1) Olivia faced numerous challenges internationally, which can be broadly attributed to cultural

differences (for e.g. “the Tax in Malaysia”), country specific regulations (inter-state tax,
copyright issues), difference is infrastructure (for e.g. absence of forklift in India), local support
and currency fluctuations.
The local support would not have improved significantly in Australia as well and better planning
like homework on public holidays in each country could have been performed in advance.
The real difference in Australia would be the understanding of the cultural undercurrents and
infrastructure available, insulation from currency fluctuations and easy transportation (freight
and taxations).
2) With an exception of India, Olivia had logical reasons for choosing the target markets.
Singapore and Malaysia both had British heritage and medical links. Many doctors there were
trained in UK or Australia and these countries followed similar standard of medical practice.
Also, Singapore was ready to accept product medically approved in US. What was missing
though was a clear go to market strategy. This lead to multiple cold calls. Hence, overall the
choice of target markets was less than perfect.

3) Olivia choose to engage with the distributor at a time when opportunities on the horizon were
scarce. After experiencing cold calls in the initially chosen target markets, it made perfect sense
to leverage the distributor’s understanding of the customer base and cultural undercurrents
unique to the country. Also, the distributor was eager to win (paid for product freight and trip)
which is a quality one should look for in a partner. In a new venture like this one, it is important
to have a certain risk appetite and initiative. The decision looks even wiser when the
distributor’s contribution is contrasted to the support Olivia was getting internally from her
company. This was more support than what Olivia was able to get internally. Distributor
displayed commitment on many occasions, like finding the cartridges locally. The distributor
would be in a better position to generate sales lead (for e.g. requirement in hospital in Visayas
region)

4) The distributor arranged for the trial in a hospital where the chances of interest would be
more. In absence of a distributor it would be a cold call, much like what she faced in Malaysia
when Olivia ventured all by herself. After building on interest generated from the first trial, he
also generated a steady flow of sales leads. Logistical planning was optimized as seen by use of
merge concept (delivering the spare part directly at Manila). The partnership made excellent use
of both Olivia’s and the distributor’s core competencies. Distributor got the lead and Olivia
convinced the decision-making personnel in hospitals that they should invest in the product.
The address delivered by Olivia at the symposium is an excellent example of planning and
initiative that contributed to the success.