| Course | BU 231 Global Business Environment |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 8 |
| Paper type | Market entry recommendation |
| Length | About 1,100 words, 7 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Herzing University |
| Program | BS in Business Management |
| Updated | September 2026 |
Free sample paper for BU 231 Unit 8
Tokyo First, Through a Licensed Importer, for $56,000: A Market Entry Recommendation for a Vermont Hand Balm Maker, With the Condition for Stopping
Student Name
Business, Herzing University
BU 231: Global Business Environment
Instructor Name
April 28, 2026
Tokyo First, Through a Licensed Importer, for $56,000: A Market Entry Recommendation for a Vermont Hand Balm Maker, With the Condition for Stopping
This paper completes the analysis of whether and how Hollow Brook Botanicals, the composite Burlington skin care firm with about $11.2 million in annual sales, should enter Japan. Earlier units found that the Japanese economy clears an initial screen, that Japanese cosmetics law requires a licensed company inside the country to answer for every product, that Japanese customs charges the balm nothing while the 10 percent consumption tax still applies, and that the best entry mode is exporting through a licensed importer. This recommendation names the market, the mode, the sequence of steps and the money the first stage requires, and it states the condition under which the firm should stop.
The Recommendation
Hollow Brook should enter Japan, beginning in the Tokyo region, by exporting its calendula hand balm to a Japanese importer that holds a marketing authorization license, under a two-year agreement with regional exclusivity and sales targets. The first stage should sell only the balm, in the existing two-ounce tin and a new 20-gram tin, with a Japanese over-sticker label and claims limited to what Japanese cosmetics rules allow. The body lotion and lip balm should wait for the second stage. The first stage should cost about $56,000 and run for twelve months from the first shipment. If the stop condition below is met, the firm should end the Japanese business at the close of the agreement's first year.
Why Japan, and Why Tokyo First
Japan offers what the firm needs from a first foreign market: buyers with high incomes, a large older population with a real need for the product, adults who almost all bank, and regulators whose rules can be read in English. Income per person, adjusted for purchasing power, was about $54,200 in 2024, and 98.5 percent of adults had an account (World Bank, 2026); Japan's statisticians counted 36.2 million residents aged 65 or older that year (Statistics Bureau of Japan, 2025). The market also carries weaknesses already identified: slow growth, a shrinking population and a yen that has lost much of its value against the dollar since 2021.
Tokyo comes first because the buyer who asked for the product is there, because most licensed importers are based in or near the capital, and because a single region allows the firm to learn from one set of stores before expanding. Johanson and Vahlne (1977) described internationalization as a sequence in which firms commit more resources as they gain knowledge of a market. Starting with one region and one product is the smallest step that still produces that knowledge.
Why a Licensed Importer
Unit 5 weighed four ways in, from selling through a licensed importer to owning a Japanese company outright, on five criteria. Only the importer route was strong at once on regulatory responsibility, capital and speed. The licensed importer carries the obligations Japanese law places on the company that markets a cosmetic: brand notification, lot release, record keeping, complaint handling and safety reporting (Japan External Trade Organization [JETRO], 2011). Hollow Brook would need years and several hundred thousand dollars to build that capacity itself. Anderson and Gatignon (1986) argued that firms should accept lower control where market uncertainty is high and investment would be hard to recover, and both conditions apply here.
The Sequence
The first stage runs in five steps. In the first two months, the owners select the importer, negotiate the agreement with the protections identified in the risk paper and complete the ingredient and label review. In the third month, the importer files the brand and import notifications. In months four and five, the Vermont factory produces the first lot of 6,000 tins across both sizes and ships it by ocean freight in the cooler season, and the importer applies labels and releases the lot. From months six through twelve, the product sells in the Tokyo buyer's stores and on a Japanese marketplace run by the importer, with a gift box test in the year-end gift season. At month twelve, the owners compare results against the stop condition.
If the first stage succeeds, the second stage adds the lip balm and, once the importer confirms its preservative system, the body lotion, and expands beyond Tokyo. A wholly owned subsidiary would be reconsidered only when annual Japanese sales could carry the cost of a licensed operation.
What the First Stage Costs
The table lists the first-stage budget. Inventory is valued at the firm's production cost, and service figures are quotes or estimates for this composite case.
About 55 percent of the budget is inventory that will be sold, so the money truly at risk if the entry fails is closer to $25,000 plus any unsold stock. For a firm with $11.2 million in sales, that is a loss the business can absorb without affecting operations in Vermont, which is the test the risk paper set for the size of the first stage.
| Item | Estimated cost |
|---|---|
| Inventory, 6,000 tins at production cost | $30,600 |
| Contract review by a lawyer familiar with Japanese distribution | $6,000 |
| Importer regulatory review and notification fee | $3,500 |
| Japanese over-sticker labels, first year | $1,800 |
| 20-gram tin setup and gift box test | $2,000 |
| Samples, travel to Tokyo and buyer meetings | $9,500 |
| Product liability insurance extension to Japan | $2,400 |
| Total | $55,800 |
The Condition for Stopping
A recommendation to enter should include a rule for leaving, decided before emotions and sunk costs make the decision harder. Hollow Brook should end the Japanese business at the close of the first year if any one of three conditions is met. The first is that sell-through in the Tokyo stores falls below 3,000 tins, half of what the owners projected. The second is that the importer has not placed a reorder within nine months of the first shipment, since a reorder is the clearest evidence that product is moving. The third is that the yen averages weaker than 175 per dollar for two consecutive quarters, a level at which the owners' price model shows the balm cannot reach a shelf price the buyer considers saleable even with the shared price band.
If none of the conditions is met, the firm moves to the second stage. If one is met, the owners should honor the stop rule rather than extending the test, and should treat the knowledge gained about Japanese regulation, buyers and importers as the return on the $55,800.
Conclusion
Japan is a demanding first foreign market for a small skin care company, mainly because its rules place responsibility for every product on a licensed company inside the country. That same rule makes the recommended path clear. By exporting one product to one region through a licensed importer, with a label built for Japanese rules, a budget the firm can afford to lose and a stop condition set in advance, Hollow Brook can learn whether its hand balm travels without putting the Vermont business at risk.
References
Anderson, E., & Gatignon, H. (1986). Modes of foreign entry: A transaction cost analysis and propositions. Journal of International Business Studies, 17(3), 1-26. https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.jibs.8490432
Japan External Trade Organization. (2011). Guidebook for export to Japan 2011: Cosmetics. https://www.jetro.go.jp/ext_images/mexico/mercadeo/1Ecosme.pdf
Johanson, J., & Vahlne, J.-E. (1977). The internationalization process of the firm: A model of knowledge development and increasing foreign market commitments. Journal of International Business Studies, 8(1), 23-32. https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.jibs.8490676
Statistics Bureau of Japan. (2025). Current population estimates as of October 1, 2024. https://www.stat.go.jp/english/data/jinsui/2024np/index.html
World Bank. (2026). World development indicators: Japan [Data set]. https://data.worldbank.org/country/japan
The Herzing BU 231 Unit 8 instructions
The Unit 8 instructions ask for a final recommendation on whether and how the company should enter the chosen market. Expect to state the market, the entry mode and the main steps of the plan, supported by the analysis from earlier units. Many rubrics ask for a timeline, a budget or resource estimate, and a way to judge success or failure. The paper should be persuasive but honest about weaknesses. It is usually five to seven pages in APA 7, and instructors expect earlier work to be integrated rather than pasted in. A recommendation not to enter is acceptable if the analysis supports it and the paper explains what would change the answer.
How this BU 231 Unit 8 example is built
The sample places the full recommendation in its second section so a reader has the answer before the reasons. Two short sections defend the market and the mode, each citing data or theory from earlier units without repeating them at length. The sequence is laid out month by month, from choosing the importer to the year-end review, with a second stage described only in outline. An eight-line budget totals $55,800, and a sentence explains that more than half is inventory the firm expects to sell, so the real exposure is about $25,000. The stop section sets three measurable triggers and argues for deciding them in advance. A brief conclusion restates the logic of the whole course in one paragraph.
BU 231 Unit 8 rubric: what full points look like
The final unit's rubric usually weighs the clarity of the recommendation, integration of earlier analysis, implementation detail and the quality of the argument and sources. A clear recommendation that names market, mode and scope earns the first block of points. Integration scores highest when earlier findings are used as evidence for the decision rather than summarized unit by unit. Implementation detail rewards a timeline, costs and measures of success; the sample's budget table and stop conditions address all three. Instructors also look for honesty about limits, which the sample handles by sizing the money at risk. Sources should be the same credible data and theory used earlier, cited consistently in APA 7, with a reference list that matches the text.
BU 231 Unit 8 help: mistakes that cost points
The most common Unit 8 mistake is a paper that retells the previous seven units without reaching a decision until the last paragraph. Another is a recommendation with no numbers, which leaves the instructor unable to judge whether the firm can afford it. Students often write an exit condition as a vague promise to reassess, instead of a measure with a threshold and a date. Some papers ignore weaknesses found earlier, such as currency risk, which makes the recommendation look careless. Pasting whole sections from earlier assignments usually produces repetition and uneven tone. Finally, do not overreach; a small firm's first stage should be small, and a recommendation that commits millions without evidence will lose points on feasibility.
Get a BU 231 Unit 8 example written to your instructions
Attach the Unit 8 instructions and the BU 231 rubric, plus the firm and any earlier unit work the assignment builds on. We write a custom example that names the country and the mode together, compresses the supporting findings, stages the entry with conditions, costs the first stage and names the stop condition. First custom sample free, returned in 24 to 48 hours.
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BU 231 Unit 8 questions, answered
Can I reuse my earlier BU 231 assignments here?
In most sections yes, but not unchanged. A country profile written to describe a market has to come back shortened and pointed at the two decisions, and anything that lost credit is better corrected first. An instructor who graded the original recognizes a paragraph still aimed at the old prompt, and it sits awkwardly inside a new argument.
How precise should the cost figure be?
Precise enough to be traceable and labeled as approximate. Give the assumptions beside the number, keep the arithmetic simple, and restrict figures to the first stage where the components are things you can name, such as registration, certification, initial inventory and one hire. Anything beyond that is a forecast, and a confident forecast weakens the document rather than strengthening it.
What if my recommendation is not to enter?
That is a legitimate answer where the screening supports it, and it needs the same work as any other. Say which market and mode were the strongest candidates, what specifically defeated them, what the firm would do instead with the capital, and what would have to change for the decision to be revisited. A refusal argued that way scores as a decision.
Where can I find a free BU 231 Unit 8 sample paper?
The finished Unit 8 market entry recommendation, with its budget table, stop conditions and references, is posted above for free. For a recommendation on your own company and market, share the final assignment and the desk will return a free custom example, usually within two days.
Should the BU 231 Unit 8 recommendation include a budget?
Most versions of the assignment reward one. The sample itemizes a first-stage budget, totals it and explains how much is truly at risk. A budget does not have to be precise to the dollar, but every line should have a stated basis.