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Research Proposal – Amazon Case Study

Question:

• The impacts of MNE’s entry into developed markets to host country industries. The case of Amazon’s entry into Australia.

Research question.

How are MNE’s entry into developed markets perceived to impact host country industries: The case of Amazon’s entry into Australia? Very little research has been listed down by authors who thought of a business idea like an introduction of Amazon in Australia and this consumer electronics will be among the first businesses of this type to be launched in the state. There must be involvement of different participants in the market and it is assumed to vastly grow to a point of having very many third-party sellers than any other organization in Australia. This is the main reason why I came up with this research to get to know more about Amazon in Australia. There will be support from the past literature in getting the correct information of the same.

Literature review

According to various researchers, the timeframe for Amazon development in Australia would, in fact, be shorter as compared to the entry of other markets, implicating that the consumption/sale of electronic goods in the market would not grow as required (Zeng, J., & Glaister, 2016). Actually, there is very little written literature concerning the impacts of Multinational Enterprises entry into developed markets, to the market. These are markets which operate regionally like amazon entry in Australia, in small scale as opposed to global multinational enterprises which operate in the whole world. Amazon entrance is expected to create various job opportunities to the residents of Australia and also strengthen the international ties and correlation between Australia and the US. Amazon already earns around $1 billion in its Australia sales which is a positive impact to the nation’s gross domestic product.

Researchers have majored on other topics and not considering the developed markets. According to Ozturk & Cavusgil, 2015, Amazon entry to the Australian market is one of the key factors for its global economy to grow. In most cases, they have been accompanied by success factors and their entry is seen as a step ahead in the industry. There is also a great risk to the small firms as a competitive environment is brought about in the market. It is also greatly affected by political, economic, social and psychological factors. Developed countries always contribute in expanding the agenda and the market status of MNEs as well as improving the foreign direct investments in Australia.

Alkire, T. 2014, argued that MNEs is among the key drivers of the economic growth in Australia as they create a link with other both developing and developed countries to enlarge the market status internationally as well as bringing new products to capture the attention of prospective buyers from other nations. This erodes the belief that MNEs only benefit the locals in Australia. Bearing this in mind, social concerns have been raised claiming that this entry undermines the poor workforce which has been behind their success. According to a research carried out in Australia, the Amazon markets are expected to grow by 10% over the next five years, which will signify about 1/3 of the American development (Jiang, S. 2014). MNE’s make entry decisions after several considerations which include the location of the target market and design of factors (Liberman et al, 2016). This mostly benefiting those companies advocating for equity entry modes. Implications of this entry have been discussed politically and also through the media. In this research, I will explore the local perception of MNE entry into developed markets through an analysis of media and industry coverage regarding the entry of Amazon into Australia (Parboteeah, P. 2017).

Amazon entry into Australia may bring about impacts such as those which were brought by Google, the time it was introduced in the state. Mr. Bate feared that Amazon will be of great harm if not positively taken by the participants in the market. He encouraged all the retailers to research more about the Amazon and sell their products internationally through the Amazon website (Evers & Anderson, 2015).

Research Question/design/plan of the study.

From the main question of the research, ‘how are MNE’s entry into developed markets perceived to impact host country industries: The case of Amazon’s entry into Australia, the research needs to be carried out within the state of Australia, mostly in the urban centers where commercial activities greatly occur. It will be carried out after the assumption that the business will have fully ventured into the industry, with the consumers being the topmost relied upon specimen since they are the main actors in this scenario and only the affected ones. It will take quite some time for there are several interviews, surveys, and observations to be carried out before the actual judgment and analysis of data.  According to Bailey, 2012, data analysis procedure includes the process of packaging the collected information, putting it in order and structuring its main components in a way that the findings can be easily and effectively communicated. This will involve interpretation of information collected from the library books, journals and newspaper as well as also from thorough research programs. There will also be thorough assessment of various firms which have experienced the impact of Amazon entrance to the market.

Research planning is a very important aspect of a research proposal as it justifies and emphasizes on the procedures required to carry out the research. The impacts of MNE’s entry into developed markets to host country industries (a case study of Amazon’s entry into Australia), is a qualitative research which doesn’t need much planning. The research project will adopt an explanatory design simply because there is need of the researcher to gather information about the involvement of Amazon in the Australian market. There will be an exploration of previously under-researched and other various activities and both positive and negative outcome of MNE’s entry into the developed markets, specifically Amazon.

The information to be obtained during data collection (as obtained from both primary and secondary sources) will be able to describe the research problem by individually asking various stakeholders on their feeling and stand as far as Amazon entrance is concerned.

Ethics

My research project will basically be more of secondary than a primary analysis thus there are no very many ethical issues required as per the guidelines laid down in Auckland University of Technology (AUT) procedures in New Zeeland. However, the researcher should always apply high ethical issues regardless of the type of research being carried out.

Resources and budget

Materials provided by Auckland University of Technology to postgraduate students alongside interviews and use of questionnaires in search of information will be of great help to my study. They will be obtained from the institution’s library thus there will be little charges expected to be incurred simply because it is typically a qualitative research which always has a small sample size.

 Location

The research will be conducted by Auckland University of Technology (AUT) city campus, which is located at Far East of Australia across the Tasman Sea.

References

Zeng, J., & Glaister, K. W. (2016). Competitive dynamics between multinational enterprises and local internet platform companies in the virtual market in China. British Journal of Management, 27(3), 479-496.

Liberman, L., Garcilazo, S., & Stal, E. (Eds.). (2016). Multinationals in Latin America: Case Studies. Springer.

Ozturk, A., Joiner, E., & Cavusgil, S. T. (2015). Delineating foreign market potential: A tool for international market selection. Thunderbird International Business Review, 57(2), 119-141.

Fleury, A., & Fleury, M. T. L. (2014). Local enablers of business models: The experience of Brazilian multinationals acquiring in North America. Journal of Business Research, 67(4), 516-526.

Goncalves, M., & Cornelius Smith, E. (2017). Internationalization strategies of frontier Lusophone-African multinational enterprises: Comparative case studies of Angola and Mozambique. Journal of Transnational Management, 22(3), 203-232.

Reuber, A. R., Fischer, E., & Morgan-Thomas, A. (2014). Understanding eINVs through the lens of prior research in entrepreneurship, international business, and international entrepreneurship. The Routledge Companion to International Entrepreneurship, 165.

Parboteeah, K. P. (2017). International Business: Perspectives from Developed and Emerging Markets in Australia. Taylor & Francis.

Alkire, T. (2014). The attractiveness of emerging market MNCs as employers of European and American talent workers: A multicultural study. International Journal of Emerging Markets, 9(2), 333-370.

Jiang, S. (2014). What constitutes the success or failure of multinational corporations (MNCs) in foreign markets? a case study of Chinese and American MNCs. Old Dominion University.

Evers, N., Kuivalainen, O., & Andersson, S. (2015). Industry Factors Influencing International New Ventures’ Internationalisation Processes. The Rise of Multinationals from Emerging Economies: Achieving a New Balance, 226.