The term “polycentric” describes management’s belief or assumption that each country
in which a company does business is the same as the home country business.
Being socially responsible is the only the right thing to do; it can distinguish a company
from its industry peers.
When a manufacturer conspires with wholesalers or retailers to ensure certain retail
prices are maintained it is known ashorizontal price fixing.
Formation of a cartel like OPEC, consisting of oil-producing companies, would most
likely be illegal in the United States.
The ultimate test of an organization’s understanding of the power and importance of PR
occurs during a time of environmental turbulence, especially a potential or actual crisis.
An innovation that is disrupting to one firm can be sustaining to another firm.
Switzerland exports 51 percent of their GDP, compared to the United States, which
exports only about 14 percent.
In China, Dell had to find a meaningful interpretation of “direct sales,” the phrase that
describes the company’s powerful business model.
The “balance of payments” is a record of all economic transactions between the
residents of a country and the developed countries of the world.
Michael Porter’s five forces model and Rugman and D’Cruz’s flagship model are both
based on the concept of corporate individualism.
Representatives of the apparel, footwear, and textile industries in many countries are
deeply concerned about the impact that increased trade with China will have on these
sectors.
Unilever hired a promotional marketing firm to pass out Lever2000 hand wipes in food
courts and petting zoos. This is referred to as “point-of-dirt” sampling.
The “Virgin” brand is a global brand with several brand extensions.
The appeal of the product extension-communication adaption strategy is its relatively
low cost of implementation.
Established firms do not enjoy cost advantages independent of scale economies that
present a barrier to entry.
Some consumers flaunt their wealth by buying expensive products and brands that
others will notice. Such behavior is referred to as “luxury badging.”
W3C is a foundation that helps develop standards that allow the full potential of the
Web to be realized.
A market segment or country market characterized by weak competition may be a
segment to avoid.
When Hershey created its international division in 2005, J.P. Bilbrey, the division’s
senior vice president, noted that Hershey would no longer utilize the extension strategy
of exporting its chocolate products from the United States.
When utilizing the services of a local independent distributor, management is well
advised to treat the distributor as a temporary market-entry vehicle.
In some instances, deregulation represents a quid pro quo that will allow French
companies wider access to other country markets.
Web “content sites”provide news and entertainment and support a company’s PR
efforts.
Marketers in Gillette’s Parker Pen subsidiary are confident that consumers in Malaysia
and Singapore shopping for an upscale gift will buy the same Parker Pen as Americans
shopping at Neiman Marcus.
Management writers often use terms like silos, stovepipes, or chimneys to describe an
organization in which autonomous business units operate with their own agendas and a
minimum of horizontal interdependence.
Many consumers consider products with labels such as “Made in Bangladesh” and
“Made in Brazil” to be of inferior quality and value.
Despite having comparable per capita incomes, other industrialized countries are
nevertheless quite small in terms of total annual income.
The essence of marketing is to surpass the competition at the task of creating perceived
value.
By the early 2000s, Sony’s vaunted innovation and marketing machine was faltering
due to the anticipated rapid consumer acceptance of flat-panel wide-screen TV sets.
A CEO has to look at the entire global economy and then put the company’s resources
where they will capture the biggest market share of every region.
It is difficult to obtain a representative sample in Brazil since the technological
infrastructure for gathering market data is minimal.
Cost leadership is a sustainable source of competitive advantage only if no barriers exist
that prevent competitors from achieving the same low costs.
“Sharia” and “haram” are important concepts in civil-code laws, which are commonly
practiced in Middle Eastern countries.
Water transportation is rated “low” in reliability since approximately 200 freighters sink
due to bad weather or other factors.
Social couponing is one of the hottest online sales promotion trends. It offers its
followers deal-of-the-day coupons that are sponsored by local businesses.
Retailers may have a difficult time crossing borders if they fail to appreciate similarities
in retailing environments, and consumer behavior and preferences.
The United States and the EU have the world’s largest trading relationship.
Economic integration was at 10 percent at the beginning of the twentieth century; today,
it is approximately 50 percent.
A potential advantage of the organization on product basis is that the local input from
individual country managers may not be ignored, with the result that products will be
sufficiently tailored to local markets.
Which of the following would not be taken into account by a company using an
ethnocentric approach to pricing decisions?
A) the possibility of implementing a penetration strategy
B) profitable price points that could be tied to local sourcing as opposed to
home-country sourcing
C) integration of price with other marketing mix elements
D) factors unique to individual country markets
E) None of the above would be taken into account by a company using ethnocentric
pricing.
Policy makers in some countries are concerned about U.S. control of the Internet.
Positions taken by countries such as ________ state that Internet is global and no single
country should be in control.
A) Japan and South Korea
B) India and Brazil
C) China and Japan
D) Mexico and Venezuela
E) Thailand and Malaysia
Which of the following is true of advertising for the Heineken and Foster’s brands in the
United States?
A) Both Heineken and Foster’s utilize the GCCP strategy.
B) Both Heineken and Foster’s utilize the FCCP strategy.
C) Heineken utilizes the GCCP strategy; Foster’s utilizes the FCCP strategy.
D) Heineken utilizes the FCCP strategy; Foster’s utilizes the GCCP strategy.
E) Heineken utilizes the LCCP strategy; Foster’s utilizes the GCCP strategy.
According to Hofstede, a cultural dimension which describes a society in which the
social roles of men and women overlap, with neither gender exhibiting overly ambitious
or competitive behavior is known as:
A) nurturing
B) individualistic
C) collectivistic
D) power distance
E) achievement
According to the innovator’s dilemma:
A) the computing power of a microprocessor doubles every 18 months.
B) markets that don’t exist can’t be analyzed.
C) well-managed companies that listen and respond to needs of established customers
may miss opportunities to innovate.
D) regulation of e-commerce activities will increase at a rate that is directly
proportional to the growth of e-commerce revenues.
E) innovations are copied soon after they are discovered.
Worldwide spending on outdoor advertising amounts to about ________ of total ad
spending.
A) 1%
B) 2%
C) 4%
D) 6%
E) 10%
By definition, ________ feature a narrow but deep merchandise mix and high levels of
service.
A) department stores
B) specialty retailers
C) supermarkets
D) convenience stores
E) discount stores
Luxury good marketers found a new way to combat gray market imports into the
United States. In March 1995, the U.S. Supreme Court let stand an appeals court ruling
prohibiting a discount drugstore chain from selling Givenchy perfume without
permission. The distinctive packaging of the perfume is also protected by the U.S.
copyright law. The ruling implies that:
A) Givenchy can only be sold in copyrighted packages.
B) Costco and Walmart will no longer be able to sell Givenchy.
C) Costco and Walmart will be able to sell Givenchy with authorization.
D) gray marketers will be able to market with authorization.
E) discount drugstores cannot market a product resembling Givenchy’s perfumes.
Measuring elevator populations in countries measured as units installed per thousand
people gives an estimate of the market for elevators. That China has about one-half an
elevator per thousand people is indicative of:
A) low product saturation level.
B) high product saturation level.
C) high population level.
D) high technological level.
E) low technological level.
According to the Global Market Research Reports, data for Chinese markets are
available for:
A) cosmetics.
B) online music.
C) whiskies.
D) luxury goods.
E) pharmaceutical.
Together, innovators and early adopters make up about ________ of the potential
market for a new product.
A) 16%
B) 26%
C) 34%
D) 46%
E) 12%
Which of the following is true about “coffee culture” in England?
A) Starbucks has been unsuccessful in its attempt to change the Brits’ preference for tea.
B) American entrepreneurs found success in England with the Seattle Coffee Company
which Starbucks later acquired.
C) Starbucks succeeded in England only after changing the company’s name to Seattle
Coffee Company.
D) Starbucks-style coffee shops have been a flop because tea culture is too deeply
engrained.
E) Starbucks has been successful in England since it started selling beer.
In spite of Walmart’s potential to transform India’s retail sector for the better, Indian
activists and policy makers are worried because:
A) Western-style, big-box retailing is anathema.
B) millions of shopkeepers will be out of business.
C) policy makers are suspicious of the company’s motives.
D) attitude that can be traced back to the British East India company of the colonial era.
E) all of the above
In advertising, a(n) ________ is an agent who chooses graphics, pictures, type styles,
and other visual elements and has general responsibility for the overall look of an
advertisement.
A) art director
B) copywriter
C) IMC manager
D) PR practitioner
E) stylist
Until recently, visitors to Web sites for most luxury goods purveyors were not given the
opportunity to buy. The reason behind this was:
A) luxury goods purveyors did not like to use online promotions.
B) luxury goods purveyors strive to create a shopping experience.
C) global audience do not go online for luxury goods.
D) luxury goods purveyors prefer sending information on iPad.
E) luxury goods are purchased by rich people who do not shop online.
Despite the high expenses associated with operating elegant stores and purchasing
advertising space in upscale magazines, the premium retail prices that luxury goods like
Louis Vuitton command translate into handsome profits. The Louis Vuitton brand alone
accounts for 60% of LVMH’s operating profit. On the other hand, Louis Vuitton spends
$10 million annually battling:
A) EU regulations.
B) counterfeiters in countries such as Turkey, South Korea, & Italy.
C) competitors in European countries.
D) suppliers of needed materials.
E) export freight and taxes.
Many firms have gained competitive advantage by disadvantaging rivals through:
A) cost leadership.
B) differentiation.
C) competitive innovation.
D) focused differentiation.
E) consumer differentiation
The United States has more lawyers than any other country in the world and is arguably
the most litigious nation on earth. This is a reflection of:
A) the lack of class action lawsuits.
B) the low-context nature of the American culture.
C) the lack of spirit of confrontational competitiveness.
D) the fact that lawyers cannot undertake cases on contingency fee basis.
E) the fact that conflicts arise more in the United States.
Considering Hofstede’s notion of culture as “the collective programming of the mind,”
then attitudes can be defined as:
A) a learned tendency to respond in a consistent way to a given object or entity.
B) an organized pattern of knowledge that an individual holds to be true about the
world.
C) an enduring belief or feeling of a specific mode of conduct.
D) a personally or socially preferable mode of conduct.
E) the deepest level of a culture present in the majority of the members of a particular
culture.
Which of the following best sums up the experience of Walt Disney Company
executives when creating Disney’s theme park in Paris?
A) They were guided by the “think global, act local” principle.
B) They fell victim to the self-reference criterion.
C) They exhibited a geocentric management orientation.
D) They miscalculated the rate of diffusion of innovations in Europe.
E) They had an unbiased perception of existing culture in Europe.
By definition, a ________ requires a large amount of learning on the part of users and
typically creates new markets and consumption patterns.
A) continuous innovation
B) dynamically continuous innovation
C) discontinuous innovation
D) platform-based innovation
E) new and improved innovation
According to Michael Porter’s research on the competitive advantage of nations,
Switzerland’s large synthetic dye industry and the success of the Swiss pharmaceuticals
can be explained in terms of:
A) factor conditions.
B) demand conditions.
C) strategy, structure, and rivalry.
D) related and supporting industries.
E) formation of the European Union.
In the tech world, about 90% of the world’s nearly one billion PCs use Microsoft’s
operating systems and 80% use Intel’s microprocessors. This represents which aspect of
the Porter’s five forces model?
A) bargaining power of suppliers
B) bargaining power of buyers
C) threat of substitute products
D) rivalry among competitors
E) threat of new entrants
When the Coca-Cola Company convened focus groups in Europe and Asia to assess
potential market acceptance of a contoured aluminum soft drink can, it was attempting
to collect ________ data.
A) primary
B) secondary
C) incipient
D) quantitative
E) MIS
Burberry’s global marketing strategy of offering “affordable luxury” to customers in the
United States, with a value proposition of being more expensive than Coach and less
expensive than Prada represents a focus on:
A) product.
B) price.
C) promotion.
D) position.
E) place.
The advantages of a market visit include all of the following except:
A) confirm market potential.
B) contradict market potential.
C) gain confidence in firm’s ability for exporting.
D) gather additional data to reach final decision.
E) build confidence in firm’s ability for exporting.
Prior to 2004, Nokia launched different cell phone products in different countries at
different times. Nokia also used different advertising images and messages in different
countries. Which approach to the world marketplace was Nokia using?
A) product-communications extension
B) product extension-communications adaptation
C) product adaptation-communications extension
D) product-communication adaptation
E) product invention
The country with the highest number of companies with Global Competitive Advantage
is:
A) the United Kingdom.
B) the United States.
C) Japan.
D) France.
E) Germany.
New entrants to an industry bring all of the following except:
A) new capacity.
B) desire to gain market share.
C) desire to gain market position.
D) new approaches to customer needs.
E) decline in per-unit product costs.
Some of Body Shop’s recent advertising has emphasized the difference between the
company’s principles and those of “mainstream” cosmetics companies on such issues as
animal testing. As described here, Body Shop’s ads illustrate positioning by:
A) competition.
B) niche.
C) quality/price.
D) attribute/benefit.
E) culture.
The lesson that SRC (Self-Reference Criterion) teaches can be summarized as:
A) a person’s perception of market needs is framed by others cultural experience.
B) the perceptual blockage and distortion about cultures are hard to reduce.
C) an unbiased perception is a vital and critical skill in global marketing.
D) an unconscious reference to one’s cultural values is critical in global marketing.
E) the prior success and ethnocentrism can override the SRC.
Marketers in Gillette’s Parker Pen subsidiary focused on upscale shoppers in Malaysia
and Singapore. This is an example which coincides with the Maslow’s hierarchy related
to
A) self-esteem
B) physiological needs
C) security
D) self actualization
E) social needs
Which of the following categories best describes the approach of Britain’s Marks &
Spencer to global retailing?
A) few product categories, own-label focus
B) few product categories, manufacturer brand focus
C) many product categories, own-label focus
D) many product categories, manufacturer brand focus
E) none of the above
European consumers have faced a number of food-related issues, including an outbreak
of hoof-and-mouth disease and continuing concerns over mad cow disease. As a result,
many are skeptical about GMOs (genetically-modified organisms) and the benefits of
eating food products that incorporate genetically-engineered ingredients. As one French
citizen noted recently, “We have a very risk-averse society that has been completely
traumatized by food scares.” Thinking about this situation in terms of Hofstede’s
cultural values framework, one might reasonably interpret this remark to indicate that
France ranks relatively high in:
A) Power Distance.
B) Short-term Orientation.
C) Masculinity.
D) Uncertainty Avoidance.
E) Individualism.
When a company uses intermodal or multimodal transportation, it is:
A) using multiple channels.
B) using land and water shipping.
C) shipping via more than one railroad line.
D) using the services of both UPS and FedEx.
E) using different size containers for shipment.