Answer: c. Enter into an alliance with a large European pharmaceutical firm. The products would be manufactured in Europe by the 50-50 joint venture and marketed by the European firm.
Step-by-step explanation:
Reasons why it should enter into business with a European firm;
- As mentioned in the text, the company is a small one in the an industry that is dominated and trusted by big names such as GSK and Pfizer. It would do the company a world of good to get into business with a large European firm and use the opportunity to increase their brand popularity and grow in size.
- The Canadian firm might not know much about how to go about conducting business in the European union and this can be detrimental to its business. Getting involved with the European firm will ensure that their product is properly marketed by an entity that knows how to do business in the target market.
- It will be cheaper to engage with the European firm than to begin anew and go alone at penetrating the European market. The Marketing cost alone will be significant because they will be going up against well established names.
- By partnering with the European firm, the Canadian firm will gain access to the European firm's already established distribution network even if all that they handle is marketing because they will market to their connections first.
- The Canadian will stand to gain knowledge on marketing techniques in the European Union that they can then use to their advantage for other products that they might have.