Educator Insights: Standardization or Adaptation of the International Marketing Mix: The Role of the Local Subsidiary/Representative

Solberg, Carl Arthur

doi:10.1509/jimk.8.1.78.19559

Cited by 87 publications

(94 citation statements)

References 25 publications

(22 reference statements)

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“…The quality of this relationship will, to a great extent, determine how well adaptation plans are effected and accepted locally (Jain, 1989), substantially influencing brand strategy, not least in respect of implementation and control (Dibb, Simkin, Pride and Ferrell, 2006;Kotler 1999) -an issue of especial concern for international marketers, who are likely to be operating in unfamiliar, disparate and structurally complex market networks (Chung, 2009). Paradox and contradiction are inherent within nationally diverse markets and there exists a tension between the benefits to be achieved through centralized monitoring and decision making (Solberg, 2000), and the value to be had from localized understanding/interpretation of consumer intelligence (Arnold, 2000). The following propositions are advanced:…”

Section: Proposition P1bmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Doing business in Libya: Assessing the nature and effectiveness of international marketing programs in an evolving economy

Busnaina

Woodall

2015

International Business Review

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The aim of this paper is to investigate, in one emerging Arab economy (Libya), the strategic and tactical choices of MNE (multinational enterprise) domestic appliance brands and, also, the attitudes of local consumers towards those choices. Various choice characteristics are investigated -including marketing mix standardization/adaptation -and, also, country-of-origin brand (COB). To establish extant organizational choices, local representatives of four established brands were interviewed and survey responses from 609 consumer were analyzed. No statistically discernible relationship between standardization/adaptation choices and consumer attitude towards marketing programs was found, but the study identified one especially successful brand that appeared to owe its achievements to an especially holistic approach to marketing that demonstrated 'fit' with the market concerned. Coincidentally, findings also address the conventional country-of-origin wisdom, and this is investigated/speculated upon accordingly. This is one of few marketing studies concerning Libya, and it adds to the limited literature on an increasingly relevant region. KeywordsLibya, standardization/adaptation, marketing tactics, marketing strategy, country-of-origin (brand), major domestic appliances 2 IntroductionMarketing insight regarding the Arab world has only recently accrued (earliest studies include Djursaa and Kragh, 1998;Elbashier and Nicholls, 1993;Michell, Lynch and Alabdali, 1998;Souiden, 2000) and most has inevitably focused on countries that are more clearly aligned with the West, such as Kuwait (e.g., Al-Wugayan, Pleshko and Baqer, 2008), Jordan (e.g., Zabadi, Shura and Elsayed, 2012) and the United Arab Emirates (e.g., Khraim, Khraim, Al-Kaidah and Al-Qurashi, 2011). Further, although studies addressing consumer issues in Arab contexts have recently increased (e.g. Al Ganideh, 2012;Ghanem, Kalliny and Elgoul, 2013;Tolba, 2011) literature in this area, generally, is limited (see Ellis and Zhan, 2011;Birnik and Bowman, 2007), and this is especially surprising given that the Arab market is becoming increasingly materialistic and that the collective Arab economy is now estimated to be the world's eighth largest, with a GDP approaching $2.5 trillion (Mahajan, 2013). Our understanding, especially, of how international firms approach such markets and how local consumers respond to these approaches is sparse, especially in those countries perceived to represent a more capricious business environment (e.g. Syria, Algeria and Libya: Dinnie, 2011).This study is applied in a setting that, for reasons of recent social and political turbulence, represents a particularly interesting context for research. In the decade leading up to recent conflicts, and following a period of relative isolation, Libya actively encouraged international trade (Porter, 2007), yet there is a relative lack of research addressing either period (US & FCS, 2006), and this alone makes Libya an intriguing context for investigation. Recent events, clearly, mean th...

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Section: Proposition P1bmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Both Solberg (2000), and Fang, Wade, Delios and Beamish (2007), have demonstrated that subsidiaries with a long history of local association are able to gain 'deep' market intelligence and, consequently, obtain a better understanding of the local customer. It's also suggested (e.g.…”

Section: Proposition 2cmentioning

confidence: 99%

Doing business in Libya: Assessing the nature and effectiveness of international marketing programs in an evolving economy

Busnaina

Woodall

2015

International Business Review

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“…competition between local firms and MNEs (Poulis, Yamin and Poulis, in press), local subsidiaries' practices (e.g. Solberg, 2000), the effect of national culture on decision-making (Tayeb, 1995), etc.]. Thus, incorporating context in methodological choices and consequently in the process of theorising is a more pressing need in IB investigations.…”

Section: The Relevance Of Context For International Businessmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…-The organisational context: the study aimed at having a fairly equal representation of domestic and foreign firms in order to explore the potential influence on standardisation/adaptation of several organisational factors suggested in the international marketing literature, such as firms' size (Culpan, 1989;Whitelock and Pimblett, 1997), firms' international business experience (Cadogan, Diamantopoulos and Siguaw, 2002;Cavusgil, Zou and Naidu, 1993), orientation towards international operations (Perlmutter, 1969;Zou and Cavusgil, 2002), and a subsidiary's autonomy for locally responsive strategies (Ozsomer, Bodur and Cavusgil, 1991;Solberg, 2000).…”

Section: Purposeful Samplingmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of context in case study selection: An international business perspective

Poulis

Plakoyiannaki

2013

International Business Review

131

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The extant methodological literature has challenged case selection in qualitative case study research for being arbitrary or relying too much on convenience logic. This paper aims to address parts of such criticism on the rigour of case selection through the presentation of a sampling framework that promotes contextualisation and thoroughness of sampling decisions in the study of international phenomena. This framework emerged from an inductive process following an actual case study project in international marketing and promotes the idea that context matters for sampling purposes, too. The proposed framework integrates methodological tools that complement the overarching principle of purposeful sampling and considers respective contextual challenges that the researchers encountered before and during fieldwork. It serves to highlight in an iterative fashion the role that context plays in the case selection process and the importance of contextualised sampling processes for qualitative case study research in international business.

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“…For example, the recent high profile takeover of Arcelor by Mittal Steel raised several interesting questions like what style of management will be used in the newly formed Arcelor-Mittal and how will the former developed country employees react to the new management from a developing country. Further, even more important which 'culture' would the management follow (Solberg, 2000). The ECMs may want to go according to the host country practices in developed countries or maybe vice-versa.…”

Section: Standardization Vs Localization and Performance Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climbing up the Performance Ladder: A Conceptual Framework for Emerging Country Multinationals

Nigam¹

2010

IJBM

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The paper acknowledges the emergence of the emerging country multinationals (ECMs) and their entry into the global economy. Much research has been done from the point of view of developed country multinationals, while the perspective of ECMs has been ignored. We discuss the entry of emerging country multinationals into developed markets from a cultural point of view. The cultural adaptation that they are required to make and the relevant influencing factors like the institutional environment, HR practices, expatriates, mission of the multinational, etc. Using a conceptual model built on an extensive literature review, we propose several relationships which could be considered as a guide to future research in this emerging field of research.

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Educator Insights: Standardization or Adaptation of the International Marketing Mix: The Role of the Local Subsidiary/Representative

Cited by 87 publications

References 25 publications

Doing business in Libya: Assessing the nature and effectiveness of international marketing programs in an evolving economy

Doing business in Libya: Assessing the nature and effectiveness of international marketing programs in an evolving economy

The role of context in case study selection: An international business perspective

Climbing up the Performance Ladder: A Conceptual Framework for Emerging Country Multinationals

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