xviii Preface • The emerging markets in eastern 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 reunification of Hong Kong, Macau, and China, which finally puts all of Asia under the control of Asians for the first time in over a century • The European Monetary Union and the successful switch from local-country curren-cies to one monetary unit for Europe, the euro, and its apparent fragility • The rapid move away from traditional distribution structures in Japan, Europe, and many emerging markets • The shrinking of middle-income households the world over • The continued struggles of regional market groups such as the European Union (EU), the North American Free Trade Area (NAFTA), the Central American Free Trade Area (CAFTA), ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA), the Southern Cone Free Trade Area (Mercosur), and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) • The so far unsuccessful completion of the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the creation of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the latter now including China and Taiwan • The restructuring, reorganizing, and refocusing of companies in telecommunications, entertainment, and biotechnology, as well as in traditional smokestack industries around the world • The continuing integration of the Internet and cell phones into all aspects of compa-nies’ operations and consumers’ lives These are not simply news reports. These changes affect the practice of business world-wide, 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. As global economic growth occurs, understanding marketing in all cultures is increas-ingly important. International Marketing addresses global issues and describes concepts relevant to all international marketers, regardless of the extent of their international involvement. Not all firms engaged in overseas marketing have a global perspective, nor do they need to. Some companies’ foreign marketing is limited to one country; others market in a number of countries, treating each as a separate market; and still others, the global enterprises, look for market segments with common needs and wants across political and economic boundaries. All, however, are affected by competitive activity in the global marketplace. It is with this future that the seventeenth edition of International Marketing is concerned. Emphasis is on the strategic implications of competition in different country mar-kets. An environmental∕cultural approach to international marketing permits a truly global orientation. The reader’s horizons are not limited to any specific nation or to the particular ways of doing business in a single nation. Instead, the book provides an approach and framework for identifying and analyzing the important cultural and envi-ronmental uniqueness of any nation or global region. Thus, when surveying the tasks of marketing in a foreign milieu, the reader will not overlook the impact of crucial cultural issues. The text is designed to stimulate curiosity about management practices of companies, large and small, seeking market opportunities outside the home country and to raise the reader’s consciousness about the importance of viewing international marketing manage-ment strategies from a global perspective. Although this revised edition is infused throughout with a global orientation, export marketing and the operations of smaller companies are also included. Issues specific to exporting are discussed where strategies applicable to exporting arise, and examples of marketing practices of smaller companies are examined.
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