Navigating Global Markets: The Strategic Role of Roadmaps in International Market Expansion

Abstract

The potential of adopting roadmaps to support internationalisation strategy is critical to organisations yet it has limited development. The process of introducing products into foreign markets poses considerable challenges due to the presence of numerous uncertainties and assumptions during market selection. Limited research has been conducted on the utilisation of roadmaps specifically for international markets. While scholars have explored roadmaps in various contexts and offered diverse methodologies for their implementation; there is a shortage of literature addressing the process of market expansion. Consequently, there exists limited guidance on the use of a visual, strategic, and collaborative tool to assist companies in developing an internationalisation strategy.

A qualitative based interview approach was taken where seven interviews were conducted with industry professionals and experts in roadmapping. The aim was to gain experts' insight into the purpose and role of roadmaps during market expansion. The findings show that roadmaps serve varying roles during the process of market expansion but ultimately entail a strategic narrative. All the participants listed different benefits the roadmap had during their market expansion journey illustrating that the multifaceted role of a roadmap links to different elements of market expansion. Therefore, roadmaps should advance the current advice on market analysis and strategy. The paper offers a roadmap tool which is a non- prescriptive guide with prompts to aid in product launch and help with consistency against strategic goals to industry professionals.