marketing performance
5.5
Analyse changes in market phenomena, and
identify and document their potential impact on
international marketing objectives
5.6
Document review of marketing performance
against key performance indicators in
accordance with organisational requirements

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Foundation Skills
This section describes language, literacy, numeracy and employment skills
incorporated in the performance criteria that are required for competent
performance.
Skill

Performance
Criteria

Description

Reading

1.2, 2.1, 2.2, 3.1,

5.3-5.5

Researches, analyses and consolidates a range

of complex textual information from a variety of
sources to identify key details and determine
relevance to strategic organisational
requirements

Writing

1.3, 1.4, 4.1, 4.3,

5.3, 5.6

Uses clear and accurate language and

structures information logically to convey
priorities and critical strategic information
Prepares a range of reports using appropriate
format, terminology and conventions specific to
purpose and audience

Oral
Communicati
on

4.1

Clearly and effectively conveys and elicits

information in verbal exchanges
Uses active listening and questioning skills to
clarify understanding

Numeracy

5.2

Performs calculations and uses mathematical

problem-solving techniques to analyse
numerical and financial data

Navigate the 1.2, 1.4, 4.5, 5.1,

world of work 5.6

Monitors adherence to organisational policies

and objectives and considers own role for its
contribution to broader goals of work
environment

Interact with
others

4.1, 4.3

Recognises importance of taking audience,

purpose and contextual factors into account
when making decisions about what to
communicate with whom, why and how
Fosters a collaborative culture within own
sphere of influence, facilitating a sense of
commitment and cohesion, and highlighting
and using the strengths of all involved

Get the work

done

1.1-1.3, 2.1-2.3,
3.1-3.3, 4.2-4.4,
5.1-5.5

Uses logical planning processes, and an

increasingly intuitive understanding of context,
to identify relevant information and risks, and
to identify and evaluate alternative strategies
and resources
Makes a range of critical and non-critical
decisions in relatively complex situations,
taking a range of factors and constraints into

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account
Recognises potential of new approaches to
enhance work practices and outcomes

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Assessment Requirements
Performance Evidence
Evidence of the ability to:
Document and present
o international marketing objectives
o selected marketing approach
o creation of operational structure
Effectively manage international marketing activities
Monitor and evaluate international marketing performance, and make any
necessary adjustments as required
Formulate suggestions on how marketing activities could be affected in future.
Knowledge Evidence
To complete the unit requirements safely and effectively, the individual must:
Outline relevant Australian and international standards, models policies and
guidelines, including those covering:
o environmental matters
o human rights
o labour relations
o packaging
o risk management
o electronic commerce
Identify and explain key provisions of relevant legislation and codes of practice
affecting aspects of marketing operations
Explain the role of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
(OECD)
Identify and describe key features of the country or countries being considered
for market entry or penetration, including:
o cross-cultural communication and negotiation styles
o global and country specific economic, social and industry directions, trends,
practices and techniques.
Assessment Conditions
Assessment must be conducted in a safe environment where evidence gathered
demonstrates consistent performance of typical activities experienced in the
business development marketing field of work and include access to:
Office equipment and resources
Organisational strategic and marketing plans, and other relevant documents.
Assessors must satisfy NVR/AQTF assessor requirements.
Links
Companion volumes available from the IBSA website:
http://www.ibsa.org.au/companion_volumes

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Housekeeping Items
Your trainer will inform you of the following:
Where the toilets and fire exits are located, what the emergency
procedures are and where the breakout and refreshment areas are.
Any rules, for example asking that all mobile phones are set to silent
and of any security issues they need to be aware of.
What times the breaks will be held and what the smoking policy is.
That this is an interactive course and you should ask questions.
That to get the most out of this workshop, we must all work together,
listen to each other, explore new ideas, and make mistakes. After all,
thats how we learn.
Ground rules for participation:
o

Smile

Support and encourage other participants

When someone is contributing everyone else is quiet

Be patient with others who may not be grasping the ideas

Be on time

Focus discussion on the topic

Speak to the trainer if you have any concerns

Objectives
Discover how to formulate international marketing objectives
Know how to determine international marketing approach
Learn how to determine operational structures
Understand how to manage international marketing performance
Comprehend how to evaluate and improve international marketing
performance
Gain the skills and knowledge required for this unit.

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1. Formulate international marketing

objectives
1.1.

Select viable international marketing opportunities and develop objectives

consistent with the organisation's capabilities and resources

1.2.

Identify measurable international marketing objectives consistent with

organisation's strategic direction, and identify nature and extent of goals for
international market

1.3.

Formulate strategic objectives and related key performance indicators by

product, service, country or international grouping, and overall

1.4.

Develop a risk management strategy to manage contingencies, and ensure

marketing objectives
are met in accordance with overall organisational
requirements

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1.1 Select viable international marketing opportunities

and develop objectives consistent with the organisation's
capabilities and resources
Viability
When selecting whether to pursue a marketing opportunity, you need to determine
whether it is viable. In other words, does the cost-benefit ratio and return on
investment (ROI) rate as worthwhile?
You need to consider things such as:
Monetary cost of the marketing
opportunity
Time cost of the marketing opportunity
Risk factors
Competition in internal market
Current market share
Estimated impact of marketing
opportunity
Relation of marketing opportunity to your organisation's goals.

What are your costs going to be?

Costs will vary depending on your marketing opportunity; they may
include:
Market research
Sales force spending
Advertising
Price promotions.
You need determine whether your costs are fixed or variable. If you have variable
costs, it can potentially make marketing strategies less risky, as costs are only
reflective of success, whereas fixed costs will need to be paid regardless.
What benefits may your marketing strategy produce? Are these in line with your
organisation's international marketing objectives?
How do the benefits compare to the risks involved? Do they justify the risks or is
there too much at stake for the risks involved? What is the likelihood of these risks
becoming realities and how would your company be affected if your marketing
efforts flopped?

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Effective assessment of these factors will help you determine whether the timing to
market in international territory is right and whether the return on investment (ROI)
is sufficient enough. It may be the case that you should wait until another time
when economic conditions are more favourable or when there has been proven
success by similar companies in the market you are looking to enter.
It may also be the case that you need to wait until a time that your company is in a
more favourable financial position, so as the impact of a failure may be less of a
concern (i.e. you can afford to take risks).

Conduct a SWOT or a PEST analysis

These can be used to help determine the viability of marketing opportunities, by
analysing different factors that contribute their potential success.
SWOT analysis
Strengths the advantages you have over the competition for your
opportunity.
Weaknesses the internal disadvantages you have compared to your
competitors.
Opportunities current external trends that are waiting to be
utilised/taken advantage of.
Threats external factors which may cause a problem and negatively
affect your business.
PEST analysis
Political laws, global issues, legislation and regulations which may
affect your business presently or in the future.
Economic taxes, interest rates, inflation, the stock markets and
consumer confidence all need to be considered.
Social the changes in lifestyle and buying trends, media, major
events, ethics, advertising and publicity.
Technological innovations, technology access, licensing and patents,
manufacturing, research funding, global communications.

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Developing objectives
Another vital aspect of entering into an
international marketing opportunity is
to have clear objectives.
These give you benchmarks against
which you can measure your success
and help you determine which
operational processes need to be
actioned in order to achieve your goals.
Objectives must be measurable in order to be useful and should be specific as to
what you intend to achieve.
For example, "increase sales by 50 per cent in the next year" is a much more useful
objective than just "increase sales".
SMART objectives
For effective objectives to be created, it is good practice to create them based on
the mnemonic of SMART.
Specific state exactly what you want to achieve
Measurable quantifiable and measurable
Achievable realistic in the current market
Relevant related to organisational objectives
Timed have deadlines for achievement.
Objectives may also relate to the following areas:
Retention of current customers
Purchase increases from current users
Convincing new customers to purchase your
product(s)
Increasing market share
Maintaining brand identity
Creating a new brand identity.

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Activity
1A

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1.2 Identify measurable international marketing

objectives consistent with organisation's strategic
direction, and identify nature and extent of goals for
international market
Measurable international marketing objectives
As mentioned in 1.1 of this unit, marketing objectives should be SMART:
Specific state exactly what you want to achieve
Measurable quantifiable and measurable
Achievable realistic in the current market
Relevant related to organisational objectives
Timed have deadlines for achievement.
Measurable objectives must be consistent with the organisation's strategic
direction. This means that they must comply with the actions required to achieve
the organisation's overall strategy.
Examples of measurable objectives include:
Retaining 90 per cent of current customers
Increasing purchases from new customers by 25 per cent
Increasing market share by 10 per cent.

The nature and extent of goals for international market

When venturing into an international market, you must be clear about your goals
you cannot simply expect the same methods to work internationally and to obtain
the same results.
Therefore, you need to set different strategic objectives for your international
markets and think about what you can realistically achieve.
Factors to consider in the international
market include:
The differing needs of consumers
Existing competition
Trade barriers/protectionist
arrangements
Free-trade arrangements
State of the economy

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Risk factors.
Consider whether the international market you are entering is emerging or
developed this will affect the state of resources and the demand for your product,
as well as existing competition and the market share you can expect.

Activity 1B

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1.3 Formulate strategic objectives and related key

performance indicators by product, service, country or
international grouping, and overall
Strategic objectives and key performance must be formulated according to product,
service, country or international grouping, and overall.
In other words, you should have separate strategic objectives and key performance
based off each of these factors, rather than trying to cover them all in one set.

Key performance indicators

KPIs are quantifiable measurements from which you can assess performance
against for example, having a certain percentage of income from returning
customers. They are aligned with the company's overall goals and highlight the
areas that are vital to success for example, if the goal is to raise profit, then the
KPIs will be those that measure profit and fiscal matters e.g. shareholder equity,
pre-tax profit etc. You would need to look at the sales reports and see if you are
meeting the targets regarding them. If not, you may need to readjust the strategies
within the marketing strategies.
An important thing to establish from the beginning is which factors you will use as
KPIs and in what terms you will measure these, as you will have to keep them
consistent throughout the future, in order to validate any kind of comparison.
When creating strategic objectives and key performance indicators, consider the
following points:

Product
What type of product are you marketing?
How does it differ to other products on the market?
How is it similar to other products on the market?
How many can realistically look to sell?

Service
What type of service are you marketing?
How does it differ to other services on the market?
How is it similar to other services on the market?
How much can realistically look to sell?

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How can you quantify the

service?

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Country or international grouping

International grouping may include:
Cultural groupings
Geographical groupings
Online virtual communities
Political groupings
Trade groupings.
Think about the following:
What are the needs of different countries/international groupings?
Are there any political barriers?
Are their existing free trade agreements?
How will you account for transport costs?
How will you reach international customers?
What technology opportunities/barriers exist?

Overall
What can you expect to turnover in an international territory,
compared to domestic?
How will you measure overall? (i.e. total sales increase)
What is a realistic overall and how will this change due to marketing?

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Activity
1C

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1.4 Develop a risk management strategy to manage

contingencies, and ensure marketing objectives are met in
accordance with overall organisational requirements
Risk management strategy
A risk management strategy is required to manage contingencies and ensure
marketing objectives are met in accordance with overall organisational
requirements.
This will ensure you can measure and analyse any risks associated with your
marketing strategies, so you can determine whether they are worth the potential
gain of your strategy.
Risk factors may include:
Available technology do they/you have the appropriate technology to
produce/use your product? How costly is this technology and will this
impact on your pricing strategy?
Communication systems what methods of
communication are available to market your
product/service with? Are they the best mediums
that allow you to communicate with consumers
and entice them?
Corruption risks
Cultural factors is the culture compatible with
the values and uses of your product/service?
Financial stability
Language factors will you be able to effectively communicate with
overseas partners? Do your product names and messages translate
accurately?
Legal and regulatory requirements do these incur extra charges or
prohibit you from implementing your normal business strategy?
Legal risks in selling goods and services online to the international
market
Logistics how will you get goods/services from their point of
manufacture to consumers? Is there a risk that they could be
damaged/compromised in the process?
Political stability
Resource availability, sustainability and management
Resource capability and capacity
Telecommunications infrastructure

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Trade barriers tariffs, taxes, regulations

Transportation systems what are the costs? What methods are
available? Will the product/service be damaged in transit?
Work factors what work is involved? Who will do it? How much will it
cost?
Risk management strategy may include:
Risk analysis
Risk assessment and prioritisation
Risk identification
Risk maintenance
Risk treatment and controls
Risk evaluation
Risk monitoring
Monitoring risks
Making adjustments to risk treatments and controls.
Your organisation will likely have its own risk management strategy that
incorporates aspects of the above.
Broadly, we could categorise risk management into the following three
categories:
Identification of risks
Controlling/preventing risks
Monitoring risks.

Identification of risks
This involves the following:
Risk analysis
Risk assessment and prioritisation
Risk identification
In order to identify risks you will have to carry out research based on current
marketing ventures by yourself or competitors.
Are your risks controllable or uncontrollable? How much impact will the risks have
(if they become a reality)? What are the benefits of the processes that carry these
risks? Are they worth it?

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Controlling/preventing risks
This involves the following:
Risk maintenance
Risk treatment and controls
Risk evaluation
One you have identified risks, you then need to determine whether they are
predictable, controllable and whether they are internal or external.
External risks that are uncontrollable include:
Government regulations
Bribery
Protectionist arrangements
Bankruptcy of investors
Political unrest
Cost fluctuations
Competitor actions
Operational regulations
Currency fluctuations
Inflation
Taxation
Environmental impacts
Societal impacts.
Internal risks that are controllable include:
Technology advancements
Technology malfunctions
Product design problems
IP and patent rights
Contractual difficulties.
For these controllable risks, you need to make sure that you keep on top of them.
For example, having a legal team review your IP and checking that infringements

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are not made can ensure that you don't encounter more costly complications down
the line.

Monitoring risks
This involves the following:
Risk monitoring
Monitoring risks
Making adjustments to risk treatments and controls.
Monitoring risks is important, so that they are kept under control and that any new
ones that present themselves are dealt with as early as possible. If you ignore the
risks or assume that your current risk control procedures will work infinitely, you are
likely to discover this in an inadequate approach.
Risks, especially those that are uncontrollable, need to be monitored as things like
regulations, taxes and trade agreements change these can majorly affect the
costs and profits of your business.

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Activity 1D

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2. Determine international marketing

approach
2.1.

Research international marketing opportunities and determine global or

customised approaches for promotion of products or services

2.2.
2.3.

Evaluate options for choice of marketing approaches

Select a marketing approach to meet marketing objectives, international

market conditions and consumer preferences

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2.1 Research international marketing opportunities and

determine global or customised approaches for promotion
of products or services
Research international marketing opportunities
In order to research international marketing opportunities, you will need
to use a variety of methods:
Surveys
Focus groups
Trial runs
Analysing secondary research
Conducting primary research.
You need to find out all the relevant and obtainable information you can that relates
to the international marketing opportunity.
This includes things like:
The current/future state of the economy
The needs of the consumers
The products of your competitors
The strategies of your competitors
Risk factors
Market analysis techniques
Whether the market is emerging
or developed
Technology factors.

Determine global or customised approaches for promotion of

products or services
There are two methods you can use to go about the promotion of products and
services global or customised strategies.
Global strategies use a blanket strategy for all international markets, rather than
adapting to suit the individual nuances of each one.
Conversely, customised approaches adapt the promotion techniques to suit the
individual needs of each different target market.

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The following table shows the advantages and disadvantages of each

approach:
Promotional
approach

Advantages

Disadvantages

Global

Cheaper to plan and

implement

May not be suited to

particular markets

Consistency of message

Messages can be "lost in

translation"

Strategies can be
implemented quicker

Harder to track the

success of approach in
different markets
Changes to strategy may
have differing effects of
markets

Customised

Differences in each market

are accounted for

More expensive to plan

and implement

Easier to track the success

of approaches

Inconsistency of message

Feedback from strategies

is applicable to each
different market

Strategies may take more

time to implement

In your research, you will also need to become familiar with regulations, guidelines,
laws, standards and any other factors that may affect how you operate both in
Australia and internationally.
These include:

Australian E-commerce Best Practice Model Australian

Guidelines for Electronic Commerce
This model sets consumer protection standards in e-commerce, providing the
industry and businesses with a code of conduct for dealing with online consumers
a few of these guidelines are based upon legislative requirements.
It replaced the Australian E-commerce Best Practice Model on March 17, 2006.
The guidelines can be accessed at:
http://archive.treasury.gov.au/documents/1083/PDF/australian_guidelines_for_electr
onic_commerce.pdf

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The Australian Government Treasury also published the following checklist

for businesses, regarding e-commerce:
Does your business follow fair business practices?
Do consumers need specialised software or hardware to trade with
you?
Have you taken reasonable steps to ensure the goods and services
you supply are accessible to people with a disability?
Is all advertising material clearly identifiable, so it cannot be confused
with other content?
Are procedures in place to ensure that any marketing messages you
send do not constitute spam?
Have you taken reasonable steps to avoid entering into transactions
with minors?
Can consumers easily find all key information about your business,
including contact details?
Are contract terms for purchases clear, accurate and easily accessible
by consumers?
Have you taken appropriate steps to protect consumers privacy?
Have you provided consumers with payment mechanisms that are
easy to use and offer appropriate security?
Have you clearly explained to consumers the security and
authentication methods you use so they can assess any risks?
Do consumers have easy access to, and clear information about,
dispute resolution procedures?
Are consumers informed about any specific laws or jurisdiction
applicable to transactions with your business?
Source: archive.treasury.gov.au/documents/1083/PDF/ecommerce_factsheet.pdf

P a g e | 39

Australian Government Policy

Framework for Consumer Protection
in Electronic Commerce
This framework deals with consumer protection
e-commerce, with the government building a
holistic consumer protection environment.

in

The vision sets out that Australians will be at

the forefront of global commerce, in terms of
online consumption and trading it details a
strategy on how to achieve this.
The principles set out are:
Balancing the needs of consumers and businesses
A dual responsibility of industry and government
International cooperation
Technology neutrality.
It also identifies the key issues that need to be addressed for a safe and
efficient online environment:
Privacy protection of personal information
Payment secure online payment methods
Information providing accurate and adequate information to
consumers
Jurisdiction for consumer contracts
Redress compensation readily available and respective in amount.
There is an initiative to establish a group of experts to advise the Minister for
Financial Services and Regulation on all of the above issues.

Australian Standards and international standards

Environmental matters
Environmental protection laws will apply depending on the nature of your business.
Federal, state and local governments administer the environmental protection laws
in Australia jointly, via bilateral agreements.
The Department of the Environment deals with approval and assessment of national
environmental and cultural concerns, as well as administering Acts concerning:

P a g e | 40

Importing
Fuel quality
Hazardous waste
Heritage
The sea.
Environmental legislation can be accessed (national and
state) at: www.business.gov.au/business-topics/businessplanning/environmentalmanagement/Pages/environmental-legislation.aspx
Human rights
There are national and international conventions on human rights, preventing
torture and cruel/degrading/inhuman punishment or treatment of other humans.
These include:
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Convention against Torture
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from
Enforced Disappearance
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
Convention on the Rights of the Child
International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant
Workers and Members of Their Families.
How this affects your business will mostly involve the sources of labour you use and
the treatment of employees in foreign territories.
Labour relations
This involves things like minimum pay rates, the minimum age of work, dismissal
and your general treatment of employees.
It is governed and regulated by the Department of Commerce in Australia and more
information can be found at: www.commerce.wa.gov.au/labour-relations
Packaging
There will be certain packaging details that you need to comply with, including:
Packaging style for certain goods

P a g e | 41

Labelling
Enclosed documents
Declaration of contents
Sustainable materials
Size and weight of packages.

P a g e | 42

Risk management
This may involve and concern things such as:
Workplace health and safety (WHS)
ISO 31000:2009.
Full details on risk management principles for Australia can be found at:
www.finance.gov.au/sites/default/files/COV_216905_Risk_Management_Fact_Sheet_F
A3_23082010_0.pdf

Anti-discrimination legislation and ethical

principles
In Australia, the following anti-discrimination laws
apply:
Age Discrimination Act 2004
Australian Human Rights Commission Act
1986
Disability Discrimination Act 1992
Racial Discrimination Act 1975
Sex Discrimination Act 1984.
You must follow these laws when doing marketing research and when implementing
your campaigns. You cannot discriminate against individuals based on
characteristics like age, gender, disability and race and you must afford everyone
equal opportunities.
Full details about these Acts can be found at www.humanrights.gov.au
EEO law states that employers must provide workplaces that are free from
discrimination. This applies to existing employees and potential employees for your
marketing efforts.
Exact legislation can vary in different areas of Australia; you must ensure that you
are familiar with your local stipulations.

P a g e | 43

EEO an overview:
You must create and maintain an environment that is free from
discrimination and harassment
You must not treat employees or potential employees better or worse
on the grounds of:
o

Age

Sex

Race

Marital status

Family status

Disability

Gender

Culture

Etc.

EEO also protects:

o

Workplace rights

Industrial rights

Unfair dismissal.

Consumer laws
The Australian Consumer Law (ACL) came into effect on January 1, 2011.
The ACL includes:
A national unfair contract terms law covering standard form consumer
contracts
A national law guaranteeing consumer rights when buying goods and
services
A national product safety law and enforcement system
A national law for unsolicited consumer agreements covering door-todoor sales and telephone sales
Simple national rules for lay-by agreements
New penalties, enforcement powers and consumer redress options.
Source: www.consumerlaw.gov.au

P a g e | 44

It applies in all States and Territories and to all Australian businesses, for all
transactions that have occurred since January 1, 2011. The full text is set out in the
Competition and Consumer Act 2010, in Schedule 2.
You will need to also find out consumer law for the countries of your potential
markets.

Extra-territoriality provisions of the Trade Practices Act now

Competition and Consumer Act 2010
Fair trading laws are designed to protect consumers and promote fair trading and
competition on the part of businesses.
The Competition and Consumer Act 2010 replaced the Trade Practices 1974. It
promotes fair trading and competition for businesses, as well as protecting the
consumers their products are aimed at.
It covers the following:
Dealings with suppliers, wholesalers, retailers, customers and
competitors
Industry codes of practices
Product safety
Unfair market practices
Product labelling
Price
Industry regulation (e.g. gas, electricity,
airports, telecommunications).
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is in charge of enforcing the
Competition and Consumer Act.

P a g e | 45

Extraterritorial provisions
Section 5 of the Competition and Consumer Act covers application of the Act to
conduct outside of Australia:
(1) Each of the following provisions:
(a) Part IV;
(b) Part XI;
(c) the Australian Consumer Law (other than Part 5 3);
(f) the remaining provisions of this Act (to the extent to which they relate to any of
the provisions covered by paragraph (a), (b) or (c)); extends to the engaging in
conduct outside Australia by:
(g) bodies corporate incorporated or carrying on business within Australia; or
(h) Australian citizens; or
(i) persons ordinarily resident within Australia.
(1A) In addition to the extended operation that section 46A has by virtue of
subsection (1), that section extends to the engaging in conduct outside Australia by:
(a) New Zealand and New Zealand Crown corporations; or
(b) bodies corporate carrying on business within New Zealand; or
(c) persons ordinarily resident within New Zealand.
(2) In addition to the extended operation that sections 47 and 48 have by virtue of
subsection (1), those sections extend to the engaging in conduct outside Australia
by any persons in relation to the supply by those persons of goods or services to
persons within Australia.
(3) Where a claim under section 82, or under section 236 of the Australian
Consumer Law, is made in a proceeding, a person is not entitled to rely at a hearing
in respect of that proceeding on conduct to which a provision of this Act extends by
virtue of subsection (1) or (2) of this section except with the consent in writing of
the Minister.
(4) A person other than the Minister, the Commission or the Director of Public
Prosecutions is not entitled to make an application to the Court for an order under
subsection 87(1) or (1A), or under subsection 237(1) or 238(1) of the Australian
Consumer Law, in a proceeding in respect of conduct to which a provision of this Act
extends by virtue of subsection (1) or (2) of this section except with the consent in
writing of the Minister.
(5) The Minister shall give a consent under subsection (3) or (4) in respect of a
proceeding unless, in the opinion of the Minister:
(a) the law of the country in which the conduct concerned was engaged in required
or specifically authorised the engaging in of the conduct; and
(b) it is not in the national interest that the consent be given.

P a g e | 46

Source: www.treasury.gov.au

Foreign investment limits

In Australia, the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Act 1975 (FATA) is the
legislative framework that governs foreign investment limits.
It also means that foreign investors (private) are required to obtain government
approval before acquiring anywhere upward of 15 per cent of an Australian
business valued above $248 million.
More information on Australian foreign investment limits can be found at:
www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Libra
ry/pubs/BriefingBook44p/AustForeignInvest
You will also need to find out the investment limits for the countries of the potential
markets you are looking to enter, as this can possibly affect the scale of your
business.

Labour laws
This governs the relationship between employers, worker, governments and trade
unions.
In Australia, the Fair Work Act 2009 governs labour laws and it covers:
Hiring and firing of employees
Discrimination against applicants
Offers of employment
Employment contracts
Benefits/entitlements
Wages
Superannuation
Long service leave
Taxation
Terms and conditions
Workplace health and safety (WHS)
Records
Notice requirements
Redundancy

P a g e | 47

Unfair dismissal
Termination payments
Litigation.
In addition to this, there are ten national employment standards:
Hours of work
Request for flexible working arrangements
Annual leave
Personal/carer's leave
Compassionate leave
Community service leave
Public holidays
Unpaid parental leave
Notice of termination and redundancy pay
Fair Work Information Statement.
You will also need to know the labour laws of the countries for your potential
markets, so as to know how you will deal with employees in the countries you are
trading in.

Legal aspects of bilateral and multi-lateral trade agreements

As well as knowing what the bilateral and multi-lateral trade agreements that
Australia holds with other countries are, you need to know the legal aspects of
them.
These may include:
Article 13, Un charter
Article 24 of GATT.

P a g e | 48

The United Nations UN Charter Article 13 states:

The General Assembly shall initiate studies and make recommendations for the
purpose of:
a) promoting international co-operation in the political field and encouraging the
progressive development of international law and its codification
Source: www.un.org/aboutun/charter
Article 24 of GATT states:
[] the provisions of this Agreement shall not prevent, as between the territories of
contracting parties, the formation of a customs union or of a free-trade area or the
adoption of an interim agreement necessary for the formation of a customs union or
of a free-trade area; Provided that:
(a) with respect to a customs union, or an interim agreement leading to a formation
of a customs union, the duties and other regulations of commerce imposed at the
institution of any such union or interim agreement in respect of trade with
contracting parties not parties to such union or agreement shall not on the whole
be higher or more restrictive than the general incidence of the duties and
regulations of commerce applicable in the constituent territories prior to the
formation of such union or the adoption of such interim agreement, as the case
may be;
(b) with respect to a free-trade area, or an interim agreement leading to the
formation of a free-trade area, the duties and other regulations of commerce
maintained in each of the constituent territories and applicable at the formation of
such free-trade area or the adoption of such interim agreement to the trade of
contracting parties not included in such area or not parties to such agreement shall
not be higher or more restrictive than the corresponding duties and other
regulations of commerce existing in the same constituent territories prior to the
formation of the free-trade area, or interim agreement as the case may be; and
(c) any interim agreement referred to in subparagraphs (a) and (b) shall include a
plan and schedule for the formation of such a customs union or of such a freetrade
area within a reasonable length of time.
Source: www.wto.org/english/docs_e/legal_e/gatt47_c.pdf

P a g e | 49

Privacy laws
You need to be able to protect customer data and respect the relationships you
have if you fail to do this, they can likely move to your competitors.
Privacy is governed by the Privacy Act 1988 (Privacy Act), which regulates the
handling of personal information.
As of March 2014, the following privacy legislation amendments came into
effect:
Privacy Amendment (Enhancing Privacy Protection) Act 2012
Privacy Regulation 2013
Credit Reporting Privacy Code.
You can read more about the privacy law reform at:
www.oaic.gov.au/privacy/privacy-act/privacy-law-reform
There are 13 Australian Privacy Principles that apply to the handling of
personal information, contained in Schedule 1 of the Privacy Act:
1. Open and transparent management of personal information
2. Anonymity and pseudonymity
3. Collection of solicited personal information
4. Dealing with unsolicited personal information
5. Notification of the collection of personal
information
6. Use or disclosure of personal information
7. Direct marketing
8. Cross-border disclosure of personal information
9. Adoption, use or disclosure of government related identifiers
10.Quality of personal information
11.Security of personal information
12.Access to personal information
13.Correction of personal information.
Full information on the Privacy Act and its terms can be found at
www.oaic.gov.au/privacy/privacy-act/the-privacy-act

P a g e | 50

Taxation laws
You need to know the taxation laws of Australia and countries of your potential
markets, so as to know what charges may be imposed on imports and exports.
These may include:
Fuel taxes
Payroll taxes
Goods and services taxes
Capital gains tax
Customs duties
Corporate taxes.

World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute resolution system

The World Trade Organisation (WTO) has a dispute resolution system that allows
disputes over breaches of business agreements. It exists to provide judgement
based on rules, as opposed to power relationships.
It uses the Dispute Settlement Understanding to enforce the practical application of
trade agreements between two or more parties who are members of the WTO.
Full information on the dispute resolution system can be found at:
http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/dispu_e/disp_settlement_cbt_e/c1s2p1_e.htm

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

(OECD) International Guidelines for Consumer Protection in the
Context of Electronic Commerce
These came into effect on December 9, 1999 and exist to ensure an equal level of
protection for consumers when purchasing online to in a store. It concerns business
to consumer transactions and helps remove uncertainties in the buying and selling
processes.
They help ensure online consumer protection without needing barriers to trade to
do so; they are reflective of existing legal protection for standard commerce.
They require emphasis on the need for co-operation among governments,
businesses and consumers.

P a g e | 51

The aims of the guidelines are as follows to encourage:

Fair business practices
Fair advertising practices
Fair marketing practices
Clear information on the identity of a business, what it sells and any
terms of conditions for transactions
Transparency in the confirmation of
transactions
Secure payment methods
Timely, fair and affordable dispute
resolution/redress systems
Privacy protection
Education for businesses and consumers.

P a g e | 52

Activity
2A

P a g e | 53

2.2 Evaluate options for choice of marketing approaches

Evaluate options
Once you have all of the available options for marketing approaches at your
disposal, the next step is to evaluate them for their advantages and disadvantages;
ultimately, you need to decide which approach will reap the best return on
investment (ROI).
Two key factors that need to be considered when evaluating marketing approaches
include your budget and the financial viability of the proposed approaches.
Marketing approaches may include:
Customised
Global
Online
Product or promotion adaptation
Product or promotion standardisation
Segmentation by criteria which are:
o

behaviouristic

demographic

end use

geographic

operational

psychographic.

The following table shows the advantages and disadvantages of each

approach:
Marketing
approach

Advantages

Disadvantages

Global

Cheaper to plan and

implement

May not be suited to

particular markets

Consistency of message

Messages can be "lost in

translation"

Strategies can be
implemented quicker

Harder to track the

success of approach in
different markets

P a g e | 54

Changes to strategy may

have differing effects of
markets
Customised

Differences in each market

are accounted for

More expensive to plan

and implement

Easier to track the success

of approaches

Inconsistency of message

Feedback from strategies

is applicable to each
different market
Online

Cheap to implement
Can be integrated into
overall marketing strategy
Increases the range of
people who view your
product

Strategies may take more

time to implement

People may ignore online

approaches
Highly competitive
environment

Allows use of multiple

formats e.g. video, text,
audio
Allows virtual store to be
created
Product or
promotion
adaptation

Products match the market

Consumers are offered
something new
Can take advantage of
new technologies

Product or
promotion
standardisation

Can focus more on a single

product/promotion

Segmentation by
criteria

Allows each criteria to be

targeted individually

Allows convergence of all

research

Allows you to meet all of

the consumers' needs

Requires constant
investment
Focus may be split across
different adaptations

Consumers may lose

interest after a period of
repetitiveness

Time consuming

P a g e | 55

Activity
2B

P a g e | 56

2.3 Select a marketing approach to meet marketing

objectives, international market conditions and consumer
preferences
Select a marketing approach
Now you have evaluated all of the available marketing approaches, the next step is
to select the most appropriate one. Therefore, it has to meet the marketing
objectives, international market conditions and consumer preferences.
This information should have been determined by your market research and, by
meeting these criteria, you can ensure that it will be the most effective for your
purpose.
What are your marketing objectives? How will your marketing approach
help achieve this?
For example, if the objective is to increase purchases from new customers by 10 per
cent, your marketing approach needs to implement actions that either help or
specifically achieve this objective. If the marketing approach only focuses on
retaining existing customers, it is clearly not conducive to achieving the
aforementioned marketing objective.
How does your marketing approach meet international market conditions?
International market conditions are those things that exist externally in the market
you are entering.
For example, who are your competitors and how many are there? What threats do
they pose to your company and marketing efforts?
What is the growth rate of the market you are entering? Are your objectives realistic
in the current state of the market?
Do your marketing objectives comply with consumer preferences?
Is your product compliant with what consumers want in the present? Is there an
actual market and will your marketing efforts appeal to these new consumers?
Can your projected growth rates realistically be met? This will depend on the
consumer demand for your product and your marketing approach in the
international area you are entering.

P a g e | 57

SWOT or a PEST analysis

As, discussed in 1.1 of this unit, you can use a
SWOT or PEST analysis to determine the
viability of marketing opportunities. You can use
information gained from SWOT and PEST
analyses to help determine whether your
marketing approach meets the meets
marketing objectives, international market
conditions and consumer preferences.

the

SWOT analysis
Strengths the advantages you have over the competition for your
opportunity.
Weaknesses the internal disadvantages you have compared to your
competitors.
Opportunities current external trends that are waiting to be
utilised/taken advantage of.
Threats external factors which may cause a problem and negatively
affect your business.
PEST analysis
Political laws, global issues, legislation and regulations which may
affect your business presently or in the future.
Economic taxes, interest rates, inflation, the stock markets and
consumer confidence all need to be considered.
Social the changes in lifestyle and buying trends, media, major
events, ethics, advertising and publicity.
Technological innovations, technology access, licensing and patents,
manufacturing, research funding, global communications.

P a g e | 58

Activity 2C

P a g e | 59

3. Determine operational structures

3.1.

Evaluate business culture and consumer preferences, and identify compatible

marketing structures

3.2.
3.3.

Identify options for operational marketing structure and rank them for
strengths and weaknesses in servicing international markets

Choose operational structure that best fits international market and product
or service

P a g e | 60

3.1 Evaluate business culture and consumer preferences,

and identify compatible marketing structures
Evaluate business culture and consumer preferences
Business culture refers to the typical behaviour, norms and values of a particular
area of business.
This will affect things like:
Ethics
Etiquette
Values
Beliefs
Working styles
Habits.
When you enter international markets, the business culture will vary, just as typical
culture will. It is important that you recognise the business culture and adapt your
approach to conform to it. If you fail to do this, it can cause misunderstandings and
impact negatively on your marketing success.
Consider embarking on cultural sensitivity educational programs before you enter a
new international market. Little things, like how you address someone or major
areas such as belief systems are important to know in order for your product and
marketing efforts to be accepting by the consumers you are trying to target. You
must conform to what the consumers want and meet their needs. This also applies
professionally, for when you are building business partnerships.
For example, let's look at Chinese consumers:
Frugal retired they are usually uneducated and grew up in tough
political and economic times. They don't spend much and react
differently to changes in prices.
Wealthy retired while they have more disposable income, they are
often frugal; however, they are less sensitive to price and value
quality more. Their spending is likely to rise in the next decade;
however, their children may buy healthcare and entertainment
products for them.
Frugal forties they grew up during the Cultural Revolution and early
Chinese reforms. They have a mix of traditional and modern values,
working respectable jobs but saving most of their income to take care
of their families.

P a g e | 61

Wealthy forties they have slightly higher incomes but the same
backgrounds as the frugal forties. Therefore, as well as saving for their
families, they have disposable income to spend on quality products.
Over the next decade, they will have less childcare responsibilities and
even more disposable income to spend.

P a g e | 62

Thirties they save less than the older generations, spend

more and use online shopping also. They are after quality
and value, rather than the cheapest items. These
consumers are likely to be the most important for the
next decade, as they buy for themselves and their
families.
Twenties they don't save income and mostly spend
their income on electronics, entertainment and other
trends. They shop online and look for products in line with
their "image". They are subject to impulse purchases and favour high
quality and convenient products.
New generation they are "Westernised" and have similar values to
those in the Western hemisphere. They are open to new products but
usually have little to no income however, they influence their
parents' purchases. They can be effectively targeted by social media.
They are usually aged under 20.
Migrant workers these are usually quite frugal and buy only
necessities, sending extra incomes to their families in rural areas.
Their disposable income is expected to rise in the future, as they
receive city household registration status. They are normally aged
between 25-40.
Rich there are over one million with over $1.5 million (and
increasing). They are concentrated in large urban areas (Beijing,
Shanghai, Guangdong). They are usually business owners, managers
and entrepreneurs and usually pursue the best quality products, with
less concern on price. They particularly value high-end imported
products. They are usually aged between 20-60.
From this example, you can see that it is logical to target the consumers who most
accurately fit the description of your product. You want to target people who desire
your product/service and who have the disposable income to purchase it.

Identify compatible marketing structures

Once you know the business culture and consumer preferences for the potential
international market, you then need to match them with compatible marketing
structures.
So, if we again use the example of Chinese consumers, we would see that a
compatible marketing structure for the new generation would be to use social
media and online marketing, as these are the platforms that they use most
frequently.
Online marketing strategies would also likely be successful for the twenties and
thirties markets.

P a g e | 63

However, you can see that the vast majority of the markets in China are after
quality goods, so if your product/service is cheap and you try to market this as a
selling point, you are likely to have a limited consumer base.
It is important to market, irrespective of the other qualities your product/service
may have, the qualities that your consumers value the most, as these will make
your efforts more successful. So, for China, if your product is actually cheap but the
quality of the materials and construction is superior to other similar products,
market on the base of quality rather than price.

Activity 3A

P a g e | 64

3.2 Identify options for operational marketing structure

and rank them for strengths and weaknesses in servicing
international markets
Options for operational marketing structure
You need to identify the options for the operational marketing structure, as you will
need to pick which ones will be most effective and essential in your chosen market.
Operational marketing structure may include:
Export operation this is where goods produced in one country are
shipped to another, for sale. The revenue from the sales is then
transferred back the country of production and counts for that
organisation's gross output.
Global organisation this is where countries join together to create an
agreement. Examples of this are the free-trade agreements that
remove trade barriers between countries and allow them to trade on
an equal footing with domestic organisations.
Joint venture this is where businesses join together to develop a new
product/service by combining investment. This is a finite operation
that lasts for the duration of the product/service's creation.
Licensing you can license patents, trademarks, copyrights,
intellectual property and other designs to others. This is where you
grant them permission to use them in exchange for a fee (usually a
small percentage of the sales price). Companies will often both use a
grant licenses.
Multi-national organisation this is any organisation that operates out
of more than one country, but managed from one "native" country.
This allows the organisation to pursue other markets as well as base
its production/operations wherever quality labour is cheapest.
Online business operation this is where a business is operated on the
internet, as opposed to in person.
Overseas branch this is where companies have a registered office for
their company in an international territory. This allows operations for
that territory to be run from that location, rather than across borders.
Strategic alliance this is where two or more parties agree to pursue
shared objectives, while still remaining independent businesses. The
idea is that the benefits from the alliance are greater than those from
individual pursuit. They can share resources such as knowledge,
intellectual property, distribution, manufacturing, funding, equipment
and even products.

P a g e | 65

Subsidiary company this is where the company is either completely

or partially (over 50 per cent) owned by another parent company. This
company has a controlling interest in
the operations of the subsidiary.

Ranking options
Once you have identified the available operational
marketing structures, the next step is to rank them
for of strengths and weaknesses, regarding how they
service international markets.
Strengths and weaknesses may include:
Accessibility
Distribution channels
Financial factors
Manufacturing capability
Market capability
Potential profit factors
Research capability
Resource commitment
Risk control.
The following table outlines examples of the strengths and weaknesses of
the operational marketing structures previously discussed:
Operational marketing
structure

Strengths

Weaknesses

Export operation

Greater profit potential

Harder to monitor
quality

Increases market size

Taxation costs for

exportation
Global organisation

Less trade barriers

Can compete equally
with domestic
competitors

Joint venture

Pooling of resources

Domestic markets may

suffer
May experience
resentment/rejection
from domestic market
Decisions must be
jointly made

P a g e | 66

Shared
opinions/expertise
Licensing

Don't need to
manufacture and
create original patents
Easy money for no
extra work (if
supplying them)

Can cost more longterm (if using them)

Can lose USP factor of
your product (if
supplying them)

P a g e | 67

Multi-national organisation

Greater profit potential

Cheaper labour

Online business operation

Cheap to operate

Highly competitive

Can target more

consumers

Need to train in
software applications
used in conducting
international electronic
commerce

Little paper costs

Overseas branch

Can lose national

identity

Allows monitoring of
international market
more closely

Costs to set up

Improves customer
service potential
Strategic alliance

Greater chance of
success
Shared
knowledge/experience

May lose individuality

Have to share
resources and IP

Possible quicker
achievement of
objectives
Subsidiary company

Can use connections

and investment of
parent company to
grow

Decisions can be
overruled by parent
company

You must use the strengths and weaknesses analysis to then rank the structures in
terms of viability, so you have a clear decision on which ones to pursue for your
product. You must have a clear goal in terms of what you want to achieve when
determining rankings and weighting of criteria.

P a g e | 68

Activity
3B

P a g e | 69

3.3 Choose operational structure that best fits

international market and product or service
Choose operational structure
Now you have ranked the operational structures based on strengths and
weaknesses, you must use this information to choose the one that best fits both the
international market and product/service you are marketing.
You will usually choose the highest ranked options, as your system should be
geared towards meeting your objectives.
Think about the operational structures of successful competitors in the international
market you are entering what can you learn from them? What structures yield the
greatest return on investment (ROI)?
Who is your product/service aimed at? Do they react differently to different types of
marketing? Will your structure reach them effectively?
Think of the advantages and disadvantages of choosing an online operation versus
an overseas branch. Which will allow you to cost-effectively market and produce
your product/service?
If you go down the e-commerce route, it is essential that you are fully trained in ecommerce software applications and have technology skills to use the necessary
equipment also.
Think of your current market share? Do you have the resources and reputation to
establish yourself in an international market alone or would you benefit from the
help of other established partners?

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Activity 3C

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4. Manage international marketing

performance
4.1.

Communicate international marketing objectives across the organisation to

suit culture, customs, levels of knowledge, experience and needs of
personnel

4.2.

Identify and agree roles, responsibilities and accountabilities of staff and

contractors involved in
all elements of marketing effort

4.3.

Develop communication strategy to ensure personnel responsible for each

element of marketing mix work together to meet organisation's marketing
objectives

4.4.

Manage marketing effort to ensure it is directed towards areas of greatest

potential for the
organisation

4.5.

Manage integration of marketing, promotional and any sales activities in

accordance with
international marketing objectives

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4.1 Communicate international marketing objectives

across the organisation to suit culture, customs, levels of
knowledge, experience and needs of personnel
Communicate international marketing objectives
Once you have determined your international marketing objectives, you then need
to communicate them to the personnel in your organisation, to ensure you are all
striving for the same things.
The way you communicate these to personnel will depend on their levels of
knowledge, experience and their specific needs.
Communication strategies may include:
Emails
Newsletters
Meetings
Memos
Personal interviews
Mission statements
Graphs
Charts
Tables.
The methods of explanation will differ depending on personnel's existing knowledge
and experience. You may be able to assume certain existing knowledge and use
specific terms; alternatively, you may have to explain things more basically.
Also, consider what people need to know. There is no point explaining everything in
intricate detail to all personnel, as much of this information will be of no use to
them and be a waste of their time and yours. By all means, give them a brief
overview of the entire marketing campaign, so they can see the overall picture and
how their role fits into achieving the company objectives, but don't go into the
insignificant things.
For example, if you have a sub-team dedicated to market research tell them what
questions they need to answer and how this relates to any marketing objectives in
particular.

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Activity
4A

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4.2 Identify and agree roles, responsibilities and

accountabilities of staff and contractors involved in all
elements of marketing effort
Roles, responsibilities and accountabilities of staff and
contractors
In order for any team to function effectively, you need to be able to have specific
roles and people assigned to them. This helps ensure that all of the required
activities are carried out by those with the relevant skill and knowledge sets, as well
as developing accountability for the success of these individual tasks.
Roles are positions that team members assume or what they do in a particular
activity/operation. They can be formal (assigned) or informal (unassigned). Formal
roles are essential for team success and must be completed to achieve objectives;
if there is a lack of clarity, tasks will likely not be completed to expected standards.
Informal roles are usually self-assumed due to particular personalities and standings
within the group natural strengths and weaknesses will come to the forefront in a
team. Be aware that the effects of informal roles can both be positive and negative
in their effects.
Responsibilities refer to specific tasks that they are required to do to complete the
activity/operation. People are held accountable for their responsibilities.
Be aware of Belbin's team roles when assigning roles and responsibilities to staff
and contractors:

Belbin's team roles

This theory was created by Dr Meredith Belbin, and outlines nine 'team roles'
essential to the success of a team. A team role is defined as "a tendency to behave,
contribute and interrelate with others in a particular way."
The nine team roles are:
1. Plant
2. Monitor evaluator
3. Co-ordinator
4. Resource investigator
5. Implementers
6. Completer finishers
7. Teamworkers
8. Shapers
9. Specialist

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1. Plant
They are creative and good at problem-solving they help stimulate fresh directions
for the team, when they may be stuck or starting anew.
2. Monitor evaluator
They provide the voice of logic their judgements are impartial and they ensure
that decisions are made for the greater good of the team, without bias.
3. Co-ordinator
These people have a strong focus on the team's objectives, assigning other team
members work according to their strengths and the team's needs.
4. Resource investigator
They research competing teams and ensure that the rest of the team's ideas and
work is applicable to the outside world.
5. Implementers
These people plan strategy and make sure the team is working as efficiently as
possible.
6. Completer finishers
Mostly used towards the end of a task, these people polish off the work and ensure
it meets all the required standards. They have high attention to detail and provide
scrutiny for other people's work.
7. Teamworkers
They help the cohesiveness of the team and make it "gel" they are versatile and
will chip in with the required workload to make sure everything gets done.
8. Shapers
These people challenge the others in the team to move
forward they provide the drive and the motivation to
help the team achieve its potential.
9. Specialist
This is someone with specialist skills and knowledge in a
key area it is highly valuable to have an expert in a
particular field.
Balance
The key to a successful team, according to Belbin, is that every team has all of the
above members; however, they can't be too few or too many in number, or else it
will have adverse consequences. For instance, without plants, you may struggle to
generate new ideas or directions; with too many plants, you face spending too
much time coming up with ideas and many less effective ideas are allowed
discussion time. Without shapers, you will take longer to complete tasks and have
no clear direction making the finished product average, at best; with too many of
them, there is an internal power struggle and people argue over direction.

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Roles in marketing
These may include:
Role

Responsibilities

Branding/advertising

Branding and logos; image distribution (advertising)

Field marketing

Create/increase product demand; support for trade

partners

Market intelligence

Collect and analyse market data (customers and

competitors)

Product management

Testing, creation and shipping of product to deadlines;

collects, analyses and utilises customer feedback

Product marketing

Gathers information on the market; devises strategy to get

products to market

Telemarketing

Support marketing campaigns via technology and

communication

Channel marketing

Support for third party partners; communication,

generating demand and education about products

Corporate
communications

Public relations (PR); promotion of organisation

Strategy

Creates marketing strategy; measures marketing

performance

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Activity
4B

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4.3 Develop communication strategy to ensure personnel

responsible for each element of marketing mix work
together to meet organisation's marketing objectives
Communication strategies
Communication strategies should ensure the people responsible for the individual
elements of the marketing mix can work together effectively this will determine
whether the organisation's marketing objectives are met or not.
Marketing mix may include:
Distribution
Level of service
Pricing
Product or service variables
such as:
o

design

quality

range

safety features

technical features

Promotion.
Communication should be open and honest if information is withheld from certain
personnel, it can cause conflict and prevent them from performing their roles
effectively.
So, if we take examples from the marketing mix above, we can see that those
responsible for pricing and promotion must work together as the team responsible
for promotions need to know how much they can lower the price without negatively
affecting profits.
Those responsible for distribution must be able to communicate with those in
promotions (if distribution needs to be increased to certain locations to cope with
demand) and personnel responsible for product or service variables (to determine if
there are things like breakages and fragility of products that need to be considered
in distribution).

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Cross-cultural communication and negotiation styles relevant

to the country/ies where international marketing activities
take place
As well as knowing the state of the market in an economic sense, you need to know
the social factors that will impact your ability to succeed in an international market.
One of the most important aspects of a successful business is the effectiveness of
communication. In a foreign market, you will need to consider the cross-cultural
communication and negotiation styles you will use.
Different cultures attach varying meaning to language, both verbal and non-verbal.
You will need to be aware of the language styles and meanings behind things like
gestures, so as to not be misinterpreted or to misinterpret the communication
styles of the people you are dealing with in the foreign market.
For example, depending on the country there may be differences in
meaning associated with:
Pauses
Gestures
Bargaining
Eye contact
Length of response
Pitch and tone of voice
Negotiating styles
Different countries have varying negotiating skills; many of these can be found in
the form of charts at: www.businessinsider.com/communication-charts-around-theworld-2014-3?IR=T

P a g e | 81

As a summary:
Canadians, compared to Americans, tend to be more low-key and inclined to seek
harmony, though they are similarly direct.
English tend to avoid confrontation in an understated, mannered, and humorous
style that can be powerful or inefficient.
Germans rely on logic but "tend to amass more evidence and labour their points
more than either the British or the French."
Spanish and Italians "regard their languages as instruments of eloquence and they
will go up and down the scale at will, pulling out every stop if need be to achieve
greater expressiveness."
The Nordic countries often have entrenched opinions that they have formulated "in
the long dark nights," though they are reasonable conversationalists. Swedes often
have the most wide-ranging discussions, Finns tend to value concision, and most
Norwegians fall somewhere in between.
Swiss tend to be straightforward and unaggressive negotiators, who obtain
concessions by expressing confidence in the quality and value of their goods and
services.
Hungarians value eloquence over logic and are unafraid to talk over each other.
Bulgarians may take a circuitous approach to negotiations before seeking a
mutually beneficial resolution, which will often be screwed up by bureaucracy.
Poles often have a communication style that is "enigmatic, ranging from a matterof-fact pragmatic style to a wordy, sentimental, romantic approach to any given
subject."
The Dutch are focused on facts and figures but "are also great talkers and rarely
make final decisions without a long 'Dutch' debate, sometimes approaching the
danger zone of over-analysis."
Chinese tend to be more direct than the Japanese and some other East Asians;
however, meetings are principally for information gathering, with the real decisions
made elsewhere. People from Hong Kong negotiate much more briskly to achieve
quick results.
Indian English "excels in ambiguity and such things as truth and appearances are
often subject to negotiation."
Australians tend to have a loose and frank conversational style.
Singaporeans generally take time to build a relationship, after which they can be
shrewd negotiators.
Koreans tend to be energetic conversationalists who seek to close deals quickly,
occasionally stretching the truth.

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Indonesians tend to be very deferential conversationalists, sometimes to the point

of ambiguity.
Israelis tend to proceed logically on most issues but emotionally on some.
Source: www.businessinsider.com

Activity 4C

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4.4 Manage marketing effort to ensure it is directed

towards areas of greatest potential for the organisation
Directing the marketing effort
It is important that your efforts in the marketing process
are directed in the areas that offer most potential benefit
for your organisation.
This means identifying and focusing on your target
market. This can be done through effective market
research and concept testing.
You will need to delegate your team and resources in the
areas that will yield the greatest cost-benefit ratio.
Decide on the objectives of your marketing campaign
are you trying to gain new customers, retain the loyalty of existing ones, promote a
new product or advertise the brand, for example? This will affect how you direct
your marketing campaign and allocate your budget.
Do you need to conduct lots of market research or can you use your existing
research to base your efforts upon?
What mediums of advertising will you use and why? In what proportions?
What methods of market research will be most effective regarding your budget and
time constraints? Will you use primary or secondary research?
What analytical methods are you going to use with your research data and how will
you summarise the information? How will you then use this information?
You will also need to research and comply with legislation, codes of practice and
national standards with your marketing processes, as this will avoid complications
further down the line.

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Activity
4D

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4.5 Manage integration of marketing, promotional and

any sales activities in accordance with international
marketing objectives
International marketing objectives
These are based upon your company's overall mission statement and aims. They
are more specific, in that they usually deal in quantifiable figures and specific
sections of the organisation.
So, for example, a strategic marketing objective may be to increase the profits of X
(a brand, a product line) by Y (a certain date).
What are your company's international marketing objectives?

Integrated marketing
This is a holistic approach to communication in marketing, where it is consistent
both online and offline. This means that the message is clear and ensures that
spending is optimised towards the approach that is most effective.
So, for example, rather than focusing all of your marketing effort on, say a TV
advertisement, you could diversify into creating a billboard advertisement, a
website linked to the advert, a blog with search engine optimisation. These other
mediums could be used as a continuation of the original TV advert, rather than
being replicas of it. This encourages the audience to seek out more information on
the product you are marketing and become active in the campaign, rather than
passive observers. This will, in turn, increase your overall visibility to the audience
and help them better understand the message you are trying to convey.
Therefore, when managing the marketing process, you will need to determine which
forms of media you will utilise and how they will all inter-relate to one another.

Promotional and sales activities

These are aimed at boosting sales (usually in the short term)
and can be things like:
Reducing prices
Offering additional rewards with a purchase
Multiple purchase deals
Low cost subscription services (for a limited period)
Free gifts
Coupons/vouchers
Loyalty programs.

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You can also strategise by directing where sales and promotions take place. For
instance, you will place your merchandising displays in the most visible places to
your audience, where they are most likely to trigger a purchase of your
product/service.
Point-of-sale displays, increased shelf space and bolder displays can influence
customers to buy your product over your competitors'.
You can send marketing teams to stores/locations where your product/service is
sold, to provide demonstrations and expert advice to potential customers and boost
sales.
You can also target the trade itself and offer them discounts and benefits to
stocking and selling your products/services this will likely increase their efforts to
promote them to customers.
To decide which sales and promotions strategies to use, you need to have clear
objectives to determine which will best achieve them.
You need to think about the long-term effects of sales promotions, for example,
while reducing prices may attract more sales, it also reduces the profit margin; you
need to be sure that the overall profit increases by attracting sufficient new
customers during this period.
This is why sales promotions are usually more effective for new products and more
risky for existing ones.

Economic, social and industry directions, trends and practices

You will need to take notice of economic, social and industry directions, trends and
practices when planning your marketing strategy, as these will help you determine
what will be most successful.
Economic, social and industry directions will help you determine customer needs
and what strategies are currently selling and not selling. From this, you can
determine what is more likely to be successful. You may also spot a gap in the
market or decide to take a risk on a strategy that is different to current trends in
order to stand out.

Industry product and service knowledge

In order to successfully market a product or service, you will need to know the
industry it resides in and how it works.
This will help you identify the following:
Strengths of the product/service
Weaknesses of the product/service
Comparisons to similar products/services in the industry

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Industry trends
Cost of production
Profit margins
Selling strategies and trends
Past trends
Upcoming products.
What do you know about your industry and the products and services you are
marketing?

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Activity 4E

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5. Evaluate and improve international

marketing performance
5.1.

Monitor product, pricing and distribution policies in relation to market

changes, objectives of
marketing plan and organisational requirements

5.2.

Monitor overall marketing progress against performance targets to ensure

activity, quality, cost,
and time requirements are met

5.3.

Analyse, review and revise marketing outcomes and objectives

5.4.

Analyse successes and performance gaps as to cause and effect, and use to
improve
international marketing performance

5.5.

Analyse changes in market phenomena, and identify and document their

potential impact on
international marketing objectives

5.6.

Document review of marketing performance against key performance

indicators in accordance with organisational requirements

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5.1

Monitor
product, pricing
and distribution
policies in
relation to
market
changes,
objectives of
marketing plan
and
organisational
requirements
Monitor product,
distribution,
pricing and
marketing
communication

policies
You must monitor your organisation's policies with regard to products, distribution,
pricing and marketing communication, in order to ensure they comply with market
changes, marketing plan objectives and organisational requirements.
If you fail to do this, it can result in your strategies becoming out-of-date with trends
and objectives, making them less effective than if they are adapted and regulated
according to set standards.
Monitoring processes may include:
Comparisons against competitors
Meetings to discuss product, distribution, pricing and marketing
communication
Email contact
Telephone contact
Regular performance analysis of marketing strategy.
So, if the market changes, you will have to review your product, distribution, pricing
and marketing communication policies to see if they still satisfy customer demand
and are sufficient for their intended purpose.
What are your organisational requirements for your marketing strategy? How do the
product, distribution, pricing and marketing communication policies of your

P a g e | 91

organisation comply with these? How do they relate to your marketing plan
objectives? How would a market change affect them?

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Activity
5A

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5.2 Monitor overall marketing progress against

performance targets to ensure activity, quality, cost, and
time requirements are met
You will need to monitor your overall marketing progress against performance
targets this will ensure that activity, quality, cost, and time requirements are met.
The methods of monitoring you can use are marketing metrics and statistical and
data evaluation techniques.

Marketing metrics
These are used to measure the success of marketing against performance targets,
to ensure that they are being met.
There are four main types of metrics used,
which are:
1. Consumption
2. Sharing
3. Lead generation
4. Sales.
Consumption
This basically is used to measure how many people have consumed the content you
put out. It can be measured in terms of viewing figures, purchases, downloads,
traffic increases etc.
Sharing
This refers to how your content is shared with other consumers. In the modern day
and age, this is measured by tweets (Twitter), likes (Facebook), Google shares,
LinkedIn shares etc.
All of these sharing metric components can usually be measured under one
analytics program, such as PostRank or Google Analytics.
Lead generation
This measures how many consumers of marketing media will actually investigate
your product/service further. This is often measured by things like requiring
consumers to register to view your website's content, or to join email lists, or by
cookies on websites.
In other words, this helps you determine the cost-benefit of your marketing
strategies.
Sales

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This involves how many content consumers will turn into actual customers this is
very important in measuring the success of your marketing strategy.
You will need to link content consumption to profitability for each customer i.e. what
media of yours did customers consume before making a purchases, how long can
you expect their custom and how much money can you make from them?
You will need to have a customer and prospect database to measure these metrics
and ensure that they are synced with each other, to allow allocation of profitability
to each piece of media consumed by the customer.
Using these metrics, you can then analyse whether your marketing strategy is
effective, in terms of activity, quality, cost, and time requirements. It will allow you
to identify which strategies are yielding the most profit, so you can reallocate your
resources to these and not waste investment on outputs that have a low costbenefit ratio.

Statistical and data evaluation techniques to measure

marketing performance
When analysing your marketing progress against performance targets, you can
analyse the data in two ways descriptive and inferential.
Descriptive data analysis
This is where you describe the results from your marketing progress, giving you a
summary of what has been gathered. For example, it could tell you how many
people liked and disliked a particular concept, using the quantitative data gathered.
It uses visual representations of figures (e.g. charts, graphs, tables) and calculates
averages (e.g. means, medians modes).
It can incorporate qualitative data, to include the interpretation of the data and
responses. This information can then be grouped into categories, based on these
qualitative summaries.
Inferential data analysis
This is where statistical methods are used to make judgements about certain issues
related to the marketing progress. For example, it allows you to determine whether
certain types of customer differ from one another. This can be used to identify
whether different demographics hold different core values. It requires careful
construction of surveys and requires participants to rate issues on a scale.
Note that quantitative data is essential for inferential data analysis in most cases.
Key performance indicators (KPIs)
These are certain measurements or benchmarks that help you determine whether
marketing performance is meeting your objectives e.g. increasing sales, generating
new customers.

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KPIs should be geared towards measuring outcomes from the consumers'

perspective and be measurable and comparable. They should encompass all of your
marketing activities, so that you can gain a holistic perspective of your marketing
activities and achieve a fair analysis.

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Return on investment (ROI)

This basically deals with measuring profits against investment. You obviously want a
positive return on investment in order for a marketing campaign to have been
successful. This, after all, is the overall purpose of marketing.
You basically measure it by subtracting the money invested from the amount of
money gained for the period of marketing.
However, be aware that making $1 profit is a positive ROI, but you wouldn't really
consider that to be satisfactory, in reality. Therefore, you need to set a ROI
benchmark, for the minimum amount of profit that your organisation would
consider a success. This will be based on the
amount of time spent on marketing and your
position within the industry.

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Activity
5B

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5.3 Analyse, review and revise marketing outcomes and

objectives
Analyse marketing outcomes
After you have completed a marketing campaign, you need to analyse the
outcomes of it to determine whether it was successful.
The first place you should start is to look at your international marketing objectives
did you achieve them? What were the contributing factors to your success/failure
and were they controllable?
You need to then revise your methods for future marketing campaigns to ensure
you learn from any feedback and analysis you have gathered. The idea is that,
during your next marketing campaign, you can make the process more effective
and efficient.
Consider things such as:
Profit increases (as a result of the marketing campaign)
Allocation of resources
Effectiveness of individual marketing strategies
Customer feedback
Trader feedback
Cost-benefit ratios
Time invested in campaign
Short-term benefits
Long-term benefits.

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Review marketing objectives and outcomes

The creation of marketing objectives is not a finite process and should be a cyclical
one of improvement. In other words, you should apply continuous improvement
processes to marketing objectives.
Ask yourself if the marketing objectives are still in tune with aspects such as
economic, social and industry trends.
Will your marketing objectives for your next campaign be the same? Will you chase
the same demographic or will you attempt to break new ground?
Are marketing objectives reasonable within the given timeframes? Are the
benchmarks appropriate to the context in which in you are assessing them?
Once you have reviewed marketing objectives, there are various
resolutions you may come to:
Use the same marketing objectives but manage improvement by
changing the actions required to achieve them
Change the objectives to fit the current context this may require
readjusting benchmarks
Change the marketing objectives completely.
The types of metrics you use need to be reviewed also are they measuring the
aspects of the marketing plan that you need to measure? Do they offer a way to
measure your objectives?
To refresh your memory, there are four main types of metrics used:
1. Consumption
2. Sharing
3. Lead generation
4. Sales.
Which of these metrics categories are most relative to your marketing objectives?
How does your organisation currently measure and analyse these metrics? What
other ways can you think of to measure and analyse these metrics?

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Activity
5C

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5.4 Analyse successes and performance gaps as to cause

and effect, and use to improve international marketing
performance
Performance gap analysis
Performance gap analysis helps identify the areas of an individual that are lacking
in comparison to competitors (regarding performance). The standards you measure
against are benchmarks for acceptable performance see previous information on
key performance indicators (KPIs). It will help identify what additional skills and
knowledge may need to be gained in order to ensure employees meet company
benchmarks. It may also identify any additional resources that are required to help
achieve KPIs.
Performance mapping
This involves making a performance map to display the behaviours of those who
are successful in a particular role. This then sets a series of benchmarks for
behaviour that you can compare others to in this role, helping you identify where
others are deficient. You need to create different performance maps for each role in
your marketing team.
Performance mapping can also be extended to cover your entire marketing
operation you can analyse other successful marketing companies to create a
performance benchmark that you can then compare your efforts to.

Improving marketing performance

Once you have analysed success and performance gaps, the next stage is to use
this information to address any areas for improvement.
This may involve any of the following actions:
Additional training
Performance monitoring
Acquiring extra resources
Re-explaining the international
marketing objectives and how to
achieve them
Disciplinary procedures
Mentoring
Additional skills and knowledge assessments
Bringing in external coaches.

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Activity
5D

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5.5 Analyse changes in market phenomena, and identify

and document their potential impact on international
marketing objectives
Analyse changes in market phenomena
Market phenomena come in a variety of forms and will shift as new technology and
trends emerge.
Market phenomena will vary depending on the industry you are dealing with some
of them can be explained, while others appear somewhat unpredictably. You will
need to analyse the changes that are explainable and determine why they have
happened use this information to then predict future market phenomena (to a
degree).
You must also identify and document the market phenomena changes' impact on
international marketing objectives.
For example, if a trend is developing for a certain style of advert, you may want to
incorporate this style into your marketing campaign. First, though, you need to
analyse this trend to check that it is actually successful from a profit perspective.
It may be also that you need to alter your strategic objectives to fit the changes in
market phenomena, so that they are achievable and in line with current trends and
the rest of the industry.
Be aware that market phenomena changes are usually reflective of the needs of the
customers therefore, it makes sense that you follow them.
Make sure you document your analysis of market phenomena changes and their
impact on international marketing objectives. This will allow you to refer back to
them at a later date when you are reviewing your international marketing
objectives.

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Activity
5E

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5.6 Document review of marketing performance against

key performance indicators in accordance with
organisational requirements
Document review of marketing performance
You will need to document your review of marketing performance against key
performance indicators (KPIs) in accordance with your organisation's requirements.
This will ensure that documentation is standardised and easy to access and
interpret for future use. It will also deal with documentation formats i.e. electronic
or manual.
The following guidelines are applicable to the completion of documentation:
Ensure documentation is written in the active voice rather than the passive, as this
gets the message across more directly and helps with
concise writing.
Documents should be:
Concise
Objective
By exception
Appropriate in language (no slang, unless recording direct speech)
Include only necessary information.
Concise documentation
This means including the right amount of information not too little or too much.
You need to get to the point in as few words as possible; use appropriate words,
sentence structures and avoid frivolous information that is not relevant.
Objective documentation
This involves only including the facts in documentation and no opinions or bias
affecting what is recording. Subjective information is based on assumptions and
feelings and will not accurately portray the incident.
Ensure documentation is dated, so it can be filed chronologically and used in
accordance with other documents relative to the same time period.
What are your organisation's requirements for documentation? What things need to
be documented? Are there standard reports for performance against KPIs? Do
certain visual representations (graphs, charts etc.) need to be included?

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Activity 5F

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Skills and Knowledge Activity

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Nearly there...

Major Activity An opportunity to revise the unit

At the end of your Learner Workbook, you will find an activity titled Major Activity.
This is an opportunity to revise the entire unit and allows your trainer to check your
knowledge and understanding of what you have covered. It should take between
and 1-2 hours to complete and your trainer will let you know whether they wish for
you to complete it in your own time or during session. Once this is completed, you
will have finished this unit and be ready to move onto the next, well done!

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Congratulations!
You have now finished the unit 'Manage international marketing programs'.

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References
These suggested references are for further reading and do not necessarily
represent the contents of this Learner Guide.

AS/NZS ISO 31000:2009 Risk Management Principles and Guidelines:

http://www.finance.gov.au/sites/default/files/COV_216905_Risk_Management_Fact_S
heet_FA3_23082010_0.pdf (accessed 4.12.14)
Australian export and import laws: http://www.austrade.gov.au/Invest/Doingbusiness-in-Australia/Investor-Guide/Running-a-business/Understanding-Australianbusiness-regulation/Australian-export-and-import-laws (accessed 4.12.14)
Communication patterns around the world:
http://www.businessinsider.com/communication-charts-around-the-world-2014-3?
IR=T (accessed 4.12.14)
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: http://www.dfat.gov.au/trade
(accessed 4.12.14)
Extended application of Competition and Consumer Act 2010 to conduct
outside Australia: http://www.treasury.gov.au/Access-toInformation/InformationPublicationScheme/Guidance-on-obtaining-Ministerialconsent-to-rely-on-extraterritorial-conduct-in-private-proceedings (accessed
4.12.14)
Foreign investment limits:
http://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary
_Library/pubs/BriefingBook44p/AustForeignInvest (accessed 4.12.14)
Labour relations: http://www.commerce.wa.gov.au/labour-relations (accessed
4.12.14)
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
International Guidelines for Consumer Protection in the Context of
Electronic Commerce:
http://www.oecd.org/fr/sti/consommateurs/oecdguidelinesforconsumerprotectioninth
econtextofelectroniccommerce1999.htm (accessed 4.12.14)
World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute resolution system:
http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/dispu_e/disp_settlement_cbt_e/c1s2p1_e.htm
(accessed 4.12.14)
Understanding Chinese consumers:
http://www.chinabusinessreview.com/understanding-chinese-consumers/ (accessed
4.12.14)