SUCCEEDING IN THE INDIAN MARKET: EXPLORING THE CRITICAL FACTORS ON MARKET PERFORMANCE

Abstract

A new major change in globalization is that India is becoming one of the major economies in the world. Although, Sri Lanka is closely proximate to India and has an opportunity to boost its international trade, SriLankans still could not achieve the expected level of growth in its exports. Based on 2009 Annual Central Bank Report, India is the third largest importer of Sri Lanka’s exports amounting to Rs. 37,004 million in 2009. But, the statistics on the past years indicate a drop down of Sri Lankan exports to India from 8.9% in 2005 to 4.5% in 2009. In spite of different bilateral and multilateral trade agreements entered between the two countries Sri Lankan export performance is still unsatisfactory. Therefore, it is implied that apart from tariff reductions certain other qualitative factors influence the international trade performance between these two countries. Therefore, this study aims to explore different factors which determine the successful international business entrance and presence in the Indian market. The study follows qualitative research methodology and collecting data was done by using face to face unstructured interviews with twenty elite respondents. Sample consists of senior academics, international and local researchers in the field of international business, Indian and Sri Lankan exporters, International Marketing Managers of Sri Lankan exports companies, Sri Lankan senior government executives responsible for promoting trade between two countries and Indian Embassy officers responsible in promoting trade ties between the two countries. Data was then coded and analyzed through template analysis. Findings revealed thirty five (35) important factors which influence on determining the successful entrance and performance in the Indian market. These factors were then clustered on firm characteristics, product characteristics, host market characteristics and home market characteristics in the international business literature. Results conclude that environmental characteristics have more influence on the successful performance in the Indian market than the firm characteristics.

Key Words: International Business, Bilateral Trade

For full paper: fmscresearch@sjp.ac.lk