Expanding Mulberry's Business Through Strategic International Partnerships

Intoduction : Managing a Successful Business Project

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The report is based on the business project of the Mulberry business which wants to expand its business in the foreign market. There mar many entry gates for the expansion of the business in the international market like exporting, licensing, the joint venture. They have their own risk and advantages involved in it. The business has to make every plan effective before entering into the foreign market. The Mulberry business chooses the joint venture as its entry gate into the Japan market. The business will join hand with a local firm to enter the market. Due to globalization, the business can now enter into a new overseas market easily.  

TASK 1

Proposed Topic

The proposed for the project implies Globalization- the risks and benefits of a joint venture to enter the international market. Project management can be stated as a temporary arrangement undertaken in order to attain a project with a specific purpose. Globalization has been changed the whole process of doing business by offering trade opportunities beyond the boundaries of the domestic market. This topic plays a significant role for Mulberry Japan Co. as it is planning to cross the boundaries of the UK industry and expand its business in the markets of Asia using a joint venture contract.

Project Aims and Objectives

A project management plan cannot be implemented only with the development of certain aims and objectives (Batselier and Vanhoucke, 2017). The significant aim of undertaking this project is “To determine the potential risks and benefits for Mulberry Japan Co. in undertaking a joint venture contract as an effect of globalization”. Achieving the key aim, certain project objectives have been established which are as below:

• To gain an in-depth knowledge of the relationship between globalization and joint venture
• Different ways of undertaking a joint venture by Mulberry Japan Co
• To determine the most suitable company for the international joint venture
• To determine the risks associated with the joint venture strategy
• To assess the impact of the joint venture on Mulberry Japan Co

Scope and Limitations of Mulberry Project

The scope of the Mulberry project implies the documentation of all the project aims and objectives, deliverables, costs, resources and the activities using which the project will be accomplished. Clear definition of project scope is necessary for defining the boundaries within which the project should be undertaken. For Mulberry, the scope statement has developed the restrictions or limitations involved in this project accomplishment (Kiridena and Sense, 2016). Limitations of this project may comprise the insufficient audience size for research, inadequate data collection, an extension of project time, lack of resources, the requirement of excess funds, and personnel lay off and others.

Project Resources and Costs

Project resources are comprised of the capital, human resources, machines, and materials in order to execute as well as accomplish the project within the prescribed time. The resources required for the successful undertaking of the Mulberry project are as follows:

Resources
Human Resources	Project Manager Research team Project Financial Manager Project Leader
Documents	Project Plan, WBS Structure, Gantt chart, scope statement, project quality, and communication plan, and risk register
Project tools	Data collection- Surveys/Questionnaires and interviews Project quality tools- Project audits, quality metrics, and checklist and project testing. Tools for communication such as emails and newsletters.

Project costs refer to the entire costs involved in the project undertaking from the initial to closeout phase. This includes the purchasing of resources, pay to the involved personnel and conducting research and so on (Güngör, and Gözlü, 2017). As per the estimation, the total cost of the Mulberry project is approximately £80,000. Cost allocation has been done as follows:

Work Breakdown Structure and Gantt chart

Work breakdown structure is considered as one of the key project deliverables. It breaks the whole project into smaller divisions for assisting in the project completion effectively and efficiently. The project of Mulberry involves the work breakdown structure so that the project manager can manage the project with ease. It clearly helps in defining what work would be done by which person. Not only this, it further assists Mulberry in the accurate cost, risk and time estimation. Apart from this, the Gantt chart for the Mulberry project has been used for showcasing the time schedule of completing the project activities. Using a Gantt chart, the project manager can monitor the progress of all the activities that lead to the completion of the entire project.

Project Risk Register

For the project of Mulberry Japan Co, a project risk register is a supportive tool for risk management in the project. The risk register is basically utilized for the purpose of the identification and recording of the current and potential risks pertaining throughout the project (Novo, et. al., 2017). The project risk register of Mulberry contains the vital information of the identified risks including the impact, likelihood, status, and owner of the risk and so on.

TASK 2

Chapter 1: Introduction

The effects of globalization are unavoidable and clearly visible in the context of international business. This project is mainly undertaken for the purpose of identifying the risks and benefits being associated with the joint venture contract of Mulberry Japan Co. This joint venture is desired by the company in order to enter the Asian markets. Globalization has become one of the vital concepts and needs for every organization that desires to cross the domestic borders and enhancing its business growth overseas. For the project, Mulberry has conducted market research in order to find solutions to research questions. Small-Scale research using quantitative and qualitative research methods has been conducted for the purpose of data collection. Interviews and surveys are conducted using an online platform. A literature review regarding the given topic has been undertaken using the views of different authors in order to develop a foundation for the research. It can be seen that the project plan prepared for the joint venture of Mulberry can be considered effective. The basic requirements of the project plan have been fulfilled such as a clear definition of the roles and responsibilities of the involved personnel. The estimation of cost, time and resources has been done for every activity of the project. Apart from this, project risks have also been identified along with the work break down structure that makes it an effective plan.

Chapter 2: Literature Review

The word Globalization completely represents the global integration of the information technology, cultures, integration trade as well as the investment. Globalization is driven by the government policies which are designed in the open economies internationally as well as domestically to boost development in the poorer countries and then raise the standards of the citizens of such country. According to Kotabe and Kothari, 2016,the multinational corporations are benefitted to a great extent in the western countriesas these globalization policies have created the international market free.With the help of globalization, the companies are able to gain the competitive advantage from the lower operating and functioning costs as well as the access to the cheaper raw material along with the additional space for the market (Kotabe and Kothari, 2016).

The multinational companies have the opportunities to manufacture, buy as well as sell their products worldwide. According to Tong, et. al., 2015,the public policies as well as the technologies is considered as the most important driving forces behind such current situation of the globalization boom. The companies are entering into the international markets through several methods such as exporting, licensing, franchisees as well as the joint ventures. For an example, Mulberry is also launchingthe joint venture with the Onward Global Fashion. Onward Global Fashionis the current licensing partner of the organization Mulberry. The new company which is going to be formed is the Mulberry Japan Co. Limited, which is held responsible to see the development of the digital, wholesale as well as the retail business in Japan market for Mulberry organization.

There are several numbers of risks and benefits associated with the joint business ventures in order to enter into the international markets.According to Chetty, et. al., 2015,the joint ventures are generally formed for many reasons and can take various forms but the common international structure for a joint venture is when a local organization shares the legal ownership with any other company and also utilizes their common resources for the purpose of pursuing the business opportunities together. While entering into the international markets, it has been analyzed that the companies can make their presence worldwide but there are several other factors which can affect the business of these joint ventures in other countries (Chetty, et. al., 2015).

The joint ventures are beneficial for a company entering into the international market through forming a joint venture as they can share the risk as well as utilize each other’s sources to achieve the common objective of increasing the sales as well as increasing the brand awareness in the new market place. They share the challenges or pursuing the risks as well as the benefits altogetherand also supports each other in the capital intensive as well as rare business opportunities. This strategy of the joint venture companies to enter into the international markets provide them benefits of introducing the new products as well as pursuing their joint initiatives for the research and their development in the international market.

The joint ventures, entering into the international markets can also face several numbers of risks associated with such a country. According to Baena and Cerviño, 2015,There could be some sort of political issues or economic issues in that particular country where the joint venture is planning to enter and operate their business. There is the requirement of huge costs in order to take the entry into the international market to do the business and it is beneficial for the joint venturesas there can be an availability of additional sources of funds from both the companies formed the alliance through the joint venture. If any of the company takes back its hands out of the project of entering into the international market, it can cause a big blunder for the businesses.

The most crucial benefit of joint ventures entering into the international market is that they will be able to overcome the social risks by working together and managing the host country regulations to a great extent. According to Larimo, et. al., 2016,The joint venture company has the advantage of advancing the strategies of the business to enter into the international luxury market by continuing to refine their own positioning in the market of their base country. Mulberry is considered as the most suitable example of entering into the market of Japan through forming a joint venture with the company Onward Global Fashion. Joint ventures may have the problem of the flexibility while entering into the international market as there are several times where there has been faced the problem of lack of flexibility at the time of joining into the international market (Larimo, et. al., 2016).

According to Li and Parboteeah, 2015, the fast-growing countries such as Bangladesh, India, and Malaysia could prove to be attractive with the fast-paced globalization as an attractive marketplace for the UK after the Brexit. The current close trading partners of the UK are Japan as well as South Korea. It has been analyzed that these countries are experiencing a population decline in recent times. It has been discussed that the rapid growth of the economy, as well as the population over the next few years, will increase the lure of different markets which are of emerging nature as the destinations for the UK exports. According to Hwang, et. al.,2016, As the demand of the services take the speed for the growth faster than the incomes of people, the continued growth in the markets of emerging nature should also create the great opportunities for the service suppliers of UK.It has been analyzed that the emerging market economies of the countries such as the Philippines, Egypt, India as well as Nigeria are predicted to undergo development in the population growth as well as the economy. The developed economies like Japan, Australia, and Canada are expected to slow down surely on such metrics (Hwang, et. al.,2016).

According to Hollender, et. al., 2017, the joint venture companies, looking to enter into the international markets will enjoy the benefits and perks of a larger market space as well as a benefit to both the companies together for the increased sales and developed brand awareness. As the company, Mulberry Japan Co. will be able to manage all the sales and operations of the business of Mulberry in the country Japan. It has also beenanalyzed that it will be cheaper for the UK to make a trade with EU countries after the concept of Brexit (Hollender, et. al., 2017).

Chapter 3: Methodologies

It is to be seen that the primary data collection method is effective and directly collected by the researcher for the very first time. For the completion of the research work, the primary research method is used. The method used for data collection is a questionnaire in which the opinion and feedback of respondents will be noted down for further development. In terms of the research, the sample is the group of people or items which are taken from a larger population for measuring their opinion. The random sampling technique is used in this research. The reason for selecting this method is that every respondent will get the chance and the likelihood of being selected in the sample. The sample size of this research work is 30 and their reviews will be collected through questionnaire. The advantages of the primary data collection method are listed below:

• The collected primary data are originally linked to the stated research topic. Hence, it can be seen that the degree of accuracy will be high.
• It can be collected in different ways like an interview, survey focus groups, and It can include large population coverage easily (Holtrop, et. al., 2019).
• Also, the primary data are current so there is some chance of getting a realistic view of the topic under consideration
• The consistency of primary data is high because it is collected by a dependable
• On the other the disadvantage of primary data collected are as follows:
• It needs a large enough sample for collecting data and hence it can be quite costly and time-consuming
• Also, some of the people gave the wrong answers to the question. Due to this, the researcher is not able to analyze the outcome properly.

The above-discussed disadvantage can be reduced by allowing the organizational members and their relatives to join the survey session. Also, the researcher can cross-check the responses of the customers by asking the basic questions.

Chapter 4: Results

According to the information extracted through the questionnaire above most of the people believe that the entry into the international market with a joint venture is a productive idea.

According to the information extracted through the questionnaire above most of the people believe that the organizational structure of the company will change after the joint venture.

According to the information extracted through the questionnaire above most of the people believe that the low price strategy will be the most profitable strategy for the organization. Similar people choose for the product adaptation and total adaptation strategy.

According to the information extracted through the questionnaire above the people believe that exporting is the most convenient way of entering into an international market whereas the licensing and partnership are less acceptable.

According to the information extracted through the questionnaire above the products of Mulberry company are very satisfying for the customers.

According to the information extracted through the questionnaire above the people think that the partnership with the local firms of Japan will be profitable for the company.

According to the information extracted through the questionnaire above most of the people believe that the company should attract global traffic from the Google analytics Geo

According to the information extracted through the questionnaire above the people believe that organizational productivity will be affected by the joint venture in the international market.

According to the information extracted through the questionnaire above the people believe that the current skills and competencies will be affected by it.

According to the information extracted through the questionnaire above the people believe that the organizational flexibility will be affected.

According to the information extracted through the questionnaire above the people believe that the different culture will affect the organization's cooperation and integration.

According to the information extracted through the questionnaire above the people believe that the joint venture in the international expansion has unrealistic and unclear visions.

According to the information extracted through the questionnaire above the people believe that the organization will not save money through market assets.

According to the information extracted through the questionnaire above the people believe that the product demand for the Mulberry organization will not increase.

The above questionnaire showed that the international expansion of the Mulberry organization through a joint venture can be profitable but it will require proper planning of the business. The joint venture has many problems which include less involvement in the foreign market and less flexibility so it affects the business activities. International expansion will also provide new opportunities for the business. The products of the Mulberry can have demand in the Japan market if marketed and promoted effectively. The people also believe that it creates in-cooperation and confusion in the organizational structure. It also affects the competency of the employees

Chapter 5: Conclusions and Recommendations

After making the research in detail on the benefits as well as the risks associated with the joint ventures entering into the international markets, it can be concluded that these joint ventures can either be successful or can be impacted very badly. The in-depth knowledge about the Globalization was explored throughoutthe research and it was identified that globalization is increasing with time and currently it is at the boom. There is a great relationship between the globalization as well as the joint venture as in order to enter into the international markets;companies can take way by forming the joint ventures with any other local brand. It can help the company in understanding the local market in a better way where they are planning to set up their business or introduce their products. The example of Mulberry Japan Co. was undertaken in the report in order to identify the potential risks as well as the benefits of entering into the market.

After making the primary research through questionnaires, it was identified that the entry of the joint ventures can prove to be a very effective strategy and can have great productivity in the foreigninternational market. The organizational structure of the company can be challenged by Mulberry while making entry into the international market (Chetty, et. al., 2015). It can be highly recommended for the joint venture companies before entering into the international market to make deep research on the market and should adopt the relevant strategies in order to form the business structure in the international market. As per the primary research, it has been recommended that the company should adopt a low price strategy before entering into the international market. Mulberry must lower its prices while operating into Japan to bring brand awareness and attracting the customers for the business. The company should export their products in order to increase their sales in the international market. In order to make the project successful and increase the awareness of the brand, the company is required to adopt several strategies. It is recommended for the company to conduct the marketing campaigns to a great extentwithin Japan so that the company can achieve a good recognition in such international market and operate its business effectively (Kotabe and Kothari, 2016).

It can be recommended to the companies or the joint ventures in order to minimize the risks associated with the entry into an international market that they clarify all the terms and conditions of the agreement signed between these companies forming the joint venture so that no problem in the future can occur. After conducting the primary research all the specific problems were analyzed regarding the risks associated with the companies or the joint ventures in order to make entry into the international market. The exact meaning of globalization is being understood through this research made.

Chapter 6: Reflection

Here are the key points that are reflected in the whole report that key to the success of the project is project management. Appropriate planning of the project work is helpful for the manager in handling and avoiding the risk that occurred in the project. This helps in analyzing the risk timely and to give proper measures for handling the risk. Dividing the tasks into different parts helps in making the coordination among many activities and achieving the results from the project work. This project work has given in-depth knowledge of the connection between the joint venture and globalization. Also, it described the various methods for undertaking the joint venture through Mulberry Japan Co. and determines the appropriate and suitable organization for the joint venture internationally. It defines the risks included in the strategy of a joint venture. It also assesses the effects on the Mulberry Japan Co. there is a Gantt chart in this project work that will help to showcase the project activities complete time schedule. This will also help the project manager in analyzing the procedure of all activities that will accomplish the whole project. This project work also has crucial information about the analyzed risk such as likelihood, impact, risk owner, status etc (Banalieva, et..al., 2018).

 Effects of the globalization are also reflected in the project management. After doing the research by analyzing the questionnaires, it has been reflected that the coming of joint ventures can be proved as efficient productivity and effective strategy in the international market in foreign. At the time of entry in the international market, there can be challenging factors like the company’s organizational structure. There should be deep research about the market before the entry into the international market of joint ventures. A low price strategy can be implemented effectively for entering into the new market. For attracting the customer base and for bringing the awareness about the brand at the time of operating into a market of Japan, Mulberry should lower the prices so that it will be beneficial for them (Gill, et.al., 2018). The company had adopted many new strategies for increasing the brand awareness and success of the project. As for recommendations, there should be more marketing and social campaigns for good extension in the market of Japan for getting a better position in the international market through running the business efficiently. However, Mulberry business chooses a good method by using the joint venture as an entry gate for the market of Japan. There should be appropriate project management before joining any new market. So Mulberry chooses the topic of globalization and decided to expand the business and cross the boundaries in the UK industry by this joint venture. For this, it has planned some aims and objectives for analyzing and handling the potential benefits and risks for Mulberry Japan Co. at the time of the joint venture as an impact of globalization. Because it is essential to define the boundaries within the project, it also develops the limitations and scopes that are attached to the accomplishment of the project.

Conclusion

The above report provides the business project for the Mulberry organization which is interested in the expansion of their business in the international market of Japan through a joint venture. The report also concluded that the joint venture can be a profitable step for the organization if executed and planned properly. The Mulberry want to combine with the local firm of Japan and sell their products through it. It also showed the risk involved in the international market. The joint venture can be an effective idea for entering into the foreign market as it requires less cost and time involvement.

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Appendices

a. Log Book