Reflective Portfolio - Essay Example

Reflective Portfolio Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Global marketing context 4 Globalization and international trade 5 Cultural difference andmanagement 6 Ethics 7 The Overall Reflection on the Modules 9 Reference List 12 Appendix 13 Week Two: About Globalization 13 Week three: Trading blocs 15 Week four: Multinational Company 16 Week Five: Culture 18 Week Six: Cultural difference in wedding between China and Western countries 19 Week seven: Case study: Muslim Cola 20 Week Eight: Ethics and Koodo 22 Week Night: Polities and legal 23 Week 12: Global Marketing Context 26 Week 13: Global marketing Context and Risks 27 Global marketing context Global marketing is the process of aligning the marketing strategies of a company in one country to adapt to the market conditions of another country (Griffith and Hoppner, 2013). It is the conceptualizing, manufacturing, positioning and promoting a product in the global market. The products which have a universal demand need to be marketed globally. For example, companies like Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Starbucks and Kentucky Fried Chicken are some of the global brands available around the world. Certain strategies are implemented in global marketing such as market segmentation where the market is divided on the basis of demographics like age, sex geographical boundaries, income, race, culture to target customers and position its product according to the consumers need and perception (Keegan and Green, 2013). Promotional strategies are planned to reach the customers and aware them about the global brand and create brand loyalty to acquire customer base. The pricing strategies adaptations are generally done with respect to the standard of living in a particular country and the income level of the habitats (Kotabe and Helsen, 2009). Localization strategies are applied to the product and the message propagated to suit the target customers (Hollensen, 2014). For example, sale and consumption of beef in India is restricted due to certain religious beliefs and culture, therefore McDonald’s has localized their menu in India by incorporating vegetarian burgers and prohibiting sale of beef in their platter. To create a global brand identity, the organization should follow country specific promotional strategies. Brand positioning should be on the basis of its functional benefits, emotional quotient, self- expressive benefits and should be channelized through the product’s attributes, customer-brand relationships, logo, trademark, imagery, mood and the companys brand heritage (Mooij, 2010). For example, Coca-Cola localizes itself by marketing its brand in different countries on the basis of language specific logo to reach its customers. The brand name, Coca-Cola is written in Chinese on its bottles in China to build its brand loyalty and brand identity (Mooij, 2010). Globalization and international trade International trade is the exchange or barter of products and services across the international borders and territories through import, export, joint venture, franchising, foreign direct investments (FDI) and outsourcing (Hummels, 2007). The inbound trading is known as importing where a country buys products or services from another country, whereas, the outbound trading is known as exporting where a country sells its product or services to another country. It contributes to the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of the country (Kim and Shin, 2002). It is assumed that much of the world peace, harmony and stability are maintained to facilitate smooth functioning of international trade between nations (Arribas, Perez and Tortosa-Ausina, 2009). Global trading gives opportunities to the consumers and the nations to be exposed to new products, services or markets. The international trade plays a very significant role in the persistence of globalization. Export and import trading has subjected the goods and the services to the world at large without limiting it to the boundaries of the countries (Hainmueller and Hiscox, 2006). It enhances and sustains the standard of living of countries. FDI and joint ventures led to abundance of resources to flow all around the world from Gulf oil to outsource of low-cost labours from Asian countries to Brazilian coffee. It has also helped in distribution and transportation of manufactured products produced in a specific country to the worldwide market initiating in lowering operational cost, production cost, increasing productivity and attaining economies of scale in the global market which would have been impossible if firms depended only on production and sale in domestic market. Implementation of international trading strategies would initiate global business and strengthening of world economy (Rauch and Trindade, 2002). However, the multinationals should be awarded of cultural differences among different markets. Cultural difference and management Culture refers to the collective deposit of understanding, beliefs, experience, attitudes, values, hierarchies, philosophy, religion, manners, roles, concepts of the universe and spatial relations acquired by a group of people through generations (Sun and Liu, 2009). According to Hofstedes Dimensions of Culture theory, the Culture of a country is highly influenced by the dominance of the group of people living in that particular region and cultural growth is initiated through the country’s growth. Therefore internationalization of a company is dependent on the power distance index where the subordinate accept the inequality of power in the hands of higher authority. Individualism, Masculinity, Uncertainty Avoidance Index and Long-Term Orientation are the other factors of the theory (Hofstede, Minkov and Hofstede, 2010). China follows the culture of collectivism where their decisions are dependent on groups, therefore companies must target highly influential customer group for product preferences and brand loyalty. Material culture is associated to the Uncertainty Avoidance Index. Introduction to material culture in a country may initiate desirable or undesirable cultural change (Moran, Moran and Harris, 2011). For example, Zimbabwe prohibited the use of can for packaging both alcoholic and non alcoholic drinks due to high Uncertainty Avoidance Index to the fact that it would increase environmental degradation through litter of cans and also it did not have the production facilities for manufacturing can. On introduction of trade liberalization policies, it led to low uncertainty avoidance index on permitting canned beverages in the country initiating international trade of can manufacturing companies (Bloisi, Hunsaker and Cook, 2007). Language reveals the value and nature of society. There are several sub-cultural languages in countries like India; therefore, there may be communication problems due to language especially in product promotion and media coverage. Hence, companies should be well aware of the different language in countries facilitating trade. Aesthetic is another example of culture which deals with the art, music, dance etc of a region (Schein, 2010). Therefore, brand name, packaging, media promotion, designs are affected due to aesthetic differences in various countries. Religion, attitudes, values and social organization are part of Long-Term Orientation which depends on the traditional values of a country and are areas of high importance when trading internationally as products and services are need to be aligned to the beliefs of the consumers of the concerned country (Kaynak, et al., 2013). For example, use of beef in menu of McDonald’s India is banned due to religious beliefs of the citizen. Education also plays a major role in shaping ideas, attitude and skills of an individual which can bring in cultural change. Ethics In addition, multinationals should value the ethics and create their social impacts in foreign markets. Ethics refers to the philosophy and study of human behaviour giving importance to a person’s judgment on what is right or wrong. Organizational ethics or market ethics is referred as the values and philosophies governing the organizational conduct and the impact on the market decisions (Boatright, 2010). Therefore, ethical marketing can be related to the stakeholder theory that describes it as the practice of certain principles that stresses on transparency, trustworthiness and responsibilities towards organizational as well as personal policies and events that demonstrates reliability, integrity and fairness towards customers and stakeholders (Gardiner, 2004). Marketing ethics boundaries are not confined to just legal and regulatory frameworks to conform to the society norms but go much beyond, building long term relationships in the consumer- market arena (Martin, Johnson and French, 2011). As stated in the Carroll’s CSR Pyramid, proper communication of all the policies and norms of SEBI as well as the insurance policy coverage to the consumers while advertising an insurance product of a bank is an example of legal responsibilities. Certain ethical and philanthropic responsibilities followed by organizations are prohibition of use of animals in product testing, corporate social responsibility practices, statutory warnings on products like tobacco, symbolizing 100% vegetarian products, awareness of consumers on products and policies, prohibition of sex discrimination in higher-ranking positions, prohibition on child labour, etc (Braley, 2008). Unethical practices in the market are sale of goods to other countries which banned in the home country, non disclosure of side effects of certain products to the consumers, deception on size and content of a product, ignorance of health and safety standards in product manufacturing (André, 2013). For example, regular consumption of Thumbs Up may cause teeth enamel damage and can also cause health hazards like stomach cancer due to the high acid content in the product. The Overall Reflection on the Modules As per my understanding, every organization has different principles and functions. Their operations and approaches in the context of domestic market and the global market are different. Some resort to international trading, whereas, others opt for diversification or expansion through outsourcing. Therefore to enhance my knowledge in the sphere of globalisation and apply these learning to further increase my horizon of understanding the market in the international context, its dependency on the culture and ethics and how it impacts global trade. The session from the first three weeks has enlightened me about the global market context and the role of international trade in globalization. I have learnt that the market environment consists of the external and the internal environment which are known as the macro environment and the micro environment respectively (Kotlerand Keller, 2012). The factors under the macro environment deals with the political, economical, social, technological, legal, demographical and the global conditions that affects an organization’s performance, whereas, the internal environment deals with the company specific factors like customers, distributers, employees and competitors. This knowledge has helped me to analyse the global scenario of the market in a broader view and how I can utilize these different conditions and factors to further make presentations of my key learning. Globalization has modified the rate of speed at which the environmental factors changes and the amount of intricacy; diversity and competition exist around it (Hollensen, 2014). I have learnt that the political factors and economical factors not only influence the firm as a whole but also its employees. As the government regulations and laws like the excise duties, custom laws, trade laws, restricts or enables a market to operate in the global forum, it also plays a major role in establishing a suitable organizational culture through implementation of labour laws and human resource laws (Hummels, 2007). Therefore, my learning would initiate me to examine the global market as well as organizational environment of a company by performing market research based on these studies and it would help me to produce a well analysed market report in my further assignments. The economic, social, technological and ecological factors are very important and majorly affect the management functioning of a company. Therefore, my key areas of internal market understanding are valuing customers, satisfying and building customer loyalty, engaging in researches to build better customer-market relationships. My primary focus would be on technological skill enhancement and planning the right marketing strategies which would help me in future to develop my career. The sessions on the role of international trade and globalization has increased my horizon of knowledge on how global brands like KFC and Starbucks operate in the international market (Rauch and Trindade, 2002). The marketing strategies they implement to understand their customers, localize their brand to create identity and loyalty, as well as deciding on which mode of trading should be initiated to gain maximum return has enabled me to build by ideas on which strategies to implement, which would create a viable condition for the organization to survive in the international market. I have learnt how the labour laws and the human resource policies for global trade affect the management of the work force and the employees of an organization and how the off shoring strategies help in reducing the production cost as well as help in acquiring low-cost labour (Rauch and Trindade, 2002). International trade laws helps in diminishing trade barriers by harmonizing relations among nations leading to world peace (Hummels, 2007). Therefore, I have analyzed the benefits of international trade and that would help me on targeting customers and in positioning the product to extract maximum value and build a brand identity in the global as well as domestic market during my internship in a company as a trainee. Certain limitations of cross boundary trading have enabled me to analyze whether to outsource labour to a country or to offshore the production facility to a country with low-cost workers to help company attain economies of scale, as well as, how to achieve product customization depending on the customer need and perception. The lessons discussed on the fifth to eight week taught us how to overcome cultural barriers among cross boundaries business environment and conformity to ethics in business performance and marketing strategies. During marketing a product in countries with many sub dialects and different cultures and traditions, we should customise promotional strategies and build brand identity depending on the preferences and needs of the consumers of that particular market (Bloisi, Hunsaker and Cook,, 2007). For example, building brand loyalty and identity for Coca-Cola, by promoting it in regional language, changing the logo design and message according to traditional beliefs. Performing business process activities in an ethical manner is also a crucial aspect of responsible trading and it is our duty to conform to ethical practises during strategizing and planning in global trade (Gardiner, 2004). Therefore the lessons would help me understand the various cultural and traditional values of different countries and how to respect the ethical beliefs of different cultures in the market as well as within my peers coming from varied backgrounds. Reference List André, K. (2013)The ethics of care as a determinant for stakeholder inclusion and CSR perception in business education. Society and Business Review, 8(1), pp.32-44. Arribas, I., Perez, F. and Tortosa-Ausina, E. (2009) Measuring globalization of international trade: theory and evidence. World Development, 37(1), pp. 127-145. Bloisi, W., Hunsaker, P. L., and Cook, C. W. (2007) Management and organisational behaviour. 2nd European ed. Published Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill Education. Boatright, J. R. (2009) Ethics and the conduct of business. 6th ed., international ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J. ; London : Pearson Education International. Braley, S. J. F. (2008) Ethics incorporated: Department managers set and enforce guidelines. Meetings & Conventions, 36(1), pp. 58-66. Gardiner, S. M. (2004) Ethics and Global Climate Change. Ethics, 114(3), pp. 555-600. Griffith, D. A., Hoppner, J. J. (2013) Global marketing managers. International Marketing Review, 30(1), pp. 21-41. Hainmueller, J. and Hiscox, M. J. (2006) Learning to love globalization: Education and individual attitudes toward international trade. International Organization, 60(2), pp. 469-498. Hofstede, G. H., Minkov, M., and Hofstede, G. J. (2010) Cultures and organizations: software of the mind: intercultural cooperation and its importance for survival. 3rd ed. New York; London: McGraw-Hill. Hollensen, S. (2014) Global marketing: A decision-oriented approach. 6th ed. Published Harlow, England: Pearson. Hummels, D. (2007) Transportation costs and international trade in the second era of globalization. The Journal of Economic Perspectives, 21(3), pp.131-154. Kaynak, E., Ali, K., Clement, S.F. C. and Apil, A. R. (2013) Pattern of similarities/differences in time orientation and advertising attitudes: A cross-cultural comparison of Georgian and Macau consumers. Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, 25(4), pp.631-654. Keegan, W. J., and Green, M. C. (2013) Global marketing. 7th ed., global ed. Harlow ; Boston, Mass.: Pearson. Kim, S. and Shin, E. H. (2002) A longitudinal analysis of globalization and regionalization in international trade: A social network approach. Social Forces, 81(2), pp. 445-468. Kotler, P., and Keller, K. L. (2012) Marketing management. 14th ed., Global ed. Harlow: Pearson Education. Martin, K. D., Johnson, J. L., French, J. J.(2011) Institutional pressures and marketing ethics initiatives: the focal role of organizational identity. Academy of Marketing Science Journal, 39(4), pp.574-591. Mooij, M. K. (2010) Global marketing and advertising: Understanding cultural paradoxes. 3rd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA; London : SAGE. Moran, R. T., Moran, S.V.,Harris, P.R. (2011) Managing cultural differences: global leadership strategies for cross-cultural business success. 8th ed. Amsterdam : Butterworth-Heinemann. Rauch, J. E. and Trindade, V. (2002) Ethnic Chinese networks in international trade. Review of Economics and Statistics, 84(1), pp. 116-130. Schein, E. H. (2010) Organizational culture and leadership. 4th ed. San Francisco, Calif.: Jossey-Bass. Sun, J., Liu, F.X. (2009)The study of the Cultural Conflict and the Cultural Fusion in the Transnational Operations Management. Interdisciplinary Journal of Contemporary Research In Business, 1(3), pp.22-33. Appendix Week Two: About Globalization Globalization as a concept refers both to the density and the strengthening of awareness of the world as a whole (Roberson, 1992). Waters (2001) thinks that globalization is a societal process in which the constraints of topography on economic, cultural and social arrangements recede, in which people become more and more conscious that they are receding and people act accordingly. The benefits of globalization are that some of the people think that globalization is a good thing. The more there is free trade; more will be the economic growth. In fact, government provides some job opportunities, and welfare net. Nowadays, more and more people are having a superior standard of life because of globalization, and travelling has become frequent, whether its for business or enjoyment (Lewis, 2005). However as criticism, people think that the shortcomings are easy to see by looking at incidences that occur all over the world. Political decisions, weather calamities, wars, etc, no matter where they happens, seem to influence occupations, financial system, and even market (Lewis, 2005). Globalization may lead the disadvantaged companies to the situation of bankruptcy. In order to gain better development, a firm is much difficult to avoid the fierce competition in an open and liberal economic environment (The Economics, 2007). References Roberson, R. (1992) Social Theory and Global Culture. SAGE Publication Ltd. Waters, M. (2001) Globalization. 2nd ed. New York: Routledge. Lewis, W. (2005)Globalisation: Good or Bad? Guardian Unlimited.  The Economics.(2007) Hard Truths about Helping The Losers From Globalisation [Online]. Available from: http://www.economist.com/printedition/2015-02-13[Accessed on: 13rd February 2015]. Week three: Trading blocs A trading bloc is an alliance of countries that reduces intra-regional barriers to trade in commodities and services, capital, investment, and manual labour as well (Schott, 1991). However, trading blocs can be used to describe the formation of the NAFTA as a response to the European Union (EU), and the strategic change of ASEAN as a reaction to both NAFTA and the EU (Malhotra, et al., 1998). There have different levels of trading arrangements: (1) Zero integration: no methodical, financial inter-dependency, primarily because there is little if any monetary or social motive for trade (e.g. Outer Mongolia and the USA). (2) Bilateral treaties of limited scope: permissive agreements covering particular sector of commercial flows (e.g. Commerce and Friendship Treaty between the USA and Australia). (3) Free trade areas: each member state eliminates trade barriers to all the trading partners. (E.g. North American Free Trade Agreement of 1994). (4) Customs union: it involves the exclusion of formal trade barriers among the members and presumes a far wider range of policy consultation and conformity among the member states. (E.g. the original Benelux was a customs union). (5) Universal market: it requires not only the liberated movement of goods internally and common external tariffs but also full factor of production movement (labour, capital, etc.) within the definite market area. (E.g. EC 1992). (6) Economic union: it is the highest level of amalgamation, merging members into one single political entity. (E.g. EU) (Kenevan and Winden, 1993). Therefore, each of these phases assumes a union of the key elements of the marketing mix among the members (Robson, 1984).  Reference Kenevan, P. and Winden, A. (1993) Flexible free trade: the ASEAN free trade area. Harvard International Law Journal, 34(1), pp. 224-40. Robson, P. (1984) The Economics of International Integration. Allen and Unwin, London. Schott, J.J. (1991)Trading blocs and the world trading system. World Economy, 14(1), pp. 1-17. Malhotra, N. K., Agarwal, J. and Baalbaki, I.(1998) Heterogeneity of regional trading blocs and global marketing strategies A multicultural perspective. International Marketing Review, 15(6), pp.476-506. Wang, N.(2010) The Relationship between Regional Trading Blocs and Globalization. International Journal of Economics and Finance, 2(1), pp.171-173. Week four: Multinational Company As we all know, multinational company is defined as a company or an organization which operates in several different countries. Typically, Kumar (2013) said that the multinationals have functioned in developing countries, where they offer funds, technology and marketing skills in return of a lucrative market. One of the most important strategic motivations for them is to achieve higher value and market share through expansion of products and services (UNCTAD, 2008). Tata, the largest business and it was functioning in seven businesses with 96 companies in six continents, and employed 350,000 people (Tata, 2008)). For example, from 2000 to 2008, Tata acquired Jaguar, Land Rover, Tetley, General Chemicals (USA), 8 O clock Coffee, Pearl Group, Corus Steel (UK), NatSteel (Singapore), Daewoo (Korea), Millennium Steel (Thailand), CEC (China) and so on. All of these has strengthened the economic connections between one country and other countries all over the world and has taken part in the improvement and development of relevant countries and areas. However, according to Sethi (2009), those multinational companies will also take the challenge seriously. These challenges include competitive threat, technological backwardness, unsophisticated products, running of inefficient plant, lack of international experience, weak political institutions, corruption, financial imbalance etc. Oil and gas sector, the EEMs of India are the most disseminated, since they have to seek these limited resources globally despite of the logistical disadvantages (Sethi, 2009). Reference Kumar, N. (2013)Managing reverse knowledge flow in multinational corporations. Journal of Knowledge Management, 17(5), pp.695-708. Ghemawat, P. (2001) Distance still matters: The hard reality of global expansion. Harvard Business Review, 79(8), pp.137–147. Sethi, D. (2009) Are multinational enterprises from the emerging economies global or regional? European Management Journal, 27, pp.356–365. Tata. (2008) Leadership with trust[online]. http://www.tata.com/aboutus/sub_index.aspx?sectid=8hOk5Qq3EfQ=[Accessed on: 10th March 2015]. UNCTAD. (2008) World investment report 2008. United Nations, New York and Geneva, pp.26–32. Week Five: Culture This week was about the culture. After the classes, I came to know that culture is a symbol of the country. As we all know, culture has many different meanings. Some scholars consider that the culture is an appreciation of good literature, music, art, and food (Kim, 2012), while, others think that culture is the full range of learned human behavioural patterns (Kim, 2012). From those definitions, it can be concluded that culture is diversified. But it could be distinguished as the culture is a part of our identity. In this complex environment, people have come from all around the world and they often preserve much of their original traditions and customs (Kim, 2012). For example, its easy to spot subcultures in the United States including racial groups such as Chinese Americans, Mexican Americans and African Americans (Dongsheng, 2000). They have a common individuality, food tradition, dialect and other cultural behaviours. However, Carley (1991) thinks that culture is the distribution of information, either country to country or person to person, such as language, ideas, technical knowledge, etc. Therefore, the models of information diffusion are complementary as the transmission of elements of culture in a society. For example, translation is a cross - cultural language communicative activity, which is not only the process of language transformation, but also a kind of cultural transmission activity. Because Language is the carrier of information and translation are a cross-cultural communication, the essence of it is transmissibility. At the same time, I believe that education also is a typical communicating activity of culture. The nature of teaching and learning is to spread information. Reference Carley, K. (1991) A theory of group stability. American Sociological Review, 56(3). Dongsheng,F. (2000) Layers of Culture. Journal of Foreign Languages, 3. Kim, A. Z. (2012) What is Culture? Definition of Culture [Online]. Available from: http://www.livescience.com/21478-what-is-culture-definition-of-culture.html [Accessed on: 9th March 2015]. Week Six: Cultural difference in wedding between China and Western countries Wedding is an integral part of the culture, but also is an important moment in people’s life. Due to the difference in cultures between China and Western countries, these rituals and customs form their own characteristics. These characteristics are: 1. Wedding location. For Chinese, wedding is considered as lively, inviting many relatives and friends, therefore the wedding locations are generally chosen in convenient locations like a spacious courtyard or hotel. But in Western countries, wedding ceremony is held in a church or outdoor. 2. Dress colour. In Chinese wedding, the main colour is red, which is the Chinese traditional representative festival colour and generally the bride will wear red gowns. However, in Western wedding the main colours are white. The bride usually always wears white wedding dress, representing the holy and faithful (Ebster, 2005). 3. Wedding dress style. In China, traditional wedding dress is chaplet and official robes (Chew, 2007). Now due to westernisation of the cultures, many people also accepted the white wedding dress. Bride usually wears white wedding gown in the beginning, but when they toast, the bride will change the traditional dress into red colour (Anonymous, 2015). On the contrary, in the western wedding, the bride will always wear white wedding gown, while the groom wears a black suit which can make the whole wedding feel solemn (Anonymous, 2012). Conclusions As a result, 1. Chinese weddings are beaming whereas the Western weddings are romantic. 2. Chinese weddings emphasizes on the value of the ceremony, whereas the Western weddings emphasizes on the weddings sense. Reference Anonymous.(2012) The Culture of the Wedding Gown. Wall Street Journal (Online),12, pp. n/a. Anonymous.(2015) Wedding wows; Marriage. The Economist, 414(8927), pp. 38. Chew, M. (2007) Contemporary Re-emergence of the Qipao: Political Nationalism, Cultural Production and Popular Consumption of a Traditional Chinese Dress. The China Quarterly, 189, pp. 144-161. Ebster, D.M.(2005) The New American Wedding: Ritual and Style in a Changing Culture. Library Journal, 130(17), pp. 76. Week seven: Case study: Muslim Cola Bringing all the points of three weeks together and comparing them it focuses on the different cross cultural frameworks, the characteristics of culture bound and culture free products. While the seminars explores in more details the whole issue of Muslim Cola, first of all, Mecca Cola and Qibla Cola cannot compete with Coca Cola, because they pay more attention to religion and culture including beliefs. If Coca Cola wants to enter a new market, it will have to change their packaging and colour to meet the local culture. So, if Muslim Cola, that these cola companies want to attract on wider audience of Muslim, this is a problem. The approach was to position its brand name like Mecca as a brand that is also a badge of belief (Gray, 2003). But, political beliefs and political affairs may impact customer behaviour, rivalry, and company strategies. Furthermore, in current years, both the leading global brands are discussing about their local roots as brand. They need to change the packaging and bottle colour appeal to attract wider audience to buy it. However, as the CEO of the leading company Coca-Cola, it is unlikely that Muslim Cola poses a real risk to the well-established authority of Coke (Majidi and Passariello, 2003). Yet that doesnt mean American brands can afford to be content. "Consumer attitudes toward American brands can change quickly, if something put in the wrong place"(Geoffrey, 2003). Muslim Cola need to do some marketing researches about another countrys local culture, environment, and the main problem is to change the product on time. Reference Gray, R.(2003) Badge of belief. Marketing, pp.34-35. Majidi, N., and Passariello, C. (2003) After Iraq, Cola wars heat up[ online]. Business Week. Available from: http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/apr2003/nf20030417_5930_db039.htm. [Accessed on: 27th March 2015]. Geoffrey, A.(2003) The Assault on Iraq: Anti-American Tensions Try Multinationals Ties --- Longtime Building of Images As Local Brands Pays Off In Foreign Buyers Loyalty. Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition, New York, N.Y. Week Eight: Ethics and Koodo This week all together we learn about the Ethics, and the seminar held this week looked at the case study, Koodo mobile in the Canadian cell phone market. After reading this case, I found that Koodo was the first mobility company to eliminate commencement and system access fees as well as the first to offer Canadians more flexible and inexpensive data. While, facing these challenges, Koodo need to offer a transparent and straightforward approach to mobile service (Paul, 2010). Telus need to create an organization that reflects the true framework of our Canadian neighbourhoods from coast-to-coast, facilitating them to better comprehend and support the needs of their customers. Through this approach, the power of variety and inclusiveness to help them deliver on their top priority to consistently put their customers as their first preference in everything they do by being a authentic reflection of their culture, their markets and their customers (Paul, 2010). Both of them took some initiatives, for example, in 2003 Telus contributed to businesses such as Wapikoni Mobile in Rimouski, assisting social rehabilitation for Aboriginal youth through art programmes; the Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto’s Triangle Programme enabling LGBTQ and at-risk youth to be themselves and be valued for who they are; and the BC Wheelchair Basketball Society’s Let’s Play Programme that helps youth and children with disabilities to participate in sports. Meanwhile, Koodo also initiated a partnership with Scotia Bank and became their quality partner for their New Immigrant program. New Canadians participating in the Scotia Bank Startright program received an special offer of 30 free worldwide long distance minutes (Horn, 2014). After reading the article, I can see ethical marketing needs high ethical standards, while faith is the foundation for the competence and success of the market system and it is nurtured with high moral standards. The law alone is not sufficient to ensure a adequate quantity of honesty so that the marketplace operates smoothly and fairly. References Horn, J.(2014) Koodos Wrestler Hits The Small Screen. Strategy, pp. 8. Paul, J.(2010) Koodo pulls no punches with El Tabador. Strategy, pp. 23. Week Night: Polities and legal This week has introduced the political and legal aspect of PESTEL analysis. The two main types of law that affects global marketing are the political risks and the legal risk and here are some frameworks for analysis. Covered with Political factors, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental and Legal, PESTEL analysis is a structure or device used by firms to study the macro environment (Yüksel, 2012). This model plays an important role in the value conception of a strategy (Srdjevic, 2012). For Optimax, the Political factors are: 1. Trade barriers 2. Eye/sight government approach for 3. Healthcare business rules and regulation reception 4. intellectual property protection 5. stability of government 6. tax 7. qualification for laser eye operators 8. health insurance 9. Trade Tariff 10. Security management and sale management 11. Equipment 12. Trade restriction 13. Trademarks 14. Foreign currency exchange 15. Fixed assets and shares Economic factors can further be subdivided into two factors: macro-economical and micro-economical factors (Srdjevic, 2012). It includes Inflation rate, GDP growth rate, GDP etc. Furthermore, social factors can also help corporations to transform the strategies or help administration to adapt to any trends. These factors include innovation of technology and automatic technology (Yüksel, 2012). While, the legal factors are: 1. Discrimination law 2. Employment law 3. Safety standards 4. Legal litigation 5. Intellectual property protection 6. Employment law- opening law 7. Insurance requirements 8. Intellectual property protection 9. Employment law- opening law 10. Trading law 11. Health system 12. Advertising standards, 13. Product labelling 14. Product safety 15. Health-care risk All of these factors including trade tariffs and trade restrictions, etc are the screening criteria of the countries. Government factors have major influences on business environment or economic environment (Lin, 2006). These factors determine the level to which a government interferes in the economy (Yüksel, 2012). So, we can see that Political risks may cause changes in the political environment that may adversely affect the value of a firm’s business activities (Lin, 2006). References Lin, H. (2006) Ethical Applications of Technology in HRD: A PEST Analysis and Implications.19(4), PP. 91-105. Srdjevic, Z., Bajcetic, R. And Srdjevic, B. (2012) Identifying the Criteria Set for Multicriteria Decision Making Based on SWOT/PESTLE Analysis: A Case Study of Reconstructing A Water Intake Structure. 26(12), PP. 3379-3393. Yüksel, I. (2012) Developing a Multi-Criteria Decision Making Model for PESTEL Analysis. International Journal of Business and Management, 7(24), PP. 52-66. Week 12: Global Marketing Context This week has introduced the Global Marketing Context. Marketing environment affects the marketing management’s skills to build and sustain flourishing relationships with target customers. Marketing environment consists of two parts: Micro environment and Macro environment (LEONIDOUR, 2010). While, Micro environment includes the company, its suppliers, marketing intermediaries, customer markets, competitors and publics. Macro environment includes Demographic, Technological, Economic, Political, Nature and Cultural factors (Craig and Douglas, 2005). For example, Wal-Mart’s Macro environment deals with, 1. Demographic: according to Wal-Mart, there are 3 types of shoppers: price-value shoppers, brand concerned and price-sensitive affluent. 2. Economic: in 2007, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. reported a 10 percent increase in third-quarter profit, and in 2008, as the world largest retailer’s improved focus on low pricing thereby attracting low income shoppers around the world. 3. Nature: in October 2005, Walmart announced that it would employ several environmental measures to increase energy effectiveness. 4. Technological: in 2011, the company announced that it was testing its new “Walmart to go” home delivery system where clientele will be able to order particular items offered on their website such as groceries, toiletries, and household supplies (Castells, 1996) and this electronic business platform for the domestic market provided a better marketing environment. 5. Political: in 2011, Walmart donated 338 million lbs of food for hunger relief. By the end of this week, I have understood how these forces influence international marketing activities (Moyne, 1995). References Castells, M. (1996) The rise of the network society. Oxford, Blackwell Publishers. Craig, C.S. and Douglas, S.P. (2005) International Marketing Research. Wiley, New York, NY. LEONIDOUR, L.C., BARNES, B.R., SPYROPOULOU, S. and KATSIKEAS, C.S. (2010) Assessing the contribution of leading mainstream marketing journals to the international marketing discipline. International Marketing Review, 27(5), pp. 491-518. Moyne, S. (1995) Research note: international marketing management: a separate academic discipline. International Marketing Review, 12(3), pp. 5-14. Week 13: Global marketing Context and Risks This week we have watched an interview with Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba, and discussed a report with global risks 2015. Globalization refers to the transfer towards a more incorporated and mutually dependent world economy. Globalization has more than 5000 definitions, one of them provided by two Economists. Globalization is ‘the free movement of services, goods, ideas and public around the world (Stiglitz, 2002).’ While, global marketing focuses on resources, global market opportunities and threats, and difference in the scope of activities because global marketing occurs in markets outside the organization’s home country (Bartlett and Ghoshal, 2000). Globalization has more global risks and it includes political risk, country risk and exchange risk. If the company wants to reduce the global risk, they need to have good relationship with host government (Levitt, 1983). This is an indispensable condition for reducing the global risks. Another integral part is corporate social responsibility, which is about sexism against employees and employee satisfaction. Generally, we may see a rise in sex inequality suits in the place of work, especially if there are significant downsizing and employers let go off more women than men. In Alibaba, Jack Ma pays more attention to status of women. Many top managers were women in his company (World Economic Forum, 2015). However, employee satisfaction also was important which shows that employees were satisfied with their jobs (Stiglitz, 2002). References Bartlett, C.A. and Ghoshal, S. (2000) “Going Global: Lessons from Late Movers”. Harvard Business Review. Levitt, T.(1983) The Globalisation of Markets. Harvard Business Review. Stiglitz, J.(2002) “Globalisation and its Discontents”. W.W. Norton, New York, and Allen Lane, London. World Economic Forum. (2015) annual meeting [online]. Available from: http://webcasts.weforum.org/widget/1/davos2015?p=1&hl=english&a=62866 [Accessed on: 17th May 2015 ]. Read More