Abstract:
A system for guiding business users through a process of globalizing their business and developing the plans and action items required to export specific products to specific markets. Other aspects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, illustrating by way of example the principles of the present invention.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    This application claims the benefit of Provisional Application No. 61/769,253, filed Feb. 26, 2013, which is hereby incorporated in its entirety. 
     
    
     FIELD OF INVENTION 
       [0002]    The present application relates to the field of export management. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0003]    Most companies today are failing to take advantage of export opportunities primarily due to insufficient internal knowledge and capabilities. These capability gaps leave companies unsure of which global markets to pursue, and how to effectively pursue them in a profitable manner. Many companies have no export experience, and a significant number have limited experience, typically limited to one or two markets. 
         [0004]    Exporting requires knowledge of external markets, market factors, business partners (suppliers, distributors, shippers, etc.). It also requires knowledge of internal capabilities, and how those capabilities need to change to support exporting, and a set of steps required to export profitably. Most businesses gain this knowledge by trial and error, which is expensive and may be unprofitable. Some businesses supplement their trial and error with static templates from Government Agencies that are not responsive to their needs, do not link strategy to execution, and cannot be maintained over time. Some also use Consultants as supplements, but these are typically for isolated parts of the export process. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0005]      FIG. 1  is a process chart showing the three primary components of process flow used by the present invention. 
           [0006]      FIG. 2  is a screen shot showing a data input screen for scoring global forces. 
           [0007]      FIG. 3  is a screen shot showing a data input screen for selecting target markets. 
           [0008]      FIG. 4  is a screen shot showing a summary of action steps for conducting a benchmark assessment. 
           [0009]      FIG. 5  is a screen shot showing a data input screen for selecting distribution partners. 
           [0010]      FIG. 6  is a screen shot showing a data input screen for item pricing and related terms. 
           [0011]      FIG. 7  is a screen shot showing links to context sensitive resources. 
           [0012]      FIG. 8  is a schematic drawing showing the components used to implement the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0013]    Our invention is a computerized process for linking the Boardroom of a company through various levels of Executive and Operational Managers down to the Production Floor for exporting. The Boardroom can review the Business Strategy down to the Pricing used for a specific product, and likewise the Production Floor can review its costs, the impact on Pricing and the alignment with Business Strategy margin goals. This is unlike other solutions that are paper based or do not cover the entire process from Boardroom to Production Floor in an integrated manner. 
         [0014]    The present invention is software, a server, and network connections that deliver a highly productive and repeatable business system for companies to overcome the typical barriers, and grow their export revenue and profits. This will enable companies around the world to achieve more export sales in more foreign markets with more profits in less time and with less cost. 
         [0015]      FIG. 8  shows an embodiment of the server system  800  in which a single server computer  810  operates a web site that allows multiple users to access the computerized system  800  of the present invention. The server computer  810  includes a network interface  820  designed to provide communications with remote devices over a network  830 . In one embodiment, the network  830  is the Internet, and the network interface  820  includes TCP/IP protocol stacks for communicating over the network. The network interface  820  may connect to the network  830  wirelessly or through a physical wired connection. The server computer  810  further includes a programmable digital processor  840  designed to operate programming code stored on a memory  850 . The processor  840  is preferably a general purpose CPU such as those manufactured by Intel Corporation (Mountain View, Calif.) or Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (Sunnyvale, Calif.). Memory  850  preferably includes a non-volatile, non-transitory, computer readable medium such as a hard drive or flash memory device. Software instructions found on the memory instruct the processor  840  how to perform the methods of the present invention, including the methods set forth in  FIGS. 1 and 2 . More specifically, the operating system instructions  860  perform OS management functions that allow the server computer  810  to operate while the web server instructions  870  allow the server  810  to provide a web based interface to users of the system  800 . The data management instructions  880  inform the processor  840  how to access, search, and update the data  890  that is also stored in the memory. In the preferred embodiment, the data  890  is organized and accessed through a structured database, such as a relational or object oriented database. To improve efficiency, the processor may load software instructions  860 ,  870 ,  880  from non-transitory portions of memory  850  into a faster but volatile RAM portion of the memory  850 . Data  890  operated upon by the processor  840  can also be stored in non-volatile memory and retrieved into RAM for analysis, recording, and reporting. 
         [0016]    The Global Expansion Business System is a web-based portal provided by the server  810  shown in  FIG. 8 . The server supplies data  890  and services through a dynamic, easy to use, closed-loop, step-by-step automated guidance process over the network  830 . The system  800  bridges strategic to operational functions, is based on industry best practices, has a process-driven workflow with benchmarks, captures a company&#39;s inputs and plans, and enables communications throughout the organization. 
         [0017]      FIG. 1  shows the overall process  100  used by the system  800 . The process  100  includes three primary components, namely strategy  120 , market entry &amp; expansion  140 , and market penetration  160 . The strategy component  120  includes the step of defining a global strategy  122 , executing global strategy  124 , and evaluating a global strategy  146 . These steps are performed in order, and the step of defining a global strategy  120  is typically completed before moving on to the second market entry and expansion component  140 , though the sequence of steps is not required. 
         [0018]    Within the process step ‘Define Global Strategy’  122  on  FIG. 1 , our process Strategy Screen for Scoring Global Forces  200  guides the user through evaluating the globalization of a market, and includes an automated checklist and scoring system for determining whether a market is a good candidate for globalization. This automated checklist and scoring system is illustrated in  FIG. 2 . 
         [0019]    Within the process step ‘Build Global Plan’  142  on  FIG. 1 , our process for Selecting Target Markets guides the user through screening all countries in the world, and suggests which data elements should be considered for the initial screen (e.g. Population, GDP, Per Capita GDP), and suggests that multiple screens be made while adding new indicators for each level of screen. The initial step to select countries of interest is illustrated in the Select Target Markets Screen for Selecting Countries screen  300  shown  FIG. 3 . 
         [0020]    Within the process step ‘Build Export Organization &amp; Tactics’  144  in  FIG. 1 , our process for Conducting a Benchmark Assessment enables users to iteratively change the assessment as they improve their organization, and suggests to the users which action items should be the highest priority for them to act on, as high priority action items below a score threshold are colored red to draw their attention and are sortable/filterable by low score. The priority action steps are displayed on screen shot  400  shown in  FIG. 4 . 
         [0021]    Within the process step ‘Expand Export Distribution Network’  146  in  FIG. 1 , our process for Qualifying, Screening, and Selecting Distribution Partners guides the user though the steps and critical information required to select a Distribution Partner. This information is stored so that the user can review and revise the information in the future, to select new Distribution Partners as market conditions change. We also display an overall roadmap that shows which Distributors have been Qualified, Screened, or Selected so that the user knows what has been completed, and what needs to be completed. This overall roadmap is illustrated in the screen shot  500  shown  FIG. 5 . 
         [0022]    Within the process step ‘Expand Export Sales’  148  in  FIG. 1 , our pricing process enables users to work forward toward an end-user price or backward from an end-user price to determine margin. This can be done in an iterative, what-if basis and our system will suggest certain changes to the pricing structure that will improve margins. The Pricing forward and backward process is illustrated in screen shot  600  shown  FIG. 6 . 
         [0023]    In the context of any one process step as illustrated in  FIG. 1 , our process suggests links to external sources and contacts that is context sensitive. The links and contacts are filtered based on the source country and the destination country of the products being exported. The display of links for a specified country of origin and destination is illustrated in screen shot  700  shown in  FIG. 7 . 
         [0024]    The many features and advantages of the invention are apparent from the above description. Numerous modifications and variations will readily occur to those skilled in the art. Since such modifications are possible, the invention is not to be limited to the exact construction and operation illustrated and described. Rather, the present invention should be limited only by the following claims.