Client’s problems
One of the major problems being faced by Export Connect many consultants specializing only in china; thus, as Export Connect they wouldn’t be able to position themselves as experts to provide for china while there are many people for decades who have been offering service to china hence Export connect and the client, in particular, has avoided china since the market in China is highly flooded by experts. Due to this fact, Export Connect has decided to venture into other markets such as the United Kingdom, which has got low or even zero experts promising clients that they would help them get into the markets in the United Kingdom. The client then further calls the market in the United Kingdom to be a clean slate.
The second challenge is china is a difficult market to get into; the china market is very complex, and they are likely to make some people unhappy. The china market would only be suitable for a tiny percentage of Australian food and agribusinesses, though over 90% of the projects done by Export connect have resulted in an export sale, which is a phenomenal statistics and Export connect is at a 100% recommendation rate but the
Another problem that export connect is facing is due to the trending online delivery of their services. The client says that most of their clients may not prefer conducting their businesses through virtual communication modes, and most of them would rather wait for a face to face consultation model. But this problem is slowly fading away since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. More of their clients are now adapting to the situation by embracing the virtual forms of communication. People still want to learn, and they have accepted that they cannot do the learning on a face-to-face basis, but they are now accepting the online workshops presented by Export connect.
Since people cannot travel Export connect, their services have been able to internationalize their services; they have trained six companies in Singapore to export their services into Australia through virtual technology due to the coronavirus pandemic. The acceptance to work online has significantly boosted the efforts of taking their business to other countries in the world.
Lack of finance is another challenge that affects the operation of Export Connect. Export connect charges $5000 per project, and most of the companies they target are less likely to pay. Companies cannot afford to spend $5000 a market.
Main Drivers of Technology Breakthrough
From the interview, it can easily be noted that at least two drivers of a technological breakthrough have pushed the use of advanced technology in Export Connect. One of the drivers of technological breakthroughs seen from the interview is the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. Because of the pandemic, Export Connect shifted from conducting its projects using the ordinary face-to-face model used by almost everyone before the pandemic. Now Export Connect, together with other international organizations, are employing the use of Zoom and other online conferencing channels to conduct their businesses. Before the outbreak of the deadly pandemic, many people did not welcome the idea of virtual communication. When the pandemic first hit the world, some clients were willing to wait for face to face mechanisms. But with the pandemic lasting a long time, these organizations have started to welcome the idea of virtual communication to conduct their daily business activities.
Another driver of technological breakthroughs is the use of social media platforms to organize and communicate vital information to millions of people at a particular time. From the interview, Export Connect tends to employ social media platforms such as LinkedIn in the delivery of vital messages and even training sessions. These training sessions can be followed live by their subscribers, who then pay for the services that Export Connect has offered.
Globalization also plays a significant role in the technological breakthrough witnessed in the interview. Export connect has taken its services to an international level. The organization has been able to train at least six of Singapore’s best companies through online platforms. The desire and need for Globalization has pushed technological advancement to a whole new level.
Analysis
For an organization to perform well in any business field, it is crucial to identify a “clean slate.” A clean slate refers to a market situation that is not crowded with other organizations that offer the same products and services. A clean slate thus ensures a lack of or little competition. From such an environment and employing one of porters five force model that discuses the competition in the industry, This force model states that the larger the number of competitors and the number of equivalent services and products they offer, the lesser the power of the company and vise versa. When the number of competitors is significantly reduced, the company tends to be very strong since there is a reduction in competitors offering the same services and products. Due to this reason, Export Connect couldn’t venture into the Chinese market because there was a significantly large number of companies that were only specializing in china, this raised the competition levels, and Export connect never stood a chance of winning. The best option that export connect saw was to venture into markets that are unlikely to be habited to minimize competition and increase the amount of profit gained.
References
Altschwager, Teagan, et al. “Branded marketing events: engaging Australian and French wine consumers.” Journal of Service Theory and Practice (2017).
Andrews, Deborah C. “A space for place in business communication research.” International Journal of Business Communication 54.3 (2017): 325-336.
Calma, Angelito, and Martin Davies. “Academy of Management Journal, 1958–2014: a citation analysis.” Scientometrics 108.2 (2016): 959-975.
Martínez-López, Francisco J., et al. “Fifty years of the European Journal of Marketing: a bibliometric analysis.” European Journal of Marketing (2018).