Chapter 01 – The Scope and Challenge of International Marketing
Chapter 1 – The Scope and Challenge of International
Marketing
Teaching Objectives
As an introductory chapter, the broad goal is to provide a view of international marketing that sets the
boundaries and scope of the course. The teaching objectives are to:
1. Provide students with a broad picture of the global environment within which business operates today
and into the future.
2. Give students an appreciation of how the globalization of world markets and the internationalization
of U.S. business and U.S. markets influence all functions of business including marketing.
3. Show how the internationalization or globalization of markets affects their professional futures
regardless of where they work in business. In short, just as domestic or international business cannot
escape the internationalization of business and U.S. markets, neither can students escape the
influences of these international trends on their professional careers.
4. Illustrate the scope of the international marketing task.
5. Show the importance of one’s self-reference criterion in assessing international issues.
6. Illustrate the stages of becoming international and the international marketing concepts used in
international marketing management.
7. Impress students with the importance of becoming globally aware.
Comments and Suggestions
1. Key points to make are: a) An increasingly larger share of corporate profits are generated by
international operations; b) In previous decades competition for U.S. markets was only among U.S.
businesses with the same relative cost of money, labor, and product but now it includes competitors
from the world over; c) U.S. multinationals face competition for lucrative markets from new rivals
from developed as well as developing countries; and d) The growth of new markets created by
changes in Latin America, Asia, Eastern Europe and the former members of USSR, India, and
hopefully the MENA region.
2. Exhibit 1–3, The International Marketing Task, serves as a guide when discussing the international
marketing manager’s task. With this illustration, points about the environment of business,
uncontrollables and controllables can be made.
3. As an assignment for class discussion, Case 1–1, Starbucks-Going Global Fast, can be used to have
students think about the marketing mix and the effects of uncontrollables and controllables both in the
domestic and foreign environments. Have students read and answer the questions in the case before
class. During class, have the students illustrate the various controllables and uncontrollables in Using
Exhibit 1–3, The International Marketing Task, with examples from the case. Students can be
challenged by asking how they would have done things differently to overcome some of the problems
illustrated in the case.
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© 2016 by McGraw-Hill Education. This is proprietary material solely for authorized instructor use. Not
authorized for sale or distribution in any manner. This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated,
forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in whole or part.
Chapter 01 – The Scope and Challenge of International Marketing
4. A key point to make when discussing the self-reference criterion is that a person from one culture is
often not aware that a reaction is influenced by one’s cultural background and that those from another
culture may have a different perspective. It often uses Hall’s idea of the silent language of space (see
Edward T. Hall, “The Silent Language in Overseas Business,” Harvard Business Review, May–June
1960, pp. 87–96 or Edward T. Hall, The Silent Language (New York: Doubleday & Co., 1959) to
make this point. In this first chapter and throughout the course it is important to stress the nature of
the SRC, that is, whenever confronted by some aspect of another culture one’s reaction and
evaluation is routinely clouded by one’s own cultural experiences.
5. When exploring the different Stages of International Marketing Involvement it is important that
students understand that the differences between global markets and global products. Further, they
need to understand that a global marketing orientation does not necessarily mean standardization
across all markets. Instead it may mean operating as if all the country markets in a company’s scope
of operations (including the domestic market) are approached as a single global market that may have
multiple market segments extending across country borders and that the company is seeking
commonalties across country markets in order to standardize the marketing mix where culturally
feasible and cost effective.
Lecture Outline
I. The Internationalization of U.S. Business
II. International Marketing Defined
III. The International Marketing Task
A. Marketing Controllables
B. Domestic Uncontrollables
C. Foreign Uncontrollables
IV. Self-Reference Criterion: An Obstacle
V. Becoming International
A. Stages of International Marketing Involvement
B. Global Markets and Global Marketing
VI. Developing A Global Awareness
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© 2016 by McGraw-Hill Education. This is proprietary material solely for authorized instructor use. Not
authorized for sale or distribution in any manner. This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated,
forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in whole or part.