International Operations and Japan

Preliminary Marketing Plan Strengths • Flexibility - Postmasters is small, flexible, and nimble with the ability to customize their services to meet the specific customer demand and create personalized service. • Technology driven -- Postmaster technological foundation allows it to automate many of the business processes related to operations. This keeps the administration and overhead costs low while also positioning company for significant growth potential. Weaknesses • Knowledge of the Local Transportation System -- the transportation system in Japan is complex and can be difficult to learn for foreign employees.

• Cultural Understanding -- the Japanese market represents a unique mix of social and cultural factors that can be difficult to accommodate for individuals that are not accustomed to them. Language barriers may also provide significant obstacles in communication. Opportunities • Develop Scalable Operations -- Since Postmaster's platform is technology based, it could utilize a network of affiliate partners to provide the local human resources team, so that the company can scale up or scale down the company's international operations without requiring a large investment in overhead.

The company could partner with a series of local businesses in key locations that could sub-contract their excess delivery capacity. The urgent or rush deliveries could be filled through Postmaster's internal network, and the normal priority deliveries could be outsourced through a network of local partnerships. • Create Flexible Delivery Options - One of Postmasters core competencies is that it relies on comparatively small vehicles (human courier, bicycle, motorbike, and vans) which will make the deliveries more efficient and effective in a mostly population dense country such as Japan.

Demographics and entrenched structures are challenges facing Japan who has a population density that is roughly ten times that of the U.S. (Ezrati, 2016). Coupled with an aging population who will face increasing difficulties with mobility and running local errands, the ability for Postmaster's service to provide small, efficient, and effective delivery services will be the ideal service to fill this niche. iv.

Threats • Platform Compatibility -- Japan is one of the world's biggest technology providers and 25% of the world's high-tech products are made in Japan; the society also represents a technology powerhouse that has been an early adopter of many innovations such as mobile payments and electronic money as well as other smartphone-based technologies (Gerstner, 2015). With such.