International business is no longer the exclusive realm of the large multinational corporation; small businesses are creating marketing niches for themselves in particular product or service areas. Because of this greater interest in the global economy, companies which are seeking to build long-term strategic plans must consider whether or not international marketing is a critical part of those long-term plans. This research considers the reasons that companies might consider international expansion, problems which need to be addressed, and how a company might undertake such an expansion process.
Multinational corporations are those companies which offer products or services in different countries throughout the world, adapting their products to the countries in which they are selling. Global companies are companies which operate with a high degree of consistency regardless of the country in which the operation occurs (Aizenman, 1994, p. 459). At multinational companies, internal practices are also changed to reflect the environment of the various countries. The result is that multinational companies have higher relative costs associated with their international operations than their global counterparts.
Despite the difficulties, an increasing number of companies throughout the world are marketing on an international basis. There are two primary reasons why they do this: competition and markets. The competition facing companies domestically is increasingly from foreign firms. Americans, for example, purchase cars and electronics made in Japan, ham and golf carts from Poland and shoes from Brazil. Competition comes not only from recognized industrial nations, but also from developing nations and the former Soviet Union.
The other major reason that companies consider the international economy is the availability of markets. Market opportunity and growth is certainly present in foreign countries, although purchasing po...