hnology on the manufacturing of the product, the company has lost an advantage. The end of this stage signifies the highest point in the International Product Life Cycle Theory.Foreign Competition in exports markets: This is a threatening stage for the company. Local manufactures have gained experience in producing and selling their product, hence their costs have fallen. As they have saturated their initial market, they may begin to look elsewhere (ie. Other nations) to promote their product. The reason that this is threatening for our company is that this other nation may have a competitive advantage and this places stress on our market share.Import Competition in Home Market: If the competitors have a competitive advantage, or they reach the economies of scale needed, they will enter the original home market. At this stage the competitors will have a quality product which will be able to undersell the original manufactures. Eventually they will be pushed out from the market and imports will supply the home nation. Eventually, as the product’s technology becomes more renowned, developing nations will enter the market. This will begin the International Product Life Cycle again, as these nations have a competitive edge with their low labour costs. ‘With future innovations and new products and services the eventuality is that it’s value and hence its price are likely to diminish’ (Lendrum, 1995).The IPLC theory does have its disadvantages. Perhaps the most recognisable is the assumption that products are released initially in the domestic markets. Many globalised companies tend to release their new product lines internationally, not domestically, hence this theory can not be applied to many of today’s products.Porter’s Theory of National Competitive Advantage/Porter’s DiamondMichael Porter’s book The Competitive Advantage of Nations, published in 1990 was based on a study of 100 firms in 1...
