Now the question is, to what extent can successful multinational firms circumvent the impact of local environmental diversity? In some industries, product standardiza¬tion may result in a product that satisfies customers nowhere. For processed foods, for example, national tastes and consumption patterns differ sufficiently to make stan¬dardization counterproductive. In Latin America, a variety of canned spicy peppers, such as jalapeno peppers, is a national staple in Mexico, but is virtually unheard of in Brazil and Chile. Obviously, firms cannot lump together the whole of Latin America into one regional market for condiments.The Internet is global in nature and so are the websites. Being on the Web arguably translates into reaching customers in many corners of the world from day one. However, it does not mean that e-commerce can be developed without any need for local and regional adaptation. To effectively target and reach the global consumers online, many companies still need to approach them in their languages, conforming to their cultural value systems. Indeed, one recent study clearly shows that local websites of India, China, Japan, and the United States not only reflect cultural values of the country of their origin, but also differ significantly from each other on cultural dimensions.On the other hand, Merck, the world’s second largest pharmaceutical company, faces a different kind of problem with global marketing. The company can market the same products around the world for various ailments, but cultural and political differences make it very difficult to approach different markets in a similar way. Merck, which operates internationally as MSD, has to increase public awareness of health care issues in Mexico, Central America, and much of South America by bringing top journalists from these countries together on a regular basis to meet with health care experts ranging from physicians to government officials. The company is trying to change the way it does business in the Pacific Rim. It used to operate through local distributors and licensees without learning the local quirks of pharmaceutical business. Now, the company is creating subsidiaries in nearly all main Asian countries, including Korea, China, the Philippines, Taiwan, Singapore, and Malaysia, to learn what goes on inside those markets. In Eastern Europe, Merck is starting from scratch, because its entry had been previously barred under the region’s strict communist control. For example, in Hungary, the company devoted its initial investment to establishing resource centers that are affiliated with local hospitals and universities in order to create a special image for Merck.Even in supposedly similar cultures, there can be huge differences in what are effective marketing campaigns. The Body Shop found this out when it took a successful ad campaign in Britain and brought it to the United States, assuming it would have the same appeal. The ad showed the naked buttocks of three men and completely misfired in the U.S. market. In the words of Body Shop founder Anita Roddick, ‘‘We thought it was funny and witty here, but women in New Hampshire fainted.’’However, despite such cultural and political constraints in the markets, Nestle, for example, has managed to integrate procurement functions to gain bargaining power in purchasing common ingredients such as cocoa and sugar. In other industries, such as computers and telecommunications, consumption patterns are in the process of being established and the associated cultural constraint is getting less prominent. Also, the simultaneous launch of most products in these categories across the world precludes large differences. For these products, governments frequently attempt to exert national control over technological development, the products or the production process.
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