International Marketing Environment

Introduction

International marketing decisions are shaped by forces that a firm cannot fully control but must understand, monitor, and interpret. A product may be successful in one country and fail in another because income levels, political institutions, consumer beliefs, legal rules, technology, infrastructure, or environmental expectations differ. International marketing management therefore begins not with advertising or distribution, but with environmental analysis.

The international marketing environment consists of the external conditions that influence a firm’s ability to create, communicate, deliver, and capture value across national borders. These conditions operate at several levels: global, regional, national, industry, market, and stakeholder. They are interconnected. A new environmental regulation may create legal obligations, increase costs, stimulate technological innovation, and alter consumer preferences at the same time.

Environmental analysis is not simply the collection of facts. It is a process of identifying relevant forces, assessing their likely effects, evaluating uncertainty and risk, and converting analysis into marketing decisions. The central managerial question is: How should a firm adapt its international marketing strategy to external conditions while remaining commercially viable, legally compliant, socially responsible, and resilient?

Learning Objectives

By the end of this chapter, students should be able to:

1. Explain the major dimensions of the international marketing environment.
2. Apply PESTLE analysis to international market decisions.
3. Analyse the role of institutions and stakeholders in shaping market opportunities and constraints.
4. Explain trade systems, tariffs, non-tariff measures, and regional economic blocs.
5. Assess country risk and distinguish it from ordinary commercial risk.
6. Recommend appropriate managerial responses to environmental change.
7. Evaluate ethical, ecological, technological, and governance implications of international marketing decisions.

1. The Structure of the International Marketing Environment

A useful distinction is between the microenvironment and the macroenvironment. The microenvironment includes actors directly connected to the firm: customers, competitors, suppliers, intermediaries, employees, investors, and regulators. The macroenvironment comprises wider forces such as economic growth, demographic change, political stability, law, technology, culture, and ecological conditions.

National markets are also embedded in a wider international system. A firm exporting from Country A to Country B may be affected by exchange rates, customs procedures, trade agreements, sanctions, shipping disruptions, foreign ownership rules, and diplomatic relations. Consequently, a country should not be treated as an isolated unit. Cross-border markets are connected through supply chains, financial systems, data networks, migration, media, and international institutions.

Environmental analysis should consider four characteristics:

• Dynamism: conditions change over time.
• Interdependence: political, economic, legal, technological, and ecological forces affect one another.
• Uncertainty: managers rarely know the timing, direction, or magnitude of change.
• Unequal impact: the same change can create an opportunity for one firm and a threat for another.

A strong analysis therefore avoids merely listing trends. It identifies the mechanism through which a trend affects customers, costs, competition, market access, or the firm’s reputation.

2. PESTLE Analysis

PESTLE is a scanning framework covering Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal, and Environmental forces. It is particularly useful during country screening, market-entry analysis, strategic planning, and scenario development.

PESTLE is a framework for disciplined inquiry, not a forecasting machine. Its value depends on the quality of evidence and interpretation. A manager should distinguish between a fact, an assumption, a forecast, and a judgement. For example, “internet penetration is high” is a descriptive observation; “digital distribution will reduce entry barriers” is an inference that requires further analysis.

2.1 Political Factors

Political conditions influence market access, public procurement, taxation, ownership, currency convertibility, intellectual-property enforcement, and the probability of policy disruption. Important variables include government stability, quality of public administration, relations with foreign governments, military conflict, corruption, populism, industrial policy, and the role of state-owned enterprises.

Political risk may arise from:

• sudden changes in import duties or licensing requirements;
• expropriation or forced transfer of assets;
• restrictions on repatriating profits;
• sanctions, embargoes, or diplomatic disputes;
• civil unrest, terrorism, or armed conflict;
• discriminatory treatment of foreign firms; and
• informal pressure from political actors or local elites.

Political analysis should examine both formal institutions and informal power. A law may appear favourable, but implementation may depend on administrative discretion, relationships, or regional authorities. Firms should avoid assuming that national policy is applied uniformly across provinces or municipalities.

2.2 Economic Factors

Economic conditions affect market potential and the ability to pay. Relevant measures include gross domestic product, income distribution, inflation, interest rates, unemployment, exchange rates, public debt, consumer confidence, and the structure of employment.

Total national income alone is insufficient. A country may have a large economy but a small accessible market for a particular product. Managers should examine purchasing power, income concentration, urbanisation, payment systems, and the size of the relevant middle class or target segment.

Inflation can alter pricing, consumer purchasing power, and operating costs. Exchange-rate movements affect export prices, imported inputs, reported profits, and the affordability of foreign products. A firm that earns revenue in one currency and incurs costs in another faces transaction exposure. It may respond through local sourcing, currency clauses, hedging, flexible pricing, or production in the target market.

Economic analysis should also consider the business cycle. During downturns, demand may shift toward lower-priced products, smaller pack sizes, repair services, private labels, or essential goods. Premium positioning may still work, but usually for narrower segments.

2.3 Social and Cultural Factors

Social analysis concerns population structure, education, religion, family organisation, gender roles, lifestyles, language, values, attitudes, and patterns of trust. Culture influences what consumers consider desirable, appropriate, safe, prestigious, or offensive. It affects product design, brand symbolism, negotiation, service expectations, and communication.

Marketers should avoid treating culture as a set of stereotypes. Countries contain regional, class, generational, ethnic, and digital subcultures. Research should combine cultural interpretation with actual behavioural evidence. A culturally adapted campaign is not necessarily effective if it ignores price, distribution, or product quality.

Important social questions include:

• Who makes purchase decisions?
• Is consumption individual, family-based, or community-oriented?
• Which languages and scripts are necessary?
• How is trust established—with brands, retailers, experts, or personal networks?
• What social groups may be excluded by the product or campaign?

2.4 Technological Factors

Technology affects both the value proposition and the way value is delivered. Digital platforms, mobile payments, artificial intelligence, automation, logistics systems, cloud services, and data analytics can reduce transaction costs and widen market reach. However, technological opportunity depends on infrastructure, affordability, skills, interoperability, regulation, and trust.

International marketers must evaluate digital maturity rather than simply assume that online channels work everywhere. Questions include network reliability, smartphone use, platform concentration, delivery capacity, cybersecurity, digital identity, and the availability of local-language content.

Artificial intelligence can support demand forecasting, translation, customer service, market segmentation, and media optimisation. Yet AI systems may reproduce bias, use data without valid consent, or generate culturally inappropriate content. Human review, data governance, transparency, and accountability remain essential.

2.5 Legal Factors

Legal analysis identifies the rules that define what a firm may sell, how it may communicate, and how it must treat customers and partners. Relevant areas include:

• customs and import law;
• product safety and technical standards;
• labelling, packaging, and language requirements;
• advertising and consumer-protection law;
• competition and antitrust law;
• intellectual-property protection;
• privacy and cross-border data transfers;
• employment and agency law;
• tax and transfer-pricing rules; and
• anti-bribery and sanctions compliance.

Law is not limited to written statutes. Regulatory guidance, court decisions, licensing practice, industry codes, and enforcement patterns can also influence commercial behaviour. A product approved in one jurisdiction may require testing, certification, or reformulation in another.

Legal compliance should be built into marketing planning rather than checked only after a campaign is designed. Claims such as “eco-friendly,” “clinically proven,” “healthy,” or “made locally” may require substantiation and may be interpreted differently across jurisdictions.

2.6 Environmental and Ecological Factors

Environmental forces include climate change, water scarcity, biodiversity loss, pollution, waste, energy costs, extreme weather, and public expectations concerning sustainability. These forces affect supply, production, packaging, logistics, insurance, and brand legitimacy.

Environmental analysis should cover both physical risk and transition risk. Physical risk arises from events such as floods, heatwaves, droughts, and storms. Transition risk arises when economies move toward lower-carbon systems through regulation, taxes, technology, or changing consumer preferences.

Marketing claims must be accurate and specific. Vague claims such as “green” or “natural” can mislead consumers and expose firms to regulatory and reputational risk. Sustainable marketing requires attention to the complete product life cycle, including sourcing, manufacturing, transport, use, repair, reuse, and disposal.

3. Institutions and Stakeholders

PESTLE identifies broad forces, but institutional and stakeholder analysis explains who creates, interprets, enforces, or contests those forces.

3.1 Institutional Analysis

Institutions are the formal and informal rules that structure social and economic activity. Formal institutions include constitutions, laws, courts, regulators, standards bodies, and public agencies. Informal institutions include norms, trust relationships, customary practices, social expectations, and networks.

Institutional quality affects transaction costs. When rules are clear and reliably enforced, firms can plan and contract more confidently. When enforcement is arbitrary, firms may face delays, unofficial payments, disputes, or uncertainty. Institutional analysis should therefore examine not only whether a rule exists, but also its predictability, legitimacy, accessibility, and enforcement.

Relevant institutions may include customs authorities, central banks, competition regulators, consumer agencies, local governments, trade associations, courts, standards organisations, and international bodies. Their interests may conflict. A finance ministry may favour tariff revenue, while an industry ministry may favour protection of domestic producers; a competition authority may oppose a distribution agreement supported by a trade ministry.

3.2 Stakeholder Analysis

A stakeholder is an individual or group that can affect, or is affected by, the firm’s activities. Stakeholders may include customers, employees, suppliers, distributors, communities, governments, investors, civil-society organisations, media, and future generations affected by environmental consequences.

A practical stakeholder analysis involves four steps:

1. Identify stakeholders connected to the decision.
2. Assess their interests, influence, legitimacy, and likely response.
3. Determine possible conflicts and opportunities for collaboration.
4. Design engagement, mitigation, and monitoring actions.

A simple power–interest matrix is useful. High-power, high-interest stakeholders require close management; high-power, low-interest stakeholders require continued satisfaction; low-power, high-interest stakeholders require information and respectful engagement; low-power, low-interest stakeholders should still be monitored because their influence may increase.

Stakeholder analysis prevents a narrow focus on immediate customers. For example, a retailer may want rapid packaging changes, while regulators require extensive testing and a community demands waste reduction. A commercially attractive decision may fail if it lacks social legitimacy.

4. International Trade Systems and Market Access

International marketing is influenced by the rules governing the movement of goods, services, capital, technology, and data. The multilateral trading system seeks to make trade more predictable through principles such as non-discrimination, transparency, and negotiated commitments. In practice, trade remains shaped by national regulations, bilateral agreements, regional blocs, political disputes, and domestic policy priorities.

4.1 Tariffs

A tariff is a tax imposed on imported goods. An ad valorem tariff is calculated as a percentage of customs value:

The customs value and tariff rate must be expressed consistently. If the customs value is 50,000 monetary units and the tariff rate is 8%, the tariff is 4,000 monetary units. The calculation may be more complex where specific duties, minimum values, exemptions, or additional taxes apply.

Tariffs can protect domestic producers, generate government revenue, or be used as an instrument of negotiation. For the importer, tariffs may raise landed cost and consumer prices, reduce margins, or encourage local production. Their effect depends on demand elasticity, competition, exchange rates, and the ability to pass costs through the supply chain.

4.2 Non-Tariff Measures

Non-tariff measures are policy instruments other than tariffs that affect trade. They include quotas, import licensing, technical standards, sanitary and phytosanitary requirements, local-content rules, labelling requirements, government procurement preferences, foreign-exchange controls, and customs procedures.

Not all non-tariff measures are protectionist. Product-safety rules may protect consumers and the environment. The managerial issue is whether the measure is transparent, scientifically justified, proportionate, and practically achievable. Firms should conduct regulatory mapping before committing to a market-entry schedule.

4.3 Regional Economic Blocs

Regional integration arrangements reduce some barriers among participating countries. Common forms include:

Membership in a bloc may provide market access, common standards, investment opportunities, and supply-chain efficiencies. It may also impose rules of origin, common regulations, external tariffs, or political obligations. A firm must verify whether its product qualifies for preferential treatment; simply shipping through a member country does not necessarily confer origin status.

5. Country Risk and International Market Selection

Country risk is the possibility that conditions in a country will adversely affect the firm’s operations, assets, cash flows, or strategic objectives. It includes political, economic, financial, legal, social, security, and environmental dimensions.

Country risk differs from ordinary commercial risk. Commercial risk concerns events such as weak demand, poor management, or competitive failure. Country risk arises from the external national environment and may affect many firms simultaneously.

A country-risk assessment can examine:

• political stability and policy continuity;
• government effectiveness and corruption exposure;
• debt, inflation, currency convertibility, and banking conditions;
• security and civil conflict;
• legal protection and contract enforcement;
• infrastructure and supply-chain reliability;
• regulatory unpredictability;
• environmental and climate exposure; and
• attitudes toward foreign investment.

Risk should not be treated as a single score without explanation. A country with moderate political risk may be attractive if the firm can limit exposure through franchising, local sourcing, staged investment, insurance, arbitration, or multiple suppliers. Conversely, a seemingly stable country may create high legal or reputational risk for a regulated product.

A useful decision process is to distinguish probability, impact, and controllability. High-probability, high-impact risks require immediate mitigation. Low-probability but catastrophic risks require contingency planning and monitoring. Managers should also consider correlation: several apparently separate risks may arise from one underlying political or economic shock.

6. Applying Environmental Analysis: An Illustrative Case

Background

The following is a fictional illustrative case. NaturaBrew, a mid-sized European producer of premium plant-based beverages, is considering entry into the fictional country of Lumeria, a fast-growing emerging market with a large urban population.

Problem

Lumeria offers strong demand growth, but the government is considering a sugar levy, packaging-waste regulation, and higher import duties on finished beverages. The currency has recently depreciated, local retailers are powerful, and consumers are concerned about food safety and affordability.

Analysis

A PESTLE review produces the following findings:

• Political: the government supports local food processing and may favour firms that create local employment.
• Economic: urban incomes are rising, but inflation and currency volatility make imported products expensive.
• Social: younger consumers show interest in health and convenience, while family purchasing remains important. Local-language communication is essential.
• Technological: mobile commerce is expanding, but cold-chain capacity is uneven outside major cities.
• Legal: labels must disclose allergens and nutritional information in Lumerian; health claims require evidence.
• Environmental: packaging waste is politically sensitive, and drought creates concern about water-intensive production.

Stakeholder analysis identifies the food regulator, national retailers, local farmers, consumers, environmental groups, logistics providers, and potential domestic co-packers as important actors. The regulator has high power and high interest. Environmental groups have limited formal power but can influence public opinion. Local retailers have substantial bargaining power because of their control over shelf access.

Trade analysis indicates that importing finished beverages would attract an 8% tariff. If the customs value of an initial shipment is 100,000 monetary units, the tariff before other taxes and fees would be:

However, local production could avoid the finished-product tariff and reduce transport costs, although it would require quality control, investment, and reliable suppliers.

Approach and Solution

NaturaBrew chooses a staged market-entry strategy. It first exports to two major cities through a specialist distributor, conducts consumer and regulatory research, and uses conservative nutritional claims. It then explores contract manufacturing with a certified local producer, subject to audits, traceability requirements, and intellectual-property protections.

The firm adapts packaging by reducing material use and introducing a recycling instruction in the local language. It negotiates retailer agreements that specify promotional funding, data access, payment terms, and responsibility for unsold stock. To manage currency risk, it uses local sourcing where feasible and reviews prices quarterly rather than making uncontrolled price changes.

Outcome

The pilot achieves distribution in the targeted urban segment without committing the firm to a large fixed investment. Consumer research shows that taste and price matter more than broad sustainability claims, so the company improves flavour and offers smaller packages while retaining credible environmental information. Local production is postponed until the distributor demonstrates stable demand and the co-packer passes quality audits.

Learning Points

The case illustrates that environmental analysis should lead to an integrated decision, not a descriptive report. PESTLE identified forces; institutional analysis revealed regulatory and enforcement conditions; stakeholder analysis clarified influence and legitimacy; trade analysis exposed cost implications; and country-risk analysis supported staged commitment.

7. Managerial Implications and Best Practices

Effective environmental analysis is continuous. Firms should establish an early-warning system using regulatory alerts, local advisers, customer research, competitor intelligence, trade associations, and scenario workshops. Monitoring should assign responsibility: a risk without an owner is unlikely to be managed.

Best practices include:

1. Use multiple sources. Combine official statistics, legal advice, field interviews, industry reports, and direct observation.
2. Separate evidence from interpretation. Record the source, date, confidence level, and assumptions behind each conclusion.
3. Analyse at the subnational level. Consumer behaviour, infrastructure, regulation, and logistics may differ significantly within a country.
4. Test scenarios. Examine plausible combinations such as currency depreciation plus tariff increases or drought plus supply disruption.
5. Use staged commitment. Pilot projects, options, partnerships, and modular investment can reduce irreversible exposure.
6. Build compliance into design. Product claims, packaging, data practices, and distribution contracts should be reviewed before launch.
7. Engage stakeholders early. Consultation can reveal practical constraints and build legitimacy.
8. Plan exit and continuity. Firms should know how to suspend operations, protect employees, recover assets, and serve customers during disruption.

8. Limitations and Ethical Considerations

No framework eliminates uncertainty. PESTLE can become a checklist that overwhelms decision-makers with irrelevant information. Country-risk scores may conceal disagreement among analysts or reflect data from the past. Stakeholder maps can oversimplify power and fail to represent marginalised groups. Institutional analysis may also be affected by limited access to reliable local information.

Ethically, firms should not exploit weak regulation, political connections, or vulnerable consumers. Anti-bribery controls must apply to agents, distributors, consultants, and joint-venture partners. Data collection should respect privacy and meaningful consent. Marketing should avoid deceptive localisation, cultural appropriation, discriminatory targeting, and unsupported health or environmental claims.

International managers also face a tension between standardisation and adaptation. Standardisation can improve efficiency and consistency, while adaptation may improve relevance and compliance. The appropriate choice depends on customer needs, legal requirements, economies of scale, and the consequences of error. Ethical standards should not be lowered merely because enforcement is weak.

9. Contemporary Developments

Several developments are reshaping environmental analysis. Geopolitical fragmentation is encouraging firms to diversify suppliers and assess strategic dependencies. Climate change is making ecological risk a core commercial issue rather than a specialist concern. Digital trade and cross-border data flows are expanding, while privacy and cybersecurity rules are becoming more complex. Generative AI is accelerating content production and analysis but increases the importance of human oversight, intellectual-property review, and transparency.

Resilience is increasingly evaluated alongside efficiency. A narrowly optimised supply chain may minimise cost under normal conditions but fail during conflict, pandemics, cyberattacks, port disruption, or extreme weather. International marketing managers therefore need a balanced view of cost, responsiveness, redundancy, compliance, and stakeholder trust.

Chapter Summary

The international marketing environment comprises political, economic, social, technological, legal, ecological, institutional, and stakeholder forces that shape market opportunity and risk. PESTLE provides a structured method for scanning the macroenvironment, but it must be supported by evidence and interpretation. Political and economic conditions influence access, purchasing power, and costs; social and technological conditions affect relevance and delivery; legal and environmental conditions determine compliance, legitimacy, and long-term viability.

Institutional analysis explains how formal rules and informal norms shape business behaviour. Stakeholder analysis identifies actors who can influence or be affected by international marketing decisions. Trade systems involve tariffs, non-tariff measures, customs procedures, and regional blocs, all of which affect landed cost and market access. Country-risk analysis helps firms assess political, economic, legal, security, and ecological uncertainty and select suitable mitigation strategies.

The most effective managers do not treat environmental analysis as a one-time report. They monitor change, test scenarios, engage stakeholders, build compliance into marketing design, and use staged commitments to balance opportunity with exposure. Responsible international marketing combines commercial judgement with legal compliance, ethical conduct, social legitimacy, and ecological awareness.

Key Terms

PESTLE analysis: A framework for analysing Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal, and Environmental forces.

Macroenvironment: Broad external forces that affect firms and markets.

Microenvironment: Actors directly connected to a firm, such as customers, suppliers, competitors, and intermediaries.

Institution: A formal rule, organisation, or informal norm that structures behaviour.

Stakeholder: A person or group that can affect, or is affected by, an organisation.

Country risk: The possibility that national conditions will adversely affect business operations or returns.

Political risk: Exposure to adverse changes arising from government, policy, conflict, or political action.

Tariff: A tax imposed on imported goods.

Ad valorem tariff: A tariff calculated as a percentage of customs value.

Non-tariff measure: A trade-related policy instrument other than a tariff.

Rules of origin: Criteria used to determine the economic nationality of a product.

Free-trade area: A group of countries that largely removes internal trade barriers while retaining separate external tariffs.

Customs union: A free-trade area with a common external tariff.

Market access: The practical ability of a firm or product to enter and compete in a market.

Transaction exposure: The effect of exchange-rate movements on foreign-currency receipts and payments.

Transition risk: Risk arising from movement toward new environmental policies, technologies, or consumer expectations.

Physical climate risk: Risk caused by climate-related events or long-term environmental changes.

Institutional quality: The clarity, reliability, legitimacy, and enforcement of rules and organisations.

Stakeholder salience: The importance of a stakeholder based on characteristics such as power, legitimacy, and urgency.

Greenwashing: Misleading communication that exaggerates or falsely represents environmental performance.

Review Questions

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the purpose of PESTLE analysis in international marketing?
2. Distinguish between a tariff and a non-tariff measure.
3. Why is purchasing power more informative than total GDP when assessing market potential?
4. What is the difference between physical climate risk and transition risk?
5. How does institutional quality affect international business transactions?

Long Answer Questions

1. Explain how political, economic, legal, and environmental forces can interact to influence an international market-entry decision.
2. Compare a free-trade area, a customs union, and a common market, giving marketing implications for each.
3. Discuss the value and limitations of stakeholder analysis for an international marketing manager.
4. Explain how a firm can manage country risk through entry mode, sourcing, contracts, and monitoring.
5. Evaluate the tension between global marketing standardisation and local adaptation.

Analytical / Application Questions

1. A company is considering exporting packaged food to a country with high inflation, weak cold-chain infrastructure, and new packaging rules. Apply PESTLE and recommend a staged market-entry plan.
2. A regional trade bloc removes internal tariffs but introduces common product standards. Analyse the opportunities and compliance challenges for a foreign manufacturer.
3. A firm discovers that its local distributor is making unsupported environmental claims on its behalf. Identify the legal, ethical, reputational, and stakeholder risks and recommend corrective actions.

Multiple Choice Questions with Answers

Question 1

Which PESTLE dimension primarily concerns import licensing, sanctions, and government stability?

A. Political

B. Social

C. Technological

D. Environmental

Correct Answer: A. Political

Question 2

An 8% ad valorem tariff is applied to goods with a customs value of 100,000 monetary units. What is the tariff before other charges?

A. 800 monetary units

B. 8,000 monetary units

C. 80,000 monetary units

D. 108,000 monetary units

Correct Answer: B. 8,000 monetary units

Question 3

Which feature distinguishes a customs union from a free-trade area?

A. A common external tariff

B. A common currency

C. Free movement of all workers

D. A single global advertising code

Correct Answer: A. A common external tariff

Question 4

Which statement best describes institutional analysis?

A. It examines only consumer demographics

B. It evaluates formal rules and informal norms shaping behaviour

C. It calculates a firm’s advertising budget

D. It measures product demand without considering regulation

Correct Answer: B. It evaluates formal rules and informal norms shaping behaviour

Question 5

Which is an example of a non-tariff measure?

A. An import tax calculated as a percentage of value

B. A product-safety certification requirement

C. A domestic wage payment

D. A reduction in local interest rates

Correct Answer: B. A product-safety certification requirement

Question 6

A stakeholder with high power and high interest should generally be:

A. Ignored unless a crisis occurs

B. Managed closely

C. Contacted only through mass advertising

D. Treated as having no influence

Correct Answer: B. Managed closely

Question 7

Which situation is most clearly physical climate risk?

A. A new carbon-reporting obligation

B. A consumer shift toward recycled packaging

C. A flood disrupting a production facility

D. A change in environmental advertising guidance

Correct Answer: C. A flood disrupting a production facility

Question 8

Why might local production reduce country-entry risk compared with importing finished goods?

A. It eliminates every form of political risk

B. It may reduce tariffs and transport exposure

C. It guarantees higher consumer demand

D. It removes the need for legal compliance

Correct Answer: B. It may reduce tariffs and transport exposure

Question 9

Which practice best supports responsible use of AI in international marketing?

A. Publishing all machine-generated claims without review

B. Using personal data without consent when targeting is profitable

C. Combining human oversight with data governance and transparency

D. Assuming an AI system is culturally neutral

Correct Answer: C. Combining human oversight with data governance and transparency

Question 10

How does country risk differ from ordinary commercial risk?

A. Country risk arises only from poor advertising design

B. Country risk results from national conditions that may affect many firms

C. Commercial risk is always measurable and country risk is never measurable

D. Country risk applies only to domestic firms

Correct Answer: B. Country risk results from national conditions that may affect many firms