Samenvatting

The following research justification shows an overview of the strategic approaches of Europe Language Jobs towards all of their European markets, and in particular the Dutch market. These approaches have been measured by assessing the multilingual market, communication tools, communication strategies and the five cultural aspects of Hofstede.
Improving the strategy of ELJ* to reach the Dutch market is essential to increase their activity in the Netherlands, which is also the main purpose of this research.
The research statement is as follows:
“How can ELJ increase their activity on the Dutch market in the most effective way?”

To form the basis for this research, five information gaps were identified:
1) The biggest competitors of ELJ within the Dutch market and the level of competition
2) The positioning of ELJ towards the current Dutch target market
3) Current return on investment of the targeted Dutch market
4) The most effective communication tools to reach active and acquisition companies
5) Main reason of rejection towards ELJ and concluded opportunities

To answer these information gaps, literature and field research were completed. The literature research revealed an insight in the direct competitors of ELJ on the Dutch market. The field research consisted of semi-structured interviews held with the majority of the sales employees of ELJ and the previous Dutch account manager which exposed details on the positioning of ELJ towards the current Dutch market, the current return on investment of the targeted Dutch market, the most effective communication tools to reach active and acquisition companies, and the main reason of rejection of companies towards ELJ and
concluded opportunities.

Results of the research show there are three main points to be improved by ELJ in order to increase their activity on the Dutch market. It is recommended to take the three measures into account. Recommendations will be discussed more thoroughly at the end of this research report and are as follows:
1) Focused marketing positioning for the Netherlands
2) Increase in physical company visits
3) The management of the Dutch market by a steady account manager

Taking these recommendations into account, ELJ will improve the relationship with clients, increase their reputation and reliability and eventually boost their activity on the Dutch market followed by continuous growth.