Adaptação vs estandardização

: o caso Sumol Compal e os Mercados Africanos

Abstract

In the current economic climate, in which domestic markets fail to allow sustainable growth for organizations, internationalization becomes the keystone for companies to achieve it. However, when it comes to internationalization, organizations need to decide the internationalization strategy best suited for their specific case. Here, the dilemma of choosing an adaptation strategy or a standardization one for these markets plays a vital role in the decision-making processes, with special focus and relevance when it comes to the marketing-mix. This dissertation aims to understand how the analysis of foreign markets and the corresponding environment influenced these same decision-making processes in the particular case of a Portuguese company, operating in the fast moving consumer good market, FMCG, more specifically in the beverage sector, in its internationalization to countries in the African continent. The literature presents evidence relative to the dimensions external to companies that influence their performance. Through semi-structured interviews conducted to the top management of the company, understanding of the impact in each department and the subsequent strategies implemented to guarantee the success through the internationalization process was made clear. For managers, the conclusions presented demonstrate that at times, the matter of adaptation versus standardization, not only applies to the traditional marketing-mix, but also shines light on the importance of people management strategies, while also proving that these decisions are not extremes but rather a spectrum and vary in different degrees for different elements of the marketing-mix.

Date of Award	8 Jul 2021
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Susana Silva (Supervisor)