Page 13 - DMGT547_INTERNATIONAL_MARKETING

International Marketing

Notes Multinational (Global or World) Marketing is the preferred term for some of the authors since
nothing is foreign or domestic about the world market and global opportunities. One might
question whether the subtle difference between the international marketing and multinational
marketing is significant. For practical purposes, it is merely a distinction without a difference.
As a matter of fact, multinational firms themselves do not make any distinction between the two
terms. It is difficult to believe that International Business Machines will become more global if
it changes to corporate name to Multinational Business Machines. Likewise, there is no compelling
reason for American Express and British Petroleum to change their name to say global express
and Multinational Petroleum. For purposes of discussion, international, global and multinational
marketing is interchangeable.

Self Assessment

State whether the following statements are true or false:

8. A clear focus on its profit goals and sales maximisation can give the company a distinct
advantage.
9. International marketing and multinational marketing are very similar to each other.

1.4 Management Orientations

The form and substance of a company’s response to global business opportunities depend greatly
on management’s assumptions or beliefs – both conscious and unconscious – about the nature of
the world. The worldview of a company’s personnel can be described as ethnocentric, polycentric,
regiocentric and geocentric. Management at a company with a prevailing ethnocentric orientation
may consciously make a decision to move in the direction of geocentricism. The orientations-
collectively known as the EPRG framework – are summarised in Figure 1.1

Figure 1.1: Orientations of Management and Companies

Polycentric
Each host country is unique;
sees differences in foreign
countries
Ethnocentricity
Home country is
superior; sees
similarities in foreign
countries
Geocentric
World view; sees similarities
Regiocentric and differences in home and
Sees similarities and differences in a world region; is host countries
ethnocentric or polycentric in its view of the rest of the
world.

1.4.1 Ethnocentric

A person who assumes his or her home country is superior compared to the rest of the world is
said to have an ethnocentric orientation. The ethnocentric orientation means company personnel
see only similarities in markets and assume the products and practices that succeed in the home
country will, due to their demonstrated superiority, be successful anywhere. At some companies,
the ethnocentric orientation means the opportunities outside the home country are ignored.
Such companies are, sometimes, called domestic companies. Ethnocentric companies that do

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