In this exercise, assume that you are a manager in a small or medium-sized manufacturing firm. You are about to begin exporting your firm's products abroad. Choosea product categorysuch as machinery or musical instruments to be shipped to foreign customers. Your task is togather information on three different freight forwarders,evaluate them, and thenchoose the best forwarderfor your company. The selection of a freight forwarder involves consideration of exporter needs, freight forwarder characteristics, and contextual factors that interact and influence the "fit" between exporter needs and the forwarder's capabilities. The problem is multidimensional and must be approached with care. Visit each ofthreefreight forwarder corporate websites on the Internet and, for each forwarder, answer the questions that follow inserting into the template below.

1. Does the forwarder list the cities and other locations where it provides its services?If so, what are the locations closest to where you are located?
2. Does the forwarder indicate the countries or regions of the world that it services?If so, what are these areas?
3. Does the forwarder have the ability to consolidate cargo (making full container loads by grouping small shipments together)?
4. Does the forwarder provide a way to request its rates or pricing online?What information are you required to provide in order to obtain a rate or price?
5. Does the forwarder provide information on insurance and is the forwarder capable of recommending which insurance to use for shipments?
6. Does the forwarder provide online services for the exporter?Examples of these services include an automated system for filing export documentation, instructions on how to complete required documentation, and explanations of terminology such as "Incoterms" and payments methods.
7. What types of other services does the forwarder provide?Examples of these include customs brokerage, logistics management, consulting on international shipments, and EDI services. For example, using EDI, the exporter can transmit exporting documentation to the forwarder, and track the location and status of international shipments.

Based on the information collected above, collect your data in a template (like the one below) and thenmake a recommendationon which of the three freight forwarders you believe your firm should employ. Be sure tojustify your answer, by summarizing the information gathered in response to the above questions.

When seeking a freight forwarder, the above questions address only some of the issues that you might face in the real world of international business. In a real situation, you would likely seek answers to other questions as well, depending on the firm's situation, regarding issues such as the type of product, destination, size of shipment, and available exporter resources. Other issues to investigate include product/service specialization, responsiveness and attention to exporter needs, financing capabilities, financial position, and pricing, as well as the forwarder's efficiency and reliability. Many of the evaluation criteria used in selection are subjective and therefore not easily quantifiable. It is critical to evaluate potential freight forwarders in both quantitative and qualitative terms.