Global vs. International Business We are trying to expand our bicycle business to three new countries. Right now we are domestic in the United States, but we hope that will change in the vast future. We are first faced with the question of whether we are global or international. Obviously the goal for the bicycle company is to be global since we would expand our company in having a physical site overseas. In order to have a physical presence in other countries we may have to buy out a local, favored brand name. So we have to keep that in mind for the future of our business.
Base of the Pyramid In order to sell a more expensive product, such as a bicycle, we need to make sure we aren't selling to a civilization that's on the base of the pyramid (earning $2000 or less per year). We would like to sell in an area where market participants earn in the second to top tier ranges in the pyramid. According to Trade Economics (2015), the per capita GDP's for our countries sit at: Japan- $37,595.18, Costa Rica- $5,962.38, and Pakistan- $818.87. Out of the three, the best country to go sell to is Japan if we are solely basing this on affordability. Costa Rica is in the second tier as preferred, but cutting it close to the base of the pyramid. Pakistan may not necessarily be able to afford our product as they sit at the base.
Political Systems Japan is a constitutional monarchy which allows one branch of command to limit and balance the power of the monarch. Costa Rica is a democracy which is just like the United States. Pakistan is under a federal republic which is just a federation of states under democratic rule with sovereign citizens. As for Costa Rica and Pakistan, it may be easier to sell in regions with democratic influence. In modern forms of democracy it is easier for individuals and firms economically express their needs. Japan might be a bit of a harder sell. When the government has more control over the economic side of business they may be taking what they think is political risk. For instance, there could be political risk in a country like Japan because it is brand nationalistic.
Legal Systems According to The World Factbook (2015), Japan is under civil law with Japanese traditions, Costa Rica is civil law based on Spanish civil code, and Pakistan is common law with Islamic influence. This is important to identify due to the fact that if we do business in these countries we will have to abide by their rules and law systems.
Economic Systems Japan lands in more of a free market range with the unordinary government guidelines. Costa Rica is a mixed economic system that includes a little bit of free market policies as well as command policies. Lastly, Pakistan has mixed economy as well. When selling in other countries it is important to know the type of economic system you are dealing with. Most countries have mixed economies but with different levels of command in them. It would be easier to sell in Japan where more of a free market exists because that type of economy welcomes new comers. In a mixed economy with more command control then it may be harder to enter the market depending on the economic well being of a nation.
Religion
Japan’s religion is a mixture of Buddhism and Shintoism, neither aspect of their religion play a big role when doing business (Victor). Costa Rica is predominately Catholic, thus it will not affect business drastically. Pakistan on the other hand is over ninety percent Muslim, and for most Americans that fact can change business etiquette. Because Japan and Costa Rica’s religion do not affect business dealings for the most part, they would be an easier option to enter a new line of bicycles.
Language
Most of the people one would encounter in a formal business meeting in Japan would speak some English although it is not their primary language. Unless you know Japanese, keep your sentences short and to the point because the Japanese as a whole will be too polite to let you know that they do not understand what you are saying (Victor). In Costa Rica, one should introduce themselves in English and in Spanish. If you are giving the natives documents or business cards, it is polite to have them printed in both languages with the Spanish version on top. In Pakistan, Urdu is the official language, but English is the lingua franca (Pakistan). In this day and age language is as wide spread as anything and because English is accepted in all of these countries for business, it should not hinder the entrance of a bicycle company.
Ethics
In Japan, the word “business” actually means “to make efforts to develop societies harmoniously and raise the well-being of the people” (Taka) so the business ethics of Japan are understood, meaning as long as it helps society it is okay. Costa Rica’s business ethics are simple, they will comply with the laws, and protect the environment (Costa).Pakistani business ethics are much different than that of Japan and Costa Rica. For example, if negotiations get a little bit heated Pakistanis can get so worked up that even though the meeting is being conducted in English they may revert back to Urdu, yet they expect you to remain calm and wait for your turn to say your part. Scenarios such as this would never happen in Japan or Costa Rica, therefore making entrance into Pakistan more difficult than Japan and Costa Rica.

Onshoring, Offshoring, and Captive sourcing. In Japan the mamaruchi is the bike of choice for the very large cycling community (Kidd, 2016). Very cheaply made within the country makes offshoring within Japan the easiest and most competitive strategy (Kidd, 2016). With the highly competitive market of bike sales in Japan the availability of manufacturing companies is very vast and easily accessible. Rebranding the very popular bike design leads to familiarity and loyalty for the consumer. Costa Rica has no major bicycle manufacturing within is country which lend itself to importing the bicycles form another nearby country most likely being Mexico. The bikes can be produced for far less than in the United States and the relative close proximity will cut down on shipping and transportation expenses. The production of bicycles is very established in the country of Pakistan. One company, Sohrab, produces a wide variety of bicycles that are not branded (Sohrab). This creates a good opportunity to use their manufacturing recourses and rebrand the bike for our company. This eliminates all the importation costs as well and creates brand loyalty form the locals because of the local manufacturing.
VRIO:
Value:
The perceived value of a bicycle differs between the three countries from the highest value in Japan then Pakistan and finally Costa Rica (Mozer 2016). The value is determined by the number of people using bicycles along with the purpose of that use from necessity in Japan to recreational in Costa Rica (Bicycles, 2016).

Rarity:
Bicycles are no longer rare in any of these countries, the least of which is Japan where the bicycle is one of the top forms of transportation in its cities (Mozer 2016).
Imitability:
Each country has a top bicycle manufacturer or importer, which manufactures bicycles for other companies to individually brand and sell. This creates a very high level of imitability and one issue that must be tackled. Either our company must undercut the price of bikes being sold or upgrade our offering at a similar price point to the competition.
Organization:
Our company’s success lies in our ability to convey that our bikes are better than our competition through toughness and reliability. This is accomplished through increased warranty and better customer service. We should bring the customer service standard and warranty standards form the US into these countries.

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