MARKETING STRATEGY FORMATION UNDER SANCTION: UTILIZING BALANCED SCORECARD AND HOSHIN KANRI MODELS IN THE IRAN KHODRO COMPANY’S REGIONAL PASSENGER CAR MARKETS

There is a sufficient amount of research to confirm that economic sanctions can cause significant damage both to the economic growth of a country and to companies operating in a sanctioned country. In response to multilateral economic sanctions, the sanctioned country develops a number of strategic programmes aimed at easing the sanctions and supporting its economy. Companies also develop strategies to survive and make sustainable profits.

The study aims to examine the strategies that enable companies not only to survive, but also to thrive in international markets; the functional strategies that companies use to increase the efficiency of their activities.

The Iranian automotive industry served as the empirical basis for the study. The case study is of Iran Khodro, one of the two leading companies in the Iranian automotive industry, which accounts for more than 50% of the automotive market in Iran, is given. Using data from companies in the automotive industry, we found that among the functional strategies, marketing strategy is the most important for its effectiveness.

In addition, the management of financial, customer and operational indicators based on the MTSP (Balanced Scorecard) is positively associated with the entry of companies into foreign markets. Finally, this study has showed that for companies in the automotive industry, access to new technologies, financial resources, a strategic plan and an export orientation are key to working successfully under sanctions.

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