Plan of Approach

How can Planon enter the Japanese software market and introduce its services there

By:
Xeniya Shipilina (478648)
International Business
Saxion University of Applied Sciences
Preface

This report is written by Xeniya Shipilina, a student at the International Business School in
Enschede, The Netherlands.

This report represents the plan of approach needed to deliver an advisory report to Planon
located in Nijmegen, The Netherlands.

The student is grateful to the company Planon for providing all the information needed.
Thanks to Birdane Seckin and Hidde Bulten for guiding through the Thesis Assignment
during the Graduation period.
Table of Contents
Preface.......................................................................................................................................2
Introduction..............................................................................................................................4
Introduction to the company............................................................................................................4
Problem Description.................................................................................................................5
Research Objective....................................................................................................................5
Research Question and Sub-Questions....................................................................................5
Research Question.............................................................................................................................5
Sub-questions.....................................................................................................................................5
Research Methodology..............................................................................................................6
Constraints................................................................................................................................7
Planning....................................................................................................................................8
Preliminary Table of Contents.................................................................................................9
Introduction
The Plan of Approach guides how the Thesis will be implemented throughout the project's
duration. The project assignment is given by Planon to the intern, with whom the intern will
collaborate. The company's website, internet sources of information, and Planon's clients will
all be used to gather all the data. The study also gives a thorough overview of Planon's
corporate structure and its long-term goals. A research objective is included, followed by the
primary research question and sub-questions. Readers will also find the student's
methodology and answers regarding how to deal with potential constraints during the project.

Introduction to the company

Planon is a software company, a global leader in real estate and facility management,
providing innovative solutions for smarter, more sustainable buildings.

Founded in 1982, Planon has expanded its work in 40 countries, catering to both market
needs and the specific needs of customers. As a result, they have been able to expand their
products and services to current clients while also acquiring hundreds of new clients each
year.

Planon’s software platform - Planon Universe - includes a secure and reliable cloud service,
high-performing IoT technology, and standardized development tools for customers or third
parties. Planon Universe provides a constantly evolving array of software solutions and best
practices for different types of organizations and users:

Planon Universe offers a continually evolving assortment of software solutions and best
practices for various types of companies and users:

 Planon Integrated Workplace Management Solution (IWMS)

 Planon Facility Services Business Solution
 Planon Lease Accounting Solution

Planon’s leading digital platform for Smart Sustainable Building Management provides with:

 The central platform to facilitate building operations for all parties: owners, building
users and service providers
 Integrated data exchange between building hardware (OT) and those using and
managing that hardware
  Seamless integration with a range of business-critical applications and technologies
 An ecosystem of connected solutions from different vendors with Planon as the core
integration platform
 The tools to help create a sustainable and net-zero future for the buildings of the
world.

Built using cutting-edge cloud-based technology, their multilingual solutions are highly
functional. This makes it possible for customers to scale and extend their preferred property
technology across domains as needed. Additionally, it promotes maximum employee
acceptance and use.

The company’s standardized, but easily customizable best practice ‘Accelerator’ solution
saves time, money, and effort in the implementation process, while simultaneously creating a
foundation for future growth. Customers will benefit from experience, knowledge and market
standards combined in one future-proof solution that evolves with your organization.

Planon’s best practice "Accelerator" solution is standardized but easily customizable, saving
time, money, and effort while laying the groundwork for future expansion. Customers will
profit from a future-proof solution that develops along with their business by combining
experience, knowledge, and industry standards.

This report designs and implements a research project that provides Planon with guidance on
knowledge gathered from internal and external analyses. This report aims to advise the
company on the Japanese market and the benefits of entering it.
Problem Description
Planon strives to enlarge its target audience and increase its brand awareness in the Japanese
market.

Research Objective

Planon wants to establish a stronger brand reputation and outperform its competitors by
stretching its services and reaching new customers in other countries. The company's main
objective is to gain a presence in the Japanese software market.

To do that, the student was assigned to analyse Planon and recommend possible ways how to
introduce their service in Japan.

Research Question and Sub-Questions

Research Question

How can Planon enter the Japanese software market and introduce its services there?

Sub-questions

1. How does Planon’s current internal environment looks like?

1.1 What is Planon’s current strategy? (Marketing Mix)
1.2 How does Planon’s current organizational structure looks like?
1.3 What is the target group of Planon?
1.4 What are the unique selling propositions of Planon?

2. How attractive is the Japanese market for Planon?

2.1 What is the current maturity level of the facility management market & real estate
market in Japan?
2.2 What distinguishes Planon from its competitors in the Japanese market?
2.3 What is the current competitive landscape in the Japanese market?
 2.4 What are the opportunities and threats of Planon in the Japanese market?
3. What market entry strategies are the most suitable for Planon?
3.1 How can Planon position itself in the Japanese market?
3.2 Is Planon ready to enter the Japanese market?
3.3 How will the organizational structure look like if Planon decides to enter the Japanese
market?
Research Methodology

The best way to address the research objective is through research methodology. Each
research sub-question is a unique milestone that calls for a different approach to be taken to
resolve it. Thus, as a sum of all milestones, the central research question will be answered
using the mixed research methodology method - primary data collection and secondary data
analysis.

1. How does Planon’s current internal environment looks like?

1.1 What is Planon’s current strategy?
1.2 How does Planon’s current organizational structure looks like?
1.3 What is the target group of Planon?
1.4 What are the unique selling propositions of Planon?

The internal analysis of the company is crucial to the research because it will help examine its
readiness to enter a new market.

To answer this sub-question the student will mainly use secondary research, identifying the
marketing mix (product, place, promotion, price). To answer the main question, it is
important to know what the strengths and weaknesses of Planon are. Thus, the SWOT
analysis will be conducted. The student will gather information mainly from already existing
sources like reports, books & articles. Google Scholar is the main search engine that will be
used in this research since this is a good way to broadly search for scientific literature.
Interviews with the Planon employees will be conducted in order to collect the data that was
unavailable on open sources.

2. How attractive is the Japanese market for Planon?

2.1 What is the current maturity level of the facility management market & real estate
market in Japan?
2.2 What distinguishes Planon from its competitors in the Japanese market?
2.3 What is the current competitive landscape in the Japanese market?
2.4 What are the opportunities and threats of Planon in the Japanese market?
An external analysis of Japan will be conducted in order to know how high the Japanese
market’s potential is, as well as what the current position of facility management and real
estate markets is like. This will help identify the threats and opportunities that Planon might
encounter and what competitors to be aware of. By answering this question, the student will
be able to continue with their analysis and be able to determine which strategies would be
advantageous to utilize.

To answer this sub-question the student will mainly use online sources, such as digital
articles about Japanese customs and traditions, demography websites, reports including the
country’s preferences, etc. The website list used by the student will include CountryReports,
Euromonitor, and Google Scholar but not be limited to them. With its help, the PESTEL
analysis will be conducted including political, environmental, social, technological,
economic, and legal factors. Information will be taken from already existing sources like
reports, books & articles, and by interviewing the employees (…) of the company. During the
writing of this PoA, there is no fixed list of questions.

3. What market entry strategies are the most suitable for Planon?
3.1 How can Planon position itself in the Japanese market?
3.2 Is Planon ready to enter the Japanese market?
3.3 How will the organizational structure look like if Planon decides to enter the Japanese
market?

By answering this sub-question, it will be known if Planon is ready to enter the Japanese
market and what strategy will be the best suitable for the company to use.

To analyse what market entries will be the most beneficial to Planon, the student will use
secondary research data from various sources. By including the different factors that were
identified during the research, the process of evaluation and elimination will start.

Depending on the availability of the data provided by Planon, the research tasks will be
divided into categories and steps. The research approach is not limited to the aforementioned
methods; therefore, the research process may require the use of more methods to establish a
profound research base and subsequently build solid knowledge about the situation.
Constraints
For the Thesis, the student is analysing Planon, a software company. Before beginning the
research process, it is crucial to comprehend the company and its services because the student
has little experience in this sector. Working closely and having weekly meetings with Ilse de
Boer should also make it easier to respond to any inquiries about the comprehension of this
sector.

Constraints like validity and reliability must also be considered. The research will be
conducted in such a way that all information obtained from Planon will be verified by the
company, either on its website or in one of the Q&A sessions/meetings. Thus, all of the
company-related information should be accurate and trustworthy. Information about
competitors, target groups, and the Japanese market will be more difficult to collect, making
it more difficult to demonstrate their validity and reliability. In their research, the student
aims to find the most trustworthy and reliable sources of data.

A confidentiality clause makes up the third restriction. The student will go through a
verification period and only then will be able to share the verified information she receives.

Time is the final limitation. The period within which the student must conduct the research is
five months. Because an intern works four days a week, she will only have one weekday to
conduct research. As a result, gathering any information material may take longer.
Planning
Activity Done by: By (date): Time needed:

Introduction Xeniya Week 2 30 minutes

Problem description Xeniya Week 2 40 minutes

and research
objective

Research question Xeniya Week 2 2 hours

and sub questions

Methodology Xeniya Week 2 3 hours

Constraints Xeniya Week 2 30 minutes

Planning Xeniya Week 2 15 minutes

Preliminary table of Xeniya Week 2 15 minutes

contents
Meetings Xeniya Every week 1 hour

Feedback sessions Xeniya Bi-weekly 2 hours

Check of the final Xeniya Week 14 1,5 hours

deliverable
Company description Xeniya Week 3 1 hour

Chapter 1 Xeniya Week 7 4 hours

Chapter 2 Xeniya Week 12 4 hours

Chapter 3 Xeniya Week 14 4 hours

Feedback (360 Xeniya Week 15 1 hour

degrees)
Summary and Xeniya Week 15 3 hours
conclusion
Total time spent: ±30 hours
Preliminary Table of Contents
 Preface

 Research Methodology

 Constraints

 Summary

 Table of Contents

 Explanation of Terms

 Introduction
1. Introduction to the company

 Chapter 1
1. Marketing Mix
2. Organisational structure
3. Target group
4. Unique Selling Propositions
5. SWOT (strengths and weaknesses)
5. Conclusion

 Chapter 2
1. PESTEL
2. Current position in the Facility & Real Estate Management industry
3. Competitor Landscape
4. SWOT (opportunities and threats)
5. Conclusion
  Chapter 3
1. Strategies
2. Effect of the market entry on organizational structure

 Conclusion

 Recommendation(s)

 Bibliography

 Appendix/ Appendices