Evaluating international market selection with multi-criteria decision making tools - a case study of a metal company in Indonesia

With the era of globalisation, firms have the opportunity to expand their operations beyond the country's boundary. Expanding business to an international market can give firms benefits such as economic of scale leading to cheaper cost, higher asset utilisation, as well as knowledge to international exposure. However, entering international market also poses its own challenges and risks. To make a sound business decision, firms wish to enter international market need to do a proper analysis and evaluation. The study is based on a case of a medium-size Indonesia company that wishes to export its metal-derivatives products to the international market. The study used a systematic international market selection (IMS) approach using a combination of analytical hierarchical process (AHP) and goal programming (GP). It chose 12 (sub) criteria, representing generic and product-related considerations. Based on the preliminary screening, it narrowed down the alternatives to 15 countries, and using the combination of AHP-GP recommended three countries to enter.