Analysis of Globalisation with a Case Study of 69b Boutique

Globalisation can be referred to the growing interdependence of the worldwide cultures, economy and population that has accelerated the cross-border trades and the flow of investments. Oramah and Dzene (2019) noticed that globalisation is the process of international integration of technology, goods, capital and labour. This report will focus on a comprehensive analysis of globalisation by illustrating a poster presentation. Additionally, this report will highlight a case study of a London-based independent firm 69b Boutique for advising them on the best approach to penetrate international markets. Hence, it will be easier to evaluate the existing functions of the firm along with their cultures that can be enlightened in the global business through internationalisation.

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Introduction Of The Local Company And Its Current Market 

In 2011, 69b Boutique was established and it is currently located in Broadway Market, London. Merryn Leslie is the founder of this company aimed at bringing socially and environmentally responsible designers together for pioneering the movement of the sustainable fashion industry (69bboutique.com 2021). Currently, the firm runs at a small scale but with a few efficient members like the owner, a manager, a sustainability officer and three sales assistants. They sell products as men wear, women wear, footwear and accessories whereas they use recycled products like paper bags and tissue paper for showing their sustainability concerns. In terms of USP, 69b Boutique ensures to provide all informative content while displaying its products on the websites and other sales channels. The brand claims not to believe in reflecting their market position exactly whereas they do not disclose the prices of their products unless customers confirm it for buying.

Intellectual Property Rights In X

69b Boutique sincerely maintains their trade secrets where they have built their own order acceptance policy. Due to that law, they do not prefer to disclose their product rates until customers agree to buy them. As stated by Gürkaynak et al. (2018), backed by strong intellectual property law, firms can enforce their power to achieve worthy goals. In the case of 69b Boutique, the firm efficiently follows a Data Protection & Privacy policy through which it ensures that customers can attain breakthrough and holistic service experiences. 69b Boutique also respects and values the recorded confidential data of customers whereas they use industry-standard SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) technology for offering customers a secure shopping environment. The brand also follows the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 through which they ensure that any third party will not reproduce their contents or store them in any retrieval system (Lam and Jefferis 2018). By following intellectual property rights, 69b Boutique protects their texts, designs, graphics and organisational arrangements in terms of trade names that are depicted on their official website.

Report

Manufacturing And Production

As 69b Boutique is pledged to ensure proper maintenance and follow up of sustainable elements in its products, the brand eliminates materials like plastic in the production process. They mainly use cellulose-based fabrics like Rayon, Viscose and Tencel. On the other hand, signing up for the animal welfare audits has led 69b Boutique to not use any animal products in manufacturing clothing and accessories (69bboutique.com 2022). Backed by local certifications, partnerships and programs, 69b Boutique has established independent manufacturing units and factories. Based on the standards associated with International Justice Mission (IJM) and International Labour Organisation (ILO), the brand ensures to prove full working safety and scope to hold expected welfare to its employees.

Sales And Marketing

Till now, the brand has not extended its business in the international market apart from selling products only in the boundaries of East London. On the other hand, the brand also sells its products via the online channels of Meet The Buyer at a wholesale and retail quantity. Chen and Lin (2019) pointed out that social media advertisements create a social identification of brands that influences individuals’ buying intentions. 69b Boutique also followed the same modes for promoting its products where they used social networking sites like Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram. They have also a video campaign called Our Brands Against Black Friday through which they communicate with audiences for their concerns associated with corporate social responsibility.

Human Resource

69b Boutique does not have any HR managers specifically as they comprise a small team. Nevertheless, they are quite passionate and intelligent to welcome people to whom they often put offers to continuously grow with the business.

Finance And Accounting

Internally, the team manages the financial measurements although they claim not to take any liability for any damaged products that have been delivered to customers. The firm uses online and card payments via MasterCard, American Express, PayPal and Visa as those are the most preferred payment methods among consumers (Tounekti, Ruiz-Martinez and Gómez 2019).

Communication

Communication plays an important role, especially among the business stakeholders to build a proactive rapport so that they can make the most informed decisions. Bednarz and Orelly (2020) viewed that businesses are required to adopt a customer-based communication model under their marketing mix system for sending a clear message to the target audience. In this way, firms bring positive and intended changes in the society in national and international paradigms by influencing a broad audience to think similarly about new products or services. On the other hand, Men and Yue (2019) argued that communication can foster a positive emotional culture. It structures organisational citizenship behaviour. Hence, organisations like 69b Boutique need to use robust marketing tools to not only influence consumers’ buying decisions nationally but also in the international market for holding long-term conversations.

Attitude

Individuals' attitudes in national culture aid them to encompass their social networks and other relationships based on which they can decide to choose the right pathways for moving further. For instance, consumers' attitudes towards green products can influence other people to use the same products, although, in the modern era, it is influencing the entire global communities (Sreen, Purbey and Sadarangani 2018). In this way, consumers’ attitudes towards a product or service shape their habits and behaviours not only in national boundaries but also in international markets. Fan et al. (2018) argued that perceived value from a product or service influences consumers’ attitudes. In the international culture, such concerns’ attitudes allow brands to develop the same features in their desired product or services so that they can hold the same customer persona.

Etiquette

Workplace etiquette in domestic firms influences the entire organisational productivity level that often is carried forward by them when launching the business in the international market. In fact, work-integrated learning builds organisational etiquette in the regional section which influences its stakeholders to get exposed to international work culture (Pham et al. 2018).

Franchising

Franchising has been described as a contractual entry mode through which firms get scopes to penetrate international markets containing a low degree of risk. According to Villanueva and Ramírez (2020), the intensity of franchising will be greater if the franchisor limits the capital resources along with local market knowledge and managerial capacity. On the contrary, it has been viewed that some franchisors ask for a huge amount of start-up cost which becomes challenging for firms to bear at the initial phase.

Joint Venture

A Joint venture or a partnership business includes two or more firms to capitalise their resources and expertise equally in order to get dividends or stakes while distributing profits. Sestu and Majocchi (2020) believed that joint venture as an entry mode can be preferred if the investing and the local firm are equally associated with a family business. On the other hand, it has also been noticed that in order to develop a new project or product, firms from different business segments contribute their equities. In such circumstances, the scope of facing conflicts of interests among stakeholders remains higher.

Licensing

Licensing is also a contractual agreement that allows foreign firms to manufacture proprietary products or services under a fixed term and condition. Ra (2020) found it as an effective method of market entry where licensing can be used with joint ventures to control an increased flow of knowledge transfer and additional revenues. Firms can use the same patents or copyright-oriented business products or services in return for payment to the parent firms where the scope of facing risks is comparatively higher. In fact, Mittelstadt (2019) argued that licensing as a market entry mode contained limited uptakes where introducing professional sanctions became difficult to make.

Direct Investments Under The FDI Scheme

Direct investments mode has been noted as the most effective way to introduce and operate a business in the foreign markets including cheaper labour costs, tax exemptions and other privileges. Through this market entry mode, it becomes easier for firms to promote the development of home countries via different channels and spillovers including backward linkages of parent companies (Paul and Feliciano-Cestero 2021).

Based on the analysis, it can be advised to 69b Boutique to follow the joint venture method as a market entry mode. It will help them to share business risks initially in the international markets like Europe where FDI may be challenging to adhere to because of political concerns like Brexit.

In order to recommend a potential internationalisation strategy, the strategic framework of Porter’s Generic Strategies can be incorporated with the market entry modes of 69b Boutique. According to the model, a firm can implement four different strategies such as cost differentiation, cost focus, differentiation and differentiation focus (Islami, Mustafa and Latkovikj 2020). Out of these quadrants, 69b Boutique will choose the differentiation standard where they will focus on implementing a multi-domestic strategy. 69b Boutique will aim at customising their fashionable and trendy clothing items as per customer requirements in the foreign market like Europe. It will help them to save their costs in operating manufacturing bulk products where the scope of selling the overall items is low due to the higher competition level.

On the other hand, Triantafillidou (2020) argued that a multi-domestic strategy can help a brand if the pressures for international interaction are low whereas accumulating responses from local markets are high. In such circumstances, it becomes the prime responsibility of 69b Boutique to know the local markets in the international domain by understanding consumers' product or service choices and cultural preferences. Hence, 69b Boutique can apply the theoretical knowledge of Hofstede’s Six Cultural Dimension in an outright way for perceiving the knowledge associated with international societal infrastructures. The dimensions are power distance matrix, masculine vs. feminism, individualism vs. collectivism, long-term vs. short-term orientations, indulgence vs. restraints and uncertainty avoidance (Huang and Crotts 2019).

In this way, it will be transparent for 69b Boutique to know the intensity of the influence of social beliefs on consumers' behaviours towards clothing products. Apart from customisation, 69b Boutique will use both traditional and digital media for promoting its brand serviceability so that it can generate a huge response across the local markets. Apart from updating profiles in Facebook and Instagram, 69b Boutique will develop a few video campaigns featuring commercial faces to generate social media buzz and traffic on its web portals.

Conclusion

Based on the above analysis, it is deduced that brands are required to differentiate themselves in the international markets for remaining resilient and competitive. In this way, it becomes easier for them to hold long-term sustainability in certain marketplaces. On the other hand, choosing an appropriate market entry mode helps them to feel less pressure of business risks. In the case of assessing international culture, Hofstede's model will guide firms like 69 Boutique. Additionally, Porter’s model can assist them to choose the right ways through which they can be closer to the target audiences.

References

69bboutique.com, 2021. About Us. [online] 69b Boutique. Available at: <https://69bboutique.com/pages/about-us> [Accessed 27 January 2022].

69bboutique.com, 2022. Certifications and Standards. [online] 69b Boutique. Available at: <https://69bboutique.com/pages/certifications-and-standards> [Accessed 27 January 2022].

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