Vodka Problem

1. What were the two reasons why the Western distillers were interested in entering the Russian vodka market?
They believed that they could lure the Russians into their own brands of vodka. By using famous brand names and their good selling skills they felt that they could grab onto a market of Russian drinkers that were eager to “trade up” to Western brands.

2. When the Western distillers entered the Russian market it created a new external environment. List the elements of the firms’ external environment, and for each identify all examples of that element that are contained in the article.
Legal Environment: Organized crime has taken much control of the vodka market. And
about 50% of the market is said to be “illegal” which is untaxed, counterfeit, or bootleg. The police have attacked the illegal aspects of the market but there are still a lot of sales going on within the streets.

Economic Environment: Based on recent surveys, about 80% of Russians drink...