INTERNATIONAL MARKETING ORIENTATIONS

ORIENTATIONS

How a company views the outside world Includes both the conscious & unconscious assumptions & beliefs of a companys management about the nature of the world.

EPRG FRAMEWORK

ETHNOCENTRIC POLYCENTRIC REGEOCENTRIC GEOCENTRIC

ETHNOCENTRIC

When a company does not differentiate between Domestic and Foreign markets and considers that the strategies which are successful in the domestic market would be successful in the international market also.

ETHNOCENTRIC

In ethnocentric international companies, foreign operations are considered as secondary & subordinate as compared to the domestic ones. For a manufacturing firm ethnocentrism means disposing off its surplus domestic production in the foreign countries. This orientation is appropriate when the Demand for the product in the overseas market is not much significant that a firm should invest heavily to serve that market.

ETHNOCENTRIC

For e.g. Nissan was ethnocentric during its initial years of exports to U.S. Nissans trucks & cars were designed for mild Japanese winters, thus these vehicles were difficult to start in many parts of U.S. Moreover in northern part of Japan, many car owners cover their cars with blankets. Nissan assumed that American would also do the same.

POLYCENTRIC

It states that the management of a company assumes that each country where it does business is unique.

POLYCENTRIC

The firms practicing polycentric orientation accept that that each overseas market is unique and different strategies are required to serve different markets. They let their subsidiary firms to develop their own unique business and marketing strategies in order to succeed.

POLYCENTRIC

Polycentric orientation is appropriate when:

The overseas sales volume are high; Firms are seriously committed to the international markets; & They have the capacity to invest to the desired extent to achieve their objective

This orientation is not as simple as it sounds. Treating each country as unique may give rise to the problem of coordination & control.

POLYCENTRIC

For e.g. Citicorp operates its financial services on a polycentric basis. James Bailey, a Citicorp executive defined his company as We were like a medieval state. There was the king and his court and they were in charge, right?

No. it was the land barons who were in-charges. The king & his court might declare this or that, but the land barons went & did their thing.

REGEOCENTRIC

It recognizes the common features of a region and according design the strategies for different regions. In a company with a regeocentric orientation, management views region as unique and seeks to develop an integrated regional strategy. For e.g. NAFTA, EU etc.

GEOCENTRIC

GEOCENTRIC

It is based on a philosophy that all human beings are alike. A company with geocentric orientation views the entire world as a potential market and strives to develop integrated world market strategies. Such companies are known as global or transnational companies.