In order to make exporting a sustained and continuous activity, it is necessary to undertake systematic planning on a long-term basis. This kind of strategic planning creates a framework for making operating decisions with relation to marketing in foreign countries. It is obvious that accurate information about the market variables is an essential input for systematic planning. Export Marketing Research can provide these inputs and facilitate decision making at various organizational levels.

Perhaps, a clear understanding of the differences between export and domestic marketing would aid appreciation of the important role played by research in successful export ventures. This is not intended to suggest that there is any fundamental difference between export and domestic marketing. The basis principles remain the same in both the cases though the perspective in which they are viewed changes substantially. Firstly, the distance between an exporter and his customers is ordinarily much wider than in the domestic market. This distance primarily connotes the marketing distance rather than the physical distance. The marketing distance is created by intermediaries standing between the exporter and the ultimate consumers of his products and the cultural distance arising our of the fact that these consumers are members of another culture and society. All these distances, together produce an information gap that must be overcome if a company is to plan its export sales rationally. A clear understanding of the information required to fill up this gap is of paramount importance.

The number of world-markets being very large, it is neither possible nor advisable for any one company to cater to all of them. A selective approach is necessary in the choice of export markets and therefore identification of market opportunities become an important function. On the basis of preliminary screening it is possible to eliminate many unsuitable countries from the large number of available alternatives. After narrowing down the number of alternatives, a more detailed analysis should be carried out to identify various segments of the market and to determine the sales potential of these segments. This analysis would lead to a final selection of export markets. Having made this selection, export objectives can now be set up and strategic planning of the various elements of marketing necessary to achieve these objectives can be undertaken. The next step in planning involves making this strategy operational by initiating a number of operational decisions through sales and profit budgeting manpower planning etc.

Political: The controlling role of the political organizations arises from the laws and regulations that the government enforces to direct the country’s economy. Although there is a great deal of variety among different types of laws and regulations enforced by various governments, the basic political philosophies that underlie these are limited in number. Therefore, an understanding of the political forces operating within a country is extremely useful for the foreign manufacturers in terms of getting the required insight in the country’s basic legal framework.

Cultural: A country’s social, educational and religious systems critically influence its marketing system. Apart from influencing buyer-seller relations, these cultural variables have a crucial impact on product-policy. The importance of cultural variables becomes apparent when one finds that substantial differences exist between the consumer preferences in two countries like France and England that otherwise are similar in terms of their economic level and the ideologies underlying their political structure. The Britons have a strong preference for tea whereas the French prefer coffee and the consumption of tea in France is comparatively negligible. Even in the case of industrial products, where the product preference of the consumers are “rational”, these variables play an important role in structuring the selling organization and the related policies. Data about the cultural characteristics of countries is probably most difficult to obtain as it defies attempts at quantification. Also the common tendency to view a foreign culture in the framework based on one’s own cultural environment very often results in a certain amount of insensitivity which vitiates a clear understanding of the critical cultural variables.

In order to make exporting a sustained and continuous activity, it is necessary to undertake systematic planning on a long-term basis. This kind of strategic planning creates a framework for making operating decisions with relation to marketing in foreign countries. It is obvious that accurate information about the market variables is an essential input for systematic planning. Export Marketing Research can provide these inputs and facilitate decision making at various organizational levels.

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This is different from a sell and a purchase, in a practical situation it would result in the same thing but technically it would classify as an exchange instead of a sale. This allows the taxpayer to qualify for deferred gain treatment. To put it more simply we can say that the sales are taxable and exchanges are not.

To get more help on this you can see the 1031 Tax Exchange Services provided by Nationwide1031.com. You can see all details regarding the basics of the 1031 Tax exchange, Basic rules and more information which will clear up your doubts when it comes to Tax Deffered Exchanges.

However, if the real value of a currency changes during the term of the debt, the purchasing power of the money repaid may vary considerably from that which was expected at the commencement of the loan. So from a practical investment point of view, there is still considerable risk attached to “risk free” or “low risk” lendings. The real value of the money may have changed due to inflation, or, in the case of a foreign investment, due to exchange rate fluctuations.

The Bank for International Settlements is an organisation of central banks that sets rules to define how much capital banks have to hold against the loans they give out.

A change in ratings can strongly affect a company, since its cost of refinancing depends on its creditworthiness. Bonds below Baa/BBB (Moody’s/S&P) are considered junk- or high risk bonds. Their high risk of default (approximately 1.6% for Ba) is compensated by higher interest payments. Bad Debt is a loan that can not (partially or fully) be repaid by the debtor. The debtor is said to default on his debt. These types of debt are frequently repackaged and sold below face value. Buying junk bonds is seen as a risky but potentially profitable form of investment.

International Third World debt has reached the scale that many economists are convinced that debt cancellation is the only way to restore global equity in relations with the developing nations.