PGBM73 MBA Dissertation: Challenges in Best Mart 360 Digital Expansion

This project proposal outlines an MBA dissertation focused on the challenges Best Mart 360, a Hong Kong-based snack company, faces in its international digital expansion. The study investigates the impact of globalization and technological advancements on consumer behavior and business practices, particularly within the e-commerce sector. The proposal includes a literature review examining relevant theories and empirical studies on international market entry, non-equity modes, market demands, workforce challenges, technical infrastructure, and communication barriers. The research aims to understand the key challenges in Best Mart 360's digital expansion, evaluate organizational strategies for managing these challenges, and identify effective strategies for successful global digital expansion. The methodology involves secondary data analysis, employing a qualitative approach and a case study analysis of Best Mart 360 to explore the company's strategies in the international market. The project also identifies key activities and timelines for the dissertation, including data collection, literature review, methodology planning, and data analysis.

PGBM73 MBA DISSERTATION MODULE – Formative Assessment 1
PROJECT PROPOSAL
Candidate Name:……….…………………………………………………………………..
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Study Centre:……….……………………… Name of Supervisor:
Enrolment Date:............................................ Registration number:
Project Title:
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Hand in Date of Proposal:
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Project Background:
The innovation and marketing of the business world are rapidly changing after the
technological revolution. It has not only influenced the context of marketing but has impacted
the customer's behaviours aspects as well. With the help of mobile phones and other devices,
the consumers could get access to a huge amount of data at any point any time. Their decision
making criteria has changed as they want a more convenient way of buying things and services.
Globalisation has enabled the companies to expand in the international markets with all their
potentiality. The fact is that online expansions are gaining popularity immensely than offline
expansions. About 42% of people in the world have access to the internet, and they prefer to
use this technology for each and every part of their lifestyles. The business world has
understood the importance of internet technology, and this is the reason for continuous
enhancing e-commerce platforms. This study is based on the Hong-Kong based company Best
Mart 360. This company sells snacks and is intended to expand its business in the international
market through online platforms. The practices and techniques are analysed by various experts
in a different manner. This suggested structure of this study would provide an effective outline of
functioning irrespective of the sector, location or size. Therefore, the challenges that this
company would face in their new venture need to be evaluated to mitigate them and achieve
success in the process.
Business expansion is proof of a company's growth. Expansion is mainly planned after a
company has achieved certain success in their local market ventures. Internationalisation is the
term that is vividly used in the business world, and it means investing in foreign markets. It is
quite obvious that the market conditions are not the same in every country. Therefore,
international expanses are quite challenging as it has to be done through various stages.
Among all other means of expansion, e-commerce or digital means is the trendiest one. Unlike
traditional methods, this method is more convenient for consumers and could be more profitable
as well. The advantages of adopting digital mediums for business expansion is well-known. But

the challenges of this expansion needed to be met with extensive planning, communication and
marketing strategies.
The importance of this research topic is not limited to any specific organisation. The
result could influence and beneficial for most of the companies that are trying to expand their
business through the internet. Digital marketing and expansion of the companies have their own
set of terms and strategies. There are terms, software and employee training along with all other
new market challenges that a company need to take care of. The challenges that one company
might face are somewhat the same in these organisations. If one organisation could examine
the challenges and risks in the digital expansion, they could design their expansion plans more
insightfully. The study of the case of Best Mart 360 could be an example for other companies in
this sector. This study could be used for their strategy-making contexts in entering the new
global market through digital platforms.
Literature Review
International markets are extremely competitive in nature irrespective of the sectors and
business types. The organisation that has the capacity to impress the customer most could gain
an advantage over all its competitors. It is complete customers oriented market and companies
have to do their market researches before entering any of the foreign markets (Nummela,
Saarenketo and Loane 2016). The selected company in this study is Best Mart 360, and it deals
with fast foods and snacks. The demand for fast foods in the international markets is ever-
increasing, and so is the number of competitors. Therefore, the companies have to embrace the
most convenient way for the customers to expand their business. In the era of digitisation
internet or e-commerce is no doubt, the most powerful medium of business expansion. Mathews
et al. (2016) opined that through digital mediums, a company could operate in multiple levels
and in the minimal time span. They could reach their target customers in no time through
successful digital marketing strategies. Li et al. (2018), on the other hand, have marked that
there is some sort of challenges that this company could experience while expanding their
operations. Empirical studies have been conducted by experts to assess the challenges in
online marketing. This research would highlight some of them in a detailed way.
Selecting the business mode
The most challenging task in the international market is the apt selection of target consumers. In
foreign country business expansion, most of the companies chose to use "non-equity mode" in
their operations. In this mode, the business is organised in a way that requires less or no
physical store presence in the target areas (Reuber et al. 2018). While there is also an option of
doing online marketing and establishing some warehouses in the new country. Companies like
Best Mart 360 could face problems in deciding which means they want to adopt for their new
business expansion. The non-equity mode could be problematic in the areas that have low
connectivity and transportation means. Therefore, selecting the right method for establishing a
business in a specific country location is important for the organisation.
Understanding the market demands

Each market has its unique features which vary according to the customers and market
conditions. The company that wants to gain success in the international market through digital
platforms have to do their market research to understand the specific demands of the
customers. Doing this in a digital expansion is quite challenging as there is minimal physical
connectivity with the company and the customers (Gabor and Brooks 2017). There is a huge
possibility of misunderstanding and failure of the venture if certain miscommunication happens
in this context. Other than that, there are numerous competitors of Best Mart who are already
operating in the online markets internationally. It is expected from the new entrants to introduce
some innovative products and strategies to fulfil the demands of the market.
Challenges in the workforce
Technological understanding is unavoidable in the digital expansion. The employees have been
skilled enough to operate with the software and social media platforms while dealing with the
customers (Tofail et al. 2018). As the operations would be done through the internet, the
employees might need to have some training in handling orders and their delivery matters. If the
employees are not comfortable in such operations, this might affect the performance of the
company and reduce the customer base.
Technical infrastructure
Technical disruptions are a common challenge in online business building. As the company
would be operating in the international market, software and technical supports would be
involved in the operations. They have to make sure that all of these are being maintained and
regulated in an appropriate way. In the opinion of Watanabe et al. (2017), disruptions in any of
the technical operations could cause a problem in the overall business functions. The
companies in international markets take special care for back-up plans for technical problems. If
the company is not able to provide outstanding facilities online, the customers could find it
dissatisfactory and leave the website immediately. Also, the security aspects are one of the
main challenges in online business. Countries have various regulations for data privacy. These
online websites gather several personal information of the customers, and they have to secure
the data. Malware and hackers pose a constant threat to companies.
Communication challenges
As the company wants to expand its business beyond Hong-Kong, the communication gap
could affect its operations. Selection of the target country needs to be based on the
understanding of cultural contexts (Chaffey and Ellis-Chadwick 2019). The language barriers
could be one of the challenges in these ventures. Also, all the communications would be done
through online platforms like company feedback spaces or social media accounts. The company
have to be careful in its communication methods as this would be done virtually, and no face to
face interactions would be done.
Objectives:
 To understand the main challenges in the digital expansion of Best Mart 360 in the
international market To evaluate the role of the organisational units in managing the situations emerged by
international expansions To examine the possible effective strategies to manage the challenges in the global digital
expansion of the company

Methodology
The methodology proposed for this study would be based on secondary data. The collection
and analysis of data would be done in secondary research method. Collected data would be
analysed in the qualitative method. The research topic is based on the expansion of the
international market of a company through a digital medium. Conducting secondary research
would be appropriate as it would help the researcher to understand the established theories and
data on digitisation in international markets. These data would be analysed in a qualitative
method so that insight could be gathered from the potential and reasoned process. Another
reason for implementing secondary research is that a huge amount of authentic and revised
data could be collected and used. As the data for analysis is collected from the company
documents, the reliability of the data is high.
In secondary research, the data are collected from the sources that are already available
(Walliman 2017). Resources for data collection for this study would be based on the Best Mart
360 company datasheets, published books, journals, articles and some government documents.
The method for this study would be based on the case study analysis of the company as well.
Information collected from the company websites and data sheets would be useful to
understand the company's present condition in the international market.
The research design selected for this study would be exploratory. In exploratory research, the
research problems are not studies quite elaborately in the past, and the research topic is
explored gradually with the selection of best data collection and analysis method. Through the
datasheets of the company and the theoretical understanding, the research would lead to the
exploration of the facts related to the company and its strategies in the international market.
Exploratory research is necessary to reach a conclusion after assessing all the possible insights
gradually.
References
Chaffey, D. and Ellis-Chadwick, F., 2019. Digital marketing. Pearson UK.
Gabor, D. and Brooks, S., 2017. The digital revolution in financial inclusion: international
development in the fintech era. New Political Economy, 22(4),pp.423-436.
Li, L., Su, F., Zhang, W. and Mao, J.Y., 2018. Digital transformation by SME
entrepreneurs: A capability perspective. Information Systems Journal, 28(6), pp.1129-
1157.
Mathews, S., Bianchi, C., Perks, K.J., Healy, M. and Wickramasekera, R., 2016. Internet
marketing capabilities and international market growth. International Business Review,
25(4), pp.820-830.

Nummela, N., Saarenketo, S. and Loane, S., 2016. The dynamics of failure in
international new ventures: A case study of Finnish and Irish software
companies. International Small Business Journal, 34(1), pp.51-69.
Reuber, A.R., Knight, G.A., Liesch, P.W. and Zhou, L., 2018. International
entrepreneurship: The pursuit of entrepreneurial opportunities across national borders.
Tofail, S.A., Koumoulos, E.P., Bandyopadhyay, A., Bose, S., O’Donoghue, L. and
Charitidis, C., 2018. Additive manufacturing: scientific and technological challenges,
market uptake and opportunities. Materials today, 21(1), pp.22-37.
Walliman, N., 2017. Research methods: The basics. Routledge.
Watanabe, C., Naveed, K., Neittaanmäki, P. and Fox, B., 2017. Consolidated challenge
to social demand for resilient platforms-Lessons from Uber's global expansion.
Technology in society, 48, pp.33-53.
MBA Dissertation
Key Activities
(Milestones)
Time-scale
(Plan of
action)
Resources required
(Equipment, software, personnel
etc)
Selection of research topic 1 day  Internet
 Case understanding of the
selected company
Collection of data from secondary
resources
7 days  Access to internet
 Company data
 Books, journals and articles
Literature review
5 days  Access to internet
 Company data
 Books, journals and articles
2 days  Secondary data

Planning the methodology
Selection of apt research techniques
1 day  Books based on methodology
Data interpretation and Writing
analysis
5 days  Collected data
 Internet
 Writing equipment
Findings writing
4 days  Data collected
 Writing equipment
Reviewing the paper and draft
checking
1 day  Showing the draft to the
experts
Conclusion writing
1 day  Writing equipment
submission
1 day  Submission websites
 Internet access
First Line Supervisors confirmation that the project has been discussed at a supervisory
meeting and inclusion of any comment:
Name …………………………….....................……..date of meeting…………........................
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SUPERVISOR FEEDBACK SHEET
Feedback on Project Proposal:
Quality of the Strategic Project overview and objectives
Literature review synopsis and methodological synopsis
Supervisor Signature……………………. Date: ………………………………