DEFININGINTERNATIONALMARKETING 127
Onething'sforsure: theDellmodelisworkinginChina.Andas longasChina's
PCmarketcontinuestogrow,Dellisreadytogrowwithit.
Sources:NellChowdury, " DellCracksChina,"Fortune,June21,1999,pp. [20-129;NormandyMadden, "OM'sBuickRides
LuxuryintoChina,"AdvertisingAge,June24,1999,p.16;CarolynEdy, " TheOlympicsofMarketing,"AmericonDemogroph.
ics,June 1999 ,p. 47.
INTRODUCTION
Companiesthroughouttheworldhavediscoveredthattheyhavesaturatedtheirlocalmar-
ketandareseekingopportunitiesforgrowthelsewhere. FordMotors,CampbellSoup,Nestle,
Nike,andMcDonald'sarejusta fewofthecompaniesthathavehadaninternationalpres-
enceformanyyears.ThankstotheopeningofEasternEuropeandChina,theinternational
marketplacehasgrowndramatically. Still,movingintoothermarketsistrickybusinessand
manycompanieshavefailedmiserably.Onethingis forsure:it requiresmorethantaking
anexistingdomesticmarketingstrategyandtransplantingitinanotherculture.
Thepurposeofthischapteris tointroduceyoutothescopeandcomplexityofgoing
globalwitha marketingeffort.Inthefollowingsections,wedefineglobalmarketingand
examinevariousaspectsoftheglobalmarketingenvironment.Againstthisbackground,we
thenlookatthewaysinwhichcompaniestypicallybecomeinvolvedinglobalmarkets,
andintroduceyoutotheglobalmarketingmanagementprocess.
DefiningInternationalMarketing
Nowthattheworldhasenteredthenextmillennium,weareseeingtheemergenceofan
interdependentglobaleconomythatischaracterizedbyfastercommunication, transporta-
tion,andfinancialflows,allofwhicharecreatingnewmarketingopportunitiesandchal-
lenges. Giventhesecircumstances,it couldbearguedthatcompaniesfacea deceptively
straightforwardandstarkchoice:theymusteitherrespondtothechallengesposedbythis
newenvironment,orrecognizeandacceptthelong-termconsequencesoffailingtodoso.
Thisneedtorespondisnotconfinedtofirmsofa certainsizeorparticularindustries.It is
a changethattoa greaterorlesserextentwillultimatelyaffect companiesofallsizesin
virtuallyallmarkets.Thepressuresoftheinternationalenvironmentarenowsogreat,and
thebasesofcompetitionwithinmanymarketsarechangingsofundamentally,thattheoppor-
tunitiestosurvivewitha purelydomesticstrategyareincreasinglylimitedtosmall-and
medium-sizedcompaniesinlocalnichemarkets.
Perhapspartlybecauseoftherapidevolutionofinternationalmarketing,a vastarray
oftermshaveemergedthatsuggestvariousfacetsofinternationalmarketing.Clarification
ofthesetermsisa necessaryfirststepbeforewecandiscussthistopicmorethoroughly.
Let'sbeginwiththeassumptionthatthemarketingprocessoutlinedanddiscussed
inChapters1-4isjustasapplicabletodomesticmarketingastointernationalmarketing.
Inbothmarkets,wearegoal-driven,donecessarymarketingresearch,selecttargetmar-
kets,employthevarious toolsofmarketing(i.e.,product,pricing,distribution,communi-
cation),developa budget,andcheckourresults.However, theuncontrollablefactorssuch
asculture,social,legal,andeconomicfactors,alongwiththepoliticalandcompetitiveenvi-
ronment,allcreatetheneedfora myriadofadjustmentsin themarketing managementprocess.
Atitssimplestlevel,internationalmarketinginvolvesthefirminmakingoneormore
marketingdecisionsacrossnationalboundaries.Atitsmostcomplex,it involvesthefirm
inestablishingmanufacturingandmarketingfacilitiesoverseasandcoordinatingmarketing
