Dicoma Corporation: challenges for future growth

Learning outcomes: The learning outcomes are as follows: students will identify the reasons for a firm to internationalize and its specific internationalization entry mode; students will distinguish how to follow the client and how physic distance strategies work; students will analyze a host country’s external environment using the PESTEL framework, and they will analyze the international strategies followed by a multinational enterprise using the integration-responsiveness framework as well. Case overview/synopsis: The authors explore the case of DICOMA Corporation, a Costa Rican multinational enterprise with presence in five countries. Adrian Sanchez, who is Dicoma’s president, needs to craft an international strategy to increase the international sales in the foreign markets where the firm operates. The company may follow two paths. On the one hand, Dicoma can adopt the strategy of following its major clients to expand overseas, which will lead to the opening of operations in more countries, but making the foreign sales highly dependent on these types of partnerships. This has been so far the path pursued by Dicoma in its international expansion. On the other hand, Dicoma can opt to focus on increasing commitments in the existing international markets where it already has operations by capturing new clients in those locations but scarifying the potential business opportunities to enter into other countries in partnership with its major clients. Complexity academic level: Post-graduate early stage business students enrolled in programs such as Master of Business Administration, Master of Management, Master of International Business, executive education programs, among others. Supplementary materials: Teaching notes are available upon request for educators only. These teaching notes should be shared solely with the instructor and students should not have access to. Please contact your library to gain login or email [email protected] to request teaching notes. Subject code: CSS 5: International Business.