Preparing the Marketing Audit for Market Entry - Essay Example

Marketing Planning Process: Accenture in Tunisia Executive Summary The paper analyses the marketing environment of an Accenture in Tunisia, a countryin the African subcontinent. It is analysed that the continent is in a developing phase and has been highly supportive of foreign capital investments in the continent. Accenture has had significant operations in a few countries in Africa and has made business attempts in Tunisia. The Tunisian market has now become highly lucrative for businesses offering advantageous trade location and tremendous scope for business activities. It is also supporting free trade with the EU. In this scenario, the PESTEL analysis analyses the external business environment in Tunisia. The paper moves on to create a SWOT of the suggested business venture based on the external analysis and the internal strength analysis of the company based on McKinsey’s 7S framework to establish findings and recommendations of possible business in Tunisia. Introduction The marketing environment analysis is a study that is based on the study of the internal and external environment with respect to an organization. It is considered to be an economics tool that helps to determine what the market offers and promises and what are the challenges that the company might face (Luisser, 2009). The PESTEL analysis is a tool used to analyse the external factors that impact a business in a market. These include political factors, environmental concerns, social factors, technological issues, economic factors and legal framework. An accurate environment analysis is necessary to analyse the cost and benefits of starting a business this helps in designing the strategic plan of the business and helps it focus in areas that need more attention while entering a market. Mckinsey’s 7M framework helps in determining the strengths and weaknesses associated with the hard and soft elements of any organization. It is essential to determine the internal strengths of the company that shall provide it a competitive advantage. The paper is an analysis of venture of Accenture in the African country of Tunisia. The company has spotted dealings in the country and based on the PESTEL analysis, a structure move of business operations within the regions in analysed. The paper moves on to consider the internal strengths of Accenture through Mckinsey’s 7M framework and thereby produces a SWOT analysis to understand the implications of moving business into Tunisia. The paper concludes in laying down the key findings of the analysis and suggests recommendations for Accenture to make a successful move into Tunisia. Why Accenture in Africa Accenture is one of the world’s leading providers of consulting, technology and outsourcing services in the industry. The company serves more than 52 countries and operates in over 200 cities employing about 177,000 people globally. The services it provides to its clients are routed through a global delivery network operating in over 50 centres (Gulati, 2013). Accenture works with complete integration into any market within which it functions. In Africa, Accenture tries to become truly local by employing the local people within the organization, works with local products, services and partners, and makes investments in local skill building. Tunisia saw a widespread protest to unemployment and poverty 25 years ago. The result of which is observed today as Tunisia becomes the epicentre of a wave of change in social, political and economic scenario of the country. The government has committed itself to the task of initiating reforms that attract foreign investments, promote trade and create opportunities though growth oriented economic policies and schemes. Tunisia is located on the coastal regions that separate Europe from Africa. Its advantageous locations have significantly contributed to bringing and industrial transformation within the country. The country also has been able to implement a successful export policy but the opening up of the market still remains unexplored. PESTEL Analysis Political Tunisia has a relatively stable political environment that is supportive of business activities in the nation. The country is marked by democratic form of government and a relatively open economy as compared to other African nations. The government has realised the need for liberalisation of the economy to promote growth within the nation (African Development Bank Group, 2012) Environmental Tunisia’s business environment offers a unique challenge because despite favourable location along the sea, the country is set in the neighbourhood of a much disturbed Libya (Libya’s Security Crisis, n.d.). Complex and large scale projects being launched by the government offer a favourable business environment. The country is also marked by the presence of tough local players (Doing Business, n.d.). Social The country has seen a marked decrease in poverty levels. It is expected that by 2020, the country shall have 20% people within the poor category rather than the present 45%. Rapid urbanisation and increasing number of wealthy people is expected to bring in favourable demand conditions (Business Monitor International, n.d.). Technological The country functions within a very large informal economy in terms of cash transactions and sparse consumer spending data. Accenture can mitigate such issues in technology by connecting with banks and such institutions that can help with formalised data of spending patterns and thus help the company is devising sound business strategies. Economical Trade among African nations was restricted by hefty tariff impositions on imported products. The continent is now marked by opening up of trade barriers for international as well as regional trade. There exist numerous trade blocks in the country that facilitate transactions within and outside Tunisia (US Commercial Service, 2012). Legal Tunisian government has liberalised the economy but there is some sort of control still in the mechanism The tax structure has been simplified and its laws have attracted FDI into the country. Foreign companies can also benefit from free trade of manufactured goods with EU through Tunisia. However, public sector dominates core sectors of operations like energy, pharmacy, transport, basic food and telecommunications (Greenwood, 2002). (Source: Pinson, 2008; Lorat, 2009; Delta Partners, 2011) Mckinsey’s 7S framework Structure Accenture has divided its business services into five main groups namely, Financial Services, Communications and High Tech, Products, Health and Public Services and Resources. These groups cover 17 different business verticals. It offers three types of business services to each one of these divisions. These comprise of Technology support, Business process outsourcing and Management consulting (Accenture, 2013). Strategy Accenture follows a strategy of creating value for the clients in such a manner that they become long term business relationships and high performance business dealings due to quick response and swift solutions Systems Accenture’s global delivery networks are aimed at providing end to end solutions to their global clients by sourcing the best of services from its worldwide operations. A critical component of the model is the Accenture Global Delivery Network that is targeted to boost knowledge and learning and thus forms the core of business engaging over 80000 employees all across the world in delivering services that are efficient locally and responsive globally (Accenture, 2011). Staff It is Accenture’s core value to recruit the right people and assign them the right kind of jobs best suited for meeting both ends. Accenture strives towards acquiring and retaining the best of talents for their company and keeping them going with challenges and fostering a can do attitude to ensure a collaborative and supportive working environment. Skills The main skill that gives Accenture a competitive advantage over others in the similar industry is their wide range of offerings. Accenture services in everything ranging from critical technology support to process outsourcing services and from strategic advisory at the top level to human resource assistance (Hatch, Becker and Zyl, 2011). Style Accenture has a working style of leading by innovation. The company drives sales through a partnership driven approach and also develops business relationships in due process. It also has designed a target oriented marketing program that aims business customers in priority (WetFeet Insider Guide, 2005). Shared Values Accenture shares 6 core values Integrity: Instil honesty and openness within the organization Client Value Creation: Strive to create value for the clients to the best of their capabilities. One global network to enhance collective values of the organization at the global level Stewardship: to think for the future and act in a manner that builds a stronger company in the long run. Respect for Individuals: Treat the other as one would want to be treated. Best People: Ensure that the staffs are competent and committed to the task of teamwork, delivering excellence and achieving success with clients. (Source: Smith and Siguaw, 2011; Witcher and Chau, 2010; Creaser, 2010) SWOT Strengths Company’s broad offerings shall offer tremendous scope to expand and establish early in the expanding Tunisian market. The company has a good brand name and global reach which ensures that best practices are implemented in the untapped Tunisian market. Strong company financial ensure that significant government support and client faith is achieved. Weakness Accenture favours large sized projects that mainly target transformational projects. In a small country like Tunisia, Accenture’s inability to function with smaller scale projects might prove to be a significant disadvantage. The company relies heavily on its consulting business and in a country where large projects are handled by the government; skills in other business streams shall be utilized. Opportunities Unstructured financial market offers tremendous opportunity of collaboration with local banks, who are strong players in Tunisia, in an attempt to organise the financial markets with technological assistance from Accenture. Growth of companies and expansion of export along with huge attraction to FDI promises good growth opportunities for Accenture in near future. Growing middle class and lowering poverty promise good labour and a larger client base. Large scale projects being implemented by the government could potentially provide business opportunities. Threat Government control in strategic business area like energy, telecommunications, transport and pharmacy deters foreign entry into the business segments and thus reduces business opportunities of outsourcing for Accenture in Tunisia. Government regulation on exchange rate might be deterrent to foreign businesses. Tunisia is a relatively poor country where premium services of Accenture might not be acceptable. Accenture has to rework its service plans and projects to align itself with the country’s requirements. (Source: András, 2006; Plant, 2000; Pahl and Richter, 2009) Main Findings 1. Accenture business services target large corporations in providing support services, Tunisian economy is gradually opening up and foreign investments are flowing in the country. In such a scenario, it is expected that the outsourcing business shall be quite fruitful in the country. Consulting is probably the business line that has more of focus with Accenture and this segment shall be fruitful only once the core sectors under government control are opened up for private investments (Heritage, 2013). 2. Tunisia has been a neighbour of Libya and has therefore been recently affected by Libyan unrest. In such a scenario, despite political peace and favourability, organizations might wait before they venture into the country. This is a definite pullback for Accenture whose business relies primarily on the existence and functioning of large business operations (The Editorial Board, 2013). 3. The government is going heavy on large scale project implementations. Also, existence of informal organization in the financial market require significant efforts to structure the banking and financial system within the country. In such a scenario, technological support becomes indispensable. Being one of the major technology support provider in the country, Accenture might benefit from the competitive advantage. The only competition it gets is from IBM but it scores over the company in outsourcing technology solutions. Recommendations 1. In the strong Libyan unrest impact, it is expected that large foreign player would not enter the Tunisian market for some time. It is suggested that Accenture works towards devising strategy of operations and business for small scale companies. Tunisia is a country marked by strong local players who are much smaller in size than what Accenture is used to. It has to develop its business skills with small sized businesses to successfully operate in Tunisia. 2. The government is operating large projects that might need technological support. Accenture must target such opportunities and thus establish good business relations with the government. Also, a huge requirement seems to be coming up in the financial markets. A custom country specific plan in place of managing the integration of financial markets with Tunisian economy shall act as a competitive advantage over other competitive firms. 3. The company is instrumental in delivering the consulting services. However, Tunisian economy is more in need of technology support. In such case, it shall be beneficial if the company invests more on the technology function in the country and ventures initially as a technology support service provider in Tunisia. Conclusion Tunisia has been observing increasing growth in the per capita income over recent year post protest that lead to economic and social development of the country. In addition, African nations have come together to support trade between countries and this has initiated great import and export activities among nations. In such a scenario, despite the Libyan setback, Tunisia appears to be a lucrative option for venture. Additionally, the government is supporting industries and foreign investments. Also, the country conditions look favourable. In such a scenario, Accenture’s venture into Tunisia appears rewarding. Reference List Accenture., 2011. Unlocking Africa’s Growth Potential: The Past, Present and Future of a Visionary Commitment. [pdf] Accenture. Available at: [Accessed 21 December 2013]. Accenture., 2013. Accenture in South Africa a legacy of performance. [pdf] Accenture. Available at: [Accessed 21 December 2013]. African Development Bank Group., 2012.Tunisia: Economic and Social Challenges Beyond the Revolution. [pdf] African Development Bank. Available at: < http://www.afdb.org/fileadmin/uploads/afdb/Documents/Publications/Tunisia%20Economic%20and%20Social%20Challenges.pdf> [Accessed 21 December 2013]. András, N., 2006. Strategic Management Process: Strategy Formulation. [online]. University of Debrecen. 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