International Strategies

You’ve developed a very popular, up-scale but reasonably priced, clothing fashion line for young people.  You produce designs in a number of countries, manufacturing in low-cost locations, and with retail outlets in major U.S. and European cities.  Demand is popping and you have access to plenty of production capacity and capital.  Answer the following questions:

• How should you organize the business outside of the U.S.?
• Should you set-up reasonably independent companies, subsidiaries, in each foreign market?
• What would that do and not do for you?
• Or, do you want to impose a strict brand image, procedures, and central planning from headquarters, where your offices are?
• What are the pros and cons of this approach?