There are a few environmental variables that can affect the international marketing activities for such business and turn a successful business failure or vice versa. One of the leading environmental variables is the governmental policies.
There are political advantages and disadvantages to globalization and international franchising. The advantages are getting access to materials, entering new markets and gaining knowledge. On the other hand, the greatest disadvantage is having the government taking indirect actions to hurt the business. For instance, here in Saudi Arabia Al-Baik took the market dominance from the American franchise KFC.
If Al-Baik were to open in the US, then the government wouldn’t want its local fast food chain to be taken away in the market from a foreign food chain. Even if Al-Baik becomes a success in the US because the consumers like it, the government might interfere with laws that may restrict its success and this could eventually lead to undesired ends for the business. This is because it’s for the government’s benefit to have a local franchise more successful in its homeland. To sum up , the beautiful part that keeps us optimistic is that , mainly the laws of Bahrain and Dubai are similar to those of Saudi Arabia in regards to food businesses.
Another variable is the culture of the society. In different countries, there are different ethnicities, cultures, traditions, and habits. Bringing a firm like Al-Baik to other countries can be an economical risk to the owner. For instance, if this firm opens in a country where people don’t eat chicken, then for sure the firm would not benefit and would have a great loss.
