FREE ESSAY ON FEASIBILITY STUDY

FEASIBILITY STUDY

Table of Contents
1. Executive Summary
......................................................................... 3
2. Our goal
.......................................................................................4
3. AstraZeneca
...................................................................................5
4. Bulgaria - Basic Facts
........................................................................6
5. Britain - Bulgaria - cultural comparison
...................................................8
6. Recommendations for overcoming the differences ....................................10
7. References
...................................................................................15
I. Executive Summary
The British company AstraZeneca plans to open a representative branch in Bulgaria. This
paper is a research about the country and cultural, and communication styles of the
Bulgarians. It points out differences between British and Bulgarian culture and
communication styles. The difficulties that may occur because of these differences are in
three main areas of communication - communication with: 1/ the customers, 2/ the
Governmental Institutions and 3/ the employees. We recommend the following strategy for
overcoming them. First, the problem with the fact that the customers are poor and our
medicines are expensive will be overcome with a strong marketing strategy. Next, a
special Project Team will take care of the communications with the Governmental
Institutions. Last, the troubles that may occur between the Bulgarian employees
(managers) and the UK Headquarters will be resolved by training.
II. Our Goal
We are a British pharmaceutical company that has branches and representative offices in
many countries around the world. Our goal is to open a representative branch in Bulgaria
in order to sell our medicines on that market. We will find more about the country and
its culture in order to identify possible difficulties in the communication, generate
alternatives and find solutions how our venture can be successful.
III. AstraZeneca
AstraZeneca, one of the world's leading pharmaceutical companies, was formed in April
1999 through the merger of Astra AB, Sweden, and Zeneca Group PLC, UK. AstraZeneca aims
to grow from its inherited position, building on the 'best from both' of the merger
partners. It is world number three in ethical pharmaceuticals.
The corporate headquarters are in London. AstraZeneca has a highly experienced Board and
Executive Management Team. The Chief Executive and his Executive Team run the company.
The Chief Executive is responsible to the full AstraZeneca Board for the running of the
Group. 
The company has more than 50,000 employees worldwide. We believe passionately in
innovation, people, partnerships, and responsibilities. 
AstraZeneca has a strong research base and powerful product portfolio, designed to fight
disease in seven areas of real medical need - cancer, cardiovascular, central nervous
system, gastrointestinal, infection, pain control and anesthesia, and respiratory.
AstraZeneca supports a wide range of charitable, educational and environmental
initiatives at an international and local level.
With worldwide presence and production facilities in 20 countries, AstraZeneca's
relationships with the communities in which we operate are fundamental to our success. 
IV. Bulgaria - Basic Facts
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:
A Slavic state, Bulgaria achieved independence in 1878 after 500 years of Ottoman rule.
Bulgaria fought on the losing side in both World Wars. After World War II it fell within
the Soviet sphere of influence. Communist domination ended in 1991 with the dissolution
of the USSR, and Bulgaria began the contentious process of moving toward political
democracy and a market economy. In addition to the problems of structural economic
reform, particularly privatization, Bulgaria faces the serious issues of keeping
inflation under control and unemployment, combating corruption, and curbing black-market
and mafia-style crime.
LOCATION: Located on the Balkan Peninsula, Bulgaria extends from the western shore of the
Black Sea to Yugoslavia and Macedonia in the west. In the north, the Danube River forms
the greater part of Bulgaria's common border with Romania. Greece and European Turkey lie
to the south and southeast of Bulgaria.
AREA: 110,987-sq. km. (44,365-sq. mi.). 
POPULATION: 8,290,988 (July 1997 est.). 
CAPITAL: Sofia (pop. 1,114,759). 
MAIN TOWNS: Plovdiv (pop. 377,637), Varna (pop. 297,090), Bourgas (pop. 188,367), and
Rousse (pop. 185,425).
ADMINISTRATIVE ORGANIZATION: 28 districts. 
TRANSPORT: The railway transport is of great significance for the country. The sea and
river (along the Danube river) fleet take an active part in the trade of the country. The
major seaports are Varna and Bourgas, and the main Danube ports are Rousse, Lom,
Svishtov, and Vidin. There is a ferryboat connection between Vidin and Kalafat (Romania).
The main airport is Sofia Airport.
CLIMATE: temperate; cold, damp winters; hot, dry summers
OFFICIAL LANGUAGE: Bulgarian. The Bulgarian language belongs to the South Slavic branch
of the Slavic languages and uses the Cyrillic alphabet.
NATIONAL DAY: 3 March - The Day of the Liberation of Bulgaria from Ottoman Rule (1878). 
OFFICIAL HOLIDAYS: 
-  New Year's Day on January 1
-  Easter
-  Labor Day on May 1 
-  Saint George Day on May 6 
-  The Day of the Founders of the Slavonic Alphabet St. Cyril and St. Methodius on May
24
-  Unification Day on September 6
-  Independence Day on September 22
-  Christmas on December 25
CURRENCY: Lev (BGN). Currency board.
LEGAL SYSTEM: Parliamentary Republic
HEAD OF STATE: Petar Stoyanov - President (since 22 January 1997). 
ETHNIC GROUPS: Bulgarian 87.8%, Turk 8.5%, Gypsy 2.6%, other 1.1%.
RELIGIONS: Bulgarian Orthodox 85%, Muslim 13%, Jewish 0.8%, Catholic 0.7%, and other 0.5%
. 
V. Britain - Bulgaria - cultural comparison
Britain Bulgaria
Language English Bulgarian
Habits Drink beer and whisky Drink grape brandy
Smoking is banned in public places Smoking is not banned in public places
Socialize in pubs Very hospitable; also like to meet at cafes
Bias against the quality of the Bulgarian products and preference for foreign (western)
products
Communication styles Have reputation for being reserved in their behavior but are kind
when asked for general help or advise; shake hands when meeting, used to eye-contact
Friendly; open; used to eye-contact; shaking hands when meeting; women- friends kiss each
other when meeting
Racial issues Protected in law against racial discrimination The government policy is to
integrate all the minority groups in the society. There is a National Agency for Ethnic
and Demographic Issues.
Gender issues Women are still struggling for equal opportunities in work and politics.
Women have good opportunities at work.
Homosexuality is no illegal. There are special gay pubs. Homosexuality is not well
accepted by the public.
Family People tend to live as partners rather than merry. Partners even have the legal
rights of husband and wife. Young people tend to live as partners. They can marry later.
Parents take care of their children during their whole life.
Political system King and hierarchical society Building democratic society; Bureaucratic
administrative system
Society Well represented middle class but also rich people; well working social system A
lot of the people are poor and few are very rich. The percentage of unemployment is
high.
VI. Recommendations for overcoming the differences
We will address the cultural differences that can affect AstraZeneca's communications
with the Bulgarians. If AstraZeneca opens a branch in Bulgaria it will have to
communicate with:
1. Customers
2. Government Institutions
3. Employees
1. Our customers will be the ordinary people.
We develop medicines for cancer and cardiovascular diseases. The percentage of cancer and
cardiovascular diseases in Bulgaria is high.
AstraZeneca's medicines are expensive. The Bulgarian people are poor, but willing to give
money to preserve their health.
We propose a strong marketing and advertising strategy with emphasis on the high quality
of AstraZeneca's medicines and a lot of information about the strong research base of the
company. This advertising together with the bias of the Bulgarians against the quality of
the local products will increase our chances of success. The figure below shows the
tendencies in the pharmaceutical market for the last year. The import is bigger compared
with the market of the local production. 
Bulgarian Pharmaceutical market (01.01.1999 - 01.01.2000)
The doctors, the pharmacies, the hospitals and the newly established National Insurance
Fund can reach the ordinary people. We recommend the marketing department to build up
those communications (see figure on page 13). 
2. Governmental Institutions
AstraZeneca will have to work with The National Drug Institute in order to licence
company's products and enter the market of Bulgaria. The Institute is a state
institution. Corruption and bureaucracy are identified as the greatest problems in the
state institutions. Our advice is the establishment of a Project Team whose main task
will be to evaluate the situation and to generate solutions for developing healthy
communications with this institution. The Drug registration department will expand those
communications in the future (see figure on page 13).
The central office of the branch should be in the capital Sofia. This will help in the
communications with the government institutions, which are mainly based in Sofia.
3. Employees
AstraZeneca would like to employ Bulgarians in the new branch applying its corporate
policy of belief in people and responsibilities through having local staff in each
country. This will be good for the company because the Bulgarians are well educated and
hard working. We think that the language differences will not be a barrier to the
communication because most of the young people in Bulgaria speak English as a second
language. There should be a common working schedule to overcome the variations in the
holidays.
The communication process between AstraZeneca staff and the Bulgarian employees will be
facilitated by the open and friendly nature of the Bulgarians. We anticipate that the
Bulgarians will have difficulties with the reserved British style of communication. To
overcome this problem we suggest that the managers in the Bulgarian branch, who will have
direct communication with our headquarters, to be people who have received their
education in Britain or have worked in a similar international environment. If there are
still misunderstandings our recommendation is to train the managers in the UK
Headquarters. In that way they will become familiar with the corporate policy and will
have a chance to develop personal relationships. 
On the ground of the above analysis we suggest that the new branch should have the
following structure:
VI. References
1. englishculture.about.com
2. www.astrazeneca.com
3. www.bba.bg
4. www.bcci.bg
5. www.bfia.org
6. www.bulgaria-embassy.org
7. www.business-europa.co.uk/bsmenu.html
8. www.google.com
9. www.ndi.bg400.bg
10. www.open.gov.uk
11. Studying and living in Britain: A guide for international students and visitors
(1997). The British Council
Bibliography
1. englishculture.about.com
2. www.astrazeneca.com
3. www.bba.bg
4. www.bcci.bg
5. www.bfia.org
6. www.bulgaria-embassy.org
7. www.business-europa.co.uk/bsmenu.html
8. www.google.com
9. www.ndi.bg400.bg
10. www.open.gov.uk
11. Studying and living in Britain: A guide for international students and visitors
(1997). The British Council