Syed Moshiyot Hossain Arnob

1930961
Answer 1) Product 1- Playstation game disk

This product has to be imported from other countries like China or Malaysia and a few retailers
in Bangladesh sell them at a high price. The core component of this product is the functionality;
it is the only disk that we can play on Playstation 4 therefore there is no substitute for it. The
game codes are embedded in the disk which installs by itself when inserted into the console. The
shape of the disk is slightly larger than normal CDs and fits perfectly into a PS4. The packaging
will tell you the game name, year of release, a brief summary of storyline, the studio that created
the game, the price, etc. At the back of the disk you would normally find a paper which will give
some support service information. You will find instruction for playing the game like button
configuration; you will find a map sometimes of the games virtual world and sometimes you
may also find some codes which you can use to get a jump start in the online gaming platforms
of those games.

Product 2- Hershey’s Cocoa

We normally find the product from Malaysia in a lot of groceries retailer in Dhaka. The core
component of the product is the functionality again, it is used to make chocolate glaze for
various dessert or it can even be put inside the batter to make chocolate cakes. The product is in
powder form, which enables it to be dissolves and mixed with other ingredients very easily. The
packaging actually has a lot of things mentioned. We can see the brand name and their
characteristic color, the price, the net weight, date of expiry, nutritional facts, etc. The support
components of this product include some information about how to best store it and some best
recipes that can be made using the product. You can also find a QR code to scan and visit their
website to learn more about the product and make any complaints.

Answer 2) The main challenges faced in the distribution network in Iceland are noted below-

- Transportation- There is no railroads in Iceland so traditional train cargo system is an

option to be overlooked. Most of the transportation is done by shipping companies until
the dockyards and then by truck to the main lands. Most of the population is concentrated
near the capital therefore air transport is also an option but is very expensive. Therefore
the lead time to reach the final customer is quite high.
- Population- The population of Iceland is very low which will be a major challenge in the
channel of distribution as well. The number of workers doing the transportation and
delivery will obviously be less and it will be hard to find people who will be willing to
work if we plan to set up our own distribution channel. The unemployment rate is very
low and the average wage is quite high which I think supports the previous claim.
- Monopolistic logistic and retailers- If we choose to go through a third party logistic
company or a third party retailer, it will be very difficult. This is because there a just a
few numbers of big players in the market. This signals an air of monopolistic behavior in
 terms of pricing and commissions. The local large corporation may also be very hard to
compete against when a country has such a small population.
- Nationalism- Iceland is a very nationalistic country in Europe and it might be very hard
for a foreign company to enter in such market. It is almost obvious that a new foreign
business will face challenges at every step of the distribution channels, in terms of
logistics, retailers and even in case of final consumer (1).

Answer 3) There are quite a few challenges that a company will face if they want to promote
there product or service in Iceland through advertising. There are strict laws regarding
advertising about alcohol, cigarettes and pharmaceuticals. The government bodies strictly
monitor in terms of length and content of the advertising in different medium, so that they stick
to their national agenda. There is also special taxation on advertisements which are from non EU
based companies. The language is also a big challenge as most of Icelandic people do not speak
fluent English and the advertisement has to be translated. There is also the nationalism factor and
the monopoly factor since there are just a few large advertising agency who will be charging
more than what they would charge a local businessman (2).

If we cannot air advertisement in Iceland and if we have to use internet to reach our target
customers I do not think it has any implication on standardization or localization. The product
might have a specific appeal in a country like India, but can be of a different sort of appeal to
people in Iceland. If we use standardized ads, there is also a big chance we can hurt the
sentiments of their nationals in terms of culture. Language is also a barrier and I feel that the ads
have to be locally translated and adopted if we are to succeed in the Iceland market. Therefore
the degree of standardization has to be low and we have to a lot of localization strategies.

Answer 4) Firstly I think we have to hire the proper staff who has the experience of speaking
predominant language in Iceland. They have to know the culture to be able to deal with people
for business. If that is hard find, we should select people who can be trained about the above
mentioned factors so that they can adapt to the surroundings. We could try and look at
Bangladeshi expatriates if they want to join our company, which will be a very big plus point.
The workforce needs to have certain set of emotional and skill attributes and we have to design
an attractive compensation package to motivate them to take up this challenge. If we plan to send
someone who is already working for our company, we need to make sure we tick all the boxes so
they do not return before finishing the job on hand and also, we need to reassign them into
meaningful positions after they have completed their task.

The best thing I can think of, to import from Iceland is Atlantic Salmon, which I can distribute
amongst top grocery retailers and High end restaurants in Dhaka. The fillet can be used to make
the best possible grilled salmon which is an attractive dish in the eye of many Bangladeshi of
high income. I will be choosing the “skimming” pricing strategy as most of my target market is
high income people who is supposedly not very bothered about price of exclusive food item.
Though the taxation for imports of fish and meat from outside Bangladesh is quite high, I could
use a reclassifying strategy and cut the fillet into smaller pieces to reduce the tax in the
Bangladesh customs.

References

1- Nordea Trade Portal available at- https://www.nordeatrade.com/no/explore-new-

market/iceland/transport Accessed on 19th January
2- Iceland Broadcast act- available at-
https://www.wipo.int/edocs/lexdocs/laws/en/is/is098en.pdf. Accessed on 19th January