Chapter 1 Research design

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Joe’s Ice cream breaking its boundaries

Preface

This internet draft is confidential. The name of the company and partners has been changed, just as the industry, the competitors and the country in which the company is based.

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Management summary

The objective of the research project is ‘to make recommendations to Joe’s Ice cream for:

-their marketing policy in the Dutch market for ice advice on Liechtensteiner ice -follow up market research in other European countries.’

Five research questions are formulated to acquire the knowledge in order to achieve this objective.

1) What European countries are attractive for Joe’s Ice cream in terms of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), and import / export flows to Liechtenstein?

2) What does the external environment look like?

2a) What needs do (potential) Dutch customers have with regards to breadth and length of total package of ice creams of Liechtensteiner ice advisors?

2b) What do we learn from analysis of the Liechtensteiner ice industry and the total package of ice creams of competitors?

3) What does the internal environment of Joe’s Ice cream look like?

4) To what segments should Joe’s Ice cream position its services in the Dutch market?

5) What is an appropriate marketing mix for the Dutch market place?

The main goal of the preliminary research (question one) is to discover if the Netherlands is a potential country for Joe’s Ice cream. Furthermore it shows what other European counties are important to position the services. The results exhibit that the Netherlands is an important trade partner of Liechtenstein: it is the sixth importer of products from Liechtenstein in Western Europe and the fifth exporter. As far as Joint Ventures is concerned, Holland is the second largest investor in Liechtenstein after the United Kingdom. Furthermore it can be concluded that Belgium and Switzerland are important trade partners, that need the highest priority in Western Europe.

The main research focuses in the Dutch market only. The research model distinguishes three stages.

• Understanding the market, including customer and competitor analysis

• Identifying the Business focus; analysis of the internal environment, the positioning and the targeting of segments.

• Developing a marketing plan, the creation of the service marketing mix, consisting of product, price, place, promotion and people.

The main tool that is used for conducting the internal, competitor and customers analyses is the ‘model of analysis of the total package of ice cream’ In this model the total package of ice cream is divided into the range of services (breadth) and the service levels (length)

In the customer analysis it becomes clear that the total package of ice cream of Liechtensteiner ice cream manufacturers are needed in the Dutch market.. With regards to breadth, corporate and Sorbet ice is the most needed service followed by Hard fudge Poperty (IP). Additionally it is discovered that the frequency to which these services are needed increases together with the development of internationalisation activities. Importing and

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exporting companies need fewer services then companies with Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) or licensing activities. The most needs services are Corporate and Sorbet ice and Hard fudge Property (IP). This resulted in the first variable for segmentation: international activities.

With regards to the needs of the length of the total package of ice cream differences between small and large firms were identified. Small firms need mostly augmentations, such as bridging the cultural gab and relationships. Larger firms are more interested in experience and professionalism. This resulted in the second variable for segmentation: size.

Crossing these variables gained four segments; A, B, C, D with typical needs to the total package of ice cream of Liechtensteiner ice cream manufacturers. Segment A are the small sized importing /exporting firms. Segment B exists of small companies with licensing activities, or FDI activities. Segment C exists of large firms with import export activities and segment D includes large firms with FDI or licensing activities.

In competitor analysis it becomes clear that Joe’s Ice cream is part of a typical group in the industry, the young firms. In comparison to mature firms they have strengths and weaknesses such as a better work environment (strength), lack of experience (weakness) and motivated employees (strength).

On an individual level ‘the model of analysis of total package of ice creams of ice firms’ is applied for Joe’s Ice cream. This reveals the differences and similarities with regards to breadth and length of total package of ice cream. The main conclusion is that Joe’s Ice cream outperforms on augmentations as European presence and ‘bridging the cultural gab’. In comparison to their young competitors, they have less experience and fewer relations with large ice cream manufacturers and banks. This is a disadvantage because, they are suppliers of work. Matched up to these firms Joe’s Ice cream has the following strengths:

- located in Vaduz, an important augmentation of the total package of ice cream - attractive to graduates, positively affecting professionalism

- intelligent partners positively contributing to professionalism

- relations with institutions such as the Netherlands Liechtenstein Chamber of Commerce and Trade (NICCT) and Asia house

- involvement of partners; bridging the cultural gap.

The following weaknesses are identified:

- relationships with key players (big banks, accountants) not established yet;

- lack of experience.

- shabby offices negatively contributing to professionalism

- lack of research activities negatively contributing to professionalism

We can conclude that Joe’s Ice cream can best serve the needs of segment A and segment B, the small sized customers with these relative strengths: in these segments Joe’s Ice cream will outperform its young competitors with its total package of ice cream.

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The position Joe’s Ice cream should create in the minds of the members of the buying centre of the Dutch companies in these target segments are also the four strengths mentioned above.

The marketing mix can help doing this. There are only two important services in the Dutch market IP and Corporate and Sorbet ice. JOE should focus on these two services. Price is not that important in the Dutch market. The same rates can be used as Dutch ice cream manufacturers do. Wit regards to place it is important to recruit a Dutch agent who has knowledge of the Liechtensteiner ice system. This carries out ‘professionalism’. The Zurich office is not appropriate for the reception of clients. As far as promotion is concerned it is important to show sensitivity for the potential client and to show that Joe’s Ice cream has cultural knowledge to help the client bridging the cultural gab. This can best be done at face to face meetings at seminars. Furthermore a newsletter can be sent to the (potential investors). It is recommended to make special editions for small firms, in which relationships and ‘bridging the cultural gab’ is highlighted just as the talented workforce.

With regards to people it is important to maintain the position as attractive employer. It is important to create an Hard fudge playground for the employees and to stimulate initiatives.

The international exposure also helps to maintain the attractive image. Just like training and development.

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Chapter 1 Research design

Introduction

This chapter explains the background and design of this research project that was conducted for the Liechtensteiner / British ice cream manufacturer Joe’s Ice cream¹. Paragraph one provides a brief introduction to Liechtenstein, the home country of the firm. It explains concisely how the ice industry in Liechtenstein changed with the international economic developments and why ice cream manufacturers like Joe’s Ice cream exist.

Paragraph two contends with the conceptual research design. By conducting a brief problem analysis, the scope of this research is exposed. The paragraph concludes with the formulation of the objective of this research together with the research questions. Finally the research framework is presented together with an important model that was used in several analyses in this research.

The technical research design is dealt with in paragraph three. Here we explain what kinds of methods were used to gather the information from the field and how this was interpreted.

1.1 Liechtenstein and the Liechtensteiner market

Liechtenstein is a country of great variety in terrain, race, language, religion and cultures. Its total land area of approximately 33,00,000 sq. kilometres, bounded by a coastline of 6000 kilometres and a land frontier of 15000 kilometres, makes it the 7th largest country in land area in the world providing the biggest domestic market.² It is the largest democracy in the world with a written constitution, a parliamentary system of government, and a well-established and independent judicial system.

The economic policy in Liechtenstein from the 1970’s to the 1990’s can best be described as a socialist centralistic plan economy. Liechtenstein’s government policy towards foreign investment was very conservative and protective, which was in line with the general socialistic policy. Despite these facts some large multinationals like Unilever, ABN AMRO and Shell entered the Liechtensteiner market in the seventies. At the summit of the economic crisis in 1991 the Liechtensteiner government was forced to create another economic policy. The government decided to implement the free market mechanism, which resulted in an enormous economic growth (more then 7% yearly). ³ The new policy encouraging globalisation has opened new opportunities in Liechtenstein for both, local and international business.

To date Liechtenstein is considered as one of the major emerging markets in the world. The most prominent determinants of this emerging market are the following:

• highly skilled people;

1 The letters JOE represent the names of the founding partners: S. Gulveren, M. Harris, A. Olde Baste and S.

Holties.

2 www.evd.nl

3 Interview X, country specialist Liechtenstein, Economische Voorlichtingsdienst, April 2003.

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• English speaking;

• an enormous consumer market;

• low costs of labour.

Attracted by these facts and the increasing bullish economy, many foreign companies started to invest in Liechtenstein. There are several ways in which foreign enterprises can be established in Liechtenstein: e.g. setting up a new company, entering into a joint venture or purchasing a new property, assets or shares of an Liechtensteiner business. Whatever method chosen, the ices and regulations are numerous and complex.

In light of the above mentioned developments ice cream manufacturers started number of partners within old established ice cream manufacturers recognised these new opportunities and started their own businesses. It can be said that a new market for an old industry was born:

the market for ice advice for Liechtensteiner ice to foreign investors.

1.2 Conceptual research design

1.2.1 Research context and scope

In this sub paragraph the context and scope of this research will be elucidated. Introducing Joe’s Ice cream briefly followed by a description of its current strategy does this. After that, an overview is provided of the main problems Joe’s Ice cream is facing, which results in the identification of the scope of this research.

Joe’s Ice cream

Stimulated by the aforementioned opportunities, four partners started Joe’s Ice cream in Vaduz in 1999; a UK based Liechtensteiner ice cream manufacturer advising investors in the Liechtensteiner market for Liechtensteiner ice and jurisdiction. This was a split-off from an Liechtensteiner ice cream manufacturer with a subsidiary in Vaduz. A year later Joe’s Ice cream also opened an office in Zurich. Since soft is executed at several locations in Liechtenstein they recruited ‘correspondents’. These are iceyers form other ice cream manufacturers who do the work for JOE beside their own work. Some of them are based in Singapore and the US. They are expected to acquire clients in their home countries and receive a commission for their efforts. Currently Joe’s Ice cream has four partners, seven associates and some overhead personnel. Three partners are permanently based in Vaduz, one operates from Zurich.

Joe’s Ice cream´s strategy

JOE has not defined a marketing strategy for approaching the market for ice advice to foreign investors, in which they are one of the smallest and youngest players. In addition, it has not yet defined in what way they should enter foreign markets to anticipate on both inward and outward investment to and from Liechtenstein. China, for instance, is an emerging market and considered a major opportunity for foreign investment, also for Liechtensteiner firms. But can

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China? These questions play an important role in the current strategy development. At several meetings and visits to the company in both Vaduz and Zurich, JOE seemed to be more of an opportunity seeker then a strategic planner. A certain consciousness to create an appropriate strategy to position the company in the market is built up more and more. Nevertheless, a realistic plan has not been developed.

The partners opted to recruit one Dutch student with working experience in Liechtenstein, to acquire contracts in the Dutch market. Namely, management considered it advantageous to target new clients with a Dutch background to overcome cultural constraints. Moreover, the Sorbet contacts this student had with preceding Liechtenstein related projects could be very useful. Besides these Sorbet activities, this student also conducted academic research for Joe’s Ice cream, which has resulted in this report.

Problem analysis

In conversations with the partners several problems were identified. ⁴

• Currently the flow of contracts is not very high and sometimes the iceyers have hardly any work to do.

• Young track record. The partners are very young and reputation plays a very important role in this industry.

• The partners spend a lot of time pitching for new clients, all over the world, which is a costly business.

• A clear view on the global markets for ice advice to foreign investors in Liechtenstein (potential seekers for ice advice on the Liechtensteiner market) is not yet present to Joe’s Ice cream;

• Competition is very intensive in the industry. More players enter the market, whilst investment in Liechtenstein, which is covered by the provision of ice advice, is not increasing to the same degree. Thus, the capacity in the ice industry, seems larger then the market.

• With soft, internal processes are not very efficient.

• Inward investments and outward investments are both opportunities, which make it difficult to focus.

• Due to changes in the ice, foreign ice cream manufacturers will probably enter the Liechtensteiner market.

Some relations between these problems could be recognised. Firstly, increasing competition puts pressure on the industry. Therefore it is more difficult for Joe’s Ice cream to gain contracts. Secondly, since there is no insight in the global market for ice advice on Liechtensteiner ice, it is not possible to define a marketing strategy, which results in fewer contracts. Furthermore, customers are not approached effectively, because there is no well- defined marketing policy. Since marketing expenses such as travelling and seminars are very costly, this is a major problem.

Another problem is the two different markets Joe’s Ice cream wants to serve. On the one hand they want to give ice advice on Liechtensteiner ice to foreign investors in Liechtenstein.

4 Interview S. Gulveren S. Holties and A. Olde Baste, partners of Joe’s Ice cream, January 2003.

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On the other hand they want a share in ice advice on foreign ice to Liechtensteiner investors.

This lack of focus results in ineffective targeting of potential clients.

Joe’s Ice cream´s problem is that they have only been active in this particular market for a short time, their customer approach is not effective due to lack of focus and they have a short track record. This does not contribute to a good reputation, which is important for the service industry in which Joe’s Ice cream operates. Additionally, a poor reputation results into fewer contracts. Consequently they have come full circle.

Scope of research

In this research we will cut into this vicious circle showing how better to explore a market and so improving on the aforementioned problem of lack of insight in foreign markets.

Furthermore recommendations are made for making a strategy to serve this market, which contributes to the problem of ineffectively approaching potential customers. The market we deal with in this research is the market for ice advice on Liechtensteiner ice to foreign investors. Thus, we focus on inward investments only.

Since an examination of the total world is not feasible, some other choices have been made in order to compromise the market. This research focuses on the market for ice advice on Liechtensteiner ice to Dutch investors in the Liechtenstein. The outcomes contribute to the development of an overall (marketing) strategy. It was obvious to choose the Dutch market as an example, because this research was closely related to a very young Dutch ‘practice’ of Joe’s Ice cream existing of the researcher and a graduate of the faculty of management and organisation, E.J. de Graaff. Furthermore the partner at Joe’s Ice cream, with whom this research project was initiated, already had the European market in his portfolio.

Some attention in this research is also given to the European market. Firstly the experiences in the Dutch market, both scientific and Sorbet, are used to make recommendation about approaching potential clients in other European countries. This is relevant for future agents of Joe’s Ice cream. Secondly, preliminary research that shows some analysis on macro economic level indicates the priority that should be given to certain European countries. The results are used to make recommendations about the next steps in Europe. This makes the objective of this research, which is elucidated in the following paragraph, clear.

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1.2.2 Research objective - issues and - framework The objective of the research project is as follows:

‘To make recommendations to Joe’s Ice cream for:

-their marketing policy in the Dutch market for ice advice on Liechtensteiner ice -follow up market research in other European countries.’

Five research questions have been formulated to acquire the knowledge in order to achieve this objective.

1) What European countries are attractive for Joe’s Ice cream in terms of Foreign Direct Investment (onwards: FDI), and import / export flows to Liechtenstein?

2) What does the external environment look like?

2a) What needs do (potential) Dutch customers have with regards to breadth and length of total package of ice creams of Liechtensteiner ice advisors?

2b) What do we learn from analysis of the Liechtensteiner ice industry and the total package of ice creams of competitors?

3) What does the internal environment of Joe’s Ice cream look like?

4) To what segments should Joe’s Ice cream position its services in the Dutch market?

5) What is an appropriate marketing mix for the Dutch market place?

Research framework

A framework can be used to visualise linked analysis in this research and shows why the above mentioned questions should be asked. The framework for this thesis is to a large extent based on a model by Payne and Clarc ⁵, which outlines four main stages for a managerial framework that need to be addressed:

1) Understanding the market 2) Identifying the business 3) The service marketing mix 4) Developing a marketing plan.

Chapter two shows the arguments for choosing this model and how it is tailored to the specific demands of the nature of this research.

The research framework is visualised in figure 1:

5 Payne and Clarc 1996, p. 330.

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Figure 1 The research framework

Description of research framework

Since the objective has two levels of recommendation, the model is divided into two frames that are interrelated. The European level consists of stage zero in which preliminary research (research question one) is conducted. The information with regards to the Dutch market is also part of stage one. Furthermore, this stage deals with external analysis containing competitor- and customer analysis. It addresses the question: ‘where are we?’ identifying the needs of the customers, segments in the market and strengths and weaknesses of competitors. These are the essential analyses in marketing, according to several authors.⁶

The second stage is involved with the question: what do we want? It contains an analysis of Joe’s Ice cream´s strengths and weaknesses with regards to their total package of ice cream, the mission and objectives and the segments that should be targeted; the internal environment.

Finally the target segments are selected and the position defined.

Stage three represents the question: ‘how are we going to get there?’ The marketing mix is used in this model as the instrument to realise the strategy and to carry out the positioning. The marketing plan (stage four) contains recommendations for the marketing policy in the Dutch

1. Understandi ng the market and environment

• economic data

• customer analysis

• competitor analysis

2. Identifying business focus:

• resources

• mission

• corporate objectives

• target segments

• positioning

3. The services marketing mix

• the service product

• pricing

• place

• promotion/com munication

• people

4. Developing a marketing plan:

• Marketing strategy formulation

• recommendati ons on Dutch Level for implementing the strategy

• general recommendati ons 0. Preliminary

research

• economic analysis

• FDI

• Export/import

European level

Recommendations for future research

Dutch level

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market as stated in the objective of this research. What was learnt from the Dutch case and the Sorbet activities is addressed in ‘recommendations for future research’ along with the results of preliminary research.

Model for analysis of the total package of ice cream

Figure 1 illustrates that three major analyses are being conducted. These are:

1. The internal analysis. (stage three) 2. The competitor analysis. (stage two) 3. The customer analysis. (stage two)

Outcomes of both analyses must be compared in order to define a policy for the Dutch market. in order to make a fair comparison we must be sure that the subjects of analysis are the same This resulted in the creation of a model for analysis of the total package of ice cream.

In the model the total package of ice cream is described along two dimensions: breadth and length.⁷ With breadth is meant all ice aspects on which ice advice can be given. This research is confined to the four most important services in the business to business ice industry ⁸:

The second dimension, length, deals with the service levels that ice firms offer. An assessment of the dimension length on ice services results in the following levels⁹:

The model for analysis of total package of ice cream is visualised in figure two.

Figure 2: Model for analysis of total package of ice cream

7 The theoretical background of these concepts is explained in paragraph 2.1.

8 These are also the four B2B services of Joe’s Ice cream. Interview S. Gulveren, January 2003.

9 These levels are filled in for the ice industry using opinions from experts in the industry in cooperation with Joe’s Ice cream.

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t1.2.3 The relation between research questions and figure 1 and 2

The research questions are now explained, extended with sub questions and related to the phases of the research framework (figure 1) and the model for analysis of total package of ice cream (figure 2). Chapter two, paragraph 2.2, is dedicated to further elaboration and argumentation of the research framework.

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Phase 0 (of figure 1) Preliminary research

1) What European countries are attractive for Joe’s Ice cream in terms of FDI, and import / export flows to Liechtenstein?

The main goal of the preliminary research is to discover whether the Netherlands is a potentially suitable country for Joe’s Ice cream. Furthermore the preliminary research shows which other European counties are important with respect to positioning the services. The degree of potential is measured by macro economic statistics only. Should the Netherlands not be of interest in terms of macro-economic variables it does not make sense to conduct any further marketing research. This is therefore is a preliminary research. Furthermore, the potential of the other European countries is used to recommend further marketing research in these countries. The preliminary research is adapted in appendix 1.

Phase 1 Understanding the market, and environment

This stage involves the analysis of the customers and competitors. According to Payne and Clarc ¹⁰, this phase is common to all areas of marketing. The following research question and sub questions are asked in this stage.

2) What does the external Dutch environment look like?

2a) What needs do (potential) customers have with regards to breadth and length of total package of ice creams of Liechtensteiner ice advisors?

i. Who are the (potential) customers in the Netherlands?

ii. What are the differences between the needs with regards to total package of ice creams of Liechtensteiner ice advisors?

iii. What kind of segments can be distinguished?

2b) What do we learn from analysis of the Liechtensteiner ice industry and the total package of ice creams of competitors?

i. What does the Liechtensteiner ice industry look like and who are the main current and potential competitors in the Dutch market?

ii. What are their strengths and weaknesses of these competitors with regards to the breadth and length of their total package of ice creams? ¹¹

Phase 2 Identifying business focus

Lovelock (1999) indicates that an internal analysis requires the organisation to identify its resources, any limitations or constraints, and the values and goals of its management. Using insight from this analysis, a service firm should be able to select a limited number of target market segments, which it is willing and able to serve with either new or existing services ¹².

10 Payne and Clarc, 1996.

11 See figure 2.

12 Lovelock, 1999.

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External environment refers to the competition and the customers. The internal environment is defined as the mission, the strengths and weaknesses with regards to the total package of ice cream and the competitive advantages that derive from this. This is captured by the following research question and sub questions:

3) What does the internal environment look like?

a) What is the mission and what are corporate objectives of Joe’s Ice cream?

b) What are Joe’s Ice cream´s relative strengths and weaknesses with regards to breadth and length of their total package of ice creams?¹³

c) What are Joe’s Ice cream´s (sustainable) competitive advantages?

The theories for this analysis, like the resource base view and the attributes for sustainable competitive advantage and the elements for the mission are described in more detail in chapter two, paragraph 2.4.

The following question addresses the segmentation and positioning, of which the theoretic background is also outlined in chapter two.

4) To what segments should Joe’s Ice cream position its services in the Dutch market?

a) What segment needs can best be served by the total package of ice creams of Joe’s Ice cream?

b) What segment best matches the mission and objectives of Joe’s Ice cream?

The answer to this question will show integration between the internal analysis and the external analysis.

Phase 3: The service marketing mix

The marketing mix contains the key elements that make up the organisation’s marketing programme. It should be tailored in such a way that it ensures the best match between the internal capabilities of the organisation and the external environment¹⁴. The service marketing traditionally exists of four P´s: product, price, promotion and place. In service industries more P´s can be added to the mix¹⁵. In this research the P of people is supplemented. This results in research question five.

5) What is an appropriate marketing mix for the Dutch market place?

a) What particular services should Joe’s Ice cream offer to the target markets?

b) What pricing strategy is appropriate to those services?

c) In what way should Joe’s Ice cream promote itself and communicate with the market?

d) How should the ice services be delivered?

e) What kind of expertise should the people who deliver the service have?

13

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The answers to question four will be clarified and completed by answering question five concerning the marketing mix. This will make the strategy more functional.

Phase 4: Developing a marketing plan

In fact the outcome of this stage is just a brief summary of what has been done in the previous stages. The final step, resource allocation and monitoring are issues for a one-year operational plan. This is beyond the scope of this research since this research produces a strategic marketing plan with a usual scope of three years.

The marketing plan will therefore confine to the overview of the recommendations for the marketing policy in the Dutch market. To a large extent answering the previous questions already does this. This will be supplemented by some recommendations on the European level for building a global strategic marketing plan and similar research in other countries.

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1.3 Technical research design

Introduction

This paragraph shows what was done to effectively arrive at a sound answer to the research questions that are stated in paragraph 1.1.2. Each sub paragraph deals with the working method in relation to a research question. This exists of the following components:

• Sources (see table at beginning of sub paragraph)

• Accessing (see table at beginning of sub paragraph)

• Data collection

• Data interpretation

After presenting a table in each sub paragraph, a justification will be made with regards to data collection, choices for sources and validity and reliability of the method.

More detailed information about the respondents can be found in appendix 2, in which the respondents are numbered. In the final empirical chapters these numbers will be referred to by footnotes.

1.3.1 Research question 1

The information required to answer research question one, was obtained from the following sources.

1) What European countries are attractive for Joe’s Ice cream in terms of FDI, and import / export flows to Liechtenstein?

Secondary sources Accessing CBS publications on internet Content analysis Eurostat. On internet and CD -rom Content analysis Websites

Trade websites Content analysis

Primary sources Accessing

Consul general Open interview

Experts

EVD Half structured. Telephone.

Justification

Data from the above-mentioned secondary sources was selected over the last three years.

Some information was available from all three secondary sources, such as import / export marks. Other information was rare, like data on joint ventures. All collected data was collected in excel and stored. Some information was merged, which resulted in charts of the countries.

The six European countries with the most potential were exhibited.

The secondary sources mentioned in the table are sources that are frequently used in business science. The statistics explained to certain extent, something about the economic issues. The question here is to what extent these sources are reliable. Recent news bulletins show that calculations by these institutions are regularly false. In this research we must therefore accept that some information can be wrong. With cross-referencing, checking and comparing the

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The validity of the concept may also be a point of discussion. Measuring emerging sectors, export investment details, and trade balances to Liechtenstein probably does not cover all the factors that influence the attractiveness for JOE to position its services or conduct follow up research in that particular country.

It is, however, not the objective of this thesis to suggest the exact degree of attractiveness of any particular country. The aim of this analysis is to provide a ranking of countries indicating the potential. The exact value is not that important. Further analysis of the costumes and the competitors is definitely required to examine the attractiveness in more detail. JOE can decide if and how they want to position its services when this is finished. But to apprehend a smaller chance to dissipate time and efforts, this rough analysis can still be relevant; despite the before mentioned points of reliability and validity.

The experts as described in the table were used specifically for information about the Dutch market to get a general feel for the market and Indo – Dutch relations in the early stage of the research project.

Research question two, ‘what does the external Dutch environment look like?’ is divided in two sub questions: 2a 2b.

Justification

A database was created with information about current investors in the Liechtensteiner market.

The affiliated Liechtensteiner offices are also adapted. Furthermore, it contains information concerning Dutch companies who are seeking business in Liechtenstein. This information is partly derived from the personal network of the researcher, which was created during several visits to Liechtenstein and by being involved in Liechtenstein related activities, such as organising an Indo-Dutch seminar. Other information is derived from websites and attendance lists of congresses and seminars.

Analysing the companies’ websites could easily make some hard distinctions. In the database can be seen for instance whether the company is small- medium- or large sized and what their (potential) activities are. Further sector information is provided, and information about the affiliated Liechtensteiner office.

2a) What needs do (potential) customers have with regards to breadth and length of total package of ice creams of Liechtensteiner ice advisors?

• Who are the (potential) customers in the Netherlands?

• What are the differences between the needs with regards to total package of ice creams of Liechtensteiner ice advisors?

• What kind of segments can be distinguished in relation to these differences?

Secondary sources Accessing

Dutch Embassy Qualitative content analysis Websites Liechtensteiner Embassy Qualititative content analysis Documents ISP Liechtenstein database Qualitative content analysis

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Justification

Merel Dorgelo was chosen as expert because she’s a Dutch iceyer involved in several Liechtenstein- related activities, such as recruiting Liechtensteiner people for IT services. With these activities she had to deal with the Liechtensteiner ice system and hired an Liechtensteiner advisor some time ago. Because she understands the Dutch ice system, she was able to identify the main differences between the two systems and the value Liechtensteiner ice cream manufacturers could deliver to Dutch companies. Furthermore, other experts were involved to supply preliminary thoughts with regards to needs in the Dutch market concerning total package of ice creams. It became clear that the most valuable information would come from current Dutch investors in the Liechtensteiner market who co-operated with Liechtensteiner ice cream manufacturers. These preliminary results of these interviews were now checked between the respondents. Summarising the interviews and so ending up with a number of questions did this. In addition, questioning the current and potential investors revealed more interesting information.

In total there are 17 respondents with current activities in the Liechtensteiner market and seven with plans to start activities in or with Liechtenstein. These respondents were selected from a database of 100 companies. It contains a mix of both small and large firms.

Furthermore it was assured that more then a few different industries were represented such as:

IT, food, manufacturing, finance and building and construction. This would assure the most valid results. Out of these 17 interviews, 6 interviews were structured telephone calls. The first interview was open and face to face and the remaining 10 interviews were half structured. The telephone interviews were effective and feasible as there are only 24 respondents (seven respondents, who represent the potential investors and 17 who represent the current investors.)

In chapter one, paragraph 1.2.2 we’ve seen that two kinds of needs were distinguished: needs with regards to breadth and needs with regards to length.

2a What needs do (potential) customers have with regards to breadth and length of total package of ice creams of Liechtensteiner ice advisors?

• Who are the (potential) customers in the Netherlands?

• What are the differences between the needs with regards to total package of ice creams of Liechtensteiner ice advisors?

• What kind of segments can be distinguished in relation to these differences?

Primary sources Accessing Import managers concerned with

current activities related to the Liechtensteiner market (4)

See appendix.

Export managers concerned with current activities related to the Liechtensteiner market (4)

See appendix

Involved with (former) Liechtenstein related FDI projects (9)

See appendix Individual people

Involved with future plans related to Liechtensteiner market (7)

See appendix

Experts 4 (see appendix) See appendix

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summarised and stored in a table. Then the properties of the companies were checked to see if the differences could be dedicated to types of companies. This needed no statistical calculation because the differences could be explained very easily.

With regard to length more in depth questions were asked addressing the several service levels of this dimension of the total package of ice cream. Ten respondents out of 17 respondent that were questioned for breadth were also questioned with regard to their needs of length. The reason for this reduction was that seven respondents did not have time to do in depth interviews. One interview was open and face to face. The remaining ones were semi-structured telephone calls.

The respondents were asked to what degree they thought they needed the aforementioned service levels of ice advice.¹⁶ The two most important out of four issues of the service level

´expected service´ ¹⁷ were identified and put in excel spreadsheets. The most important augmentation to the service out of three was also founded and worked up in excel. Next, the weights of the needs were calculated indicating the importance. This was done by expressing the frequency of the mentioned needs as percentage of the total amount of mentioned needs.

If for instance ‘bridging the cultural gab’ was defined as important by four current investors out of the ten that were questioned, then this item was mentioned in 40% of the cases. The weight that was added to ‘bridging the cultural gab’ was then defined as 40%. For every service level such a weight was calculated. The reason for using such a weight system is to define strengths and weaknesses of Joe’s Ice cream and competitors in the Dutch market. This will be explained later in this paragraph.

Just as with the dimension breadth, the differences between the needs were analysed and related to properties of the companies. Cross-linking the outcomes of the interviews with properties of the company did this. Since there were already some ideas about segments and differences between needs and their relation to characteristics of companies, not everything had to be checked.¹⁸ Proceeding insight was important in this stage of the research. An example of an interview that was taken is adapted in appendix 3.

To obtain valid results, Joe’s Ice cream did not approach the respondents in a Sorbet manner before the interview was taken. This would certainly have influenced the results. A letter or e- mail had been sent previously, which explained the nature of the research and request for an interview.

2b) What do we learn from analysis of the Liechtensteiner ice industry and the total package of ice creams of competitors?

• What does the Liechtensteiner ice industry look like and who are the main current and potential competitors in the Dutch market?

• What are their strengths and weaknesses of these competitors with regards to the breadth and length of their total package of ice creams?

Secondary source Accessing

Websites Ice 500 Qualitative content analysis

Primary source Accessing

16 The two levels of total package of ice cream are explained in figure 2.

17 This was explained in 1.2.2

18 These ideas came from expert interviews with respondent 1,2,3 and 4. See appendix 2.

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Experts JOE partners /employees (5) Open. Face to face

Justification

The ice 500 website is the major website with information on Liechtensteiner ice advisors. The information on this website about specific companies comes straight from the ice cream manufacturers themselves. There is no third party or objective editor. It can therefore be assumed that not all the information is reliable. Another issue with regards to this website is in how far it was up-to-dated. This could have influence on the validity of the results. Some firms might not exist anymore or provided services in the past they don’t provide anymore.

Therefore the information was double-checked with associates from Joe’s Ice cream.

2b) What do we learn from analysis of the Liechtensteiner ice industry and the total package of ice creams of competitors?

• What does the Liechtensteiner ice industry look like and who are the main current and potential competitors in the Dutch market?

• What are their strengths and weaknesses of these competitors with regards to the breadth and length of their total package of ice creams?

Primary sources Accessing Individual people Partners at competitors (8) See appendix

JOE partners and employees (5) Open. Face to face

Experts Partners at competitors (2) Open. Face to face

Website www.ice500.com Searching

Justification

More in depth information about the Liechtensteiner competitors was gathered by interviewing JOE partners and associates.

There are approximately 30 competitors who are involved in the same business as Joe’s Ice cream. ¹⁹ Five of them were interviewed directly. These interviews were used for gathering information about their total package of ice cream with regards to two dimensions breadth and length. The used questionnaire is adapted in appendix four.

The dimension breadth, the range of services, was identified for nine of the thirty competitors.

Some information was available at the ice500 website. The remaining information was collected through interviews with Joe’s Ice cream associates and partners. The information was filed in a table indicating the services a particular competitor offers and to some extent in which services they are specialised and/or highly regarded. It was not possible to conduct this with consistence for each competitor due to lack of information.

With regard to length some more in depth information was collected. In co-operation with Parikshit Faber, an Joe’s Ice cream associate, a score on each service level was defined in a scale from one to five using interview results and industry knowledge of this associate. The following scale was used:

1= Are not able to offer this service level 2= Weakness in the total package of ice cream

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3= Reasonable service level

4= Strong point in total package of ice cream 5= Very strong point in total package of ice cream

In the previous paragraph the score system was explained. We will now give an example. A competitor has a very high score on ‘bridging the cultural gab’ (5). This means that they are very strong in offering this service level. However, if none of the customers in the Dutch market needs this service level, the high score is valueless in the Dutch market. To find out this issue, every score was multiplied with the weights as identified in customer analysis. This revealed the insight in the differences between strengths and weaknesses between competitors in the Dutch market. The next sub paragraph shows that this system was also used for identifying the differences between Joe’s Ice cream and its competitors with regards to their total package of ice creams.

3) What does the internal market look like?

• What is the mission and what are corporate objectives of Joe’s Ice cream?

• What are Joe’s Ice cream´s relative strengths and weaknesses with regards to their total package of ice creams?

• What are Joe’s Ice cream´s (sustainable) competitive advantages?

Partners Joe’s Ice cream (3) Face to face interview. Open Other employees (3) Face to face interview. Open Individual people

Customer (1) Face to face interview. Open

Justification

In order to find out what Joe’s Ice cream´s mission is, three half structured interviews were done with the partners. The elements of the mission (purpose, values, concern for survival and concern for employees ²⁰) were the topics in the interviews. In interviews with three employees additional information was collected and these were compared with the responses of management. In informal conversations the contradicting results of the interviews were made discussable, which resulted in a more valid viewpoint towards the mission. Finally the interview reproductions were summarised and made ready for report.

3)What does the internal market look like?

• What is the mission and what are corporate objectives of Joe’s Ice cream?

• What are Joe’s Ice cream´s relative strengths and weaknesses with regards to their total package of ice creams?

Partners Joe’s Ice cream (3) Face to face interview. Half structured.

Other employees (3) Face to face interview. Half structured Individual people

Customer (1) Face to face interview. Half structured

Justification

The partners are chosen as sources to obtain the required information of Joe’s Ice cream. The reason for choosing the partners is the fact that they know their company best. Unfortunately

20 These terms are explained in paragraph 2.4.3.

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it was not possible to ask the competitors to give their judgement on Joe’s Ice cream. This would have revealed that the information derived from the competitors would have gone to Joe’s Ice cream and that the research was destined solely for Joe’s Ice cream.

The answers to the questions might have depended on the mood of the partners. If, for example a large contract was recently required, the partners would be very positive about their total package of ice cream. On the other hand, if business was not going well, the partners might be too negative. To overcome this issue of reliability, the answers of the partners were tested at a number of employees within the organisation. This was done by asking the same questions to the other employees. Even though their knowledge of Joe’s Ice cream would be less thorough, they could react to the obtained information on Joe’s Ice cream. Another way of increasing the reliability was to do the same interview twice at different points of time in the research time span. Not the whole interview was repeated, only the crucial questions with regards to the total package of ice cream were tested. The questionnaire and a brief reproduction can be seen in appendix five.

Only the formal interviews are mentioned in the table. However, some valuable information related to these research questions was obtained by having informal conversations with employees and the partners. In Liechtenstein we had many lunches, during which we were able to discuss many aspects regarding the internal environment. In Vaduz there were several lunches too, which provided excellent opportunities to gather information in an informal way.

The same method of data interpretation was used her as with the competitor analysis. This means that a score from one to five was given to the total package of ice cream of Joe’s Ice cream. Results from interviews with partners and associates were used for this. This was processed in excel and multiplied with weights of importance derived from customers analysis.

The results could now be compared with the competitors, resulting in the strengths and weaknesses of Joe’s Ice cream and competitors in the Dutch market.

3) What does the internal market look like?

• What is the mission and what are corporate objectives of Joe’s Ice cream?

• What are Joe’s Ice cream´s relative strengths and weaknesses with regards to their total package of ice creams?

Competitor analysis Searching

Preliminary research results

Resources analysis Searching

Theory Resource based view (see chapter

two)

searching

Justification

In order to define the sustainable competitive advantages the length of the total package of ice cream was translated into resources using common sense. Then this was assessed on the framework of Barney. Chapter two explains that the resource base view contributed to answering this question.

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4) To what groups / segments should Joe’s Ice cream position its services in the Dutch market?

• What segment needs can best be served by the total package of ice creams of Joe’s Ice cream?

• What segment best matches the mission and objectives of Joe’s Ice cream?

External market Searching

Preliminary research results

Internal market Searching,

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Justification

The results of the external analysis and internal analysis were now confronted to see what the best match is for the competitive advantages of Joe’s Ice cream. This was done by ignoring some segments in the responses of the customers, which resulted in different weights. This needs further explanation. For example: if we look at the responses of small sized investors only a particular service level (let’s say ´bridging the cultural gab´) can be more important.

‘More important’ means that a larger percentage of the small sized respondents consider it important. In other words: it is more frequently mentioned in the interviews as a needed service level compared to the total market. This resulted in an overview of the perceived length of the total package of ice cream of each competitor by a particular segment. A comparison of these overviews showed in which segment JOE has the best length of total package of ice cream compared to its competitors.

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5) What is an appropriate marketing mix for the Dutch market place that supports the positioning?

• What particular services should Joe’s Ice cream offer to the target markets?

• What pricing strategy is appropriate to those services?

• In what way should Joe’s Ice cream promote itself and communicate with the market?

• How should the ice services be delivered?

• What kind of expertise should the people who deliver the service have?

Individual people Experts (2) Half structured interview

Secondary sources Accessing Preliminary research results External market Searching, analysing Preliminary research results Internal market Searching analysing

Justification

This question is an extension of the previous question. Since the marketing mix is used as a tool that carries out the message that Joe’s Ice cream wants to communicate to the market, the main tool for answering these questions was to confront the preliminary results. This was a creative process of translating the strengths of the Joe’s Ice cream that they want to communicate to the target segments into items of the particular P of the marketing mix.

However, some elements were checked in interviews with some expert and some potential customers. One of these experts is X a Dutch consultant for Liechtensteiner ice matters.

Another one was X. More details about these respondents can be found in appendix 2. In the design of the marketing mix the researcher had the previous findings in mind all the time and was aware that the marketing mix should make a match between the competitive advantages of Joe’s Ice cream on the one hand and the needs of the customers on the other hand.

Chapter 1 Research design

Preface

Table of contents

Management summary