Research Report

Final Version

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Date: 29th May 2009 Group: 8 Assignment provider: MadMouse Internal Supervisor: Mrs. Dresselhaus Group members: Roxanne Engelen Travis Meredith Borja Thoma Gabrielle Verstijnen

Summary English
The assignment provider, MadMouse is a small company that offers three ergonomic mouse pads, namely Game Guru, Control Freak and the Office Gem, and is working on developing an ergonomic mouse. MadMouse gave us the assignment to find out what the players in the potential market are and how MadMouse can approach these markets effectively. The potential markets are all the countries in the European Union and the players are all the possible intermediaries in these countries. The first part of the assignment was to find countries in the European Union that have almost the same regulations on sick leave, -payment and working conditions as the Netherlands. This is because the reduction of RSI is used as a unique selling point in the Netherlands and it would be profitable if this would also apply for other EU-countries. For this assignment the focus was on the Office Gem and the end-users or target group are all companies in that particular country. The other part of the assignment was to write a communication plan that MadMouse could use when exporting to these possible markets. The most qualified countries would be the ones that have the most resemblance to the Dutch law with regard to sick leave, -payment and working conditions. The most important part of the Dutch law, for this Research Report, was the fact that employers pay for the sick leave of their employees and that they have a sick leave period of two years. The countries with the most resemblance turned out to be Finland, Sweden Germany and Hungary, because of the duration of their sick leave period and/or because of who made the sick leave payments. For each country, it was needed to ~2~

find information with reference to the country itself; the population rate, the way they live, the way they do business, the language they speak, their unemployment rate, and the technological, ecological, political and legal factors were some of the most important facts that needed to be found. This information was used for writing the communication plan. Also, information about companies inside these countries was necessary. The focus was to see if they use ergonomic products and, most importantly, where these companies buy ergonomic products. By doing desk research and also field research, information was found on the possible intermediaries MadMouse could do business with. Desk research was the first action taken and provided much information. This, however, did not suffice for MadMouse and field research was necessary according to the assignment provider. Possible end-users in the selected countries were e-mailed and called to find out where they buy their ergonomic products. The field research, however, did not go as planned. It turned out to be very difficult to contact the right people and to find the right phone numbers. Again, even though field research was done, all the intermediaries were found through desk research. The facts that are mentioned before, were used as a start for the communication plan. These statistical facts gave a clear overview of each of the selected countries, which is called an external analysis, and were used to make a SWOT analysis and a confrontation matrix. With this, strategies and objectives were created for all of the countries. Also, communication instruments and a communication budget per country were made. To finish the communication plan, as part of the Research Report, a detailed planning of the suggested communication campaign was added. The communication plan suggests that MadMouse should use the communication instruments that are already in use, such as: the web-site, the flyer, convention stands and the point-of-sale display, but there is a new instrument suggested as well. This instrument is the try-out session. This gives possible intermediaries and end-users the chance to see the product and test it. The Research Report includes an overview of the market in the four selected countries and than continues with the communication plan. The market of the selected countries was divided into six categories of intermediaries. These categories are: producers, wholesalers, office decorators, office specialty stores, ergonomic sales points and small shops. For all four countries it turned out to be difficult to find good ergonomic sales points and therefore none of them are mentioned in the Research Report. Almost all other categories have at least one company per country. Even though the markets are just one chapter of the Research Report, this part was of highest importance for MadMouse. Without this clear overview, MadMouse would have no place to start looking for possible partners or intermediaries and the whole plan would be worthless. With this Research Report, we hope to provide MadMouse with a clear picture of the markets in Finland, Sweden, Germany and Hungary and to provide a good communication plan that can be used for exporting to these countries. (word count: 802)

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Summary Spanish
El proveedor, Madhouse es una pequea compaa que ofrece tres Alfombrillas de ratn ergonmicas concretamente Game Guru, Control Freak y el Office Gem, y adems esta desarollando un ratn ergonmico. MadMouse nos ha pedido que busquemos quienes son los que operan en estos mercados y como Madhouse se puede aproximar de forma efectiva a ellos. Los futuros mercados son todos los pases de la comunidad europea y los participantes son los posibles intermediarios de estos pases. La primera parte de nuestra tarea fue buscar pases en la comunidad europea que tuviesen casi las mismas regulaciones con respecto a las licencias por motivos de bajas de enfermedad, prestaciones sociales y condiciones de trabajo que en Holanda. La razn de esto es proque en Holanda las bajas de enfermedad por el sndrome del tnel carpiano han disminuido y esto se usa como nico argumento de venta y sera beneficioso si este mismo argumento se pudiera usar en otros pases europeos. Para esta tarea nos concentramos en el Office Gem y en los consumidores o grupos especificos de las compaias que hay en estos paises determinados. La otra parte de la tarea fue escribir un plan de comunicacin que Madhouse pudiera utilizar cuando exportara a esos posibles mercados. Los pases ms cualificados son los que tienen las leyes ms parecidas a las de Holanda con respecto a las licencias por bajas de enfermedad, prestaciones sociales y condiciones de trabajo. La parte ms importante de la ley holandesa para este documento de investigacin fue el hecho de que los empresarios pagan por la baja de enfermedad de sus trabajadores y que estos tienen un periodo de baja de enfermedad de dos aos. Los pases que ms se parecen en esto a Holanda son Finlandia, Suecia, Alemania y Hungria, por el periodo de baja de enfermedad y por el que la paga. Para cada pas fue necesario buscar informacin sobre el. El nmero de habitantes, la manera de vivir, la manera de hacer negocios, el idioma que hablan, el nmero de parados, los factores tcnicos, polticos, ecolgicos y legales fueron algunos de los factores ms importantes que se tuvieron que buscar. Esta informacin se us para escribir el plan de comunicacin. Informacin sobre las empresas en estos pases fue tambien indispensable. Lo que fue importante en buscar fue si usan productos ergonmicos y sobre todo donde estas empresas compraban estos productos. Investigando todo esto se encontr informacin sobre posibles intermediarios con los que MadMouse pudiera hacer negocios. Lo primero que se hizo fue buscar a traves del ordenador. Esto proporcion todos los resultados. Esto no fue suficiente para MadMouse. Tambien encontraron que era imprescindible reconocer el mercado. En los pases que se seleccionaron se envi un mensaje electrnico a los posibles usuarios y tambien se les llam, para preguntarles donde compraban sus productos ergonmicos. Estas investigaciones en el mercado no salieron como se haba planedo. Result difcil contactar con las personas adecuadas y encontrar los nmeros de telfono. Apesar de haber hecho estas investigaciones todos los intermediaros fueron encontrados a traves del ordenador. Los hechos antes mencionados se usaron para empezar con el plan de comunicacin. Estos hechos estadsticos dieron una visin clara de lo que se llama anlisis externo y se usaron para hacer un anlisis SWOT y un matrix de confrontacin. Gracias a esto se crearon estrategias y objetivos para todos los pases. Para cada pas se hicieron instrumentos de comunicacin y presupestos de comunicacin. Para terminar el plan de comunicacin como parte del documento de investigacin ~4~

se aadi un plan detallado de la presentada campaa de comunicacin. El plan de comunicacin propone que MadMouse tendra que usar los intrumentos de comunicacin que ya estan en uso, como la pgina web, el flyer, puestos en las ferias y los puntos de venta. Pero tambin se propuso un nuevo instrumento. Este instrumento es una sesion de prueba. Esto da a los posibles intermediarios la posiblidad de ver y probar el producto. Este documento de investigacin incluye un resumen del mercado en los cuatros pases seleccionados y sigue despues con el plan de comunicacin. El mercado de los pases seleccionados se dividi en seis categoras de intermediarios. Estas categorias son; productores, mayoristas, diseadores de oficinas, tiendas especializadas en productos de oficinas, puntos de venta ergonmicos y tiendas pequeas. Para todos los pases result ser difcil encontrar buenos puntos de venta ergonmicos y por eso no fueron mencionados en el documento de investigacin.Cada pas tiene casi de todas las otras categorias como minimo una empresa. Aunque los mercados solo son una parte del documento de investigacin. Este fue el ms importante para MadMouse. Sin este claro resumen MadMouse no hubiera tenido la posiblidad de empezar a buscar posibles socios e intermediarios y todo el plan se hubiera venido abajo. Con este documento de investigacin esperamos proveer a MadMouse de una clara imagen de los mercados en Finlandia, Suecia, Alemania y Hungria y proporcionarles un buen plan de comunicacin que se pueda usar para exportar a estos pases.

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Summary French
Le fournisseur, MadMouse, est une petite entreprise qui offre trois tapis de souris ergonomiques, appels Game Guru, Control Freak et Office Gem. Il travaille au dveloppement d une souris ergonomique. MadMouse a donn la mission de dcouvrir les joueurs sur le march potentiel et de faire connatre comment MadMouse peut approcher ces marchs effectivement. Les marchs potentiels sont tous les pays dans lUnion europenne et les joueurs sont tous les intermdiaires dans ces pays. La premire partie de la mission tait de trouver les pays dans lUnion europenne qui ont les mmes lois sur les congs maladie, sur les allocations et les conditions de travail que les Pays-Bas. La rduction de la RSI est un unique point de vente pour MadMouse aux Pays-Bas et serait profitable si elle est la mme dans les autres pays de lUE. Laccent de cette mission est lOffice Gem et les utilisateurs ou le groupe-cible cest lensemble des entreprises de ce pays. L autre partie de la mission tait dcrire un plan de communication que MadMouse pourrait utiliser pour lexportation vers le march potentiel. La plupart des pays qualifis seraient ceux dont le droit a le plus de ressemblances avec le droit nerlandais en ce qui concerne les congs maladie, les allocations et les conditions de travail. La partie la plus importante du droit nerlandais, pour cette recherche, tait le fait que les employeurs payent pour les congs maladie de leurs employs et que les employs ont un cong maladie de deux ans. Les pays dont le droit correspond le plus avec le droit nerlandais, taient la Finlande, la Sude, LAllemagne et La Hongrie, en raison de la dure de leur priode de cong maladie et /ou en raison de qui pait les allocations de congs maladie. Sur chaque pays, il tait ncessaire de trouver des informations. Le nombre dhabitants, la faon dont ils vivent, la faon de faire des affaires, la langue parle, leur taux de chmage, les progrs technologiques, cologiques, politiques et juridiques sont quelques-uns des faits les plus importants qui doivent tre trouvs. Ces informations ont t utilises pour la rdaction du plan de communication. Aussi, des informations sur les entreprises dans ces pays sont ncessaires. Il est important de savoir si l'on utilise des produits ergonomiques, et surtout, si ces entreprises achtent des produits ergonomiques. Avec la desk recherche et la recherche sur le terrain on a trouv des informations sur les intermdiaires possibles avec lesquels MadMouse pourrait faire des affaires. LaDesk recherche tait la premire action et tous les rsultats taient trouvs de cette faon. Ce ntait pas suffisant pour MadMouse et la recherche sur le terrain a t ncessaire. Les utilisateurs possibles dans les pays slectionns ont t contacts par courrier lectronique et ont t appels pour savoir o ils achtent leurs produits ergonomiques. La recherche sur le terrain, toutefois, nallait pas comme prvu. Il tait trs difficile de contacter les bonnes personnes et de trouver le bon numro de tlphone. Encore une fois, mme si la recherche sur le terrain a t faite, tous les intermdiaires ont t trouvs par la desk recherche. Les faits qui sont mentionns prcdemment, ont t utiliss comme point de dpart pour le plan de communication. Ces donnes statistiques ont donn une vue d'ensemble de chacun des pays slectionns, que l'on appelle une analyse externe, et ont t utiliss pour faire une analyse SWOT et une matrice de Confrontation. Grce cela, des stratgies et des objectifs communicatifs ont t crs pour tous les pays. Aussi, les instruments de communication et un budget de communication par pays ont t crs. Pour terminer le plan de communication une planification dtaille de la campagne de communication propose a t crite. Le plan de communication indique que MadMouse devrait utiliser les instruments de communication qui sont dj en service, comme le site web, le dpliant, les stands dans les foires, le point de vente et l'affichage. Dans ce plan, on propose un nouvel instrument : le try-out session. Cela donne la possibilit aux intermdiaires et aux utilisateurs de voir et de tester le produit. ~6~

Le rapport donne une vue d'ensemble du march dans les quatre pays slectionns et de la poursuite avec le plan de communication. Le march des pays slectionns ont t rpartis en six catgories d'intermdiaires. Ces catgories sont les producteurs, les grossistes, les dcorateurs, le bureau des magasins spcialiss, l'ergonomie des points de vente et les petits commerces. Pour les quatre pays, il tait difficile de trouver des points de vente ergonomiques et, par consquent, aucun d'entre eux sont mentionns dans le rapport. Presque toutes les autres catgories ont au moins une entreprise par pays. Mme si les marchs ne sont qu'un chapitre du rapport, cette partie est de la plus grande importance pour MadMouse. Sans cette vision, MadMouse naurait pas la possibilit de commencer chercher d'ventuels partenaires ou des intermdiaires et le plan aurait moins de valeur. Avec ce rapport, nous esprons donner MadMouse une image du march en Finlande, en Sude, en Allemagne et en Hongrie et offrir un bon plan de communication qui peut tre utiliss pour l'exportation vers ces pays. (857 mots)

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Table of Contents
Summary English Summary Spanish Summary French 1. Introduction 2. Justification of Research Methods 3. Markets 3.1 Office supply market in Finland: 3.2 Office supply market in Sweden: 3.3 Office Supply market in Germany: 3.4 Office Supply market in Hungary: 4. The Internal Analysis of MadMouse 5. Strengths & Weaknesses of MadMouse 6. The External Analysis 6.1 The External Analysis of Finland 6.2 The External Analysis of Sweden 6.3 The External Analysis of Germany 6.4 The External Analysis of Hungary 7. Opportunities & Threats 7.1 Opportunities & Threats in Finland 7.2 Opportunities & Threats in Sweden 7.3 Opportunities & Threats in Germany 7.4 Opportunities & Threats in Hungary 8. Confrontation Matrix 8.1 Confrontation Matrix - Finland 8.2 Confrontation Matrix Sweden 8.3 Confrontation Matrix Germany 8.4 Confrontation Matrix - Hungary 9. Strategies 9.1 Strategies for Finland 9.2 Strategies for Sweden 9.3 Strategies for Germany 9.4 Strategies for Hungary 10. Target Group Analysis 11. Communication Objectives 12. Communication Instruments 12.1 Communication Instruments Matrix 12.2 Explanation of Communication Instruments

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13. Budget of the campaign 14. Planning of the campaign 15. Conclusion 16. Bibliography 17. Appendix 1 Legislation in EU-Countries 18. Appendix 2 Questionnaire for End-Users 19. Appendix 3 Script 20. Appendix 4 Contacted companies 21. Appendix 5 Example advertisement Office Gem 22. Appendix 6 Example of the Point-of-Sale display

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1. Introduction
As a part of the interactive course Project Europe Calling, students must work with a real company. This provides first hand, real-world experience to the students. We had the pleasure of working with MadMouse, a company that produces mouse pads and mice with an ergonomic focus. MadMouse is a newly established company with bold, innovative ideas. More detailed information concerning MadMouses background and company profile can be found in the Internal Analysis. MadMouse is a growing company, and therefore is looking for opportunities to expand its sales all over Europe. Currently, they are primarily selling in the Netherlands and Belgian market, but MadMouse is eager to be recognized across Europe with its high-end ergonomic design. MadMouse is looking for contact information and potential end users in other countries to start networking and selling products. It is important to consider which countries would be most beneficial to market towards, and, furthermore, which end users would provide the highest sales and brand recognition. Mr. Lennearts, founder of MadMouse, asked us to research information on potential countries to sell the MadMouse product to. Upon deciding the four best potential countries, we were asked to find the optimal end users in those countries and contact them. When we are finished with the research, we will provide MadMouse with the contact information and ideas necessary to promote the growth of the company. Our central question is: What are the players in the potential market and how can MadMouse best approach these markets? Our sub questions are: What is the overview of the market players in the potential countries? What is the internal environment of MadMouse and what are its strengths and weaknesses? What is the external environment of the potential markets and its threats and opportunities? What are the SWOT and Confrontation analyses for the potential markets? What are the best strategies for entering these potential markets? What is the target group for MadMouse? What are the best communication objectives for reaching the target group on the potential markets? What are the best instruments for reaching the target group on the potential markets? How much does it cost to use the best instruments in the potential markets? How will the instruments be used to reach the target group in the potential markets? After our research was concluded, we created analyses and reports which summarized the information obtained. We then created a communication plan that was presented to Mr. Lennearts to allow MadMouse to easily follow through with our proposed actions.

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2. Justification of Research Methods

When we started this research, our assignment provider, MadMouse, instructed us to find the legislation about sick leave and payment in all the European Union (EU) countries. This part of the research was mostly done by desk research. All of the group members received a number of EUcountries that they had to research. Appendix 3 consist of a table that lists all the EU-countries and the legislation we found. Once this list was completed, we looked at the countries that had the closest similarity with the Dutch law on sick leave and payment. Our conclusion was that there were only four countries whose regulations came close to the Dutch one: Germany, Finland, Sweden and Hungary. It was agreed to focus on these four countries and we started to make a clear table of all the market players in the potential countries. We started by doing desk research ourselves, to try and find as many intermediaries as possible. After this we started looking for potential end-users, which we defined in five different categories - large companies, middle companies, small companies, nongovernmental organizations and non-profit organizations. Once this was done we contacted these companies and asked where they buy their products and how they deal with sick leave. End-users were contacted through two different channels. At first we constructed a digital questionnaire, which is in Appendix 4, and we sent it to all the companies we found. However, we never received any replies. Because e-mailing did not work, we started calling all the end-users so we could get a clear overview of the market. We constructed a script that we could use when we were calling these companies. The script can be found in Appendix 5. The calling, however, also did not work. Appendix 4 consists of a table with all the end-users, intermediaries, chambers of commerce, embassies and other organizations that we tried to call. Most these organizations were not eager to help us and most of them did not even speak English. The best help we received from the embassies and the EVD. The results of the market overview, will be presented in Chapter 3, Markets. So, in conclusion, for this Research Report, both desk research and field research were used. Professional websites such as the website of the EVD, the websites like Wikipedia, statistical websites and European websites were used during the desk research. The field research consisted of a questionnaire and making a lot of telephone calls to organizations. By using all these methods, we were able to construct a clear overview of the markets in Germany, Finland, Sweden and Hungary. Besides the overview of the market, we also had to write a communication plan that MadMouse could use once they start exporting to these countries. The plan is explained in this Research Report. The overview of the market is a part of the plan and will be explained in Chapter 3, Market and mentioned shortly again in Chapter 5, the external analysis.

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3. Markets
Part of our assignment was to find out all the players that exist on the office supply market in the countries weve selected by looking at their laws and regulations for sick leave. The four countries weve selected are Finland, Sweden, Germany and Hungary, and therefore we will give an overview of the players in these markets. Picture 3.1 Shows an example of a market and its players. This example was used as the basis for the markets of the selected countries.

Picture 3.1 Example of office supply market

All markets consist of six players. These six players are the producer, the wholesalers, the office decorators, the office specialty stores, ergonomic sales points, and small shops in the country. Each paragraph has a list of all the companies that we found through desk research and field research.

3.1 Office supply market in Finland:

Table 3.1 Office supply market in Finland 1. Producers 2. Wholesalers 3. Office decorators

4. Office specialty stores 5. Ergonomic sales points

Company Ultimat Fimeko OY Color-Kolmio OY Computer Team Finland OY Dacco Apple Aktiebolag Triosoft ~ 12 ~

6. Small shops

Valtion Yhteishankintayksikkoe Hansel OY

3.2 Office supply market in Sweden:

Table 3.2 Office supply market in Sweden 1. Producers 2. Wholesalers 3. Office decorators 4. Office specialty stores

Jays Delcato Webhallen Dustin Long design AB Stures Datorer DAHL Group Co. Ltd. Strokirk Ltd.

5. Ergonomic sales points 6. Small shops Alina System AB Office Supply Alby HB

3.3 Office Supply market in Germany:

Table 3.3 Office supply market in Germany 1. Producers 2. Wholesalers

Bedrijf MONOplastik Innova Prsente Durable Hunke & Jochheim GmbH & Co. KG

3. Office decorators 4. Office specialty stores 5. Ergonomic sales points 6. Small shops Cichon & Gersten GmbH & Co. KG Plastolan GmbH Comsystem GmbH Gckener GmbH Thallos Merchandise ~ 13 ~

KrollVogel Enterprise GmbH

3.4 Office Supply market in Hungary:

Table 3.4 Office supply market in Hungary 1. Producers 2. Wholesalers 3. Office decorators

Bedrijf Marker Lni Mezokovesdi Btoripai Kft. Neudoefler Sincord Office Depot Hungary Vectra Line Speedlink ComputerMode

4. Office specialty stores

5. Ergonomic sales points 6. Small shops Esselte Kft. Surprise Bt. SMP Szmts-, Bank-, s Biztonsgtechnikai Kft

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4. The Internal Analysis of MadMouse

This paragraph describes the assignment provider. By doing this we can extract Strengths and Weaknesses from the company and use these during the SWOT analysis and the Confrontation Matrix. MadMouse is a young company which is not well known in the Netherlands. They started their business in Venlo, the Netherlands. The director of the company is Mr. Lennearts. Mission Mad Mouse stands up and brings you eye-catching mouse pads of scratch-free, super-smooth and super-reflective material. They were developed in close collaboration with experts in the field of RSI prevention. More than two years went into research and development. The result: mouse pads that deserve more than being called a mouse pad. And now, Mad Mouse is making a name for itself. The mouse pads are being tested by the most demanding users conceivable: hardcore gamers at international LAN-parties. The outcome is as clear as it was expected: the pads are a slam-dunk success. 1 Vision The Vision of MadMouse is to sell their mouse pads also in other countries in Europe. They want to enlarge their market. What is Important here is to have good intermediaries and users of the product. Legal structure MadMouse doesnt own a shop to sell its products, but other shops sell their brand. MadMouse mouse pads can be bought all of the Netherlands and in two shops in Belgium. Mr. Lennearts is the head of the company and he works together with a salesman, an accountant and a trainee. Product range As mentioned before, MadMouse produces eye-catching mouse pads of scratch-free, super-smooth and super-reflective material. There are three different types of mouse pads. Game Guru The first mouse pad is the Game Guru. This mouse pad focuses on true gamers who believe that a good mouse pad gives you total freedom and control and that it is as important as the mouse itself. Some of the qualities the Game Guru possesses: Ergonomic design for maximum stability and control Zero-friction surface for high-speed game action Anti-skid bottom surface Over-sized design for complete freedom of movement
Picture 4.1 Game Guru

Tested together with gamers

1 MadMouse. Home. 2009. 14th April 2009. <http://www.MadMouse.eu/index.php?pagina=home >

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Control Freak The second mouse pad that MadMouse offers is the Control Freak. This mouse pad is meant for professional users, like gamers, but also for in the office. The Control Freak mouse pad puts the control back where it belongs: in your wrist. Some of the qualities that define the Control Freak: Ergonomic design for maximum stability and control Zero-friction surface for high-speed game action Patented, super-reflective material for infinite precision Precision to the last pixel
Picture 4.2 Control Freak

Tested with both gamers and professional users Office Gem The third and last mouse pad MadMouse is offering is the Office Gem. This mouse pad is aimed for the office, usable on two sides and is presented as the ideal mouse pad for Apple users. Some of the qualities the Office Gem possesses are: Ergonomic design for maximum stability and control Zero-friction surface for high-speed click action Patented, super-reflective material for infinite precision Elegant yet seductive design
Picture 4.3 Office Gem

Anti-skid bottom surface2

Mouse The newest product in the MadMouse collection is the mouse itself. This mouse should work together perfectly with the different mouse pads. The mouse is supposed to be wireless, rechargeable and not more than 100 grams. The colors would be silver and black and the size is 124x73.5x51.5mm. Picture 3.4 shows an example of the newly developed mouse.
Picture 4.4 New mouse

Markets All over the Netherlands shops sell the MadMouse mouse pads. There are also two stores that sell the MadMouse mouse pads in Belgium. MadMouse wants to enlarge their market and is now looking for opportunities in Sweden, Germany, Finland and Hungary. Stakeholders First, there are customers all over the world, because MadMouse also participates in international events. To get a real idea of the mouse pads, MadMouse has to make good promotion of the product, otherwise people will see the mouse pad as a normal mouse pad, and they will not see the advantages of the MadMouse mouse pad. Second, MadMouse wants to take care of the owners of the shops who sell the mouse pads of MadMouse. Mr. Lennearts wants to have a good relationship with the owners because they are the people who sell his products. Mr. Lennearts wants to avoid problems, give them useful information and let promotion teams work for them. Third, Mr. Lennearts has a good relationship with his employees and with the employees of the companies he wants to do business with. This way they work the best way for Mr. Lennearts.
2 MadMouse. Products. 2009. 14th April 2009. < http://www.MadMouse.eu/index.php?pagina=products >

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Financial Situation Just like all growing companies, the company has a kind of liquidity. Mr. Lennearts is negotiating with the bank to get more money and in 2008 they made a profit.

5. Strengths & Weaknesses of MadMouse

This chapter gives a summary of the most important strengths and weaknesses of MadMouse. All the other elements that might also be important, but we do not consider as being of upmost importance, can be found in Chapter 3, the internal analysis. Strengths MadMouse is a small company which means that there are short lines of communications. If they need to work on an assignment, they all know of it, which makes the communication very clear. This makes the smallness of the company a strength of MadMouse. MadMouse already has some international knowledge, because of the exporting they do to Belgium and Germany. This international knowledge gives them a good strength to start exporting to other countries. The last strength has to do with the ergonomic mouse pads they offer. This is a strength, because there are not a lot of competitors yet and this could give them a great advantage in a new country. In conclusion there are three important strengths of MadMouse, namely: Small company because of short communication lines International knowledge because of export to Belgium and Germany Product advantage because of the ergonomical aspects. Weaknesses The fact that MadMouse is a small company is also a weakness. This because it is difficult to finish an assignment in one day, of you dont have a lot of people working for you. There are also greater risks connected with exporting than when a large company would export. Any change can hit MadMouse a lot harder than it would a middle or large sized company. The second weakness of MadMouse is that their products are not really known. This means that other mouse pads are probably seen as easier, cheaper and better, because of the lack of promotion. This is something MadMouse should definitely improve. The last weakness is that the product range of MadMouse is not very broad. This means they cannot attract a lot of customers like other companies with regular mouse pads. In conclusion there are three important weaknesses of MadMouse, namely: Small company because of risks Unknown products due to lack of promotion Small product range because of size of the company.

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6. The External Analysis

The largest part of the external analysis is different for each country. The next four paragraphs will give a clear overview of the external factors, both in the macro and the meso environment, of Finland, Sweden, Germany and Hungary. The external analysis explains the differences which MadMouse should look out for when exporting to the different countries. No country is the same and they all need a somewhat different approach. However, there are several elements of the External Analysis that are the same for all the countries. These will be described first and after that the differences will be discussed. We will describe the product that MadMouse wants to export and the common stakeholders of costumers and competitors for MadMouse. Product The product MadMouse intends to sell can be considered a specialty product, because it is not bought frequently and because demand does not increase when income rises. Research has not shown any direct competitors with the same type of mouse pads as MadMouse. Most mouse pads that were found can be considered also specialty products, but less special than the MadMouse products. Not all other mouse pads showed special distinctive features and research showed no other mouse pad that even looked like the products MadMouse offers or the qualities the products have. Also, there have been no results so far for the combination of mice and mouse pad. The product MadMouse will be focusing upon is the Office Gem, with these distinct qualities: Ergonomic design for maximum stability and control Zero-friction surface for high-speed click action
Picture 6.1 The Office Gem

Patented, super-reflective material for infinite precision Elegant yet seductive design Anti-skid bottom surface And also the mouse that works perfectly together with the Office Gem. 3

Stakeholders Customers MadMouse has different sorts of customers. For this specific assignment, MadMouse is aiming for organizations and companies that would use the Office Gem in their office. Chapter 9, the target group analysis, will give a clear overview of the customers MadMouse is aiming for with this assignment. Competitors MadMouse can consider all intermediaries, with whom they do not do business, as their indirect competitors. All these companies sell some sort of mouse pads, but none of them sell exactly what MadMouse wants to sell, which makes them indirect competitors. Research has not yet shown any companies that offer both a mouse and a mouse pad that are designed for each other, so there should be no direct competitors. Another kind of competition is product/brand competition. The amount that has to be paid for the
3 MadMouse. Producten. Date unknown. 7th May 2009. <http://www.MadMouse.nl/index.php?pagina=products>

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Office Gem in the Netherlands is 27,95. Products that are in that same price category can be; books, printing paper, ink, sound boxes, company clothes, coffee, soup machines or company telephones. There are also companies that offer ergonomic mouse pads. Some of these mouse pads can even be designed especially for the company, which could result in a better competitive advantage for those companies, seeing that the Office Gem does not (yet) offer that possibility. We continue this chapter by explaining the different external factors of Finland, Sweden, Germany and finally Hungary.

6.1 The External Analysis of Finland

In 1917, Finland declared independence. During the Second World War, Finland fought twice against the Soviet Union, and had to cede most of Karelia to the USSR, but remained an independent democracy. During the Cold War an Agreement of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance existed between the Soviet Union and Finland and such phenomena as finlandization and radical socialism such as "taistolaisuus" were part of internal affairs. Throughout its history, Finland maintained a capitalist economy and the GDP per capita reached world's highest levels in the 1970s where it has remained since. Between 1970 and 1990 the number of public sector employees and the tax burden increased more than nearly any other Western country. As of late, Finland has taken even greater steps for civil liberties and economic freedom. Since such reforms, Finland has been ranked highly on many lists measuring material welfare, such as real GDP per capita growth rate. The country joined the European Union in 1995. According to a 2005 poll, most Finns are reluctant to join NATO.4 6.1.1 MACRO Analysis - Finland Demographic criteria Finland has around 5,238,460 inhabitants and has an average population density of 17 habitants per square kilometer. Finland is one of the most sparsely populated countries in Europe. The southern parts of Finland have always been the most concentrated, this happened after the 20 th century urbanization. The most important and biggest cities in Finland are the cities of the Greater Helsinki metropolitan area; these are the cities Helsinki, Espoo and Vantaa. Other important cities include Tampere, Turku and Oulu. Finland has the lowest foreign citizens of all the European Union Countries. The share of foreign citizens is 2.5%. Most foreign citizens in Finland are from Russia, Estonia and Sweden. Most of the Finnish people (92%) speak Finnish as their mother tongue.5 80.7% of Finnish people are member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland. The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland is with its 4.3 million members one of the largest Lutheran churches in the world. The life expectancy is 82 years for women and 75 years for men. After having one of the highest death rates from heart disease in the world in the 1970s, improvements in the Finnish diet and

Wikipedia. History of Finland. 23 March 2009. 16th April 2009. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Finland > 25th March 2009. 16th April 2009. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

5 Wikipedia. Finland Demographics.

Finland#Demographics >

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exercise have paid off.6 Finnish schoolchildren have one of the lowest amounts of sport classes in the European Union and according to National Public Health Institute only a third of adults exercise enough.7 Until the 1990s emigration exceeded immigration, with Sweden being one of the most attractive destinations for Finnish emigrants. Since 1990, however, Finland has become a country of net immigration. The number of immigrants rose dramatically at the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st, with the largest numbers coming from Russia, Sweden, Estonia and Somalia. Internal migration since the 1950s has been steadily toward the large town and cities. Economical criteria Finland has a highly industrialized free market economy. The services are the largest sector of the economy of Finland with 65.7%, followed by manufacturing and refining at 31.4% and the primary production is at 2.9%. The most important with reference to foreign trade is the manufacturing sector. The most important import countries are Germany, the United Kingdom, Sweden, The United States, The Russian Federation, The Netherlands and Japan. A third of GDP is earned by the Greater Helsinki area. The GDP growth has been above many other European Union countries. The inflation has been low, averaging 1.8% between 2004 and 2006. The international trade of Finland is a third of the countries GDP, so Finland is highly integrated in the global economy. The European Union makes 60% of the total trade. The European Union managed the trade policy and Finland is among the free trade supporters. In 2008 the employment rate was 68% and the unemployment rate was 6.8% in Finland. Unfunded pensions and health insurances are factors that have a big control of future liability. The directly held public dept has been reduced to around 32 percent of GDP in 2007. Socio-cultural factors Cultural influences and cultural contacts have came to Finland since the prehistory. As a result, Swedish and Russian influences are still notable in Finland. Nowadays cultural influences of North America are prominent. Finnish youth learn a lot of international influences by working or studying abroad. Finnish people have kept their cultural identity intact against the strong influences of other cultures and countries. Finland is very isolated, because the country connects with other countries on areas where few people live. The language also has no real connections with the languages of the other countries around Finland. This way the Finnish people themselves also feel isolated, and if you meet them, at the first they seem cold, but if you know them for a longer period you can notice that they are very warm hearted. The business etiquette of Finish people is as follows: Finns are transactional and do not need long-standing personal relationships in order to conduct business. The basic business style is formal - i.e. there is relatively little small talk and Finns prefer
6 Britannica. People

Demographic trends. Date unkown. 16th April 2009 < http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/ topic/207424/Finland/26123/Demographic-trends >
7 Wikipedia. Finland Demographics. 25th March 2009. 16th April 2009. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finland#Demographics>

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people to speak succinctly and to focus purely on business. Finns do not require face-to- face contact and, in fact, are quite comfortable using e- mail. Finns are excellent time managers who prefer to organize their workday in order to accomplish as much as possible. Finns are interested in long- term relationships. Relationship building often takes place outside the office: in a restaurant or the sauna. Never turn down an invitation to use the sauna, as it is an entrenched part of the Finnish culture. Finns place a great value on speaking plainly and openly. What someone says is accepted at face value and this is a culture where "a man's word is his bond" and will be treated as seriously as a written contract, so verbal commitments are considered agreements. Finns are direct communicators. Expect your colleagues to tell you what they think rather than what you want to hear. Professional differences are not viewed as personal attacks.8

Technological factors Not only was Finland quick to develop its telecommunications and information technology industry, but Finns also rapidly made new technology part of their lives. At the turn of the 21st century, Finland had the among the largest per capita numbers of mobile telephone and Internet users in the world.9 Political and legal factors Sick leave and payment was of importance to MadMouse to select a country to export to. Sickness Allowance in Finland is intended to compensate for loss of earnings during a period of incapacity for work. A 10-day waiting period must normally be completed before Sickness Allowance is paid. If you are paid a wage or salary while on sick leave, your Sickness Allowance is paid to your employer. If you return to work on a part-time basis after a sick leave of several months, you can get a Partial Sickness Allowance from KELA. If you have been incapacitated for over a year, you can claim a Disability Pension from KELA. You must have received Sickness Allowance for the maximum period of 300 working days and be unable to return to work on account of your illness.10 The same laws and regulations apply to trade with Finland as with The Netherlands (or other EU member-states). Since 1993 it is illegal to hinder trade between member-states, which is secured in the treaty of Maastricht. However Finland will ask for payment of VAT, because that has to be paid in the county of arrival of the product. The standard tariff of the Finnish sales tax is 24%. Finland is a member of the European Union, so relations with it or other countries is very stable. 11 6.1.2 MESO Analysis - Finland Market Companies can buy the product to use it in their own company, or companies can sell the product
8 Kwintessential. Global Etiquette, Finland. Date unknown. 16th April 2009 < http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/global-

etiquette/finland-country-profile.html>
9 Britannica. Finland Overview. Date unknown. 16th April 2009. < http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/207424/Finland > 10 KELA. Sickness. 23-April 2009. 12th May 2009. <http://www.kela.fi/in/internet/english.nsf/NET/081101135114EH?OpenDocument > 11 ?? . ?? . ?? . 16th April 2009. <http://vliegreizen.planeet.biz/vliegreizen/finland/cultuur.html >

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in their companies. The product will appear in selected shops but this depends on how the product is selling. Finland has 20 regions and Helsinki is the capital of Finland. of the population in Finland lives around the city and this way it is the best that MadMouse sells his products first in Helsinki.
Picture 6.2 Provinces in Finland

Finland has 20 provinces. These provinces are: Lapland, North-sterbotten, Kainuu, NorthKareli, North-Savo, South-Savo, South-sterbotten, sterbotten, Pirkanmaa, Satakunta, Centralsterbotten, Central-Finland, Varsinais-Suomi, South-Kareli, Pijt-Hme, Kanta-Hme, Uusimaa, Oost-Uusimaa, Kymenlaakso and land. MadMouse will focus on the province Uusimaa, because in this province is the place Helsinki situated.Stakeholders The external stakeholders are also of importance for MadMouse. The customers and competitors have already been explained above, but the intermediaries and audiences differ per country. This is why the intermediaries and audiences of Finland will be discussed below. Intermediaries MadMouse wants 6 categories of intermediaries. These 6 categories are producers of mouse pads, wholesalers of office supplies, office decorators, office specialty stores, ergonomic sales points and small shops that sell office supplies. Table 6.1 gives a clear overview of all the companies in all the different categories.

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Table 6.1 Intermediaries in Finland Company 1. Producer 2. Wholesaler 3. Office decorators Ultimat Fimeko OY Color-Kolmio Oy Computer Team Finland Oy Dacco Apple Aktiebolag, filial i Finland. 4. Office specialty store 5. Ergonomic sale point 6. Small shops VALTION YHTEISHANKINTAYKSIKKOE HANSEL OY HELSINKI Triosoft

Audiences There are no possible interest groups because companies that are ergonomic responsible were not found on the internet because there are not companies on the internet which are ergonomic responsible and use the English language. Besides companies that might be interested in the introduction of the Office Gem and its matching mice, there is also the government to consider. The most important ministries are the ministry of National Development and Economy and the ministry of Social Affairs and Employment. Media can be used to promote the mouse pad in Finland. There are several ways to do this, by using flyers, billboards, internet and TV commercials. The first commercial TV channel in Finland is MTV3 and after that comes TV1 and TV2. There are also a lot of radio stations in Finland. Radio Suomi the biggest radio channel of Finland. Sanoma media can be used to promote the product and because this company works a lot with computers, there can be a deal made between MadMouse and Sanoma. Sanoma can produce magazines with flyers of the mouse pad and MadMouse can give the whole company enough of these mouse pads. The last group that is interesting for MadMouse is financial institutions. Without these MadMouse might not be able to export to Finland at all. Mr. Lennearts does not want to start his own store, but he wants to sell it to companies in Finland and so he does need to do business with the banks in Finland. The biggest commercial bank in Finland is the City National Bank. City National Bank City National provides working capital loans for export finance, international banking, letters of credit services, and foreign exchange.12 Other financial institutions such as pension funds, insurance companies and investment funds do not seem to be interesting for MadMouse.

6.2 The External Analysis of Sweden

Sweden is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden has land borders with Norway to the west and Finland to the northeast, and it is connected to Denmark by the

12

K2B. Digitale Media. Date unknown. 16th April 2009. < http://www.culturescope.nl/content/view/625/44/lang,nl/ >

~ 23 ~

resund Bridge in the south. Sweden is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system of government and a highly developed economy. It ranks first in the world in The Economist's Democracy Index and 7th in the United Nation's Human Development Index. Sweden has been a member of the European Union since 1 January 1995 and is a member of the OECD.13 6.2.1 MACRO Analysis - Sweden Demographic criteria There are 9.2 million inhabitants in Sweden. The population density is only 20 people per square kilometer, with the largest concentration of inhabitants in Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malm. Healthcare in Sweden is similar in quality to other developed nations. Sweden ranks in the top five countries with respect to low infant mortality. It also ranks high in life expectancy and in safe drinking water. Their age structure is the following; 014 years: 15.7% (male 733,597; female 692,194) 1564 years: 65.5% (male 3,003,358; female 2,927,038) and 65 years and over: 18.8% (male 753,293; female 650,171) (As of 2009[update] est.).14 The population growth is 0.72%15 Economic criteria The GDP in Sweden was 267.5 billion in 2008 and its growth was 0.7% (2008). The unemployment rate in Sweden is 6.4% against 4.5% (2008) in the Netherlands. With a 1.1% rise in industrial growth (2008), Sweden has a stable and promising economic situation.16 The most important import countries are Germany, the United States, Norway, the United Kingdom, Denmark, and Finland.17 Swedes have rejected the euro in a popular vote and Sweden maintains its own currency, the Swedish krona (SEK). The Swedish Riksbank founded in 1668 and thus making it the oldest central bank in the world is currently focusing on price stability with its inflation target of 2%. According to the Economic Survey of Sweden 2007 by the OECD, the average inflation in Sweden has been one of the lowest among European countries since the mid-1990s, largely because of deregulation and quick utilization of globalization.18 Socio-cultural criteria The languages spoken in Sweden are Swedish, Finnish, Mankieli, Sami, Romani, Yiddish and English. Their religion is Lutheran. Culturally their are little differences to be seen between the Dutch and the Swedish culture. Kwintessential gives one clear cultural difference between other cultures and the Swedes when doing business:

13 Wikipedia. Sweden. 16th January 2009. 17th April 2009. < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweden 14 Wikipedia. Sweden. 21th May 2009. < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Sweden#Age_structure 15 Wikipedia. Sweden. 21th May 2009. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Sweden > 16 CIA. Sweden. 9th April 2009. 17th April 2009. < https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/

sw.html > 17 CIA. Sweden. 9th April 2009. 17th April 2009. < https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ sw.html > 18 Wikipedia. Sweden. 21th May 2009. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweden>

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"Egalitarianism is the most dominant social value in Sweden. Consensus and compromise are ingrained into the business and social life. When doing business in Sweden you will notice the lack out outward signs of hierarchy and status present in many other countries." Other differences mentioned in the article are the firm and swift handshake at the beginning, the usage of first names when doing business, the openness and directness of Swedish businessmen, and to never interrupt someone. The most important thing to remember when doing business in Sweden is that they want consensus in their way of making a decision. This means that the top-level does not necessarily make the decision, but that the middle management or an even lower level makes that decision.19 Policital/legal criteria Sweden has an export oriented market economy, as it largely is an industrialized country. Again, MadMouse wanted us to take a look at the sick leave and payment of all EU- Countries. In Sweden, every ill/sick employee receives 80% of his/hers salary after 90 days of illness since 2005. If you are ill for more than seven days, you will normally be expected to produce a medical certificate in order to continue to receive sick pay or sickness benefit. You can receive sickness benefit for at most 364 days during a 450-day period (around 15 months). If you are unemployed and fall ill, you must report sick to your employer. If you are employed for at least one month or have worked for 14 days without a break, you are entitled to sick pay from your employer for the first 14 days of your illness. For the first day (known as the waiting period) no payment is made. Sick pay and sickness benefit are 80% of pay, up to a certain ceiling. 6.2.2 MESO Analysis - Sweden Market Companies can buy the product to use it in their own company, or companies can resell the product. Most of Swedens population lives in the urban areas; therefore, Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malm (the three largest cities) are the prime focus. This is because they can make their products this way the most recognizable and will reach more people at the same time. Stakeholders Intermediaries MadMouse wants 6 categories of intermediaries. These 6 categories are producers of mouse pads, wholesalers of office supplies, office decorators, office specialty stores, ergonomic sales points and small shops that sell office supplies. Table 6.2 gives a clear overview of all the companies in all the different categories.
Table 6.2 Intermediaries in Sweden Companies Producer Wholesale Jays Delcato

19 Kwintessential. " Doing business in Sweden". date unknown. 21st April 2009. <http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/

etiquette/doing-business-sweden.html >

~ 25 ~

Office Retailer

Webhallen Dustin

Office Supplier

Long Design AB Stures Datorer DAHL Group Co. Ltd. Strokirk Ltd.

Small shops

Alina System AB Office Supply Alby HB

Audiences Ergonomic countries in Sweden were very hard to find because all the websites were in the Swedish language or we found companies in English but all these companies were not ergonomic. Besides companies that might be interested in the introduction of the Office Gem mouse pad and its matching ergonomic mice, there is also the government to consider. Perhaps, the three branches in the police forces (Police, National Task Force, and Swedish Security Service). Media can be used to promote the MadMouse in Sweden. The first option is the newspaper. Swedes are among the largest consumers of newspapers in the world. The most popular papers are the Aftonblade and Expressen. Television is also very popular, so commercials would be very effective. SVT and TV4 are the most popular stations. Other standard media advertising techniques, such as internet ads, billboard ads, and radio ads would also be very beneficial.20 The last group that is interesting for MadMouse is financial institutions. Without these MadMouse might not be able to export Sweden. The Riksbanken is the central bank of Sweden. Banks use computers as the main source of communication and interaction in the system, so a nice mouse pad would be beneficial. It is also nice to get off on a good start, concerning loans and et cetera. Other financial institutions such as pension funds, insurance companies and investment funds do not seem to be interesting for MadMouse. Many well established corporations are founded in Sweden. Companies such as Ericsson, Volvo, Saab, and Samlogic would be good choices to approach.21

20

Wikipedia. Media of Sweden. 14th January 2009. 17th April 2009. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_in_Sweden >

21 Wikipedia. List of Swedish companies.26th March 2009. 17th April 2009. < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

List_of_Swedish_companies >

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6.3 The External Analysis of Germany

Picture 6.3 Germany on map

The Bundesrepublik Deutschland has the largest population in the European Union. Most countries made Germany a part of the EU to prevent Germany from becoming to strong again. However, Germany also thought it best to have good relationships with their neigbours. They did not want to keep the enemies they made during the war. Nowadays, Germany has 82.369.548 inhabitants (2008) and still is an important member of the EU, economically, politically and also militarily. 31% of the Germans are Roman-Catholics and most supporters live in the East and West of Germany. The official language is German, but there are some minority languages as well. The four largest other languages are Sorbisch, Danish, Romani and North-Frisian. Germany is considered a federal republic and the capital is Berlin. 22 23 6.3.1 MACRO Analysis - Germany Demographic criteria The mortality rate in Germany is a bit higher than the birth rate. There are 10.1 deaths per 1,000 people and there are 8.18 births per 1,000 people. There is a population growth rate of -0.053%. 24 Germany is also among one of the countries with the lowest birth rate, but has one of the highest life expectancy rates.25 A population prognoses shows that Germany will have less than 75 million inhabitants by 2050 against the 82.3 million of today.26 Table 6.3 shows the age structure in Germany for the past two years. This table shows a growth in elderly people in the past years. Table 6.3 Age structure in Germany Age 200827 0-14 years 13.8% Female 5,826,066 Male 5,524,568 15-64 years 66.2% Female 27,763,917 Male 26,739,934 65 years and over 20% Female 6,892,743 Male 9,662,320

200928 13.7% 5,768,366 5,470,516 66,1% 27,707,761 26,676,759 20,3% 7,004,805 9,701,551

Germany is one of the most densely populated countries in the world. There are 230 inhabitants per square kilometer. The highest population density, of about 11 million inhabitants, is in and
22Duitsland Web. Duitsland en Europa. Date unknown. 7th May 2009< http://www.duitslandweb.nl/naslagwerk/naslagwerk/

Duitsland_en_Europa/index.html>
23 Wikipedia. Duitsland. 30th April 2009. 7th May 2009. <http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duitsland> 24 CIA Worldfactbook. Germany. 23th April 2009. 7th May 2009. <https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/gm.html> 25 Britannica. Germany. Date unknown. 7th May 2009. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/231186/Germany/58007/

Demographic-trends>
26 EVD. Duitsland: Bevolking. 1st September 2008. 7th May 2009. <http://www.evd.nl/home/landen/publicatie/lob.asp?

bstnum=1317&landen=dui&rubrieken=niet%20pro&bron=evd!faq&sortering=sorteercode>
27 Index Mundi. Germany Age Structure. 18th December 2008. 7th May 2009. <http://www.indexmundi.com/germany/

age_structure.html>
28 CIA Worldfactbook. Germany. 23th April 2009. 7th May 2009. <https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/gm.html>

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around the Ruhrgebied. This area includes cities like Essen, Duisburg, Dortmund, Dsseldorf and Kln. Almost 3.5 million people live in Berlin. Other big cities in Germany are Hamburg and Mnchen. 29
Picture 6.4 Ruhrgebied

Britannica mentions a trend in migration from East to West Germany in the last decades: In 198990 alone nearly 700,000 East Germans poured into West Germany; thereafter the stream continued, though from 1994 to 1997 net immigration occurred at a sharply reduced rate before increasing again because of ongoing economic problems in eastern Germany.30 This trend can explain the population density in the Ruhrgebied, because all the people from the East wanted to work in the West and went to the largest place to find a job. This was the Ruhrgebied and it became even bigger because of it. Economic criteria The German economy is the fifth largest economy in the world and the largest one in the EU. The GDP per capita is $34,800 in 2008. This was a bit less than 2007 ($34,900) but more than 2006 ($34,000). The largest sector in Germany is services with 60,9% and industry with 30.1%. The service sector is smaller than the Dutch services sector, which is 73.6%. The industry sector is larger than the Dutch sector, which is 24.4%. The labor force in Germany is 43.62 million people against 7.75 million people in the Netherlands. The unemployment rate according to the International Labor organization is 7.9%, while the German Federal Employment Office says 10.8% in 2008. The inflation rate for consumer prices in Germany was 2.8% in 2008, while in the Netherlands it was only 1.5%. Germany imported for 1.202 trillion in 2008 and it mostly imported machinery, vehicles, chemicals, foodstuffs, textiles, metals. Germanys largest import partner is the Netherlands, who holds 12% of the import. Other large importer partners are France, Belgium, China, Italy, UK , Austria and the USA.31 32 Socio-cultural criteria Germany used to be referred to as the land of the poets and thinkers, nowadays Germans can be considered the best planners who exist. This planning provides them with security and the culture prizes forward thinking. If Germans stay late after work, it means that they did not plan their day very well. Once a task has been handed out, there is no need to think about it, or change the way its done. Personal life and work is completely separated. German culture is rather formal, shown best by the use of Sie, but at home a German can show his/her individualism. Only close friends and relatives that are invited at home are allowed to use the informal way of speaking. There are also some German codes of conduct when it comes to business. Germans appreciate people who try to speak German, but are able to speak another language as well. Formality is always preferred and titles should be treated with respect. Germans are also interested in your
29 Wikipedia. Bevolking van Duitsland. 8th March 2009. 7th May 2009. <http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bevolking_van_Duitsland> 30 Britannica. Germany Demographic trends. Date unknown. 7th May 2009. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/231186/

Germany/58007/Demographic-trends>
31 CIA Worldfactbook. Germany. 23th April 2009. 7th May 2009. <https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/gm.html> 32 CIA Worldfactbook. Netherlands. 23th April 2009. 7th May 2009. < https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/

geos/nl.html>

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academic credentials and the time your organization has been in business, however, they do not need a personal relationship to do business. Germans are punctual, they will not be late. They also do everything according to the book, a contract is kept and decisions are made at the top of the organization.33 Important German holidays are Maifeiertag, which is on the first of May, and Unity Day, which is on the 3rd of October.34 Technological criteria In Germany there were 42.5 million internet users in 2007.35 Political/legal criteria Again, MadMouse wanted to know about the legal situation around sick leave and payments of all EU-countries. Employers in Germany pay continuous for 6 weeks, after that around 70% for 1,5 years. For other regulations, Germany is part of the EU, just like the Netherlands and the rules of the EU apply to both countries. There are some elements that need to be named on the bill, like VAT identification number of supplier and purchaser, and changed declaration of sale tax. However, there are some things worth mentioning. There is a treaty between Germany and the Netherlands that prevents double taxes. Germany and the Netherlands tried to make a new treaty, but the process was stopped in 2007.36 The normal VAT tariff in Germany is 19% and for certain products there is a lower VAT tariff of 7%. Excise duty does not apply for the Office Gem. 37 There is no limit when it comes to transactions, but payments need to be mentioned when they exceed 12,500 euro.
38

6.3.2 MESO Analysis Germany Market The market MadMouse wants to focus on for this assignment is the business market. Germany has 16 Bundeslnder and the two best options to start the export of the Office Gem might be Nord Rhine-Westphalia and Berlin.
Picture 6.5 Nord Rhine-Westphalia

Nord Rhine-Westphalia is in terms of population and economic output the largest Bundesland in Germany. This part of Germany is also the area of the Ruhrgebied. Besides that it has large cities as Dsseldorf and Kln. This part of Germany might be the best starting point for selling a mouse pad.39
Picture 6.6 Berlin
33 Kwintessential. Germany. Date unknown. 7th May 2009. <http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/global-etiquette/germany-

country-profile.html>
34 WereldFeesten Almanak. Germany. Date unknown. 7th May 2009. <http://www.beleven.org/feesten/lijsten/landen.php?

land=Duitsland>
35 CIA Worldfactbook. Germany. 23th April 2009. 7th May 2009. <https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/

gm.html>
36 EVD. Duitsland: Verdragen. 9th February 2009. 7th May 2009. <http://www.evd.nl/home/landen/landenpagina/land.asp?

bstnum=93098&land=dui&location=/home/landen/landenpagina/land.asp?land=dui&highlight=>
37 EVD. Duitsland: Invoerrechten en andere heffingen 20 April 2009. 7th May 2009. < http://www.evd.nl/home/landen/landenpagina/

land.asp?bstnum=93336&land=dui&location=/home/landen/landenpagina/land.asp?land=dui&highlight=>
38 EVD. Duitsland: betalingsverkeer. 28th April 2009. 7th May 2009. <http://www.evd.nl/home/landen/landenpagina/land.asp?

bstnum=1418&land=dui&location=/home/landen/landenpagina/land.asp?land=dui&highlight=>
39 Wikipedia. Nord Rhine-Westphalia. 3th May 2009. 7th May 2009. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Rhine-Westphalia>

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Another area MadMouse could focus upon is Berlin. It is the largest city in Germany and is a major centre for culture, politics, media and science. Its economy is mainly focused on the service industry, like creative organizations, media organizations and conference and convention centers. This part of Germany is more focused on services, so might need more mouse pads as well.40Stakeholders The market MadMouse wants to focus on for this assignment is the business market. The different stakeholders for MadMouse will be described in the next paragraphs. Intermediaries MadMouse wants 6 categories of intermediaries. These 6 categories are producers of mouse pads, wholesalers of office supplies, office decorators, office specialty stores, ergonomic sales points and small shops that sell office supplies. Table 6.4 gives a clear overview of all the companies in all the different categories.
Table 6.4 Office supply market in Germany 1. Producers 2. Wholesalers Company MONOplastik Innova Prsente Durable Hunke & Jochheim GmbH & Co. KG 3. Office decorators 4. Office specialty stores 5. Ergonomic sales points 6. Small shops Cichon & Gersten GmbH & Co. KG Plastolan GmbH Comsystem GmbH Gckener GmbH Thallos Merchandise KrollVogel Enterprise GmbH

Audiences There are some ergonomic organizations that might be interested in the introduction of the Office Gem and the matching mouse. The only one found is the Gesellschaft fr Arbeitswissenschaft (GfA). Their mission is: The Gesellschaft fr Arbeitswissenschaft e. V." wants to achieve a relevant contribution to the design of living and working conditions by promoting interdisciplinary and holistic research and design concepts.41 The GfA gives workshops, congresses, consultations and job fairs to transfer ergonomic knowledge to as many people as possible.

40 Wikipedia. Berlin. 6th May 2009. 7th May 2009. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin> 41 GfA. About the GfA. Date unknown. 7th May 2009. < http://www.gfa-online.de/englisch/english.php>

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Besides companies that might be interested in the introduction of the Office Gem and its matching mouse, there is also the government to consider. The most important ministries are the ministry of Health and Social Security (Gesundheit und Soziale Sicherung) and the ministry of Employment and Social business (Arbeit und Soziales). Besides the interest groups and the government there is also media to consider. TV shows, newspapers, radio stations and even magazines can influence the purchase of the Office Gem and its matching mouse. A business magazine that is published in Germany is Wirtschafts Nachrichten.42 Other newspapers that might be interesting for MadMouse are Die Welt, Die Zeit and the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.43 There are also a number of television stations that can be considered. 3SAT, ARD, Bayerischer Rundfunk, Das Erste, Deutsche Welle, DSF, Hessischen Rundfunk, Kabel Eins, NDR Fernsehen, RTL, WDR Fernsehen und ZDF.44 The last group that is interesting for MadMouse is financial institutions. Without these MadMouse might not be able to export to Germany at all. Even though MadMouse does not want to have its own stores, they do want to do business with German stores and therefore they need the banks in Germany. The largest bank in Germany is the Deutsche Bank. This bank works with corporations and is focused not only at Germany, but all over the world.45 The second largest bank in Germany is the CommerzBank. This bank also works with corporations, but does not specifically focus on small or middle companies.46 Other financial institutions such as pension funds, insurance companies and investment funds do not seem to be interesting for MadMouse.

42 Business View Media. Verspreiding. Date unknown. 7th May 2009. < http://www.businessviewmedia.com/dutch/verspreiding. php> 43 www.b9.nl. Duitsland. 2009. 7th May 2009. < http://www.b9.nl/kranten/duitsland.htm> 44TV Live. Kijk TV op je PC. Date unknown. 7th May 2009. < http://www.tv.live-station.org/Duitsland.html> 45 Deutsche Bank. Homepage. 5th May 2009. 7th May 2009. < http://www.db.com/index_e.htm> 46 Wikipedia. CommerzBank. 22th April 2009. 7th May 2009. < http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commerzbank>

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6.4 The External Analysis of Hungary

Until 1989 Hungary was a Communist country. Nowadays, Hungary is a parliamentary republic and has a high-income economy. Hungary entered the European Union on 1st of May 2004. Hungarys current goal is to become a developed country by IMF standards. The past decade marked Hungary as the 10th most economically dynamic area and as one of the 15 most popular tourist destinations in the world.
Picture 6.7 Hungary in EU

The capital of Hungary is Budapest. Budapest is regarded as one of the most beautiful urban landscapes in the world. The official language spoken in Hungary is Hungarian (Magyar). The largest ethnic group, 95%, is Magyar and the largest minority group is the Roma, with 2%. The other 3% are other minority groups. The president of Hungary is Lszl Slyom and the Prime Minister is Gordon Bajnai. The currency in Hungary is the Forint.47 The Forint is linked to the Euro, but will not disappear until 2012-2014. This date depends on the terms of the StabilityPact. 48 6.4.1 MACRO Analysis - Hungary Demographic criteria The mortality rate is higher than the birth rate in Hungary since the eighties, which means that population is shrinking. In January 2008 Hungary had a little over 10 million inhabitants, but the expectation is that number will fall under 10 million rather soon. At the same time, there are more and more foreigners coming to Hungary. In 2007 there were almost 160,000 foreigners. This growth of foreigners could partially compensate the loss of normal inhabitants, but still the population would be shrinking which is also shown by Table 6.5. Table 6.5 Age structure in Hungary Age 0-14 years Female Male 15-64 years Female Male 200749 15,3% 785,643 741,907 69.3% 3,399,926 3,498,403 200850 15.2% 774,092 730,485 69,3% 3,393,630 3,488,011 200951 15% 763,553 720,112 69,3% 3,384,961 2,475,135

47 Wikipedia. Hungary. 14th April 2009. 16th April 2009. < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungary > 48 InfoNU.nl Koers van de Hongaarse Forint. 17th March 2009. 16 April 2009.

< http://financieel.infonu.nl/geld/19481-koers-van-de-hongaarse-forint.html > 49 CBS News. Country FastFacts Hungary. 2009. 16th April 2009. < http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/09/10/ country_facts/main3246570.shtml >
50 IndexMundi. Hungary Age Structure. 18th December 2008. 16th April 2009. < http://www.indexmundi.com/hungary/age_structure.html > 51 The World Factbook. Hungary. 9th April 2009. 16th April 2009. < https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-

factbook/print/hu.html >

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65 years and over Female Male

15.4% 554,356 975,873

15.6% 559,483 985,214

15.8% 566,067 995,768

Table 6.5 shows that the percentage of 0-14 year persons has shrunk, while the percentage of 65 year or more persons has risen. This again proves the point that there are not enough children born to keep the population at a constant level.
Picture 6.8 Map of Hungary

Budapest is, without doubt, the largest city in Hungary with 1.7 million inhabitants. From all points of view, economical, cultural and political, Budapest is also the centre of the country. Other big cities in Hungary are Debrecen (206,000 inhabitants), Miskolc (180,000 inhabitants), Szeged (163,000 inhabitants), Pcs (159,000 inhabitants) and Gyr (129,000 inhabitants). The difference in inhabitants makes it very clear that Budapest definitely is the largest city in Hungary. The densely populated provinces are Komron, Borsod, Csongrad and Pest.52Economic criteria The GDP (purchasing power parity) of Hungary is $205.7bn (2008est.) in comparison with the Dutch GDP of $670.2 billion (2008est.). The GDP real growth rate in Hungary is -1.5% (2008est.) and in the Netherlands this is 1.8% (2008est.). The GDP growth per capita is $19,800 (2008 est.) in Hungary and $40,300 (2008 est.) in the Netherlands. The global financial crisis, declining exports, and low domestic consumption and fixed asset accumulation, dampened by government austerity measures, will result in a negative growth rate of about -1.5% to -2.5% in 200953 Though the budget deficit in Hungary has been reduced from over 9% of the GDP in 2006 to 3.3% in 2008. The private sector counts for more than 80% of the GDP and Hungary has a per capita income of nearly two-thirds of the EU-25 average. The unemployment rate in Hungary is 8% (2008 est.) against the 4.5% (2008 est.) in the Netherlands. The inflation rate in Hungary is 6.1% (2008 est.) against the 1.5% (2008 est.) in the Netherlands. 54,55 In 2005 the exchange rate was Euro 1 = HUF 247.93. In 2008 the exchange rate was Euro 1 = HUF 253.22 and on the first on January 2009 the exchange rate was Euro 1 = HUF 267.13. 56 Hungary exports for $109.3 billion f.o.b. (2008 est.) and imports for $107.5 billion f.o.b. (2008 est.). Their biggest import partners are Germany 26.6%, China 7.8%, Russia 6.9%, Austria 6.1%, Italy 4.5%,
52 EVD. Online overzicht basisgegevens Hongarije 3th September 2008. 16 April 2009. < http://www.evd.nl/

home/landen/publicatie/lob_bas.asp?Landen=hog&rubrieken=(alleen%20bas)%20en%20(bor,bev,gkl,fcs,rio) &sorteercode=niet%20leeg&iaantal=50&sortering=sorteercode&location=/home/landen/landenpagina/land.asp? land=hog#3 > 53 The World Factbook. Hungary. 9th April 2009. 16th April 2009. < https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-worldfactbook/print/hu.html > 54 The World Factbook. Hungary. 9th April 2009. 16th April 2009. < https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-worldfactbook/print/hu.html > 55 The World Factbook. Netherlands. 9th April 2009. 16th April 2009. < https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/theworld-factbook/geos/nl.html > 56 European Central Bank. Hungarian Florint. 15th April 2009. 16th April 2009. < http://www.ecb.int/stats/exchange/ eurofxref/html/eurofxref-graph-huf.en.html >

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France 4.3%, and the Netherlands 4.3% (2007).57 Hungary does not import a lot of parts & accessories of automatic data processing machines and units thereof. Trademap shows that Hungary only holds 0.97% of the worlds import in that category. The Netherlands has as share of 12.25% in Hungarys import on this product. 58 Socio-cultural criteria Business Hungary published an article about the challenges that marketing faces in Hungary. The article says that Hungarian consumers are strikingly advertising-literate, and open to novelty People understand marketing. They see through the tricks. They want to have facts." The article also says that "in contrary to patterns in the West, Hungarians are extremely disloyal to brands The Hungarian consumer compressed the traditional early/developmental/maturity sequence of marketing experience In their ability to get down to critical comparisons, Hungarians are at a stage that has taken Western European consumers fifty years to figure out In Hungary, coveragenot creativityand an aim to target broadly, are the strategy.59 There are also some cultural differences between Hungary and the Netherlands. One of them is the order of first and last names. In Hungary the last name is given first and the first name follows. Another important difference is that Hungarian businesspeople are used to be taken orders and do what is told. They follow patterns and structures and expect the boss to be the boss. 60 Another difference is that the Hungarian language (Magyar) is really hard to master. The younger generation and also multinationals speak more and more English, but much of the population speaks little English.61 The first day of the week for Hungarians is Monday and Saturday mornings are sometimes considered work-time. The official commemoration of the contribution of the average worker is May Day, the first day of May.62 Technological criteria In Hungary there are 4,829.52 million (2009) internet users.63 53.5% households have access to home computer in 2009 and 49.6% in 2008.64 Political/legal criteria
57 The World Factbook. Hungary. 9th April 2009. 16th April 2009. < https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-

factbook/print/hu.html > 58 Trademap. Existing and potential trade between Hungary and Netherlands in 2007 2007. 16th April 2009. < http:// www.trademap.org/netherlands/Bilateral.aspx > 59 Business Hungary. Forget Cola Wars! Hungarys Marketing Faces Challenges on All Fronts. 2001. 16th April 2009. < http://www.amcham.hu/BUSINESSHUNGARY/14-07/articles/14-07_10.asp > 60 Hongarije Vakantieland.nl. Verschillen tussen Nederlandse en Hongaarse cultuur. 25th March 2009. 16th April 2009. < http://www.hongarijevakantieland.nl/hongaarse_gebruiken.htm > 61 U.S. Commercial Service. Doing Business in Hungary: A Country Commercial Guide for U.S. Companies. 2005. 16th April 2009. < http://www.free-research.com/info.asp?information=countries&sector=country&country=Hungary (2007 report) > 62 FiloLog.com. Differences of Life and Culture in Hungary and America. 29th July 2007. 16th April 2009. < http:// www.filolog.com/crossculture_usa_hu.html > 63 Euromonitor International. Country Factfile. 2009. 16th April 2009. < http://www.euromonitor.com/FactFile.aspx? country=HU > 64 OECD StatExtracts. Country statistical profiles 2009 16th April 2009. 16th April 2009. < http://stats.oecd.org/WBOS/ Index.aspx?DataSetCode=CSP2009 >

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Again, MadMouse wanted to know about the sick leave and payments in Hungary. Sick pay is due for the period of the inability to work, at most for one year while the person is insured and for 45 days after the termination of insurance;, or while nursing a child, for a period aligned with the age of the child. the payment rate is 60% or 70% of the daily average salary. An insurance company pays for the sick leave. Hungary is part of the EU, just like the Netherlands and the rules of the EU apply to both countries. Within the free transportation of products, a company would normally only send a bill to their client. However, there are some elements that need to be named on the bill, like VAT identification number of supplier and purchaser, and changed declaration of sale tax. There are two treaties of importance between the Netherlands and Hungary. One of them is to prevent double taxes. This treaty says that a Dutch company does not have to pay income taxes in both countries. The other one is an investment regulation. Foreign investments will be declared harmless if there is any governmental regulation that leads to losses for the company. In the Netherlands, the CDIU (Centrale Dienst voor In- en Uitvoer) is responsible for handing out import and export permits. In Hungary the MKEH (Hungarian Institute for Trade Licencing) is responsible for the import and export permits. There are two VAT tariffs in Hungary, which will be used to tax products in Hungary, also the imported products. The standard one is 20% and the lower tariff is 5%. For the products MadMouse would be selling, 20% would be the VAT tariff.65,66 For the moment the most effective way for a company to secure a patent across a range of EU national markets is to use the services of the European Patent Office (EPO) in Munich. It offers a onestop-shop that enables rights holders to get a bundle of national patents using a single application. However these national patents have to be validated, maintained and litigated separately in each Member State.

6.4.2 MESO Analysis - Hungary Market The market MadMouse wants to focus on for this assignment is the business market. MadMouse wants to sell the Office Gem to companies, large, middle, small, NGO and non-profit organizations.

65 EVD. Online overzicht wetgeving Hongarije. 21th August 2007. 16th April 2009. < http://www.evd.nl/

home/landen/publicatie/lob_wet.asp? Landen=eul&rubrieken=(alleen%20wet)%20en%20(abw,acw,arw,arb,bdv,blw,btv,doc,dot,ite,ivb,ivr,pde,tin,tpr,ver) &sorteercode=niet%20leeg&iaantal=50&sortering=sorteercode&location=/home/landen/landenpagina/land.asp? land=eul#4 > 66 EVD. Online overzicht wetgeving EU-landen . 21th August 2008. 16th April 2009. < http://www.evd.nl/ home/landen/publicatie/lob_wet.asp? Landen=eul&rubrieken=(alleen%20wet)%20en%20(abw,acw,arw,arb,bdv,blw,btv,doc,dot,ite,ivb,ivr,pde,tin,tpr,ver) &sorteercode=niet%20leeg&iaantal=50&sortering=sorteercode&location=/home/landen/landenpagina/land.asp? land=eul#4 >

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Hungary has 20 regions of which one is the capital Budapest and the other 19 are counties. Considering that Budapest is the biggest city in Hungary with 10% of the population, this might be one of Madhouses best starting points. The two counties that have most inhabitants are Pest (which includes Budapest) and Borsod-Abaj-Zempln (BAZ).
Picture 6.9 Borsod-Abaj-Zempln

BAZ lies in the upper north east of Hungary, while Pest is situated almost in the centre of Hungary. The leading industry in BAZ is heavy industry and the unemployment ratio is highest of all Hungary. BAZ also has the lowest GDP per capita in Hungary. This area might not be a smart starting point. 67 Pest can be considered as a very good starting point within Hungary. Eurostat gave a portrait of the Pest region in Hungary and said:
Picture 6.10 Pest

On account of its geographical situation, the economy of Pest enjoys a privileged position. The close proximity of the capital (Budapest) gives opportunities for close cooperation and a big market. The central location and numerous roads and railway lines make any part of the country easily accessible. All these factors serve as a good basis for further development.68 EuroStat also mentioned that oil refining, machine industry, food processing and retail trade are the most advanced sectors within Pest and that more than 2,000 companies operate in Pest with international interest. Pest also attracts the most foreign capital after Budapest. 69 Stakeholders Intermediaries This table shows all MadMouses possible intermediaries within Hungary. All these intermediaries sell mouse pads and all can be chosen as selling point. Table 6.6 Office supply market in Hungary 1. Producers 2. Wholesalers 3. Office decorators

Company Marker Lni Mezokovesdi Btoripai Kft. Neudoefler Sincord Office Depot Hungary

4. Office specialty stores

67 Wikipedia. Borsod-Abaj-Zempln County. 7th March 2009. 16th April 2009. < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borsod-

Aba%C3%BAj-Zempl%C3%A9n > 68 EuroStat. PEST Economy March 2004. 16th April 2009. < http://circa.europa.eu/irc/dsis/regportraits/info/data/en/ hu012_eco.htm > 69 EuroStat. PEST Economy March 2004. 16th April 2009. < http://circa.europa.eu/irc/dsis/regportraits/info/data/en/ hu012_eco.htm >

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Vectra Line Speedlink ComputerMode 5. Ergonomic sales points 6. Small shops Esselte Kft. Surprise Bt. SMP Szmts-, Bank-, s Biztonsgtechnikai Kft

Audiences There are some ergonomic organizations that might be interested in the introduction of the Office Gem and the matching mouse. One of them is Magyar Ergonmiai Trsasg (Hungarian Ergonomic Society). This organization wants to improve working conditions and thereby use ergonomics. There most important job is to exchange information with their members and they also organize professional events.70 Another organization is DSGI Ergonmiai Mrknki Iroda. This organization was set up to exchange theoretical and practical information about the inland production of ergonomic products to other companies. They give courses and trainings; they produce DVDs and develop and evaluate ergonomic products in Hungary.71 The last organization that was found during our research is ErgoFIT Kft. The website of ErgoFIT gives this as an explanation of what they do: Ergofit Consulting and Training Ltd. is a consulting company with considerable experience in the fields of organizational development, development and implementation of human resource management systems, ergonomics, work organization and management training.72 Besides companies that might be interested in the introduction of the Office Gem and its matching mouse, there is also the government to consider. The most important ministries are the ministry of National Development and Economy and the ministry of Social Affairs and Employment. Besides the interest groups and the government there is also media to consider. TV shows, newspapers, radio stations and even magazines can influence the purchase of the Office Gem and its matching mouse. The first commercial TV channel in Hungary was RTL Klub (owned by RTL group). Its rival, TV2, started around two days later. ViaSat 3 is another commercial TV channel. HrTV is the first Hungarian news channel. Magyar ATV is a private television network. Because Magyar ATV is partially licensed as a public station it needs to broadcast public interest programs 50% of the time. DUNA is one of the two state-owned public televisions.73

70 Magyar Ergonmiai Trsasg (Hongarian Ergonomic Society). Welkom. 2007. 17th April 2009. < http://www.dsgi.hu/

met/ > (translated with Google) 71 DSGI Ergonmiai Mrnki Iroda. Ergonomische wereld - Missie. Date unknown. 17th April 2009. < www.dsgi.hu/ index.php?a=1&c=17> (translated with Google) 72 ErgoFIT Kft. The company. Date unknown. 17th April 2009. < http://www.ergofit.hu/en/content/cegunkrol > 73 Wikipedia. Category:Hungarian television networks 31st March 2009. 17th April 2009. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Category:Hungarian_television_networks >

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The only English newspaper in Hungary is the Budapest Sun. This newspaper gives news, business, sports, travel, cultural events and more in Budapest, but also Hungary. Another interesting newspaper, although it is called a Journal, is the Budapest Business Journal (also in English). This newspaper might be even more interesting, considering that is the target group MadMouse is aiming for. The Budapest Business Journal brings its readers business, economic, financial and political news from Hungary and Central Europe. Some other newspapers are Nepszabadsag, Nepszava and Budapester Zeitung.74 There are also a lot of magazines to be found in Hungary. We tried to find only to business magazines, again because of the target group MadMouse is aiming for. Some of these magazines are Hungary Business Report Weekly, Business Hungary (published by the American Chamber of Commerce in Hungary), HVG (stands for "World Economics Weekly" which is one of the most popular Hungarian economic and political magazines) and 168 ra Political Magazine.75 We continue with the radio stations. We have selected only the radio stations in Budapest, because research shows that Budapest is the best place to start in Hungary. Some radio stations are Brtok Radio, FIKSZ radio, Gazdasgi Rdi, Info Radio, Juventus Radio 89.5 FM, Kossuth Radio, Petofi Radio, Radio Danubius and Torspont Radio.76 The last group that is interesting for MadMouse is financial institutions. Without these MadMouse might not be able to export to Hungary at all. He does not want to start his own store, but he wants to sell it to companies in Hungary and so he does need to do business with the banks in Hungary. The biggest commercial bank in Hungary is OTP Bank. OTP Bank offers corporate banking, but only to medium and large companies.77 This might not be that helpful to MadMouse. CIB Bank is the second-biggest commercial bank in Hungary.78 CIB Bank has a corporate banking section.79 K&H Bank (Kereskedelmi s Hitelbank) is the third-biggest commercial bank in Hungary, owned by KBC Bank of Belgium.80 K&H Bank separates the private and small companies from the middle and large companies, which gives the impression that they deal with companies better than CIB for example. 81 Other financial institutions such as pension funds, insurance companies and investment funds do not seem to be interesting for MadMouse.

74 AllYouCanRead.com. Top 10 Hungary. 2008. 17th April 2009. < http://www.allyoucanread.com/Top10_by_countries/

index.asp?id=74 > 75 WideWeb. Hungarian-language Media. Date unknown. 17th April 2009. < http://www.wideweb.hu/hungary/shoppingservices/news-media/hungarian-language-media > 76 Surfmusic.de. Hungary Live radio stations. 2009. 17th April 2009. < http://www.surfmusic.de/country/hungary.html > 77 OTP Bank. Homepage. 2009. 17th April 2009. <https://www.otpbank.hu/OTP_Portal/online/index_e.jsp > 78 Wikipedia. CIB Bank. 16th April 2009. 17th April 2009. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIB_Bank> 79 CIB Bank. Welcome. Date unknown. 17th April 2009. <http://www.cib.hu/index? isFlashCompliant=true&session_id=TIT22Fee94HxAbGXd15drq4v&flashVersion=9&b=36&w=1280&h=800 > 80 Wikipedia. Kereskedelmi s Hitelbank. 8th November 2008. 17th April 2009. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Kereskedelmi_%C3%A9s_Hitelbank > 81 K&H Bank. Homepage. Date unknown. 17th April 2009. < https://www.kh.hu/publish/khb/en/magan/magan.html >

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7. Opportunities & Threats

This chapter gives a short summary of all the opportunities and threats of each selected country. The paragraph will also have a SWOT-matrix, which is an even shorter overview of the opportunities and threats per selected country. Because the threats and opportunities differ quit a lot per country, they will be mentioned separately, starting with Finland.

7.1 Opportunities & Threats in Finland

Opportunities In Finland a lot of companies use a computer. In this way Finland is a very technological country which is a good opportunity for MadMouse because if they use a computer a lot, they also need mouse pads. Another opportunity is that they are very healthy oriented. There are a lot of doctors in that country so it is good when MadMouse comes with its ergonomic mouse pads. It gives companies the opportunity to work with a healthy atmosphere in the company. The most important opportunity that derives from Finland is the fact that employees get money from the government once they fall ill. Employees get this for one year, which means that a sick employee costs a lot of money for employers. The Office Gem could prevent this, thus making it an opportunity for MadMouse. So in conclusion, these are the three largest opportunities for MadMouse: Computer oriented country Healthy-oriented country Prevention of sick leave through Office Gem Threats In Finland they work a lot with computers, which can also be considered a threat, because there are a lot of other organizations producing ergonomic products or other products to secure comfortable working spaces. Another threat for MadMouse are the cultural differences. The Finnish and Dutch people do not look alike and MadMouse really has to learn a lot about the country to be able to contact different intermediaries and end-users. The last threat for Finland is the location of the country. The most concentrated part of Finland is in the South, which is connected only to the sea. This means that it might be more difficult to transport the mouse pads there than any of the other countries we have investigated. So in conclusion, these are the three largest threats for MadMouse in Finland: Technologically advanced Cultural differences Location

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SWOT-Matrix Finland

Strengths

Weaknesses

Small company International knowledge Ergonomic mouse pads

Small company Not really known Not very broad product range

Opportunities

Threats

Computer oriented country Health oriented country Prevention sick leave

Technological advanced Cultural differences Location of country

7.2 Opportunities & Threats in Sweden

Opportunities In Sweden there are a lot of large organizations, which is good for the trade. This is an opportunity for MadMouse because the organizations might be more eager to do business with them. Another opportunity is that a lot of these organizations are also healthy oriented, which is an advantage for MadMouse. Another opportunity is that they use the Euro, which makes international trade even more easy. So in conclusion there are three large opportunities for MadMouse: Number of large corporations in Sweden Healthy-oriented country Usage of Euro Threats Sweden is very export oriented, which means that they already have a lot of trade partners and this way they can be not that interested in a small company like MadMouse. Another threat is that they want to reach a consensus in decisions so it can take very long before they make the decisions, which costs MadMouse a lot of useful time. Another threat is that Sweden is very technologically advanced, which means that a lot of people work with computers and that there must be a lot of companies which already offer ergonomic products for employers. So, in conclusion there are three large opportunities for MadMouse: Sweden is export oriented Consensus in decisions Technologically advanced

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SWOT-Matrix Sweden

Strengths

Weaknesses

Small company International knowledge Ergonomic mouse pads

Small company Not really known Not very broad product range

Opportunities

Threats

Number of large corporations in Sweden Health-oriented country Usage of Euro

Sweden is export oriented Consensus in decisions Technologically advanced

7.3 Opportunities & Threats in Germany

Opportunities The largest opportunity for MadMouse lies in the fact that they offer a mouse pad and a mouse. Research showed no direct competitors, which would suggest that MadMouse has found a niche in the market. This gives a lot of export opportunities to MadMouse. Another opportunity for MadMouse is the large labour force in Germany. In the Netherlands we have 7.75 million people that are able to work, while Germany has 43.62 million. This amount of people gives a great opportunity for MadMouse, because there are a lot more people who could be interested in the Office Gem and mouse. The last opportunity for MadMouse has to do with the fact that the Netherlands is a large import partner of Germany. This means that it should be easy to get licenses and so on to be able to export to Germany. All of this would speed up the process and help reach any objective faster than they were set. So in conclusion, these are the three largest opportunities for MadMouse in Germany: Product combination mouse & mouse pad, so no direct competitors Large labour force Netherlands as import partner of Germany Threats Germany has a population that is shrinking. Even though the labour force is so large, it is shrinking and this could mean that there are end-users disappearing for MadMouse. This is a threat to any exporting company, so also for MadMouse. Another threat is the fact that there is an unemployment rate of 7.9% against 4.5% in the Netherlands. This in combination with the shrinking of the population could lead to a decrease of the labour force, which would result in less sales of mouse pads. The last threat has to do with certification. There was only one organization found that certifies ergonomic products. This meant that if the Office Gem does not receive this certification it has no chance at any other certificate. This could be a threat, because MadMouse wants to use these certifications in their promotion. In conclusion, these are the three largest threats for MadMouse in Germany: ~ 41 ~

Decreasing population Unemployment rate of 7.9% Small chance at certification

SWOT-Matrix Germany Strengths

Weaknesses

Small company International knowledge Ergonomic mouse pads

Small company Not really known Not very broad product range

Opportunities

Threats

Product combination Large labour force Netherlands as import partner

Decreasing population Unemployment rate 7.9% Small chance at certification

7.4 Opportunities & Threats in Hungary

Opportunities Hungary does not seem to have a lot of direct competitors when it comes to ergonomic mouse pads and especially not in combination with a mouse. This gives MadMouse a great opportunity, because this means that they are the first to do this, in Hungary, and therefore have a competitive advantage towards other indirect competitors. Another opportunity lies in the fact that Holland is already a big exporter of Hungary. Holland is sixths on the list and MadMouse might be able to help them move up that list. Because of these contacts between the Dutch and the Hungarian business world, it might be a lot easier for MadMouse to enter the market and talk to the right people. Another thing that gives MadMouse a great opportunity is the fact that internet access is growing. This will probably mean a rise in computers as well and this can be very positive for MadMouse. Even though private consumers are not the target group MadMouse is aiming for, it might still give a great opportunity to expand faster than expected. So in conclusion, these are the three largest opportunities for MadMouse: Product combination mouse & mouse pad, so no direct competitors Netherlands is already large import partner of Hungary Growth internet access Threats: A large problem in Hungary is the fact that their population is shrinking. This means that there are less people to buy products and less people to work. This can also mean that large businesses rather work somewhere else, where there is a possibility for more employees. The shrinking of the population therefore can be seen as a threat to MadMouse. MadMouse is only a small company and could suffer very hard when companies leave and their products do not sell. Another threat is the inflation rate of 6.1%. This is a big difference in comparison with Holland, which has an inflation rate of 1.5%. This means that MadMouse would have to change their prices rapidly, which can lead to less sales. If the inflation rate does not go down, it might not be the best idea for MadMouse to export ~ 42 ~

to a country that is not stable enough to risk such a small company on the market. The last threat is the fact that Hungary does not use the Euro yet. This means that everything has to be converted and also changed in magazines, ads and other communication material. Combining this threat with the other threat it also is a larger problem. First MadMouse needs to consider the exchange rate of EuroFlorint and than also at the same time, the high inflation rate. This might result in large problems. So in conclusion, these are the three largest threats for MadMouse: Shrinking of population Inflation rate of 6.1% No usage Euro SWOT-Matrix Hungary

Strengths

Weaknesses

Small company International knowledge Ergonomic mouse pads

Small company Not really known Not very broad product range

Opportunities

Threats

Product combination mouse & mouse pad, so no direct competitors Netherlands is already large import partner of Hungary Growth internet access

Shrinking of population Inflation rate of 6.1% No usage Euro

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8. Confrontation Matrix
This chapter shows the Confrontation Matrixes that were made for the different countries. The confrontation matrix shows whether an internal factor can have a positive, negative or no effect on an external factor. 0 = No effect + = Positive effect - = Negative effect

8.1 Confrontation Matrix - Finland

Table 8.1 Confrontation Matrix of Finland O1 Computer oriented + + + + 0 O2 Health oriented 0 + + + + O3 Prevent sick leave 0 0 + 0 T1 Technological advanced 0 0 + -

T2 C differ

S1 - Small company S2 - International knowledge S3 - Ergonomic mouse pad W1 Small company W2 Not really known W3 Not very broad product range

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8.2 Confrontation Matrix Sweden

Table 8.2 Confrontation Matrix of Sweden O1 - Number of large O2 - Health-oriented O3 - Usage of Euro corporations society S1 - Small company S2 - International knowledge S3 - Ergonomic mouse pads W1 - Small company W2 - Not very known W3 - Not very broad product range 0 + 0 0 + + 0 0 0 + + + 0 0 0 T1 - Export oriented + + 0 0

T2 decis

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8.3 Confrontation Matrix Germany

Table 8.3 Confrontation Matrix of Germany O1 Product Combination 0 + + 0 0 O2 Large labour force + + O3 NL as import partner + + 0 0 0 T1 Decreasing population 0 0 0 0 0 0

T2 U rate

S1 - Small company S2 - International knowledge S3 - Ergonomic mouse pad W1 Small company W2 Not really known W3 Not very broad product range

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8.4 Confrontation Matrix - Hungary

Table 8.4 Confrontation Matrix of Hungary O1 - Product combination (no direct competitors) S1 - Small company S2 - International knowledge S3 - Ergonomic mouse pad W1 - Small company W2 - Not really known W3 - Small product range 0 0 + 0 O2 - Netherlands O3 - Growth of already large import internet access partner + + 0 0 0 0 0 0 + 0 0 T1 - Shrinking of population 0 0 0 0 T2 -

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9. Strategies
This chapter is formed by using the confrontation matrixes given above. The members of our project team have all taken a look at the confrontation matrixes and have decided which of the 36 combinations are of the highest importance for MadMouse. All our members made a Top-3 per country and with that a final Top-3 per country was made. This chapter, again, will be divided by country, to show what specific differences there are between the four selected countries.

9.1 Strategies for Finland

By giving a top 3 of the strategies we think are most important, we came to the conclusion that these are the three strategies MadMouse should be working with: S3 O1 = Ergonomic mouse pad versus a computer oriented country. S3 O2 = Ergonomic mouse pad versus a healthy oriented country. S3 O3 = Ergonomic mouse pad versus a prevention of sick leave. Now that the three major strategies are known, it is necessary to find out where MadMouse is right now and where MadMouse wants to be in the future with regard to these combinations. The following table will give a clear overview of the present and the future position of the combinations. Table 9.1 Strategies of Finland Present The Office Gem and mouse are not sold in Finland. Finland is a computer oriented country. The Office Gem and mouse are not sold in Finland. Finland is a healthy oriented country . The Office Gem and mouse are not sold in Finland S3 O3 Future The Office Gem are sold to companies/ organizations in Finland and the products are used by a lot of employees. Finland still is a computer oriented country. The Office Gem and mouse are sold to companies/organizations in Finland and the products are used by a lot of employees. Finland still is a healthy oriented country.

S3 O1

S3 02

The Office Gem and mouse are sold to companies/organizations in Finland and the products are used by a lot of employees. The Office Gem is recognized as one of There are not many activities to prevent sick the activities to prevent sick leave among leave among employees employees.

FINLAND - S3 O1 Ergonomic mouse pad versus computer oriented MadMouse offers an ergonomic mouse pad and a combinable mouse. Finland is a computer oriented country, which means that a lot of people use computers. This would be the perfect combination for MadMouse to use as a unique selling point. The Office Gem and mouse offer good working conditions for all the people who work with computers. ~ 48 ~

Goal: Sell the Office Gem to employers in Finland and tell them that it improves their working conditions behind a computer. Strategies: Key Message: The Office Gem and mouse, is the best combination in your workplace. Both products are perfect for each other and are even more perfect for your workplace, because they give a comfortable workspace and they prevent arm deceases. It is the best product out there! Style: The message should be formal, but attractive and persuasive. It should show that the product is the best out there! Spokesperson: For the communication instruments, MadMouse should use the painted ladies that are also used in Holland. But as a real spokesperson, MadMouse should find someone who speaks both English and Finnish and who looks like a businessman who spends a lot of time behind his computer. FINLAND - S3 02 Ergonomic mouse pad versus health oriented MadMouse offers an ergonomic mouse pad and a combinable mouse. People in Finland are very healthy oriented, also when it comes to their workspace. This means that the Office Gem should be presented as a mouse pad that contributes to the healthy atmosphere of employees. Goal: To Sell the Office Gem to employers in Finland and tell them that it improves the working conditions of their employees behind a computer. Strategies: The strategies are the same as the ones from S3-01. FINLAND - S3 O3 Ergonomic mouse pad versus prevention of sick leave MadMouse offers an ergonomic mouse pad and a combinable mouse. In Finland people can be on sick leave for a maximum of a year which would probably result in employers trying to prevent their employees to fall sick for such a long time. The prevent this sick leave, MadMouse should present the Office Gem and combinable mouse. Goal: To Sell the Office Gem to employers in Finland and tell them that it helps the working conditions of their employees and also prevents sick leave. Strategies: The strategies are the same as the ones from S3-01.

9.2 Strategies for Sweden

By giving a top 3 of the strategies we think are most important, we came to the conclusion that these are the three strategies MadMouse should be working with: S3 O2 = Ergonomic mouse pads versus a healthy oriented country. S2 O1 = International knowledge versus large corporations. W1 O1 = Small company versus larger company competition. Now that the three major strategies are known, it was necessary to find out where MadMouse is right now and where MadMouse wants to be in the future with regard to these combinations. The following table will give a clear overview of the present and the future position of the combinations for above.

~ 49 ~

Table 9.2 Strategies of Sweden Present The Office Gem and mouse are not sold in Sweden. Sweden is a healthy oriented country. Future The Office Gem and mouse are sold to companies/organizations in Sweden and the products are used by a lot of employees. Sweden still is a healthy oriented country.

S3 O2

MadMouse has some level of international MadMouse will have good overall knowledge knowledge, but no concrete knowledge of the of the Swedish business market. Swedish business market. S2 O1 There are a lot of large corporations active in Sweden. MadMouse is a small company that is not known in Sweden. There are a lot of large corporations active in Sweden. There are still a lot of large corporations active in Sweden, but MadMouse is considered to be good competition. MadMouse still is a small company, but is known by Swedish organizations. There are still a lot of large corporations active in Sweden, but MadMouse is considered to be good competition.

W1 O1

SWEDEN - S3 O2 = Ergonomic mouse pad versus health oriented MadMouse offers an ergonomic mouse pad and a combinable mouse. People in Sweden are very healthy oriented, also when it comes to their workspace. This means that the Office Gem should be presented as a mouse pad that contributes to the healthy atmosphere of employees. Goal: To Sell the Office Gem to employers in Sweden and tell them that it improves the working conditions of their employees behind a computer. Strategies: Is the same as the S3-01 combination of Finland. SWEDEN - S2 O1 = International knowledge versus the number of large corporations MadMouse already has some international knowledge which might make it easier for MadMouse to export to Sweden. This might give them a small advantage against other companies who start to export to Sweden as well. MadMouse should be able to contact intermediaries and end-users faster than other organizations that start exporting to Sweden, because of their portion of international knowledge. Goal: Get in contact with some of the large corporations in Sweden en try to make a network to expand MadMouses international business knowledge. Strategies: Key Message: MadMouse is a company that also wants to export to Sweden. MadMouse is a young, dynamic company that is looking for knowledge about Sweden and network information in Sweden. Information will be given in return as much as possible. Style: The message should be formal, but attractive and persuasive. It should show that ~ 50 ~

MadMouse wants to work hard to get their special ergonomic product on the market in Sweden. Spokesperson: For this strategy, it is probably best to use Mr. Lennearts as a spokesperson. He knows MadMouse best and he would be the one who should keep in contact with the other organizations.

SWEDEN - W1 O1 = Small company versus the number of large corporations Because MadMouse is a small company, their decision process is longer. MadMouse needs more time to reach the same kind of decisions as larger companies. Because there are already large companies in Sweden, it might be good for MadMouse to contact them and work together with them. This should definitely boots their network and might eventually even boost sales. Goal: Get in contact with some of the large companies in Sweden en try to make a network of possible end-users. Strategies: Is the same strategy as S2-01 of Sweden.

9.3 Strategies for Germany

By giving a top 3 of the strategies we think are most important, we came to the conclusion that these are the three strategies MadMouse should be working with: S3 - O2 = Ergonomic Mouse pad versus large labor force. S2 - O1 = International knowledge versus product combination. S1-O3 = Small company versus NL as large import partner. Now that the three major strategies are known, it was necessary to find out where MadMouse is right now and where MadMouse wants to be in the future with regard to these combinations. The following table will give a clear overview of the present and the future position of the combinations for above. Table 9.3 Strategies of Germany Present MadMouse designed an ergonomic mouse pad, which is not yet offered to companies in Germany. The Game Guru is in stores in Germany. Germany has a large labour force of around 43 million people. MadMouse has international knowledge in Germany about the gamers/consumer market. MadMouse does not have knowledge of the business2business market. MadMouse offers a product combination of a mouse and a mouse pad. Future MadMouse designed an ergonomic mouse pad, which is offered in Germany and also sold to companies. Germany still has a large labour force of around 43 million people MadMouse has overall international knowledge about Germany and knows how to deal with the different markets. MadMouse still offers a product combination of a mouse and a mouse pad.

S3 02

S2 01

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MadMouse is a small company. S1 03 The Netherlands is a large import partner of Germany.

MadMouse still is a small company, but has grown in comparison with the present. The Netherlands has the same or a larger percentage of the import quotas as before.

GERMANY - S3 - O2 = Ergonomic Mouse pas versus large labor force. MadMouse offers an ergonomic mouse pad. Because Germany has such a large workforce in comparison to the Netherlands, it would be safe to assume that there is a large market available for MadMouse. Goal: Sell the Office Gem and mouse to a large number of companies so that MadMouse gains a larger market share. Strategies: These are the same strategies as S3 01 of Finland. GERMANY - S2 - O1 = International knowledge versus product combination. MadMouse already has some knowledge about the German market. Their knowledge however is focused on the consumer market and not on business2business market. The knowledge they have right now can already contribute to the sales of the Office Gem and mouse. They will need to gain specific knowledge about the business market in Germany, but with the knowledge they have, they can make a good start at selling the product combination on the German market. Goal: Gain business oriented knowledge about Germany and promote the product combination to companies. Strategies: These are the same strategies as S3 01 of Finland. GERMANY - S1-O3 = Small company versus NL as large import partner. The Netherlands is already a large import partner, which would make it easier for MadMouse to enter the German market. Even though MadMouse already sells the Game Guru to gamers on the German market, the Office Gem and its new target group is different. Companies should be found that export to Germany and MadMouse should try to make a new contact network. Goal: Find comparable companies that export to Germany and make a German network. Strategies: These are the same as S2 -01 of Sweden.

9.4 Strategies for Hungary

By giving a top 3 of the strategies we think are most important, we came to the conclusion that these are the three strategies MadMouse should be working with: S3 - O1 = Ergonomic mouse pad versus no direct competitors S2 - O2 = International knowledge versus NL as large import partner of Hungary S3 - O3 = Ergonomic mouse pad versus growth of internet access Now that the three major strategies are known, it was necessary to find out where MadMouse is right now and where MadMouse wants to be in the future with regard to these combinations. The following table will give a clear overview of the present and the future position of the combinations for above.

~ 52 ~

Table 9.4 Strategies of Hungary Present MadMouse has an ergonomic mouse pad and is producing a mouse, but is not selling this in Hungary where there are no direct competitors that offer the same kind of product. MadMouse has some level of international knowledge, but no concrete knowledge of the Hungarian business market. The Netherlands is the 6th largest importer of Hungary. Future MadMouse sells an ergonomic mouse pad and mouse to intermediaries and companies in Hungary. There might be a chance for direct competitors if the product combination turns out to be a success. MadMouse will have good overall knowledge of the business market in Hungary. The Netherlands has gained a small percentage of the import percentages of Hungary, but still is the 6th largest importer of Hungary. MadMouse sells its mouse pad and mouse to intermediaries and companies in Hungary. With the increased usage of internet, the market should have a big potential to grow at rapid speed.

S3 - O1

S2 - O2

S3 - O3

MadMouse has an ergonomic mouse pad and is producing a mouse, but not yet selling in Hungary. The number of people who access the internet in Hungary is growing (+4%)

HUNGARY - S3 - O1 = Ergonomic mouse pad and no direct competitors Because MadMouse offers a product that has no direct competition in Hungary, their chances of success are higher. An ergonomic mouse pad would probably be good for all employees working with a computer. Once promoted well, it should give MadMouse a great advantage against their direct and indirect competitors. Goal: Sell the Office Gem (and mouse) in Hungary and try to stay as innovative as possible to get no direct competitors. Strategies: These are the same as S3 01 of Finland. HUNGARY - S2 - O2 = International knowledge of MadMouse and the Netherlands as large import partner of Hungary MadMouse already has some international knowledge which might make it easier for MadMouse to export to Hungary. The link that the Netherlands has with Hungary might also be a positive asset for MadMouse. MadMouse might be able to find other companies that export to Hungary and offer products to the same target group, which would give them a better insight in the country. Goal: Gain specified international knowledge about Hungary through other Dutch companies and work together with other Dutch companies to extend the network in Hungary. Strategies: These are the same as S2 01 of Sweden. HUNGARY - S3 - O3 = Ergonomic mouse pad and growth of internet access ~ 53 ~

MadMouse produces ergonomic mouse pads that should help reduce RSI. Even though this term, RSI, mainly exists in the Netherlands there should be some agencies in the selected countries that approve a product that is ergonomic. Combine this with the growth of internet access, so a higher usage of computers and people/companies, and you would get a great combination. Goal: Find organizations that recognise the benefit of the Office Gem and mouse and certify it (official or unofficial) and get this known to both target groups. Strategies: Key Message: The Office Gem is a mouse pad that is certified as an ergonomic product in Holland and needs certification in Hungary as well. The Office Gem should be certified in Hungary as well and this shows that the Office Gem is not only a good product in the Netherlands, but also in other parts of the EU. Style: The message should be formal, but attractive, persuasive and also detailed. It should show that the Office Gem was tested and received certification from organizations that care about ergodynamica. Spokesperson: Both spokesperson of S3-01 and S2-02.

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10. Target Group Analysis

MadMouse defined two main target groups that they are aiming at. The first target group are the end-users. Part of the field research was to find out where these end-users buy ergonomic products. By knowing with which intermediary they do business, it is easier to reach them. There are 5 categories of end-users we have searched for which are; large companies (more than 250 employees), middle companies (50-250 employees), small companies (Less than 50 employees), Non governmental organizations (NGOs) and non-profit organizations. The second target group MadMouse is aiming at are the intermediaries that need to sell the Office Gem to the end-users. This target group consists of producers, wholesalers, office suppliers, office retailers, ergonomic sales points and small shops. The table below gives an overview of the target groups and presents their knowledge, attitude and behaviour towards the Office Gem at this moment and what it should be in the future. Table 10.1 Target group analysis Now 1. End-Users Large companies Middle companies Small companies NGO's Non-profit organizations Future

Knowledge

They have a sufficient They have no knowledge of knowledge about the Office the Office Gem (and mouse) Gem (and mouse) and its and its qualities. qualities.

Attitude

They have no attitude towards the product, seeing that they have no knowledge about it. They might be interested in ergonomic products in general. They do not buy the Office Gem (and mouse).

They have a positive attitude towards the Office Gem (and mouse). They are still interested in ergonomic products. They are very positively interested in buying the Office Gem or have already bought the product.

Behaviour

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2. Intermediaries Producers Wholesalers Office suppliers Office retailers Ergonomic salepoints Small shops

Knowledge

They have a good enough They have no knowledge of knowledge about the Office the Office Gem (and mouse) Gem (and mouse) and its and/or its qualities. qualities.

Attitude

They have no attitude towards the product, seeing that they have no knowledge over it. They might sell ergonomic products in general.

They have a positive attitude towards the Office Gem (and mouse). They still sell ergonomic products and have a greater interest towards this kind of products.

Behaviour

They are very positively They do not buy or resell the interested in buying and Office Gem and mouse. reselling the Office Gem or have already bought/resold the product.

11. Communication Objectives

For each of the just presented target groups, there are objectives formulated to reach their future knowledge, attitude and behaviour. Each target group is split into the different categories of companies, because not all percentages in the objectives are the same for each category. The percentages where determined by the findings of our own research. To be able to reach a good percentage of companies, it was decided that the time period for this campaign should be 5 years. The starting date of the campaign would be the first of January 2010 and the end date of the campaign the first of January 2015. End-users Knowledge: By the end of July 2012, 50% of the large companies in the particular country know about the Office Gem (and mouse) and its qualities. By the end of July 2012, 40% of the middle companies in the particular country know about the Office Gem (and mouse) and its qualities. By the end of July 2012, 20% of the small companies in the particular country know about the Office Gem (and mouse) and its qualities. By the end of July 2012, 40% of the NGO's in the particular country know about the Office Gem (and mouse) and its qualities. By the end of July 2012, 40% of the non-profit organizations in the particular country know about the Office Gem (and mouse) and its qualities. Attitude ~ 56 ~

 By the end of July 2013, 40% of the large companies in the particular country should feel

positive towards the Office Gem (and mouse) and its qualities. By the end of July 2013, 30% of the middle companies in the particular country should feel positive towards the Office Gem (and mouse) and its qualities. By the end of July 2013, 10% of the small companies in the particular country should feel positive towards the Office Gem (and mouse) and its qualities. By the end of July 2013, 30% of the NGO's in the particular country should feel positive towards the Office Gem (and mouse) and its qualities. By the end of July 2013, 30% of the non-profit organizations in the particular country should feel positive towards the Office Gem (and mouse) and its qualities. Behaviour By the end of December 2013, 35% of the large companies in the particular country tried the Office Gem and mouse combination. By the end of December 2014, 30% of the large companies in the particular country bought the Office Gem and mouse combination. By the end of December 2013, 25% of the middle companies in the particular country tried the Office Gem and mouse combination. By the end of December 2014, 20% of the middle companies in the particular country bought the Office Gem and mouse combination. By the end of December 2013, 8% of the small companies in the particular country tried the Office Gem and mouse combination. By the end of December 2014, 5% of the small companies in the particularly country bought the Office Gem and mouse combination. By the end of December 2013, 25% of the NGO's in the particular country tried the Office Gem and mouse combination. By the end of December 2014, 15% of the NGO's in the particular country bought the Office Gem and mouse combination. By the end of December 2013, 25% of the non-profit organizations in the particular country tried the Office Gem and mouse combination. By the end of December 2014, 15% of the non-profit organizations in the particular country bought the Office Gem and mouse combination. Intermediaries: Knowledge By the end of December 2010, 80% of the producers in the particular country should know about the Office Gem (and mouse) and its qualities. By the end of December 2010, 100% of the wholesalers in the particular country should know about the Office Gem (and mouse) and its qualities. By the end of December 2010, 90% of the office suppliers in the particular country should know about the Office Gem (and mouse) and its qualities. By the end of December 2010, 90% of the office retailers in the particular country should know about the Office Gem (and mouse) and its qualities. By the end of December 2010, 100% of the ergonomic sales points in the particular country should know about the Office Gem (and mouse) and its qualities. By the end of December 2010, 30% of the small shops in the particular country should know about the Office Gem (and mouse) and its qualities. Attitude By the end of December 2011, 50% of the producers in the particular country should have a positive attitude towards the Office Gem and mouse. By the end of December 2011, 60% of the wholesalers in the particular country should have a positive attitude towards the Office Gem and mouse. ~ 57 ~

 By the end of December 2011, 50% of the office suppliers in the particular country should

have a positive attitude towards the Office Gem and mouse. By the end of December 2011, 50% of the office retailers in the particular country should have a positive attitude towards the Office Gem and mouse. By the end of December 2011, 80% of the ergonomic sales points in the particular country should have a positive attitude towards the Office Gem and mouse. By the end of December 2011, 10% of the small shops in the particular country should have a positive attitude towards the Office Gem and mouse. Behaviour By the end of December 2012, 20% of the producers in the particular country should have the Office Gem and mouse in their assortment. By the end of December 2012, 40% of the wholesalers in the particular country should have the Office Gem and mouse in their assortment. By the end of December 2012, 20% of the office suppliers in the particular country should have the Office Gem and mouse in their assortment. By the end of December 2012, 20% of the office retailers in the particular country should have the Office Gem and mouse in their assortment. By the end of December 2012, 50% of the ergonomic sales points in the particular country should have the Office Gem and mouse in their assortment. By the end of December 2012, 4% of the ergonomic sales points in the particular country should have the Office Gem and mouse in their assortment.

12. Communication Instruments

To help MadMouse reach the just presented communication objectives, communication instruments have been created. The next table will give you a short, clear overview of all the communication instruments and the target group they are meant for. Underneath the table, there will an explanation of each of the instruments. Examples of some of the instruments can be found in the appendices. This will be mentioned in the paragraphs. All the communication instruments mentioned below can be used in the push strategy towards the selected countries.

12.1 Communication Instruments Matrix

Table 12.1 Communication Instruments Matrix End-Users Advertisement in computer and business magazines Direct Mail Web-Site Point-of-Sale display Conventions Try-out session x x x x x x x x Intermediaries x x x

12.2 Explanation of Communication Instruments

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1. Advertisements in computer and business magazines The advertisement, shown in Appendix 5, that MadMouse uses in the Netherlands should be translated into Finnish, Swedish and Hungarian (a German one already exists) and should be placed in several computer and business magazines in the selected countries. Examples of the different magazines are given in the external analysis (Chapter 6) of each selected country. The magazines should be selected on number of readers and placement costs. By placing the advertisement in computer and business magazines it should inform the end-users but also the intermediaries about the existence of the Office Gem. If the production of the new mouse will be finished before the campaign starts, a new advertisement needs to be produced, because the mouse is not mentioned in Appendix 5. The advertisement should foremost inform about the Office Gem and the qualities it has. 2. Direct Mail Another good way of informing the organizations in a country is to send them a direct mail by email about the qualities and possibilities of the Office Gem. This e-mail should be informing, but also persuasive to get companies to try it the Office Gem. The e-mail should show labels of organizations that certified the Office Gem; should have a well-known person in it that positively comments on the Office Gem; and it should give the prospective try-out dates for companies. Who this well-known person should be, is not yet known. Better understanding of the culture and country are needed to determine the best possible spokesperson for MadMouse. This should be researched by someone who has a better knowledge of the selected countries. 3. Web-site The website of MadMouse is now translated into English and German. If MadMouse wants to be successful in the potential countries, the website will need to be translated in Hungarian, Finnish and Swedish to give the impression that MadMouse wants to put its clients at the forefront. The content of the website does not need to be changed. However, the contact page should get a more businesslike look and use professional language, because that is what MadMouse is aiming for in these selected countries and right now this page seems to be more orientated on gamers. Possible translators could be the UvA which translates to and from all the official languages of the European Union, or BT/Bezemer translations, which specialize in Swedish translations, or Scandic Translations, which specialise in Scandinavian translations. 4. Point-of-Sale displays Right now MadMouse already has point-of-sale displays (see Appendix 6). These however, are focused on all three products MadMouse offers at this moment. To attract the end-users to the Office Gem, MadMouse should develop a new point-of-sale display that shows the combination of the Office Gem and the mouse, but also attracts to and persuades the end-users. The shape of the display does not need to be changed, but the information inside does need to be changed. The information inside should give information about the Office Gem, but also about the new mouse. When possible, the well-known person should be used as well. 5. Conventions In the Netherlands and Germany, MadMouse already visits several conventions. To expand the MadMouse brand awareness in Hungary, Sweden and Finland, it would be smart to visit conventions ~ 59 ~

there as well. These conventions should not be aimed at gamers, but at organizations. We can not mention any conventions yet, because this will need to be done during the campaign. Every year there are new conventions and every year things change. It is a wise idea to start looking for conventions the beginning of each year and than see which ones work the best. 6. Try-Out sessions. Besides the conventions, MadMouse should also organise several try-out sessions in specific regions in Finland, Sweden, Germany and Hungary. These try-out sessions should give businessman the opportunity to use the Office Gem and mouse combination, to see how well it works. If these businessmen are happy about it, they can spread the word faster and maybe even buy the Office Gem and mouse. The try-out sessions could be done at a congress centre or, if an intermediary is really interested, at the location of the intermediary.

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13. Budget of the campaign

This chapter gives a table of all the expenses MadMouse would make, per country, to use the instruments given above. The table divides the total costs by production costs and campaign costs. Production costs are costs that are made before the start of the campaign. Campaign costs are costs made during the campaign. The next chapter, chapter 11 Planning, will explain the fourth column, the number of times an instruments is used. The costs for the website are not included in this table, because MadMouse already has an existing web-site which they are paying for. This would not give any extra costs, except for translation costs. Unforeseen costs are also included in the table, to make sure that MadMouse has some reserves, in case instruments turns out to cost more than expected.

Table 12.1 Budget of the campaign per country Instrument Advertisement Direct Mail Web-Site Point-of-Sale display Convention Try-Out Session Unforeseen costs Total costs campaign:

Production Campaign costs How often used Total costs costs during campaign? 1,000 4,585 per half11x 51,435,00page ad 2,000 5,000 per 1,000 30,000 companies 17,000,00companies 0.00 4,000 per 20,000 40,000 flyers divided 8,000.00flyers over 3x 2,000 5x 10,000.00 3,000 5x 15,000.00 5,000.00 106,435.00-

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14. Planning of the campaign

MadMouses campaign should start the first of January 2010 and ends the first of January 2015. This time period is so long, because the intermediaries need to be reached first, before the end-users can be reached. The production time of the communication instruments is not included. During the campaign there will be several evaluation points, to see whether the objectives that were stated before have been reached. The following timetable will give a clear and simple overview of all the important dates during the campaign. The year 2010 1 January 2010

Web-site Advertisement Convention Advertisement Advertisement

1 February 2010 1 March 2010 1 April 2010 1 May 2010 1 June 2010 1 July 2010 1 August 2010 1 September 2010 1 October 2010 1 December 2010 The year 2011 1 January 2011

Start MadMouse Export Campaign Find Dutch organizations that do business in the same field as MadMouse Release website - www.MadMouse.nl - in the designated language Publish Advertisement in several business magazines Search for a convention and get a stand Publish Advertisement in several business magazines Publish Advertisement in several business magazines Contact Dutch organizations that do business in the same field as MadMouse Send out direct mail to all intermediaries that were found Evaluate possible Dutch business partners for Hungary Find organizations that certify ergonomic products

Direct Mail Evaluation

Evaluation Evaluation Advertisement Try-Out Session Convention Advertisement Advertisement

1 February 2011 1 March 2011 1 April 2011 1 May 2011 1 June 2011

Evaluate Knowledge Objective of Intermediaries Evaluate Certified organizations that were found Publish Advertisement in several business magazines Give a try-out session to intermediaries, to see whether they want to sell the Office Gem Search for a convention and get a stand Publish Advertisements in several business magazines Publish Advertisements in several business magazines Keep in contact with Dutch possible partners

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1 July 2011 1 August 2011 1 September 2011 1 October 2011 1 December 2011 The year 2012 1 January 2012

Direct Mail

Send out a direct mail to all companies that might be interested in an ergonomic mouse pad (End-Users) Give a try-out session to intermediaries, to see whether they want to sell the Office Gem

Try-Out Session

1 February 2012

Evaluation Point-of-Sale Advertisement Convention Evaluation Point-of-Sale Advertisement Point-of-Sale Point-of-Sale Point-of-Sale Point-of-Sale Evaluation Try-Out Session

1 March 2012 1 April 2012 1 May 2012 1 June 2012 1 July 2012 1 August 2012 1 September 2012 1 October 2012 1 December 2012 The year 2013 1 January 2013

Evaluate Attitude Objective of Intermediaries Put PoS at intermediaries who sell your product Publish Advertisement in several business magazines Search for a convention and get a stand Evaluate the received certifications Put PoS at intermediaries who sell your product Publish Advertisement in several business magazines, mention certifications Put PoS at intermediaries who sell your product Put PoS at intermediaries who sell your product Put PoS at intermediaries who sell your product Keep in contact with (possible) Dutch partners Put PoS at intermediaries who sell your product Evaluate Knowledge Objective of End-Users Give a try-out session at an intermediary for several possible End-Users

Evaluation Point-of-Sale Try-Out Session Point-of-Sale Point-of-Sale Point-of-Sale Point-of-Sale Point-of-Sale Evaluation

1 February 2013 1 March 2013 1 April 2013 1 May 2013 1 June 2013 1 July 2013 1 August 2013 1 September 2013 1 October 2013 1 December 2013

Evaluate Behaviour Objective of Intermediaries Put PoS at intermediaries who sell your product Give a try-out session at an intermediary for several possible End-Users Put PoS at intermediaries who sell your product Put PoS at intermediaries who sell your product Put PoS at intermediaries who sell your product Put PoS at intermediaries who sell your product Keep in contact with (possible) Dutch partners Put PoS at intermediaries who sell your product Evaluate Attitude Objective of End-Users

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The year 2014 1 January 2014

Advertisement Convention Advertisement Evaluation Advertisement

1 February 2014

1 March 2014 1 April 2014 1 May 2014 1 June 2014 1 July 2014 1 August 2014 1 September 2014 1 October 2014 1 December 2014 The year 2015 1 January 2015

Publish Advertisement in several business magazines, mention certification Search for a convention and get a stand Publish Advertisement in several business magazines, mention certification Evaluate network in Hungary Publish Advertisement in several business magazines, mention certification Give a try-out session at an intermediary for several possible End-Users

Try-Out Session

Point-of-Sale Point-of-Sale Point-of-Sale Point-of-Sale

Put PoS at intermediaries who sell your product Put PoS at intermediaries who sell your product Put PoS at intermediaries who sell your product Put PoS at intermediaries who sell your product

Evaluation Evaluation

End of MadMouse Export Campaign Evaluate Behaviour Objective of End-Users Evaluate Campaign

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15. Conclusion
The central question for this research report is What are the players in the potential market and how can MadMouse best approach these markets? This question can be divided into two separate questions, which are What are the players in the potential market? and How can MadMouse best approach these markets?. Before we could answer these questions, the potential markets needed to be found. By doing extensive research into the regulations and laws about sick leave, sick payment and working conditions in all European Union countries, the best potential markets turned out the be Finland, Sweden, Germany and Hungary. The search towards players or from now on called intermediaries, started. As shown in this research report, it turned out to be rather difficult to find good intermediaries. The first chapter showed all the intermediaries we were able to find in the four selected countries. This however, does not suffice according to us. More extensive research is needed to get a complete and good picture of the market. Most of the phone calls that were made, did not lead to more or better knowledge about the markets in the selected countries. MadMouse wanted to know everything about the office supply market in Finland, Sweden, Germany and Hungary. In conclusion, it needs to be said that this objective is not reached during this project. What was found, should only be considered a part of the real market. Recommended is that other researchers continue with the contacts that were made with the Chamber of Commerces, EVD and MadMouses own contacts. Help was requested from these people, but in a late stage of the project and therefore this was not included in the Research Report. Further research should complete the lists that are created in this Research Report. The next question was how MadMouse could approach these markets. This question is completely answered in the Research Report. It must be mentioned that some preparations are needed before the Communication Plan can be executed. The web-site, the flyers and the point-of-sale displays need to be translated and most importantly, all intermediaries need to be known. MadMouse will need to contact the intermediaries they want to do business with and once they have done that, the Communication Plan can start. Both questions are at least addressed in this Research Report. The first questions is not answered sufficiently and more detailed research is needed to find all the intermediaries on the four office supply markets. The second question is answered in this Research Report, but preparations are needed before the plan can start.

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16. Bibliography
?? . ?? . ?? . 16th April 2009. <http://vliegreizen.planeet.biz/vliegreizen/finland/cultuur.html > AllYouCanRead.com. Top 10 Hungary. 2008. 17th April 2009. < http://www.allyoucanread.com/Top10_by_countries/index.asp?id=74 > Britannica. Finland Overview. Date unknown. 16th April 2009. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/207424/Finland > Britannica. Germany. Date unknown. 7th May 2009. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/231186/Germany/58007/Demographictrends> Britannica. Germany Demographic trends. Date unknown. 7th May 2009. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/231186/Germany/58007/Demographictrends> Britannica. People Demographic trends. Date unknown. 16th April 2009 < http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/207424/Finland/26123/Demographic-trends > Business Hungary. Forget Cola Wars! Hungarys Marketing Faces Challenges on All Fronts. 2001. 16th April 2009. < http://www.amcham.hu/BUSINESSHUNGARY/14-07/articles/14-07_10.asp Business View Media. Verspreiding. Date unknown. 7th May 2009. < http://www.businessviewmedia.com/dutch/verspreiding.php> CBS News. Country FastFacts Hungary. 2009. 16th April 2009. < http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/09/10/country_facts/main3246570.shtml > CIB Bank. Welcome. Date unknown. 17th April 2009. <http://www.cib.hu/index? isFlashCompliant=true&session_id=TIT22Fee94HxAbGXd15drq4v&flashVersion=9&b=36&w= 1280&h=800 > CIA World factbook. Germany. 23th April 2009. 7th May 2009. <https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/gm.html> CIA World Factbook. Hungary. 9th April 2009. 16th April 2009. < https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/print/hu.html CIA World factbook. Netherlands. 23th April 2009. 7th May 2009. < https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/nl.html> CIA World Factbook. Sweden. 9th April 2009. 17th April 2009. < https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-worldfactbook/geos/sw.html > Deutsche Bank. Homepage. 5th May 2009. 7th May 2009. < http://www.db.com/index_e.htm> DSGI Ergonmiai Mrnki Iroda. Ergonomische wereld - Missie. Date unknown. 17th April 2009. < www.dsgi.hu/index.php?a=1&c=17> (translated with Google) Duitsland Web. Duitsland en Europa. Date unknown. 7th May 2009. < http://www.duitslandweb.nl/naslagwerk/naslagwerk/Duitsland_en_Europa/index.html> ErgoFIT Kft. The company. Date unknown. 17th April 2009. < http://www.ergofit.hu/en/content/cegunkrol > Euromonitor International. Country Factfile. 2009. 16th April 2009. < http://www.euromonitor.com/FactFile.aspx?country=HU > European Central Bank. Hungarian Florint. 15th April 2009. 16th April 2009. ~ 66 ~

< http://www.ecb.int/stats/exchange/eurofxref/html/eurofxref-graph-huf.en.html > EuroStat. PEST Economy March 2004. 16th April 2009. < http://circa.europa.eu/irc/dsis/regportraits/info/data/en/hu012_eco.htm > EVD. Duitsland: betalingsverkeer. 28th April 2009. 7th May 2009. <http://www.evd.nl/home/landen/landenpagina/land.asp? bstnum=1418&land=dui&location=/home/landen/landenpagina/land.asp? land=dui&highlight=> EVD. Duitsland: Bevolking. 1st September 2008. 7th May 2009. <http://www.evd.nl/home/landen/publicatie/lob.asp? bstnum=1317&landen=dui&rubrieken=niet%20pro&bron=evd!faq&sortering=sorteercode> EVD. Duitsland: Invoerrechten en andere heffingen 20 April 2009. 7th May 2009. <http://www.evd.nl/home/landen/landenpagina/land.asp? bstnum=93336&land=dui&location=/home/landen/landenpagina/land.asp? land=dui&highlight=> EVD. Duitsland: Verdragen. 9th February 2009. 7th May 2009. <http://www.evd.nl/home/landen/landenpagina/land.asp? bstnum=93098&land=dui&location=/home/landen/landenpagina/land.asp? land=dui&highlight=> EVD. Online overzicht basisgegevens Hongarije 3th September 2008. 16 April 2009. <http://www.evd.nl/home/landen/publicatie/lob_bas.asp? Landen=hog&rubrieken=(alleen%20bas)%20en%20(bor,bev,gkl,fcs,rio) &sorteercode=niet%20leeg&iaantal=50&sortering=sorteercode&location=/home/landen/ landenpagina/land.asp?land=hog#3 > EVD. Online overzicht wetgeving EU-landen . 21th August 2008. 16th April 2009. <http://www.evd.nl/home/landen/publicatie/lob_wet.asp? Landen=eul&rubrieken=(alleen%20wet)%20en%20(abw,acw,arw,arb,b dv,blw,btv,doc,dot,ite,ivb,ivr,pde,tin,tpr,ver) &sorteercode=niet%20leeg&iaantal=50&sortering=sorteercode&location=/home/landen/ landenpagina/land.asp?land=eul#4 > EVD. Online overzicht wetgeving Hongarije. 21th August 2007. 16th April 2009. <http://www.evd.nl/home/landen/publicatie/lob_wet.asp? Landen=eul&rubrieken=(alleen%20wet)%20en%20(abw,acw,arw,arb,b dv,blw,btv,doc,dot,ite,ivb,ivr,pde,tin,tpr,ver) &sorteercode=niet%20leeg&iaantal=50&sortering=sorteercode&location=/home/landen/ landenpagina/land.asp?land=eul#4 > FiloLog.com. Differences of Life and Culture in Hungary and America. 29th July 2007. 16th April 2009. < http://www.filolog.com/crossculture_usa_hu.html > GfA. About the GfA. Date unknown. 7th May 2009. < http://www.gfa-online.de/englisch/english.php> Hongarije Vakantieland.nl. Verschillen tussen Nederlandse en Hongaarse cultuur. 25th March 2009. 16th April 2009. < http://www.hongarijevakantieland.nl/hongaarse_gebruiken.htm > Index Mundi. Germany Age Structure. 18th December 2008. 7th May 2009. <http://www.indexmundi.com/germany/age_structure.html> IndexMundi. Hungary Age Structure. 18th December 2008. 16th April 2009. ~ 67 ~

< http://www.indexmundi.com/hungary/age_structure.html > InfoNU.nl Koers van de Hongaarse Forint. 17th March 2009. 16 April 2009. < http://financieel.infonu.nl/geld/19481-koers-van-de-hongaarse-forint.html > K2B. Digitale Media. Date unknown. 16th April 2009. <http://www.culturescope.nl/content/view/625/44/lang,nl/ > K&H Bank. Homepage. Date unknown. 17th April 2009. < https://www.kh.hu/publish/khb/en/magan/magan.html > KELA. Sickness. 23-April 2009. 12th May 2009. <http://www.kela.fi/in/internet/english.nsf/NET/081101135114EH?OpenDocument > Kwintessential. Global Etiquette, Finland. Date unknown. 16th April 2009 <http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/global-etiquette/finland-country-profile.html> Kwintessential. " Doing business in Sweden". date unknown. 21st April 2009. <http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/etiquette/doing-business-sweden.html > Kwintessential. Germany. Date unknown. 7th May 2009. <http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/global-etiquette/germany-countryprofile.html> MadMouse. Home. 2009. 14th April 2009. < http://www.MadMouse.eu/index.php?pagina=home > MadMouse. Producten. Date unknown. 7th May 2009. <http://www.MadMouse.nl/index.php?pagina=products> MadMouse. Products. 2009. 14th April 2009. < http://www.MadMouse.eu/index.php?pagina=products > Magyar Ergonmiai Trsasg (Hongarian Ergonomic Society). Welkom. 2007. 17th April 2009. < http://www.dsgi.hu/met/ > (translated with Google) OECD StatExtracts. Country statistical profiles 2009 16th April 2009. 16th April 2009. < http://stats.oecd.org/WBOS/Index.aspx?DataSetCode=CSP2009 > OTP Bank. Homepage. 2009. 17th April 2009. <https://www.otpbank.hu/OTP_Portal/online/index_e.jsp > Surfmusic.de. Hungary Live radio stations. 2009. 17th April 2009. < http://www.surfmusic.de/country/hungary.html > Trademap. Existing and potential trade between Hungary and Netherlands in 2007 2007. 16th April 2009. < http://www.trademap.org/netherlands/Bilateral.aspx > TV Live. Kijk TV op je PC. Date unknown. 7th May 2009. < http://www.tv.live-station.org/Duitsland.html> U.S. Commercial Service. Doing Business in Hungary: A Country Commercial Guide for U.S. Companies. 2005. 16th April 2009. < http://www.free-research.com/info.asp? information=countries&sector=country&country=Hungary (2007 report) > WereldFeesten Almanak. Germany. Date unknown. 7th May 2009. <http://www.beleven.org/feesten/lijsten/landen.php?land=Duitsland>Wikipedia. Bevolking van Duitsland. 8th March 2009. 7th May 2009. <http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bevolking_van_Duitsland> WideWeb. Hungarian-language Media. Date unknown. 17th April 2009. < http://www.wideweb.hu/hungary/shopping-services/news-media/hungarian-languagemedia > Wikipedia. Berlin. 6th May 2009. 7th May 2009. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin> ~ 68 ~

Wikipedia. Borsod-Abaj-Zempln County. 7th March 2009. 16th April 2009. < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borsod-Aba%C3%BAj-Zempl%C3%A9n > Wikipedia. Category: Hungarian television networks 31st March 2009. 17th April 2009. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Hungarian_television_networks > Wikipedia. CIB Bank. 16th April 2009. 17th April 2009. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIB_Bank> Wikipedia. CommerzBank. 22th April 2009. 7th May 2009. < http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commerzbank> Wikipedia. Duitsland. 30th April 2009. 7th May 2009. <http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duitsland> Wikipedia. Finland Demographics. 25th March 2009. 16th April 2009. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finland#Demographics > Wikipedia. History of Finland. 23 March 2009. 16th April 2009. < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Finland > Wikipedia. Hungary. 14th April 2009. 16th April 2009. < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungary > Wikipedia. List of Swedish companies.26th March 2009. 17th April 2009. < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Swedish_companies > Wikipedia. Kereskedelmi s Hitelbank. 8th November 2008. 17th April 2009. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kereskedelmi_%C3%A9s_Hitelbank > Wikipedia. Media of Sweden. 14th January 2009. 17th April 2009. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_in_Sweden > Wikipedia. Nord Rhine-Westphalia. 3th May 2009. 7th May 2009. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Rhine-Westphalia> Wikipedia. Sweden. 16th January 2009. 17th April 2009. < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweden > www.b9.nl. Duitsland. 2009. 7th May 2009. < http://www.b9.nl/kranten/duitsland.htm>

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17. Appendix 1 Legislation in EU-Countries

Country Final details

Netherlands

If you are ill for a long period, your employer is in principle obliged to pay your wages for a maximum of two y

Austria

Employer pays up to 12 weeks after that there is an sickness insurance . With long-term illness there is care allowance. Employer must pay during the guaranteed salary period, which is 14 days. After that mutual insurance company pays for 6 months.

Belgium

Bulgaria

Since January, 1, 2007, all insured persons shall receive sickness and maternity cash benefits from the Nationa Security Institute, instead from employers. Pays until employee can work again, or until invalidity is declared. (compulsory health insurance)

Cyprus

Sickness benefit is payable for at least 156 working days in each period of interruption of employment and pa Insurance Services.

Czech Republic

Sickness insurance benefits are provided during the support period, which lasts up to 1 year with respect to s and is by the employer for the first 2 weeks and the next months by Social Insurance. The Government pays for sickness benefit after the first three weeks up to 28 weeks Employer pays first 3 weeks. Functionaries get 100% of salary employers are obliged to pay social insurance for their employees; Eesti Haigekassa pays for illness of employees, for a period of 3 months

Denmark

Estonia

Finland

During sick leave, the employers obligation to pay wages is determined by the collective agreement prevailin relevant sector and by the individual employment contract. A 10-day waiting period must normally be comple Sickness Allowance is paid. After 1 year you can get disability pension. Employer receives money from KELA

France

Employees are eligible for cash benefits (payment of daily allowances) in the event of work-related sickness a occupational disease), subject to certain conditions. Employer pays continuous for 6 weeks, after that around 70% for 1,5 years.

Germany Greece

IKA pays when illness is longer then 3 days. Employer pays difference between allowance and insurance. 182, days depending on different terms

Hungary

Sick pay is due for the period of the inability to work, at most for one year while the person is insured and for the termination of insurance;, or while nursing a child, for a period aligned with the age of the child the rate is 60% or 70% of the daily average salary. For the period of sickness leave, 80% of the attendance fee will be due, which is paid by the employer and for and income subject to contributions Injury Benefit is one of the benefits available under the Occupational Injuries Scheme. Payment can be made weeks and is normally paid from the 4th day of your illness/incapacity

Ireland

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Italy Latvia

The sickness benefit is payable for periods of no more than 180 calendar days in a calendar year and is paid b

In the first 14 days of sickness, the benefit is covered by the employer. Starting with the 15th day of work incapacity, the sickness benefit is granted and paid by the State Social Insu (VSAA), in the amount of 80% of the average wage of the person on the basis of which the contributions were

Lithuania

Sickness benefit for the first two calendar days of the illness coinciding with the employees work Schedule is employer. From the third calendar day of the temporary incapacity from work, sickness benefit amounting to 85 per cen earnings to be compensated is paid by the State Social Insurance Fund.

Luxembourg

Sickness benefit is paid up to 12 months in a 24 month period. Basic cover is generally provided by the nation security system. Benefit is 80%

Malta

Sickness benefit depends on how long an employee work with the employer. In the long term Sickness benefi Social Security. After 60 days sickness tested again to keep getting benefit. Persons are entitled to sickness benefit for a maximum of 182 days, and if the inability to work resulted from for a maximum of 270 days. Paid by: National Health Fund (Narodowy Fundusz Zdrowia, NFZ). 1.095 days are paid by: segurana social or caixa Unlimited when Tuberculoses Not first 3 days (only when Tuberculoses) Employes pays first 10 days Social Insurance Authority pays sickness for max of 52 weeks. Employer has to pay for first 10 days Social Insurance Authority will pay after that for 52 weeks (with doctors letter) Employer has to pay for the first 30 days Health Insurance Institute pays after the 30 days (says no limit)

Poland

Portugal

Romania

Slovakia

Slovenia

Spain

Employer pays the worker a temporary incapacity allowance, which Social Security repays to the company for 18 months, after which situation is reviewed

Sweden

Employer has to pay first 14 days of your illness Frskringskassan pays for sickness benefit for at most 364 days during a 450-day period (around 15 months) Employer has to pay a normal week's pay for every week of suspension (up to a maximum of 26 weeks)

United Kingdom

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18. Appendix 2 Questionnaire for End-Users

Sick leave: 1. What does the company do to prevent sick leave? Check workspace regularly Create good work sphere Use ergonomic products Doctors check for employees Other: 2. What does the company curatively do towards sick leave? Visit ill employees Pay for rehabilitation/physiotherapy Other:. 3. Which function within the company has the responsibility towards sick leave? Director HRM (Human Resource Management) Managers Other:. 4. What part of the government is responsible for sick leave among employees? . 5. What organizations are interested in sick leave within the country? (like trade unions) . 6. Does the company believe there are products, such as chairs, mouse, desks, that can prevent sick leave? Yes No Ergonomic Products: 1. Has the company ever heard of the term ergonomic products? Yes No Ergonomic products are products that help people have a better relationship towards their environment. With this questionnaire we are mainly focusing upon the physical ergodynamica, especially when sitting behind a computer. 1. Does the company use any ergonomic products? Yes (Continue with question 3) No 2. Where does the company normally buys it office supplies? (If you do not use ergonomic ~ 72 ~

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8. 9.

products? (Continue with question 5) Producer (Name: .. Wholesale (Name: Office decorator (Name:. Office supplier (Name:. Ergonomic salespoint (Name:.. (Name: Small shops Other (Name: What kind of products does the company already use? Ergonomic furniture Ergonomic mouse pads Ergonomic chairs Ergonomic mouse Other, namely: When the company already uses ergonomic products, where does the company buy these products? (Name: .. Producer (Name: .. Wholesale (Name: Office decorator Office supplier (Name: Ergonomic salespoint (Name:.. (Name: Small shops Other (Name: What is more important: ergodynamica or productivity? Ergodynamica Productivity Is there an organization that checks workspaces for ergonomic decoration? Yes, who: . No Would the combination of an ergonomic mouse and mouse pad that are specially designed for each other add something to the companys profile/structure/image? Yes No Would the company be interested in buying a ergonomic mouse & mousepad? Yes No, why not:..

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Company Information: 1. What is the name of the company? 2. How many employees does the company have? 0-50 50-250 250 or more 3. How many computers are in use? 0-50 50-100 100-150 150 or more 4. Are we allowed to contact the company to ask, when necessary, more detailed questions? Yes Who might we contact? Name:.. Telephone number: Email: No Thank you very much for answering these questions! Kind regards, Europe Calling Group 8, European Studies at HsZuyd in the Netherlands. 15th April 2009 Roxanne Engelen Travis Meredith Borja Thoma Gabrielle Verstijnen

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19. Appendix 3 Script

Good Afternoon. I am calling from MadMouse in the Netherlands. I would like to talk to you about the questionnaire I sent last week. Did you receive this questionnaire? NO Well we are students working on a University project along side the company MadMouse. May I ask a few questions? How long? NO. It is only for a few minutes. The company MadMouse has asked us to do research on how willing other companies are to sell/use ergonomic office supplies. Are you familiar with ergonomic products at your company? Ergonomic products are products that help people have a better relationship towards their environment. With this questionnaire we are mainly focusing upon the physical ergodynamica, especially when sitting behind a computer. Our questions are: 1. Does the company use any ergonomic products? a. Yes (Continue with question 3) b. No 2. Where does the company normally buy its office supplies (Continue with question 5) 3. Is there an organization that checks workspaces for ergonomic decoration? 4. Would the combination of an ergonomic mouse and mouse pad, which are specially designed for each other, add something to the companys profile/structure/image? 5. Would the company be interested in buying ergonomic mouse and/or mouse pads? These were all our questions. Thank you very much for your time. Good bye.

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20. Appendix 4 Contacted companies

Per country we were supposed to call 3 large companies, 3 middle companies, 3 small companies, 3 NGOs and 3 governmental organizations. This table also shows all the other organizations we contacted. Companies INTERMEDIARIES: HUNGARY Marler Lni (HUN) Neudoefler (HUN) Esselte kft (HUN) FINLAND Triosoft (FIN) Computer team Finland (FIN) Dacco (FIN) GERMANY NO INTERMEDIARIES CALLED SWEDEN Jays (SW) Deltaco (SW) Dustin (SW) Office supply Alby HB (SW) Alina System (SW) END-USERS: HUNGARY Graphisoft SE (HUN) MOL (HUN) Gedeon Richter CHS Kft Humansoft Informatica Foto Hall Multimedia Mtrix Irodatechnika Kft Kesch Kft StreamNet United Way Hungary (Nonprofit Information and Training Centre Foundation NACPH OMME Fogyasztvd s -rdekszvetsg Alaptvny SWEDEN THERE ARE NO END-USERS!!!! FINLAND KIOS (FIN) Epec (FIN) No English No Answer No English Hung Up No Answer Hung Up Response

Machine No Answer Hung Up No English No Answer

(+36-1-437-3000) (+36) 20/9-665-665 (36) 1-431-4000 +36 1 451 3517 06 1 270 7600 +36 1 382-4300 +36 (82) 51 2107 + (36 1 ) 260 4904 +36 (1) 412-3000 (+36) 1 320-8110 36-1-315-3151 06 1 311 1830 (06 1) 216-0015 (36-1) 269-6591

No English No Answer ~ 76 ~

Ergorestoy (FIN) Sanoma Finnish Wind Power Association GERMANY Imtech (D) Devil AG (D) ActionIT (D) VDEB (D) EMBASSIES: Embassy Germany Embassy Finland Embassy Sweden Embassy Hungary CHAMBER OF COMMERCES: CoC Hungary-Netherlands Coc Germany-Netherlands

No Answer +358 105 1999 +358 40 771 6114 Machine No Answer Hung Up Hung Up

Coc Sweden-Netherlands V-CARDS MADMOUSE: Rita de Graaf (MAIL) Stephan Naber (EVD) Wolfram Lasseur Jrg Schouren Wiel Aerts Andre Holtvluewer Andrea Scharf Eric Samson OTHER CONTACTS: EVD Micheal van der Mei Anne Ligthelm German Government Hungarian Government Swedish Government Finnish Government Banks Phone companies Utility companies Electricity companies

+36 1 321 9372 Inge Overdijkink T 0031 (0)70 3114 126 Positive answer. Emails send on 27th May 2009. +46 (0)70-2383989

070-778 8935 004921319268560) (0 21 61 241-102) (0031-77-3200486) told me to call back tomorrow (0049-211-17930122) (00492166854451) (0049-21117930121)

(070-7788886) gave another number to call. 31 (0)70 778 8935 No answer. Email was send on the 27th of May

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21. Appendix 5 Example advertisement Office Gem

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22. Appendix 6 Example of the Point-of-Sale display

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