How to Launch Cork & CO in Australian market

: defining strategy

Abstract

CORK&CO, a Portuguese micro company in the cork fashion design area intends to expand its business to Australia. To analyse that internationalization process and advise the better strategy three different scenarios were built: for a typical investment mode (through a store fully owned by CORK&CO), for a contractual mode (implementing a franchise) and for a traditional export mode (selling directly to resellers). CORK&CO lacks of equity funds to support some of the investments that these operations require. Thus, financing solutions from banks and from the European Union were studied to see which alternatives the company could pursue. The high investment needed, the market uncertainty and the lack of support from the European funds make the first scenario strongly unadvisable, leaving the company with only two possibilities for expansion: either through franchising or exports.

Date of Award	17 Apr 2015
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Rute Xavier (Supervisor)