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Internationalization at Harley-Davidson Name: Institution: Date: Internationalization at Harley-Davidson One of the emerging trends across the world is the increasing number of big companies crossing borders to do business. As seen in the case study, Harley-Davidson joined this bandwagon following a constrained financial situation. However, the international market is characterized by tough competition from competitors such as Yamaha, Suzuki, and Kawasaki who have already established their niche globally. Equally, Harley faces a market which is dynamic regarding tastes and preferences of customers. While the company has been focusing on heavyweight bikes, the international market requires flexibility due to the varying customer preference. For instance, we are told that in Europe customers prefer performance bikes because the streets are narrow thus making the heavyweight bikes unsuitable for this market segment. Regarding risks, the company faces a number of risks as discussed in the textbook. First, the company faces the cross-cultural risk. As noted in the textbook, this risk is as a result of the differences in customs, languages, values, lifestyle and religious beliefs (Cavusgil et. al., 2015). In this regard, Harley agents may find it difficult to communicate with customers in new territories due to language barrier thereby leading to wrong strategies and perhaps poor customer relations. Equally, Harley faces a political risk which results from legal and business regulations in the foreign markets. A case in point from the case study is the Chinese law that prohibits motorbikes from using highways, and this may lead to low sales in China. The company may
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