International Marketing [antikvár]

Preface The opportunities and challenges encountered today by intemational marketers are greater and more diverse than ever before. New consumers are springing forth in emerging markets from Eastern Europe, the Commonwealth of Independent States, China and other Asian countries, India, Latin America—in short, globally. Some of these emerging markets have little purchasing power today but hold the promise of huge markets in the future. In the more mature markets of the industrialized world, opportunity and challenge also abound as consumers' tastes become more sophisticated and complex and as increases in purchasing power provide them with the means of satisfying new demands. Opportunities in today's global markets are on a par with the global economic expansion that existed after World War II. Today, however, the competitive environment within which these opportunities exist is vastly different from that earlier period when United States multinationals dominated world markets. From the late 1940s through the 1960s, multinational corporations (MNCs) from the United States had little competition; today, companies from almost all the world's nations vie for global markets. The companies that succeed will be those capable of adapting to constant change and adjusting to new challenges. Economic, political, and social changes that have occurred over the last decade have dramatically altered the landscape of global business. Consider the present and future impact of: • Emerging markets in Eastem Europe, Asia, and Latin America, where more than 75 percent of the growth in world trade over the next 20 years is expected to occur; • The rapid move away from traditional distribution stmctures in Japan, Europe, and many emerging markets; • The growth of middle-income households the world over; • The continued strengthening and creation of regional market groups such as the European Union (EU), the North American Free Trade Area (NAFTA), ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Free Trade Area (AFTA), and the Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC); • The successful completion of the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the creation of the Worid Trade Organization (WTO); and • The restructuring, reorganizing, and refocusing of companies as they respond to the changing competitive milieu of the global marketplace. These are not simply news reports. These are changes that affect the practice of business worldwide, and they mean that companies will have to constantly examine the way they do business and remain flexible enough to react rapidly to changing global trends to be competitive.