Research Report: Entry Modes and Factors Influencing Sainsbury Group

This report examines the influence of internal and external factors on the entry modes of Sainsbury Group plc. It begins with an introduction to strategic management and the company's background, followed by a research proposal outlining aims, objectives, and research questions. The research methodology includes qualitative research using an interpretivism philosophy and inductive approach, with data collected through a random probability sampling of 15 managers. The findings section presents themes derived from the data analysis, including the preferred entry modes (direct exporting, franchising, and joint ventures), external factors (trade barriers, socio-cultural barriers, and competition), challenges in entry mode selection (investment, time-consuming processes, and competition), and the disadvantages of joint ventures. The report also explores the impact of internationalization on employees and key internal factors such as employer-employee relationships and company size. The analysis concludes with recommendations for Sainsbury, suggesting the adoption of joint ventures in culturally diverse markets and employee training. A reflective log is included, summarizing the research process and findings.

RESEARCH FOR
STRATEGIC
DEVELOPMENT - 2

TABLE OF CONTENTS
TOPIC : The influence of internal and external factors on entry modes.........................................2
TASK 1 RESEARCH PROPOSAL.................................................................................................2
Introduction.................................................................................................................................2
Aims and Objectives...................................................................................................................2
Milestones and critical pathways................................................................................................4
TASK 2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY......................................................................................5
Research Philosophy...................................................................................................................7
Research Approach.....................................................................................................................7
Research Design .........................................................................................................................7
Sampling ....................................................................................................................................7
Data Collection ..........................................................................................................................8
TASK 3 RESEARCH FINDINGS..................................................................................................8
TASK 4 REFLECTIVE LOG........................................................................................................13
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................13
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................14

TOPIC : The influence of internal and external factors on entry modes.
TASK 1 RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Introduction
Research background
The strategic management is an activity of organisation which is used to focus on
priorities, resources, strengthen operations and to ensure employees as well as stakeholders
which are working for a common goal. It is a collection of activities and business processes
which company used to coordinate and align resources within vision, mission and strategy all
over organisation. Sainsbury is one of the largest supermarket chain in UK and mainly deals in
clothing, groceries, home ware and electricals. This report will lay focus on influence of internal
and external factors on entry modes.
Rationale
This research is aim to develop knowledge of scholar in the field of entry modes and
global business. Also, this research is developed for the purpose of understanding the need of
entry modes to the stakeholders and other interested individuals of the company.
Aims and Objectives
Aim
“To investigate the influence of internal factors and external factors on entry modes : A study on
Sainsbury group plc.”
Objectives
 To understand the concept of entry modes in Sainsbury plc.
 To analyse the impact of internal and external factors regarding entry modes in context of
Sainsbury.
 To determine the challenges which influences performance of Sainsbury for the selection
of entry mode. To recommend ways which best fit as an entry mode for the company Sainsbury.
Research questions

1. What do you understand by the concept of entry modes in company Sainsbury group plc?
2. What are the impact of internal factors as well as external factors regarding to the entry
modes for Sainsbury group?
3. What are the challenges face by company which influences performance of Sainsbury in
the selection of entry mode?4. What are the recommendation for Sainsbury regarding entry modes?
Research methodologies
Research type – It is a plan which is done for collecting, interpreting and collecting data
for the problem of business. The research types are mainly qualitative research and quantitative
research. The scholar will choose qualitative research to determine the outcome of influence of
internal and external factors for the entry modes.
Research approach – This involves a decision which is adopted for collection and
analysis of data. The research approach is divided under Inductive, abductive and deductive. The
researcher will use Inductive approach of research to generate outcomes of internal and external
factors in context of entry mode.
Research philosophy – The research philosophy is a belief for given phenomenon which
is utilised and analysed in proper manner (Hellstén, and Ucker Perotto, 2018). There are many
kinds of research philosophies but some common philosophies which adopted for executing
research are pragmatism, realism, positivism and interpretivism. The scholar under this research
will adopt interpretivism research philosophy.
Sampling – The sampling is some units of sample derived from whole population. In this
research, the scholar will adopt random probability sampling by which 15 managers from
Sainsbury group plc will derive.
Data collection - The data collection is a standard technique which is adopted in
collecting data. There are two kinds of data collection, they are primary data collection and
secondary data collection. The researcher will use both method to derive the outcome of this
research topic.

Data analysis – It is a procedure which uses analytics and statistics as a tool for
discovering crucial information which help the business in decision making. There are two kinds
of data analysis available. One is qualitative and other is quantitative. The qualitative research
will be adopted by researcher for generating outcomes for impact of internal and external factors
for entry modes.
Milestones and critical pathways
Activities 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Topic of the research
Preparation of
research proposal
Determining aims
and objectives
Literature review
Selection of research
methodologies
Preparation of
questionnaire
Collection of
primary data through
filling of
questionnaire by
respondents
Arrange all gathered
data

Analysis of data
collected
Conclusion and
recommendation
Formatting
Feedback
Submission
TASK 2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Literature review
Theme : To comprehend concept of entry modes in Sainsbury.
According to the (Chien, 2015) the decision for companies while entering into foreign
market impacts a lot on companies. The company generally opt different entry modes for their
business expansion. Such as Exporting, direct investment, franchising, joint venture, etc. But
(Smith, 2017) argues that these entry modes expand companies profitability but also increases
total expenditure.
In the view point of (Adams, 2016), The entry modes in international market are channel
for an organisation to employ and gain entry in global market. This enables the company to
enhance technological advancement within the organisation by operating globally. On the other
hand (De Visscher, 2015) states that entry modes increases ration of unemployment in the
country because by expanding globally company need to hire residents of that country.
Theme : To analyse impact of internal and external factors for entry modes in Sainsbury
In the view point of (Marionneau, 2015) The socio cultural distance impacts entry modes
adopted by company as this is concerned with organisations have same businesses and practises,
culture, language, educational level, etc. are close with each other as compared to countries
which have lacks in similarities. (Adams, and Van de Vijver, 2015) articulates that this social

cultural influences decision making of the company which disables the manager to operate work
efficiently in the company.
According to the (Hosoe, 2018) Trade barrier is another external factor which is affects
function of businesses because of laws and regulations laid by government of one country is to
be followed by all businesses. Some countries have huge tariff rates for entry of other foreign
companies within their country. On the other hand (Turner, 2017) not only regulations but
geographical distance also influences companies for expansion. As companies need to bear huge
transportation costs due to geographical distance which impacts directly on expenditure of
company. In accordance with (Pucciarelli and Kaplan, 2016) Competition is another factor which
influences many companies to operate cross border trade. The company by operating in global
market need to bear not only local competition but also international competition from different
companies borne by the organisation.
While (Fey and et.al., 2016) argued that not only external factors influences entry modes
but also internal factors affects them. One of the major internal factor is payback. The company
while operating globally through different entry modes observed that their pay back period rises
with the international expansion because their investment amount increases. In the views of
(Smith, 2017) the size of company also increases with international expansion. The managers of
organisation which operate globally face several difficulty due to huge size of company. Also,
this lead to delay in decision making.
Theme : To ascertain challenges that influences performance of Sainsbury for entry mode
selection.
According to the (Pellegrino and Mc Naughton, 2017) Many companies are operating
globally by adopting different entry modes. There complexity can be measured by cost, control,
risk, etc. The method of entry modes are adopted by different companies according to their
capability of risk taking and expenditure.
In the view point of (Santangelo, Meyer and Jindra, 2016) The company face many
challenges due to performance of organisation also affects for the selection of entry modes. One
common challenge face by company is that these entry modes are very expensive and time

consuming. The company need time to get stable within the market of another country. Also, the
creation of customer base takes time. On the other hand (Zhang Kumar, and Ré, 2016) This is
not only challenge, company by operating globally face competition from both local companies
in home country and foreign country. Also, the company face high competition from already
established companies prevailing in global market.
Research methodology
Research Philosophy
The research philosophy is a way in which phenomenon data gathers, analyses and uses.
There are certain types of research philosophies available (Henry, Foss, and Ahl, 2016). They are
interpretivism, realism and positivism. The interpretivism collects data collection samples and
research philosophy based on interview and observation. The researcher will use interpretivism
research philosophy because it is a best approach adopted in completion of qualitative research
for generating outcome of influence of the factors on entry modes.
Research Approach
The research approach is procedures which consist of steps for an assumption of data
collection, interpretation and analysis. There are three kinds of research approach. Inductive,
abductive and deductive. In inductive research, new theories are developed. The researcher will
use inductive research approach as the researcher will easily generate outcomes of influence of
external and internal factors on entry modes. Also, the fairness of research is observed by
inductive approach.
Research Design
This is a procedure in which data is collected as well as analysed in a research problem
which is specified. The two types of research design are qualitative and quantitative. Qualitative
research design is based on attributes, colour, etc. but quantitative design is based on numerical
data. The research design adopted by researcher will be descriptive as to derive outcome by
studying in depth which helps the researcher in generating influence of factors which mainly
affects entry modes for the company.

Sampling
The sampling is process that is a selection of a part of population from a whole
population. Sampling can be done in two ways. First is Probability and other in non probability.
The probability enables equal chances of getting selected for the whole population whereas non
probability sample does not offer equal chance to the population (Rezvan, Lee, and Simpson,
2015). The researcher will random probability sampling in order to attain knowledge of social
media impact on business. Here, the researcher will select 15 managers of Sainsbury group to
generate the desired outcome.
Data Collection
The data collection is a procedure of collecting data from different sources to generate the
research outcomes. There are two kinds of data collection. They are primary and secondary data
collection. The primary data is collected through questionnaire, observation, etc. while secondary
data is collected by newspapers, journals, magazines, etc. The researcher uses both method in
which primary is collected through questionnaire while secondary is collected by articles and
books.
TASK 3 RESEARCH FINDINGS
Theme 1 : According to you, what are the key entry modes available for Sainsbury group?
Particulars Number of respondents
Direct exporting 4
Franchising 8
Joint venture 3
Interpretation : From the view point of 15 managers of Sainsbury group plc, it has been
depicted that 4 managers supports direct exporting that it is available as an entry mode in
Sainsbury group plc. As per the literature review, the direct exporting is an inexpensive method
which enables many companies to expand their business in foreign market while other 8
managers shows their support to franchising. As per the literature review, the franchising is
different form of entry mode but it overcomes one of the disadvantage of direct exporting

because it enables businesses to make control within their business operating in other
geographical boundaries.
On the other hand, The 3 managers chooses joint venture is the available method for
expansion of Sainsbury group because in accordance with the literature review, it is mentioned
that while company execute joint venture they able to get contact with local suppliers and
companies which enables them to comprehend the competition and habit of customers.
Theme 2 : What are the external factors which influences company Sainsbury?
Particulars Number of respondents
Trade barriers 2
Socio cultural barriers 1
Competition 3
All of the above 9
Interpretation : From the view point of 15 managers of Sainsbury group plc, it has been
depicted that 2 managers observed that trade barriers is the major external factor which
influences Sainsbury and their functions while 1 manager supported to the socio cultural barriers.
As per the literature review, it has observed that due to social barriers companies which have
similarities regarding culture, language, education is much closer to each other as compared to
companies which have cultural differences within different nations. On the other hand,
competition is observed by 3 managers as this is the biggest external factor which influences
company's functions and operations. 9 managers observed that all the above are major external
factors which influences Sainsbury group plc. According to literature review, there are many
factors that influences functions of Sainsbury like competitors, trade and social barriers.
Theme 3 : In accordance with your view point, what are the challenges face by Sainsbury
regarding entry mode selection?
Particulars Number of respondents

Investment and capital 3
Time consuming 4
Increase in competition 5
All of the above 3
Interpretation : From the view point of 15 managers of Sainsbury group plc, it has been
depicted that 3 managers shared their views about entry mode that it needs huge investment and
capital. As per the literature review, the franchising is one of the best but expensive method of
international expansion, Although other 4 managers shares their views that entry mode is time
consuming. They support their argument by literature review that it is time consuming because
company by expanding internationally needs time to create customer base and market while 5
managers thinks that by expanding business through entry modes company would face high
competition. On the other hand, 3 managers shares their views that they are not able to judge the
complexity. Therefore, they supported all the options is challenging for Sainsbury while adopting
to entry modes.
Theme 4 : According to you, What could be the biggest disadvantage of Joint venture face
by company?
Particulars Number of respondents
Loss of control and other operations 9
Huge investment 6
Interpretation : From the view point of 15 managers of Sainsbury group plc, it has been
depicted that 9 managers shares their views on Joint venture that it disables control of company
and their operations while expanding in other country. As per the literature review, by expanding
through joint venture company lost their control on technology and operations. The other 6
managers expresses their experience with joint venture needs huge investment. They depicted it

by literature review, that the company while operation through joint venture need to invest huge
amount and therefore, it is not adopted by small or medium sized companies.
Theme 5 : Do you think, internationalisation through different entry mode is the best
method adopted by company?
Particulars Number of respondents
Highly agree 3
Agreed 7
Neutral 2
Disagree 2
Highly disagree 1
Interpretation : From the view point of 15 managers of Sainsbury group plc, it has been
depicted 3 managers highly agreed that by strategically planning Sainsbury group is able to
develop in international market through different entry modes. As per the literature review,
internationalisation is the best method for expansion of company into global market and by
adopting different entry modes companies are operating with an ease. The 7 managers agrees
with internationalisation by different modes of entry. 2 managers shares their neutral views on it,
that they did not find many opportunities with internationalisation. Other 2 managers disagree
because they find that the entry modes increases investment as well as marketing expenditure in
the global market. 1 manager is highly disagreed that by internationalisation through different
modes of entry increases unemployment in a country.
Theme 6 : According to your opinion, employees working in Sainsbury get better growth
opportunities when the company adopt entry modes?
Particulars Number of respondents