1. What advantages does a domestic firm have over a MNC in its local market?

When thinking about the advantages a firm has over another, Porter's five forces analysis comes to mind. A domestic firm should create barriers of entry when trying to prevent competition enter the industry in a specific geographical area. (Porters) A domestic firm should know more about the local market than any MNC. It should have knowledge about what the market wants and when it wants it and how to supply it. A domestic firm should have the best supply chain infrastructure before a multi-national comes in. More over, it should have a grasp on the best vendors, making every attempt at trying to keep costs low and margins reasonable and re. A domestic firm needs to know how best to handle internal resources within that region better than any other MNC. Multi-nationals will need to have a large budget to perform market research and grasp a better understanding of the area. Domestic firms are also very sensitive to change where as multinationals always take longer to adapt.

2. Can Jollibee Foods Corporation continue to successfully leverage its brands and products in other geographic markets, including the United States? Explain.

Yes, Jollibee's history demonstrates that it's strategy has expanded its size to open thousands of new locations in the past years. It should focus on perfecting the local market taste preference. Everything from using the right ingredients to having the right color scheme in the restaurants to attract customers. However, within the United States, Jollibee needs to focus on streamlining the supply chain and investing heavily in advertising. The U.S. responds very well to well marketed companies. initial costs will be extremely high for any foreign company that is trying to penetrate the market. Jollibee needs to focus on cutting costs as soon as it can and branding itself to the target market. Focusing on these two will give it a fighting chance in the U.S. against the large conglomerates that have been established for decades.

3. In what way should Jollibee expand? Which countries are likely to be profitable markets?

Since Jollibee focuses on offering economic options to its market. I think Jollibee should focus in expanding into developing countries with rising disposable income.(Brazil) Brazil, one of the BRIC countries, is perfectly suited to host the Jollibee penetration into the Latin American continent. Jollibee has a great amount of potential if they are successful in Brazil. The surrounding countries will soon after take notice and will want to also partake in the Jollibee expansion. It needs to properly identify what the Brazilian market looks for in fast food and attack that demand head on.

4. What strategic direction would you suggest for Jollibee Foods Corporation?

Jollibee should focus on developing its existing brand and food selection where it currently operates. It needs to completely streamline and cut out anything that slows down the supply chain. It needs to partner up closely with local vendors and create a dependency for those vendors the way Walmart does with its vendors in China. This is all driven with one objective: to lower down prices and remain a competitive threat to McDonalds and the other fast food chains. As mentioned previously, it also needs to work on its image. If Jollibee doesn't want to be known as the low budget asian food option, it needs to rebrand itself in the eyes of whichever country it goes into.

Sources:

Porters 5 Forces. http://www.quickmba.com/strategy/porter.shtml

Barriers of entry. http://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/barrierstoentry.asp

Brazil. http://www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org/countries/brazil/