Critical Thinking of Global Marketing - Essay Example

Reflective Portfolio Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Part A: Critical Thinking of Global Marketing 3 Reflection 6 Reference List 9 Part A: Weekly Portfolio 11 Part A: Critical Thinking of Global Marketing The evolution of globalization has influenced the process of global marketing worldwide. According to Håkanson and Dow (2012), globalization increases interdependence of different countries due to the enhanced integration of finance, trade, ideas and people within the global marketplace. Hence, it influences the practices of global marketing. Lee and Carter (2011) have defined global marketing as the procedure of conceptualizing and conveying any product or services within the global marketplace while adjusting and modifying the marketing strategies of the organisation as per the various norms and condition of other countries. The emergence of globalization has highly influenced various internationalisation strategies of organisation in terms of their international trading procedure. Various organisations have started to market their products within a global platform, it has become essential to analyse and select various internationalization strategies such as standardization or adaptation of the marketing mix (Hise and Choi, 2011). Schmid and Kotulla, (2011) have described that increase in technologies has created a union of culture and similarities in customer demands. Therefore, this situation has developed the practice of standardization of international trading. Standardization approach has assisted organisations to achieve economies of scale while efficiently monitoring the global communication. The standardization of international trading strategy of Coca-Cola Company has enabled the organisation to treat their different market as a single global platform (Newburry and Yakova, 2006). Gerpott and Jakopin (2005) have argued against the implementation of standardization by stating that this process provides little scope of flexibility and marketing effectiveness while it can generate negative reaction due to neglecting local requirements. Alternatively, adaptation of local market allows marketers to modify their marketing mix as per local specifications which provide them comparatively strong hold of the global market. Different successful organisations have considered both standardization and adaptation to increase their global marketing reputation. McDonald’s has utilized both these strategies which assist them to maintain their standard in terms of product line, advertising and customer management. This process has assisted them to focus on modifying their product ingredients and specifications as per local taste preferences (Karpiarz, et al., 2014). The increase in globalized economy has also influenced local organisations to enter in the international market by utilizing different market entry modes such as franchising, licensing, joint venture and wholly owned subsidiaries (Welsh, Alon and Falbe, 2006). The entry modes depend on the product specification and the differences in the characteristics of markets. For instance, General Motors has entered in the China by joint venture process that enabled them to properly understand the market. Alternatively, various food joints, such as McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, have entered the global market through franchising to achieve economies of scale (Wilkie, 2007). Globalization has reduced the trade barriers within various countries that influence foreign direct investments. Hence, it allow organisation to invest in the developing country which further develop the economies of the countries. Alternatively, it also partially affects the local businesses (Welsh, Alon and Falbe, 2006). The emergence of globalization has demonstrated significant effect on the cultural diversity of different nation, region and countries. Iravani and Nazerian, (2012) have defined culture as the knowledge and characteristics of particular groups of people. The culture of various groups of people can differ in terms of language, education, religious beliefs, food habits and social habits. The increase in globalization has influenced marketers to analyse and properly understand the differences in cultures of different geographic location and communities before expanding businesses within those locations. The diversity of cultures occurs due to the differences in terms of family values, education, lifestyles and traditional believes. The cultural diversity of different communities affects their product preference, purchasing decisions etc (Iravani and Nazerian, 2012). As per example, the Chinese culture is more focused towards family values and collectivism. Therefore, the decision making process within China depends on the influence of all the members of the family, specially, the elder persons. Alternatively, the culture with the US follows individualism. Hence, it influences individual decision making practice. Organisations generally, utilize the theory of Hofstede’s cultural dimensions to understand the cultural differences of different market while internationalizing their business. This framework of Hofstede provides important details in terms of cultural communication within different geographical locations and regions. The model includes six dimensions, such as power distance, long-term orientation, masculinity, uncertainty avoidance, indulgence and individualism. It assists global organisations to evaluate the effectiveness of different cultures and their importance within different societies (Mazanec, et al., 2015). Power distance depicts the intensity of inequality of different individuals within any society while long-term orientation details the importance of trustworthiness. Masculinity defines the affinity of a society towards success. These attributes define the decision making process of any community. For instance, 80% of the population in China demonstrate power distance and 87% of them prefer long-term orientation. On the other hand, they don’t prefer individualism and uncertainly in their society. Therefore, it influences various organisations to modify their global marketing strategies accordingly (Elliott and Tam, 2014). During the globalization of business, proper understanding of the political and legal aspects of different countries is one of the major responsibilities of organisations. The differences in the political and legal characteristics of different countries can highly affect the global marketing strategies of organisations (McGrew and Lewis, 2013). The political aspects describe the political framework and regulations of different countries. The analysis of political aspects assists organisations to design their global marketing strategy as per the government stability, tax policy, trade control, import restrictions, trade tariff and intellectual property protection policies of different countries. Therefore, it allows the organisations to strengthen their market position within global marketplace (Al-Hyari, Al-Weshah and Alnsour, 2012). Simultaneously, understanding of the legal structure of different locations enables organisations to eliminate legal risks while expanding their business venture. The legal aspects include employment law, discrimination law, health and safety law and consumer protection law (Kapka-Skrzypczak, et al., 2011). Almost 52% of the revenue of Apple Inc. has been generated from their global business operations. The proper understanding of the political regulations of each market has allowed the organisation to maintain their business relation. Their manufacturing system also requires the assistance of different global market facilities such as China, Czech Republic, and Korea. The proper understanding of employment laws, trading laws, discrimination laws and legal framework of health and safety of consumers of those countries has allowed the organisation to efficiently utilize the manpower and resources of those locations (Scherer and Palazzo, 2011). Similarly, the inappropriate assessment of the political and legal environment of different locations can highly impact the globalization of different organisation. As per example, the improper assessment of global health and safety laws has caused legal barriers to KFC within a number of countries (Scherer and Palazzo, 2011). Ethical approach of global businesses assists organisations to ensure that business is placing the interests of their stakeholder above their financial goals. The ethical codes and conducts are implemented in different global businesses to ensure that a certain level of trust and transparency has been maintained within the organisational operations and their stakeholders (Yakovleva and Vazquez-brust, 2012). Ethical codes assist organisations to indulge in different corporate social responsibility within the global market place. Ethical behaviour of organisations and their corporate citizenship provides significant benefits to the global businesses. These activities assist organisations to reduce employee turnover. It also help organisation to improve their brand image while generating a strong relationship with the global stakeholders (Powell, 2011). The utilization of Carroll’s CSR pyramid allows organisations to enhance their social impacts within global platform. The first foundation of four tired pyramid describes the economic responsibilities that influences businesses to produce as per the need of society and sale them to make profit. This activity can assist them to return benefit to the shareholders, customers and employees. The next foundation details the legal responsibility of organisation that assists them to eliminate legal problems within global market. The inefficiency in this framework can cause serious consequences such as Microsoft faced legal barrier in Europe due to their unlawful monopolistic business venture (Calabrese, et al., 2013). The next foundation of the pyramid emphasizes on ethical responsibilities which assist organisations to focus on right and fair business activities (Jones, Bowd and Tench, 2009). The final stage of the pyramid describes the philanthropic responsibility that influences organisations to improve the quality of life of their employees and operating societies. As per example, the ethical practices of Walt Disney Company in terms of their global marketing strategy allow the organisation to restrict any kind of product promotion that causes health issue within Children. Moreover the organisation promotes various television, radio and internet programs that initiate awareness regarding child health and child obesity (Powell, 2011). Reflection My career inspiration to become an active part of global or multinational organisations has encouraged me to indulge in the study of different aspects of globalization. I have decided to learn about different international trading functions and strategies to analyse the operations of international organisation in the globalized market. As per my study I have learned the importance of standardization as well as adaptation strategy in terms of global marketing strategy of any business. The study has enlightened me that organisations require to consider the standardization and adaptation to improve their global marketing procedure. The standardization process allows organisations to maintain a brand reputation within global market. Simultaneously, the adaptation process allows organisation to modify their global marketing strategy as per local preferences. I have also learned that globalization has decreased the trade barrier within different geographical locations that influences organisations to utilize different market entry modes as per their products and market preference. This process has assisted developing countries to attract foreign investments while it can also affect the local business structure. The study regarding cultural differences is very important for us as it can assist us to analyse the specification of different culture. I have focused in learning the cultural aspects of globalization to understand the variation of cultural norms, believes and behaviour of different communities. It has also provided an in-depth view regarding the importance of understanding the cultural aspects of different geographical location. The analysis has detailed various medium that can enable me to understand the different cultural aspects and their impacts on the lifestyle, product preference and decision making process of the population in different global markets. It has provided detail understanding of the Hofstede six dimension model which clearly evaluates the cultural differences of different communities. The discussion regarding the political and legal aspects of different countries across the globe has been an essential part of this study. I have selected this topic to adequately understand the different approaches of political and legal system of any country and their impact in the global business decisions. This discussion has allowed me to properly evaluate the importance of different political as well as legal aspects while planning to expand business activities across the globe. The analysis and understanding of government regulations can enable me to assess the trade regulations, trade barriers, import regulations, tax policies and government stability of different countries. This analysis has enlightened me to assess the political and legal strengths and weaknesses of different locations. I have selected the subject area of ethics and social responsibility to properly understand the moral behaviour and obligations for different society. My urge to analyse the moral and ethical norms of different society and its effect on global business activities has encouraged me to select this subject. The discussion regarding ethics in globalisation of businesses has allowed me to properly understand the importance and application of ethical codes and conducts within business functions. It has also highlighted the effects of these activities in the business organisation, stakeholder’s life and social structure of the market. The study of ethics has also highlighted the different levels of social responsibility such as economical, legal, ethical and philanthropic. This study will enable me to design my future career path which can influence me to utilize different internationalization strategies for the local organisation. This learning can help me in my future aspiration to utilize local specification of the market to improve any business activity. This study will also enable me to understand and properly analyse the cultural differences and relative norms of population from different geographical location. Due to globalization we are regularly meeting people from different cultural background. The study of cultural aspect will assist me to properly deal with people from different cultural backgrounds in my personal as well as professional life. Therefore, it will increase my social bonding. It will also help me to assess any cultural discriminating activities within personal and professional life. The learning will also enable me to properly analyze the unlawful activities within society as well as business organisation. Therefore, it will restrict me from indulge in any illegal actions. The analysis of different ethical norms and practices will enabled me to incorporate ethical practices in my professional as well as personal life. It will assist me to differentiate within right and wrong activities. Hence, it will assist me to indulge in social welfare activities. Reference List Al-Hyari, K., Al-Weshah, G., Alnsour, M. (2012) Barriers to internationalisation in SMEs: evidence from Jordan. Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 30(2), pp.188-211. Calabrese, A., Costa, R., Menichini, T., Rosati, F. and Sanfelice, G. (2013) Turning Corporate Social Responsibility‐driven Opportunities in Competitive Advantages: a Two‐dimensional Model. Knowledge and Process Management, 20(1), pp. 50-58. Elliott, G. and Tam, C. C. C. (2014) Does culture matter to Chinese consumers? Empirical evidence. Australasian Marketing Journal, 22(4), pp. 314-324. Gerpott, T. J., Jakopin, N. M. (2005) International Marketing Standardization And Financial Performance Of Mobile Network Operators - An Empirical Analysis. Schmalenbach Business Review, 57(3), pp.198-228. Håkanson, L. and Dow, D. (2012) Markets and networks in international trade: on the role of distances in globalization. Management International Review, 52(6), pp. 761-789. Hise, R., Choi, Y.T. (2011) Are US companies employing standardization or adaptation strategies in their international markets? Journal of International Business and Cultural Studies, 4, pp.1-29. Iravani, M. R. and Nazerian, I. (2012) Culture and Globalization. Journal of Basic and Applied Scientific Research, 2(5), pp. 5228-5232. Jones, B., Bowd, R., Tench, R. (2009) Corporate irresponsibility and corporate social responsibility: competing realities. Social Responsibility Journal, 5(3), pp. 300-310. Kapka-Skrzypczak, L., Kulpa, P., Sawicki, K., Cyranka, M., Wojtyla, A. and Kruszewski, M. (2011) Legal highs-legal aspects and legislative solutions. Annals of Agricultural and Environmental Medicine, 18(2), pp. 32-45. Karpiarz, M., Fronczak, P. and Fronczak, A. (2014) International trade network: fractal properties and globalization puzzle. Physical review letters, 113(24), pp. 248-701. Lee, K. and Carter, S. (2011) Global marketing management. Strategic Direction, 27(1).), pp. 21-34. Mazanec, J. A., Crotts, J. C., Gursoy, D. and Lu, L. (2015) Homogeneity versus heterogeneity of cultural values: An item-response theoretical approach applying Hofstedes cultural dimensions in a single nation. Tourism Management, 48, pp. 299-304. McGrew, A. G. and Lewis, P. (2013) Global politics: globalization and the nation-state. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. Newburry, W., Yakova, N. (2006) Standardization preferences: a function of national culture, work interdependence and local embeddedness. Journal of International Business Studies, 37(1), pp.44-60. Powell, S. M. (2011) The nexus between ethical corporate marketing, ethical corporate identity and corporate social responsibility: An internal organisational perspective. European Journal of Marketing, 45(9/10), pp. 1365-1379. Powell, S. M.(2011) The nexus between ethical corporate marketing, ethical corporate identity and corporate social responsibility. European Journal of Marketing, 45(9/10), pp.1365-1379. Scherer, A. G. and Palazzo, G. (2011) The new political role of business in a globalized world: A review of a new perspective on CSR and its implications for the firm, governance, and democracy. Journal of management studies, 48(4), pp. 899-931. Schmid, S. and Kotulla, T. (2011) 50 years of research on international standardization and adaptation—From a systematic literature analysis to a theoretical framework. International Business Review, 20(5), pp. 491-507. Welsh, D. H. B., Alon, I., Falbe, C. M. (2006) An Examination of International Retail Franchising in Emerging Markets. Journal of Small Business Management, 44(1), pp.130. Wilkie, K. (2007) Franchising Strikes a Cord "Down Under". Franchising World, 39(2), pp.83-87,12. Yakovleva, N., Vazquez-brust, D. (2012) Stakeholder Perspectives on CSR of Mining MNCs in Argentina. Journal of Business Ethics, 106(2), pp.191-211. Part A: Weekly Portfolio Week Two: Globalisation Globalization is a controversial topic now a day as a large number of people have provided more attention towards the globalization and its effects. A number of explanations of globalization focus on the importance of cross-border trade. As per instance, according to Ohmae, (1995) globalization can be defined as the abolition of borders and barriers which influences trade relations between nations. The International Monetary Fund describes globalization as "the growing economic interdependence of countries worldwide through increasing volume and variety of cross-border transactions in goods and services, freer international capital flows, and more rapid and widespread diffusion of technology" (International Monetary Fund. 1999). There are some different opinions regarding globalization. Supporters view globalization as the opportunity in terms of prosperity and economic growth. On the other hand, opponents describe it as a threat to political sovereignty, prosperity, cultural integrity, and environment (Osland, 2003). In developed countries, the primary concerns can be considered as the potential job loss of workers. On the other hand, developing countries worry about political sovereignty and loss of the control of their economies (Champlin & Olson, 1999). For example, globalization has enhanced the access of more goods for consumers in a number of developed as well as developing countries. It has also reduced prices due to competition with local monopolies as well as increased food supply due to industrial agricultural in some countries (Evenett, 1999). In addition, globalization has positive impacts on labour condition as workers within developing countries are receiving quality education and training from multinational companies due to globalization (Osland, 2003). However, Globalization has been blamed for increasing the conflict between new groups of haves and have-nots, well educated and poorly educated, technologically skilled and unskilled population. It has also enhanced conflict between the populations that are living in successfully competing countries in the global economy and those who do not (Champlin & Olson, 1999). Regardless how exposed they are, countries differ widely in their ability to cope with globalization (Osland, 2003). References Champlin, D., and Olson, P. (1999) The impact of globalization on U.S. labor markets: redefining the debate. Journal of Economic Issues, 33(2), pp.443-451. International Monetary Fund. (1999) World economic outlook: A survey by the staff of the International Monetary Fund. Washington, DC: Author. Ohmae, K. (1995) The end of the nation state. New York: Free Press. Osland,J.S.(2003)Broadening the debate the pros and cons of globalization. Journal of Management Inquiry, 12(2), pp.137. Evenett, S. J. (1999) The world trading system: The road ahead. Finance & Development, 36(4), p.22. Week Three: Trading Blocs Nowadays, more and more people are paying attention towards the trading blocs and globalization. According to Wang’s (2010) theory, since the 1960s, competing with the outside world was an important phenomenon for organisations within different countries across the world. After the phase of World War II, a large portion of Western European countries had became very dependent on the United States, which reduced their competitive position and independence within the economy. Since the economy recovery after 1960s, various European countries began to search for economic as well as political independence (Jackson, 1998). In the early 1960s, the Western European countries started to look for ways of cooperation in different fields to compete with Japan and U.S., along with various developed countries. Major purposes for the establishment of trading blocs are to arrange easier trade within the regions, and to increase the economic efficiency and competitiveness of their productions (Schott, 1991). Certainly, trading blocs demonstrate various effects on globalization, such as speeding of the readjustment of each country’s industrial setup, international political confrontation, promoting direct investment and arranging keener competitiveness in international trade (Schott, 1991). However, trading blocs within the regional level can be considered as the barrier to globalization (Malhotra, et al., 1998). Trade bloc influences mutual trade pact between two countries in terms of agreeing to give each other reduced trade tariffs and other accommodations. It also influences trade barriers and restrictions to nonmember nations (Schiff, 2000). Globalization illustrates various changes in world economy and societies which result from dramatically increased international trade and cultural exchange (Waters, 2001). Therefore, these definitions depicts that there are no significant differences in their natures. The former one is regional and the latter is global. Reference Jackson, J. H. (1998) The World Trade Organisation : constitution and jurisprudence. London: Pinter. 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. Schott, J.J. (1991)Trading blocs and the world trading system. World Economy, 14(1), pp. 1-17. Schiff, M. (2000) Trade Blocs. Oxford University Press. Wang, N.(2010) The Relationship between Regional Trading Blocs and Globalization. International Journal of Economics and Finance, 2(1), pp.171-173. Waters, M.(2001) Globalization. 2nd ed. New York: Routledge. Week Four: Multinational Company After the classes of this week, we have understood that multinational company means a company that has set up some subsidiaries in other countries. Kumar (2013) considers that multinational company refers to any corporation that is registered as well as operating in more than one country at a time. Barnet and Miille (1974) also think that the multinational corporations possess their headquarters in one country while they operate through partially or wholly owned subsidiaries within a number of countries. After reading several relevant articles, I have some ideas about international companies. Through global operation, companies can earn better resources, high market share while lowering down the employee cost. Therefore, this procedure assists them to achieve higher profits. For example, through global expanding, Tata group achieved 7% growth in revenues to $103.3 billion in 2014 (Tata group, 2015). The revenues generated from international markets accounted 58% of its total revenues. However, they need to be careful about the challenges of their international markets as there are several risks they are facing, such as the exchange rate risk, political risks, and cultural issues. In addition, according to UNCTAD (2008), multinational enterprises need to be patient as they can’t achieve their returns from the investments within a year or two. Building a strong business model within the emerging markets and developing market centric product portfolio at a lucrative price may take up to a decade (UNCTAD, 2008). Reference Barnet, R. J. and Miiller, R. E.(1974) The Power of the Multinational Corporations. Global Reach, NY: New York. Kumar, N. (2013) Managing reverse knowledge flow in multinational corporations. Journal of Knowledge Management, 17(5), pp.695-708. UNCTAD (2008) World investment report 2008. United Nations, New York and Geneva, pp.3-9. Tata group. Financial highlights [online]. Available from: http://www.tata.com/htm/Group_Investor_GroupFinancials.htm [Accessed: 13 March 2015]. Week Five: Identification of Culture Nowadays, culture has become a hot topic of discussion, due to the increase in the impacts of international forces. Furthermore, culture is a virtual or physical entity which can perceive its environment and communicate with others. Culture has different kinds of behaviour, beliefs, and knowledge (Mulder et al., 2006). A number of definitions have introduced to illustrate the meaning and impacts of Culture. According to Bailey and Peoples (1998), culture can be defined as the knowledge and behaviour shared by different groups of people within various societies. At the same time, similarly to Bailey and Peoples, Morgan and Sousa-Poza (2005) see the content of the culture as a shared system of value and perception. To some extent, globalization brings much convenience to our life. However, the one thing we ignore is that the variety of culture is gradually disappearing. As regards to the big countries, they try hard to expand the radius of their cultural influence. They utilize their advantages in trade and technology to sweep their values across the whole world to attain the purpose of managing the most important affairs on the international stage. For example, people all over the world now can gain much rejoice from the Hollywood movies, McDonald’s hamburgers and many other things from foreign countries (Ardalan, 2009). However, small countries are compelled to be a recipient of the western culture and have to be yielded to admit the stronger countries’ value and belief for the need of trade and peace (Harris, 1975). Reference Ardalan, Kavous. (2009) Globalization and culture: four paradigmatic views. International Journal of Social Economics, 36 (5), pp.513-534. Bailey, G. and Peoples, J.(1998) Introduction to Cultural Anthropology. Wadsworth Pub-lishing. Harris, M. (1975) Culture, people, nature: An introduction to general anthropology. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell. Morgan, H. and Sousa-Poza, A. (2005) Project Management: A Cultural Literary Review. Project Management Journal, 36 (2), pp.5-14. Mulder, M.B., Nunn, C.L., and Towner, M.C. (2006) Cultural macro evolution and the trans-mission of traits. Evolutionary Anthropology, 15(2), pp. 52–64. Week Six: Cultural Difference in Education between China and Western Countries There are a number of differences within the education system between Chinese and Western culture due to the differences in the family values. China people provide great importance towards the reputation of child educating. The purpose of education is for making their living or for honor (Jie and Qiong, 2012). On the other hand, Western people consider that education is not the preparation for making the living, but for survival. This emphasizes on “the learned education” (Hayhoe, 1989). Education method is also different for Chinese and Western society. Chinese education emphasizes on mechanical memorizing. However, education of Western countries emphasizes on the child’s “power of understanding”. The differences also include educating and teaching children to manage money. In China, managing the wealth is the duty of adults. Parents earn money to support family and try every means to meet the requirements of their children (Lee, 2012). However, in Western countries, parents generally educate their children to make plans for budget items, and learn to spend money reasonably. At the same time, parents encourage the child to work outside to be self-dependent. All in all, in comparison to Western countries, the education of China is more traditional and more systematic (Jie and Qiong, 2012). It is essential for the development of intelligence of children. Training and education for many years also can enable the student to have the collective consciousness, the strong sense of responsibility and discipline (Melvin, 2006). Alternatively, most of the parents in China and Western countries pay proper attention to home education. Reference Hayhoe, R. (1989) Chinas universities and Western academic models. Higher Education, 18, pp.49-85. Jie, H. and Qiong, H.(2012) Study on Higher Education Sustainable Development of Chinas Western Region. Canadian Social Science, 8(3), pp. 98-102. Lee, M.H. (2012) The One-Child Policy and Gender Equality in Education in China: Evidence from Household Data. Journal of Family and Economic Issues, 33(1), pp.41-52. Melvin, S. (2006) Chinas college revolution [Online]. The Wilson Quaterly. Available from: http://www.wilsoncenter.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=wq.essay&essay_id=202992[Accessed on:19th March 2014]. Week Seven: Cross Cultural Management of Muslim Cola This week brings in all together and focuses on the different existing cross-cultural frameworks. The main goal of this study is to compare different cross-cultural activities. It also looks at the characteristics of culture bound and culture free products. The seminar has described the case study about Muslim Cola. This case deals with the marketing process of cola by Muslim-led businesses as a number of consumers boycotted American products (Business World, 2003). This emphasizes on the political events that impact on consumer behaviour, business strategy and competition. This situation causes the launch of new soft drinks brands Qibla-Cola and Mecca as all the cola companies face similar problems. They are up against the world’s most valuable brand, Coca-Cola as it is unlikely that any of the Muslim colas poses a real threat to the entrenched hegemony of Coke (Majidi and Passariello, 2003). However, Qibla’s manufacturer intends to appeal to a far wider audience than an Islamic one, but Islamic values are undoubtedly integral to its proposition. Its approach has positioned Qibla as a badge of belief (Gray, 2003). The rise of Muslim Cola is inevitable because it has adapted the local culture, like Qibla. The products’ packaging and taste parallels with Coca-Cola as it was intended to ‘leverage’ Coke’s global image and make consumers aware of Islamic alternatives like Qibla (Datson, 2003). While, Coke and Pepsi were ‘un-Islamic’, Muslim Cola offers products that match with muslin culture and their preferences and needs. Reference Business World. (2003) Anti-war, consumer groups launch boycott of 10 leading US products. Business World (Manila), p. 1. Datson, T. (2003) Muslim Cola – idealism or marketing froth [online]. Available from: http://www.reuters.co.uk. [Accessed on: 26th March 2015]. 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: 26th March 2015]. Week Eight: Ethics and Case of Koodo Mobile This week focuses on Ethics and the seminar looks at the case of Koodo mobile in the Canadian cell phone market. Koodo was a subsidiary of Telus, and it is a youth-oriented brand. Koodo branded itself as a low-cost cell phone provider which does not possesses any hidden charges and customer inflexibility. It also assists the customers to get rid to the system access and some fees. When Koodo is facing new challenges, it should have launched a partnership with other company to became their featured partner for New Immigrant program (Brown, 2011). They also need to be focused on offering a simple and transparent approach to mobile service. While, Telus should increase connections with their customers and further their understanding of their clients’ needs. It also needs to reduce the cost and enhance their positioning in changing market conditions. After reading other articles about Koodo and Telus, we can see that Koodo launched affinity marketing in partnership with Scotia bank and became their featured partner for their New Immigrant program (Horn, 2013). It also supports social change with Koodo nation, an online hub that connects busy people with non-profits through micro-volunteering in 2013 (Horn, 2013). However, between 2012 and 2013, for the first time, TELUS sponsored the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation. TELUS teamed up with Rethink Breast Cancer and the Quebec Breast Cancer Foundation (QBCF) to create an exclusive offer in support of women with breast cancer (Anonymous, 2014). Normative Perspectives for Ethical and Socially Responsible Marketing presents a comprehensive, normative examination of the ethical marketing practice. Our approach is firmly grounded in the centrality of exchange to marketing and the inherent role of societal outcomes attributable to the marketing system. References Marketing. (2014) BRAND DOCTOR: PATIENT: TELUS. Marketing,119(3), pp.46. Brown, D. (2011)THE BIRTH OF A FREEDOM FARTER. Marketing,116(6), pp.13. Horn, J. (2013) Cause + Action Awards. Strategy, p. 22. Week Nine: Political and Legal Aspect This week focuses on political and legal aspects of PESTEL analysis. The seminar evaluates the case of UK Optimax laser eye surgery clinic of South Korea. During the transfer of business operations from one country to other, organizations need to properly understand and adapt the local political and legal factors of each operating market as per their marketing needs. If Optimax laser eye surgery clinic wants to expand their business into South Korea, it needs to pay more attention towards the political and legal framework of the country. PESTEL analysis includes Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental and Legal aspects. This PESTLE framework has been highly used by strategic leaders to analyse the external macro-environment of any market (Lin, 2006). Political factors include: 1. Trade barriers 2. Government approach for eye/sight treatment 3. Healthcare business rules and regulation reception 4. Intellectual property protection 5. Stability of government 6. Tax 7. Qualification of laser eye operators 8. Health insurance policies 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 Alternatively, legal aspects include: 1. Trading law 2. Opening law 3. Safety standards 4. Legal litigation 5. Intellectual property protection 6. Employment law- opening law 7. Insurance requirements 8. Discrimination law 9. Health system 10. Advertisement standards 11. Product labelling 14. Product safety 15. Healthcare risk Optimax suffers due to the weak political condition of the country. The stability factor of the country is still an important matter. The global economic crisis has highly affected the economy of the countrys (Al Khattab, 2006 ). I consider that political factors are the most threatening for businesses as political factors can cause risk in terms of investing in a country. Political risks dependent on changes in the business environment that may adversely affect operating profits and value of assets in a specific country ( Lee et al. , 2011). References Al Khattab, A. (2006) Political risk assessment in Jordanian international firms. PhD thesis, University of Huddersfield, Huddersfield. Lee, W., Huang, A., Chang, Y. and Cheng, C. (2011) Analysis of decision making factors for equity investment by DEMATEL and analytic network process. Expert Systems with Applications, 38(7), pp. 8375-83. Lin, H. (2006) Ethical Applications of Technology in HRD: A PEST Analysis and Implications.19(4), PP. 91-105. Week Twelve: Global Marketing Context This week focuses on global marketing context which includes Micro-environment and Macro-environment analysis. The analysis of economic, political, competitive, technological, natural, demographic and cultural environment is crucial as these environmental factors can highly affect company’s decision in terms of market entry strategy (Leonidour, et al, 2010). A per instance, economic situation in a country determines its market potential. It is one of the most essential factors that any companies need consider when they decide whether to enter a market, and determine a company’s marketing scopes and activities. Meanwhile, when assessing a country’s economic situation, marketers also need to evaluate its national income, which has an impact on the market potential and consumer’s purchasing power (Schoell and Guiltinan, 1988). However, the government sometimes imposes control to restrict foreign companies in terms of competing in certain area, such as the areas concerning national security (Peterson and Jolibert, 1995). Therefore, the good relationship with local government, local people, suppliers, the media and other business partners will result in a good corporate image in the local markets. Generally, difference in the business environment causes success of business strategy in one market while failure in other (Schoell and Guiltinan, 1988). In other words, it can be explained that the differences in the environment of business may cause changes in the business strategies. Organisation should adapt business strategies to match the environment of the market. Reference 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. Peterson, R.A. and Jolibert, A.J.P. (1995) A meta-analysis of country-of-origin effects. Journal of International Business Studies, 26 (4), pp. 883-900. Schoell, W. F. and Guiltinan, J. P. (1988) Marketing. 3rd ed. Boston, MA.: Allyn and Bacon, Inc. Week Thirteen: Global Marketing and Risk Management Globalization means the interdependence of different countries economies all across the world. According to Ritzer (2008), globalization is the integration of trade, economies, finance, and business market among different countries all over the world. Globalization helps companies to make global expansion and develop global competitive advantages. Therefore, effective global marketing activities play essential role in developing competitive advantages. But Moffett, Stonehill and Eiteman (2012) suggested that international companies should be aware of various risks, such as political risk, country risk, and so on, that raise from the host countries due to the changes of political and economic decision and environment. How can an international company reduce those risks? Jack Ma in the video proposed that creating good relationship with the government of host countries is an essential way to reduce those risks. Lee and Hong (2012) stated that host government would provide support such as the legal protection for a global company to reduce the loss in any risks. In addition, Jack Ma argued that a company should pay attention to corporate social responsibility, which includes increasing the satisfaction level of employee and gender and sex equality. He said we need to highlight the rights and contribution of women in an organization. As a result, corporate social responsibility has great positive impacts on the financial performance, service quality, corporate image, and purchase intentions of a company (Huang, et al., 2014). Reference Huang, C., Yen, S., Liu, C., and Huang, P. (2014) The Relationship Among Corporate Social Responsibility, Service Quality, Corporate Image And Purchase Intention. International Journal of Organizational Innovation, 6(3), pp. 68-84. Lee, S. and Hong, S. J. (2012) Corruption and subsidiary profitability: US MNC subsidiaries in the Asia Pacific region. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 29(4), pp. 949-964. Moffett, M, Stonehill, A, and Eiteman, D. (2012) Fundamentals of Multinational Finance. 4th ed. New Jersey: Pearson. Ritzer, G. (2008) The Blackwell Companion to Globalization. New York: John Wiley & Sons. Read More