Ethical problems:

Establishing a business in a foreign country is a big challenge. Especially social, and

economical differences create a lot of challenges in a foreign market. Managers have a
big responsibility to navigate the firms the correct track avoiding ethical challenges.
Following section describes two ethical challenges that firms can face in a foreign
market. Marscat is a bionic-robotic cat who has developed by Elephant robotics.
Expanding its the business the firm(Marscat) has decided to enter to the Swedish
market.

Bribery:

Most of the countries have prohibited bribery and corruption to a great extent. Despite
this, all over the world, some countries, bribery still exists. Some countries have lax
restrictions on bribery and corruption. For example, German businesspeople consider
bribery is a tax-deductible expense (Lamb, Charles., Hair, Joe 1994). Due to weak
restrictions against bribery, some firms get involved in bribery in their home countries
and foreign countries. These firms give bribes to the government sector as well as to
the private sector. The bribing appears with different scopes concerning “who is going to
demand the bribe? namely the government or the private sector” (Cuervo-Cazurra,
2006). Therefore, firms have doubtful thoughts about bribery in the foreign market.

Most of the firms in both developed and developing countries use bribery to pass
through the law contravention.
(https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/ssqu.12600) Nevertheless, some
countries have stringent restrictions to avoid bribery. In 1997 the US named bribery to
foreign officials as a crime under the Foreign corrupt practices act (FCPA) (Apke, 2001).
Most of the countries have their own rules and regulations. Therefore, when a firm
enters a foreign country, the firm must be aware of the country's rules and regulations.

The firm must make representatives and its employees aware of the country's rules and
regulations. Some firms tend to go behind the laws and regulations after giving bribes.
Nevertheless, giving bribes does not apply to some countries such as Sweden. Sweden
has been identified as a country that is least likely to offer bribes. (Baughn, C., Bodie,
N.L., Buchanan, 2010). Therefore, the firm should make the employees and managers
aware about anti-corruption laws as well as taxation and migration rules.

The Impact on the Environment:

Climate changes and environmental pollution identify as an international issue

nowadays. Most countries have set up strict restrictions on environmental pollution.

Therefore, the impact on the environment can be considered as an ethical issue that
Marscats can be experienced in Sweden. Especially since Marscats are made up of
harmful material such as heavy metals and batteries. Therefore, the foreign company
must be highly careful about releasing waste. Several laws have been formed against
illegal waste removal. The United Nations and other environmental authorities are
keeping track of environmental pollution and taking steps against the lawbreakers.
(https://www.un.org/esa/dsd/agenda21/res_agenda21_20.shtml)

Establishing environment friendly and sustainable supply chain strategies and

approaches, the firm can fulfill ethical market requirements. Therefore, the firm must
encourage managers/ employees to be aware of the perspective of each stakeholder
(Khan, Yu. (2019).

Marketing strategy:

Marscats’ marketing strategies help to achieve marketing objectives and goals

successfully. It is necessary to use correct marketing strategies to reach customers in
the Swedish market. Marketing strategy consists of the target markets and marketing
mix (4 Ps).

The target market:

The target market means that “to whom this product is made for”. To find the target
market, the firm needs to do the marketing segmentation which is the operation of
dividing the market into smaller segments, according to different variables, such as
demographic, geographical, behavioral, and psychographic segmentation. After doing
marketing segmentation, the firm can recognize the targeted groups. By recognizing the
target market, the firm can identify the market size approximately. The most benefited
group for Mars cats is the people who have allergies to the animal fur and the elder
people who are missing the company of someone but have no strength to take care of a
real animal. Children can also be targeted as potential buyers since some parents do
not want to have real pets.

Marketing Mix(4Ps):

Four factors are considered in marketing a goods or service to the public. following four
factors are considered as a marketing mix and consist of

, the product (the good or service), the price (what the consumer pays), the place (the
location where a product is marketed), and the promotion (the advertising). A good
combination of these 4Ps, optimize the profit based on

customer satisfaction and higher demand.

Product:

A product is something that is available on the market for attention, acquisition, use, or
consumption to satisfy what the customer needs (Khan,, 2014.). Marscat is a new
concept for the Swedish market. It is a bionic, robotic cat that acts just like a real cat.
Marscats are capable of playing, running and are sensitive to human interactions. In
addition, they are equipped with features like touch sensitivity, making different sounds,
and responses to the owner.

This product comes with after-sale services such as repair of hardware, updating to new
software and warranty. This can help in build confidence among the customers towards
the product.

Price:

Price can be considered as a powerful factor to win orders among competitors. By

entering the market with a lower price with lesser profit per piece, the Mars cat can be
success in the Swedish market. Setting a reasonable price can give customers the
sense of getting more value for their money and can help contribute to greater sales
volumes

and thus, at bulk this product can generate more profit.

Promotion:

As a new product to the market, Mars cats must consider promotion carefully. With
attractive advertising, sales promotions, and public relations, Mars cats can be
fascinated by people. Social media marketing is an effective way to spread up the
messages through

(viral videos, user-generated content, etc.) Furthermore, personal selling helps to reach
potential customers quickly.

The firm can organize charity events, campaigns, and other social activities like
sponsoring certain events that can be applied to

build the image of company. Corporate social responsibility is also a strategic tool to
create a brand image.

Place:

The location where the firm needs to set up their stores is particularly important.
Physical distribution/ transportation of goods as well as the potential customer base
must be taken into consideration.

As a new entrant to the foreign market, Marscat must control its budget while building a
good customer base. The strategic planning is especially important in order to secure

long-lasting establishment on the Swedish market.

In conclusion, this article describes the two challenges posed by

bribery, and the impact on the environment, that a company like Marscat, must consider
before entering a foreign market. It also explains the marketing mix(4-ps) for the
marketing strategy for Marscat on the Swedish market.

References:

 Allen, E. and Fjermestad, J. (2001), "E‐commerce marketing strategies: an

integrated framework and case analysis", Logistics Information Management,
Vol. 14 No. 1/2, pp. 14-23.
 Alvaro Cuervo-Cazurra (2006) Journal of International Business Studies
37(6):807-822
 (Apke Tomas .M (2001) Impact of OECD Convention Anti-bribery Provision on
International Companies. Managerial Auditing Journal 16(2):58-63
 Baughn, C., Bodie, N.L., Buchanan, M.A. ((2010) Bribery in International
Business Transactions. J Bus Ethics 92, 15–32

 https://smallbusiness.Chron.com/social-ethical-issues-companies-face-foreign-
market-48721.html
 https://www.investopedia.com/terms/f/four-ps.asp
 Khan, M. T. (2014). The concept of 'marketing mix' and its elements (A
conceptual review paper). International Journal of Information, Business and
Management, 6(2), 95-107
 Lamb, Charles W., Hair, Joe F (1994) Marketing 11th Edition publisher: South-
Western College/West,2010.
 Rehman Khan S.A., Yu Z. (2019) Environmental and Ethical Issues in SCM. In:
Strategic Supply Chain Management. EAI/Springer Innovations in
Communication and Computing.