The first activity of the globalization process is the definition of business requirements. As defined, the Web is by default global, without boundaries. Web users and Web sites may be located anywhere in the world. Conceptually, this provides unbounded marketing opportunities. Traditional North American businesses now have the potential to market products and services to a vast international audience. However, most likely a truly global Web site approach will not be viable. Alternatively, these businesses will focus on potential markets that represent a target audience, rather than an all-encompassing global approach. The first challenge is being able to define the general business goals that can then be used to identify these potential markets.

Market analysis will consider traditional business goals, complexities, and threats. However, these same business characteristics will be extended to consider a global marketplace:

• Scope and objectives

  • Proposed product and service offerings

  • Desired and potential goals (e.g., items and/or units sold, revenue, market share, etc.)

• Complexities and challenges

  • Global diversity of the target audience (i.e., market interest and acceptance)

  • Enterprise support infrastructure (i.e., technology, customer service, fulfillment, logistics, etc.)

  • Target market support infrastructure (i.e., workforce, logistics, environment)

  • Legal and regulatory acts (e.g., liability, copyright/patent, privacy, etc.)

  • Financial issues (e.g., currency exchange, tax and tariff, payment medium, etc.)

• Threats

  • Competition

  • Social, political, and economic influences

The outcome of this activity is a set of business requirements defined to a degree of granularity that is understood by the business participants and intended to address a global...