A fundamental shift is occurring in the world economy. The world is getting closer in terms of cross border trade and investment, by distance, time zones, languages and by national differences in government regulation, culture and business systems and toward a world in which national economies are merging into one huge interdependent global economic system. Globalization is affecting firms that previously operated in a nice, easy, protected national market. It also illustrates the increasing importance of thinking globally. Globalization is the trend toward a more integrated global economic system. Globalization is also termed as the shrinkage of economic space. The rate at which this shift is occurring has been accelerated recently. Two Faces of Globalization Globalization has two faces: 1. Globalization of Markets Globalization of markets refers to the fact that in many industries historically distinct and separate national markets are merging into one huge global marketplace. There is a Continue reading
International Business Basics
Political Environment of International Business
Political factors constitute an important environment factor in International Business. Actually politics and economics are inter-related as one influences the other. That was the reason for early writers of Economics preferred to caption their work as Political Economy. Political system, political parties in power, political parties in the opposition, political maturity of the parties, number of political parties, political awareness of people, political stability and the like have great impact on the business environment in a country. The economic policies pursued by a Government are to a great extent the by-product of political environment that impacts businesses very often. Basic Political Ideologies Political ideology refers to, ‘the body of ideas, theories, aims and means to execute the ideas, adapt the theories and fulfill the aims that constitute a sociopolitical programme for action’. Depending on the mix of different ‘ideas, theories, aims and means’, there exists Pluralism, Democracy and Totalitarianism as Continue reading
The Concept of Co-Sourcing
New methods of outsourcing are today redefining the way of working. Co-sourcing is a situation of partial outsourcing, in which a business function or process is performed by both internal staff and by an external party or external resources, such as consultants or outsourcing vendors, with specialized knowledge of the business function. Compared to full outsourcing, for the traditional owner of the processes, co-sourcing has advantages of staying in control, a non-transactional partnership and the ability to grow the own knowledge level of the co-sourced process. One such way is co-sourcing which is an investment relationship marked by shared objectives, shared risks and shared rewards between two companies, one of which is a service provider. Specifically, the service provider would have to help restructure the company and be willing to make new investments, while driving out costs from the co-sourcing company’s existing ways working. Although it may seem similar to Continue reading
Marketing Strategies Adopted by Global Companies
Marketing strategies adopted by Global Companies can be broadly classified as follows: 1. A Global Strategy It treats the world as a single market. This strategy is warranted when the forces for global integration are strong and the forces for national responsiveness are weak. This is true of the consumer electronics market, for example, where most buyers will accept a fairly standardized pocket radio, CD player, or TV. Matsushita has performed better than GE and Philips in the consumer electronics market because Matsushita operates in a more glob ally coordinated and standardized way. 2. A Multinational Strategy It treats the world as a portfolio of national opportunities. This strategy is warranted when the forces favoring national responsiveness are strong and the forces favoring global integration are weak. This is the situation in the branded packaged-goods business (food products, clean ing products). Unilever can be cited as a better performer than Continue reading
Marine Insurance – Meaning, Definition and Types
Marine insurance is a contract of indemnity whereby the assurer or underwriter agrees, for a stated consideration, known as the premium, to protect and indemnify the shipper and/or owner of the goods against loss, damage, or expense in connection with the goods at risk, if the damage is caused by perils specified in the contract known as the policy of insurance. When the goods have left the shipper’s plant or warehouse and are in the course of transportation, shipper has no physical means for the protection of these goods and must rely upon the ability of the transportation company to which he entrusts them for safe delivery at their intended destination. In addition, there are perils and hazards which the goods may encounter and which are beyond control of the carrier. Hence the importance of marine insurance can well be appreciated. The carrier in export trade is not an insurer Continue reading
Social Aspects of International Advertising
When we consider International Advertising from the advertiser’s point of view, according to them the primary objective of advertisement is that the product or services which they are offering should be sold in the market. And in achieving the main objective of selling the product or services there are other profound consequences. Advertising puts an influence which is both persuasive and pervasive in nature. Through the selective reinforcement of certain language and values, and social goal, it acts as important force attitudes that underlie behavior not only in the market place, but also in all aspects of life. In an international marketing concern, advertising has an important social influence in a number of ways: many of the international advertising are designed to promote and introduce new products from one market to another. Often this results in sudden change in life-styles, behavior patterns of a society, stimulating for example the adoption Continue reading