Using examples critically discuss the following statement.docx

Using examples critically discuss the following statement.docx

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Usingexamplescriticallydiscussthefollowingstatement

Usingexamples,criticallydiscussthefollowingstatement:

“Today,countrycultureisbecominglessandlessimportant.Globalmarketsegmentsdominate.

Ifyouhavetherightproduct,anyonewillbuyit.”

ThereandBackAgain:

TheOscillationofCollectivistandIndividualistSocieties,fromGlobalCorporationstoBlackMarketWeapons

–HeleddStraker–

Introduction

Everywherewelooktoday,weseecompaniesfromindustrialisedcountriesspreadingtheirtentaclesouttothefurthestreachesoftheglobe.Onthesurface,thissuggeststhatthetraditionalbarriersofcountryculturearedissolvingasglobalfirmsunitetheworldthroughglobalmarketsegmentation.Ifyouhavetherightproductandtailoritintheappropriatemannerforyourtargetmarket,thenno-onewillbeabletoresistitsappeal.Thisessaywillcriticisetherelevanceofthisassumptionwithregardstoindustriesindevelopedcountries,challengingexistingtheorieswhichtendnottoconsiderthefactorsoftimeandhumanbehaviour.Iwillfocusonideasproposedbyscholarswhoarguethatsocieties,andthusmarkets,areinconstantstateofflux.Thismeansthatafirm’s“right”productwillbeeffectiveonlyforalimitedtime,andthatculturesandhumanbehaviour,nomatterhowadversetheymayseem,caneasilyrestraintheactofpurchasingaproduct,nomatterhow“right”itmayseem.

Splitintofourparts,thisessaywillfirstoutlinethecurrenttheories,includingscholarsfightingtheStandardisation-Adaptationbattle,Levitt（1983）andDouglas（1997）.Kotler（2004）focusesoninnovation,because,asOshry（1999）argues,societiesshiftandoscillateassystems,suggestingthatafixedstrategy,ofeitheradaptationorstandardisation,wouldlikelyberendereduselessovertime.Asaproposedalternative,argumentsforandagainstMaslow’sHierarchyofNeeds（1954）willbemade,suchasRodgers（2004）,inunderstandingandrespondingtochangingmarketneeds.

Inthesecondsection,theseanalyseswillbeappliedtoglobalfirmsCoca-colaandMcDonald’s,todemonstratehowtheirperformancesaffectandareaffectedbysocio-economicshifts.Thethirdpartwilldiscussindustrieswithacurrentlynarrowermarket,suchasVirgin’sGalacticspacetourismandtheblackmarketforsmallweapons,andwillillustratethegreaterextenttowhichtheyareaffectedbytheoscillationofindividualismandcollectivisminindustrialsocieties.

Thefourthsectionwillbetheconclusion,drawingthesecasestogetherandsuggestingthat,althoughCoca-colaandMcDonald’shavesuccessfullyadaptedtheirstandardisedstrategiesinresponsetoindividualisticneeds,theywerereactiveratherthanproactive,questioningthevalidityofstaticframeworksastoolstopredictmarketchanges.WithregardstotheblackmarketweaponsindustryandVirgin’sspacetourism,itwillbesuggestedthatthetheoriesarestillnotdynamicenoughanddonotaccountforhumangreed.

Iwillthusillustratethatbothcountryculturesandglobalmarketsegmentsmatter,astheyfightoneanotherinanever-endingcycle,whichcanonlymeanthat“ifyouhavetherightproduct,anyonewillbuyit”isatoostaticastatementtobeapplicableinthisever-changingworld.

Staticvs.DynamicTheories&Frameworks

“Allcanknowgoodonlybecausethereisevil…

Frontandbackfollowoneanother.”

Tostandardiseortoadapt?

Scholarsseemconstantlytobedebatingandseekingtoprove,onceandforall,thatavariationofoneortheotheristheperfectglobalmarketingstrategy.

Levitt（1983）ferventlystatesthatsuccessfulglobalfirmsshouldstandardiseallvalue-addingactivities.Thisisduetofactorssuchastechnologicaladvancements,whichhaveexposedtheworldtothewondrouspossibilitiesoftheindustrialisedcountries.Thustheworld’stastesbecamehomogenised,aspeoplefromeveryconceivablesocio-economicbackgroundseektoacquirethese‘superior’products.

“Theproductsandmethodsoftheindustrializedworldplayasingletuneforalltheworld,

andalltheworldeagerlydancestoit.”

Hearguesthatcountryculturesarebecomingirrelevant,aspeoplearemorethanwillingtogiveuptheirancienttraditionsforagoodquality,lowcostproduct.

Thereare,however,discrepanciesinLevitt’sargument,forexampleheadvisescompaniestolookforsimilarmarketselsewhere,whichimpliesthattherearealsodissimilarmarketsegmentsinwhichtheproductcouldnotbesold.Douglas（1997）commentsthatcustomersinmaturemarketsaremoredemandingthanthoseinlessdevelopedmarkets,meaningthatfirmsneedtoadapttheirproductstoservetheirdifferingneeds.Douglasagreesthatstandardisationcanbeeffectiveinasmallnumberofcircumstances;however,Douglasconcludesthatfirmsshouldeachadoptahybridstrategyofstandardisationandadaptation,accordingtoindividualrequirements.

Ratherthanadoptinganoverallstandardised,adaptive,orhybridapproach,Kotler（2004）stressestheimportanceofsearchingforwaystopredictthefuture,includingbetterbrandmanagement,bettertechnologiesandmovementsofcompetitors.Societiesareconstantlyshifting,requiringfirmstocontinuallyinnovateandknowwhatamarketsegmenttrulywantsnowandinthefuture.

Indeed,theproblemwithaglobalfirmformulatingandimplementingoneofthementionedstrategiesisthatitmaybeunabletochangeinaccordancewithinevitable,yetseeminglyunpredictablesocio-economicshifts.

Manyhavenotedandtriedtopredictthemovementofsystemsandunderstandhowextremesgiverisetooppositionandreversal.Forexample,KarlMarxinhisCommunistManifesto（1847）predictedthattheindividualiststateofthebourgeoisiewillcausetheoppressedproletarianworkerstobandtogetherandrevolt.Halal（1993）mentionstheparadoxofsocietalintegrationcausinggreaterdiversification,withincreasingnumbersofgroupsseekingindependenceandseparateidentities.

BarryOshry（1999）unitesthesetwoobservationsbyexamininghowandwhysocietiesfluctuate.His‘PowerLab’experimentsshowedhowallsystemsarecomprisedofadelicatebalanceofthreepolarscales,definingvariationsofindividualismandcollectivism,which:

individuateorintegrate;differentiateorhomogenise;andstabiliseorchangeovertime.Whenasocietybecomesunbalanced,oneofthestatesorculturesbecomestoodominant,butasaresult,itsoppositecounterculturerisesup,andtheequilibriumisrestored.Sterman（2000）elaboratesonthedynamicsofcomplexsystems,showinghowcausalloopsanddelaysleadtooscillationsinmanydifferingsituations.

ThisconstantshiftingofsocietieswasobservedinDaoism,wellbeforetheinventionofWesterneconomics.LaoTsudescribesthemeaningrepresentedbytheYinandYang,whereeveryelementintheuniverseformspartofanever-endingcycleofinterdependent,alternatingopposites.Fromthecreationofsimilarglobalmarketsegments,dissimilarmarketsegmentswillarise.Fromthecollectivismcausedbystandardisation,individualismwillarise,assertingtheneedforadaptation.

WhileOshrymakesgeneralobservationsofsocietalmovements,Keegan&Green（2003）andKeegan&Schlegelmilch（2001）suggestthatMaslow’sHierarchyofNeeds（1954）providesaspecificdescriptionandexplanationforpeople’schangingneeds.Accordingtothistheory,humansdevelopbyprogressingupwardsthroughlevelsofdesires,beginningwithPhysiologicalrequirements,suchasfoodandsurvival.Oncetheseneedshavebeensatisfied,peopleprogressupthescaletoSafety,andthentohigherordersocialneeds,BelongingandEsteem,andfinallytoSelf-Actualisation.Thesechangesofneedsalsoechotheshiftingofindividualandcollectivebehavioursofpeople,forexample,psychological,safety,andesteemneedsareindividualist,whilebelongingandarguablyself-actualisationneedsarecollectivist.

Rodgers（2004）providesanargumentagainstMaslow’sframework,statingthatitistoorigidandthatpeople,dependingonthecurrentsituation,canalternatebetweenoroccupylevelssimultaneously.Thissuggeststhat,althoughMaslow’stheoryismoredynamicthantheStandardisation-Adaptationanalyses,itstilldoesnotaccountforthefactthatsocietiescanchangedirection.Asaresult,thefollowingcaseswillbediscussedintermsofthementionedtheories,butasmostcannotaccountforeverysituation,itwillbemadeclearthattheframeworksarenotperfectexplanations,justthatsomearebetterthanothers.

"Coca-Colonisation”?

Thesuccessoftwoofthelargestnamesintheworld,Coca-colaandMcDonald’s,canbeunderstoodintermsofLevittandDouglas.Coca-cola’shighlyrecognisablename,typeface,bottleshape,taste,andpromotedimage,areidenticaleverywhereintheglobe,makingittheperfectexampleofthesuccessfulglobalstandardisationstrategypromotedbyLevitt.Inaddition,itissoldinshops,restaurantsandvendingmachines,inover200countries,implyingthatcountrycultureisirrelevant.DeChernatony&McDonald（1998）attributeCoke’ssuccessthroughtheemotionalvaluesaddedbyitspowerfulbrandingandclearpositioningoftheproductasanAmerican,fundrinkaimedatyouthculture.Itsslogan“EnjoyCoca-cola”evokesapleasurableemotion,enjoyment,inthemindoftheconsumer,closelylinkingitwiththebrand.Theverb“enjoy”isinpresenttense,implyingtheconsistencyandsustainabilityofthispleasurableCokeexperience.

McDonald’s,althoughpraisedbyLevittforbeinganexemplarofimplementingglobalstandardisedstrategies,hasadoptedahybridstrategyassuggestedbyDouglas,usingonlylocally-producedfoodontheirmenus.Thissavesonthecostsoftransportandthepreservat