Respondents Rate Site Visits, Local Government Support and Better Business and Marketing Planning as the Most Helpful Tools for International Expansion: Conferences Seen as Least Helpful Option

Respondents prefer hands-on and customized assistance over research and conferences, yet given other answers it is unlikely they are willing to allocate the resources necessary to gain this support, at least during initial stages.

When asked to rate the services that would best help them to expand, or optimize their international operations, respondents listed, with relatively average deviation "Site Visits" (6.42), "Local Government Support" (6.14), "Business Planning" (6.11), "Marketing Support" (6.03), "Transactional Support/Facilitation" (5.81), "Advisory Support/Facilitation" (5.73), "Research Support/Briefings" (5.65), and "Conferences/Seminars" (5.08).

To some extent these preferences may be a matter of the size of the firm. As one Business Consultant stated, "We see two different trends. Smaller companies try to partner with local companies while larger companies try to acquire local companies."

What is also interesting is that respondents stressed the need for hands-on contact, emphasizing factors such as "Site Visits" and "Local Government" and "Marketing" Support and "Business Planning" as most important, followed by a range of professional services, with "Research" and "Conferences/Seminars" considered least important. Respondents expressed similar concerns in their comments. For example, an Engineer for a Midwest-based Industrial Equipment Manufacturer stated, "Our organization's expertise resides in our technical abilities. We need to improve our marketing focus and business contacts." In another example, the VP for a West Coast technology firm emphasized, "We know exactly which companies we need to talk to. Our biggest challenge is to get an audience/introduction to the decision makers. There is already good marketing data/press coverage on semiconductor companies and most also have annual reports with useful data. Most of the countries of our prospects have good infrastructure, reasonable political/government climate, etc."

The problem with these views, however, is while these firms are seeking more customized assistance, as demonstrated in Questions 5, 6 and 8, many of these firms are unable or unwilling to devote the resources necessary to gain this level of personalized support. On the other hand they do not believe they are able to gain sufficient knowledge and direction from research and conferences/seminars alone.

When one looks, however, at the two top choices, i.e., "Site Visits" and "Local Government Support", this appears to identify opportunities for investment promotion agencies, publications, and industry and trade associations to position themselves as a platform in which they can organize site visits, and help to familiarize interested firms with these markets and the support they require in a way that extends beyond occasional conferences and reports that do not delve into sufficient detail.

Respondents' quotes

"Generally, public research and development organizations lead the high technologies in the areas."

"Our organization's expertise resides in our technical abilities. We need to improve our marketing focus and business contacts."

"We know exactly which companies we need to talk to. Our biggest challenge is to get an audience/introduction to the decision makers. There is already good marketing data and press coverage on semiconductor companies and most also have annual reports with useful data. Most of the countries of our prospects have good infrastructure, reasonable political and government climate, etc. The only exception is China."