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However , some studies suggested that there can also be considerable first mover disadvantages and early market entry does not automatically endow pioneers with higher profitability . The timing of market entry is clearly as important as the firm ’ s ability to fully exploit the early market entry . Studies show that first mover advantages in foreign markets depend on several internal and external factors , including the strategic importance of an investment , the close linkage of an investment to core business activities , the rate of technological change in the industry , and the policies of the host country government . First mover advantages are benefits related to the ability of pioneering businesses to obtain profits as the consequence of early market entry . There are five generic first mover advantages : cost advantages ; pre-emption of geographic space ; technological advantages ; differentiation advantages ; and political advantages .
STEPS NEEDED TO MAINTAIN MARKET SHARE
The , world ’ s population has grown hugely and most people now live in cities . Hundreds of millions have moved out of extreme poverty and similar numbers have joined the global middle class , adopting in the process more resource-intensive diets and lifestyles . There are significant opportunities for business as a result of these changes but climate change , resource constraints , water scarcity and many other factors also remind us that we are approaching - if we have not already exceeded - the planet ’ s ability to satisfy our appetite for growth . That is why the central challenge of our age - decoupling human progress from resource use and environmental decline - will also be one of the biggest sources of future success for business . The corporate world was involved in creating these challenges and needs to know how to deal with them , not least because we now live in a hyperconnected and more transparent world where corporate behavior is increasingly held to account in the court of public opinion .
Over the last 20 years , the amount of money flowing across borders grew at more than three times the rate of global GDP . International trade and foreign investment more than tripled ; trade natural resources grew six-fold ; and internationally-traded financial assets such as bank loans , bonds , and portfolio equity soared by a factor of 12 to 1 . These figures translated into stronger economic growth across the world and enormous opportunities for business through the development of new markets and access to labor . Businesses benefited from exceptionally low interest rates , which allowed them to borrow cheaply and drove a major increase in trade , mergers and acquisitions . Cheap commodities and cheap labor led to a surge in economic growth in the industrialized world without the inflation that usually accompanies such growth .
At the same time , the emerging markets providing these resources also grew much more quickly , taking millions of people out of poverty and creating new markets for companies in both the developed world and emerging markets . Living standards rose rapidly , but they did so unequally and to the detriment of the environment in many areas .