Question: Your recommendation as a manager to solve the problem and learning outcome from the case.

Case: AVON failure in JAPAN. Reasons behind failure of AVON in Japan: The Japanese adventure of Avon began in 1969. Avon struggled for years because it did not understand Japanese customers the product line was too Western. The low-cost approach did not appeal to the market, and Avon's distribution strategy, which relied on the "Avon Lady," was a total cultural mismatch. After ironing out the kinks, Avon agreed to leave the Japanese market in 2010, selling its company to TPG, a private equity firm, due to concerns about potential competitiveness. Terrence Moorehead, the head of Avon's Japanese operations, described decision-making in Japan as "very cumbersome" in an interview. When a company decides to expand into a new nation, it must realize the scope of the undertaking. Many businesses look at the population as a whole and do not realize they need to reach out to various target groups. Companies must address that they intend to immerse themselves in a new culture, which often entails a different way of life (values, norms, attitude, beliefs, and so on) and what they consider essential to other cultures. These various forms of cultural differences can significantly impact companies and their ability to penetrate a foreign market.

Initiatives are taken by AVON to overcome the problem: When Avon first started selling in Japan ten years ago, its executives discovered that Japanese men and women were easily offended by powerful fragrances despite their attention to hygiene. According to Nelson Rogers, most products were reformulated to soften the smell; they served in Japan before becoming marketing director in the Philippines. At the same time, Avon expanded the range of skin-care items available in its stores in Japan. In the United States, a product line named "Perfect Balance" is available in just four varieties: cleanser, freshener, moisturizer, and night focus. In Japan, the line has been extended to include eight different products. Avon, which usually uses less expensive plastic packaging, has had to package many Japanese products in crystalline glass. Avon's moist lipstick line, "Candid," had to be reformulated due to these countries' wet, humid climates. Shampoos had to be redone since the formaldehyde preservative, which is disliked by Asian food and drug regulators, had to be removed.