Internet and Book
Internet
Finding relevant market information in other countries can prove difficult and also quite expensive. Before digging in all different sources it is best to decide on which information is vital and which information is nice to know. Simple country priority rankings can be made based of the population figures, Gross National Product, consumer expenditures, inflation and some general data on country size and distances. These general data are always accessible for free. But also many market data, consumption figures, main competitors etc. can be found on the Internet. Search engines and directories such as Wikipedia are quick first steps. We have done much Internet research ourselves and we have put many of the sources we use on a special website called www.research-sources.com.
Books
Success in export can be learned in many ways and experience certainly is the most decisive factor. But learning from others be it colleagues, through university education or by reading books makes the costs lower and the road to success a lot shorter.
We have made a small collection of very useful books and divided them into 3 topics:
Export & International Strategy: A mixture of books for small as well as multinational companies
Franklin R. Root: Entry strategies for International Markets
C. Jain: Export Strategy and International Marketing Management
Zak Karamally: Export Savvy, From Basics to Strategy
Michael Porter: Competition in Global Industries and other books
Maasaki Kotabe and Kristiaan Helsen: Global Marketing Management
Managing Distributors: A lists of do's and don'ts and most practical advice
John P. Griffin: International Sales and the Middleman
Kenneth Rolnicky: Managing Channels of Distribution
Vinoo Iyer: Managing and Motivating your Agents and Distributors
William C. Fath: How to Develop and Manage Successful Distributor Channels in World Markets
Intercultural Business Relations: Understanding and using cultural differences
Geert Hofstede: Culture's Consequences: International Differences in Work Related Values
Fons Trompenaars and Charles Hampden Turner: Riding the Waves of Culture
Philippe D'Iribarne: La logique de l'honneur
Richard R. Gesteland: Cross Cultural Business Behaviour
Lilian H. Chaney and Janet S. Martin: Intercultural Business Communication
Nina Jacob: Intercultural Management