Strategic Directions - Formal and Informal

a) Political instability- such matters as war, political unrest and terrorist activity could jeopardize the ownership or viability of a foreign business.
b) Currency instability- Inflation and fluctuations in exchange rates can affect the profitability of overseas operations.
c) Nationalism- The host country's goals for independence can adversely affect expatriate companies by using competitive and protectionist practices such as insufficient patent protection, and trade restrictions.
d) International competition- Such matters as the other country's infrastructure to support new competition, profit potential, and level of supply and demand for products have to be considered when doing business elsewhere.
The levels of environmental monitoring should include multinational, regional, and national. The multinational analysis provides a broad assessment of worldwide trends, economic, political and technological. The regional level analysis focuses on environmental factors to identify opportunities and risks for marketing goods or services. The national level of investigation would assess the size and nature of the market, along with any operational problems. How well these assessments serve a company depends on the quality of specific information provided about potential markets. …