Page 215 - DMGT545_INTERNATIONAL_BUSINESS

International Business

notes process encompassing many firms and a wide range of activities. We then present definitions
that will relate international marketing to other fields of study. In the next section, we examine
the differences between domestic and international marketing and explain why domestic
companies often have difficulty marketing abroad. The topic continues with a description of the
major participants in international marketing.

11.1 Basics of international marketing

When a business crosses the borders of a nation, it becomes complex.

International marketing involves all the activities that form part of domestic marketing. An
enterprise engaged in international marketing has to correctly identify, assess and interpret the
needs of the overseas customers and carry out integrated marketing operations to satisfy those
needs. In other words, the basic functions are the same in international marketing as well as in
domestic marketing.

At the same time, there are several characteristics that are unique to international marketing.
When the business crosses the national borders of a given country, it becomes enormously more
complex. The resulting problems and management situations transcend those of marketing,
finance and production. A wide range of legal, political, cultural and sociological dimensions
enter the picture, adding a lot of complexity to the task. And, the one factor that contributes
maximum to the complexity is the environmental and cultural dynamics of the global markets.

11.1.1 environmental and cultural Dynamics of Global markets

The environmental and cultural dynamics of the markets of different countries can be understood
only by studying the respective people, their patterns of life, their tradition, their social
interactions, their sensibilities, their faiths and fancies. In other words, the international marketer
has to become a native in the foreign land. He has to communicate with the people of those lands
in their lingo and idiom.
Multinational enterprise must function in a world of contrasts: old and new, primitive and
modern, pious, and agnostic, unutterably beautiful and sickeningly squalid, educated and
ignorant, progressive and stagnant, sophisticated and naive all in constant agitation. To interpret
this volatile diversity, to make sense of this apparent chaos, we must try to identify the underlying
forces the prime movers which produce the global dynamics.
It is obvious that the difference between domestic and international marketing is essentially
environmental and cultural in character. And cultural diversity continues despite the world
getting closer. Modern communication and transport systems have no doubt brought the nations
of the world closer, but the cultural differences continue. So, understanding the cultural variances
and nuances, and responding to them in a manner and style that is appealing to the foreign
buyer becomes the crucial task. It is not enough if the international marketer communicates in
the buyer’s language. Language is only one aspect of culture. A national history, its social and
religious heritage, the value system of its people, the code of conduct handed down through
generations all these are components of a national culture. Moreover culture is not a static
entity. It undergoes a continuous evolution. So, sizing up the cultural dynamics of the different
markets of the world is quite a difficult exercise. And that explains the difficulty of international
marketing.

Note International marketing and national marketing have almost same components
but international marketing is much more complex.

210 lovely Professional university