Rethinking Offshoring and International Marketing Strategies during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

ABSTRACT This teaching case focuses on the national and international expansion of IGT Motors, a Brazilian company operating in the market for twenty years that has moved most of its production to China since 2010. Nearly after the company started searching for new markets abroad and adapted its internal and communication processes to comply with other countries’ preferences and regulations, the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic led top management to rethink its production and marketing strategies, specifically hit by involving China, country of origin of the virus. The case is about how small companies in the midst of a global expansion can deal with unexpected scenarios and emerging crisis, engaging students to reflect upon the initiatives that might be taken to overcome issues such as consumer animosity, but also to make the company less susceptible to similar situations in the future.