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Chapter 03 - History and Geography–The Foundations of Culture
Discussion Questions
1. Define:
Manifest Destiny Sustainable development
2. Why study geography in international marketing?
3. Why study a country’s history?
History helps define a nation’s “mission,” how it perceives its neighbors, how it sees its place in
the world, and how it sees itself. Insights into the history of a country are important for
understanding attitudes about the role of government and business, the relations between managers
and the managed, the sources of management authority, and attitudes toward foreign corporations.
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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 03 - History and Geography–The Foundations of Culture
4. How does an understanding of history help an international marketer?
To understand, explain, and appreciate a people’s image of itself and the fundamental attitudes and
unconscious fears that are often reflected in its view of foreign cultures, it is necessary to study the
5. Why is there a love/hate relationship between Mexico and the United States? Discuss.
A crucial element in understanding any nation’s business and political culture is the subjective
perception of its history. To a Mexican, the United States is seen as a threat to their political,
economic, and cultural independence. To most citizens in the United States, the causes for such
6. Some say the global environment is a global issue rather than a national one. What does
this mean? Discuss.
Many view the problem as a global issue rather than a national one. One report on the global
environment stressed . . . “it is quite clear that a number of critical problems—the threat to the
ozone layer, the greenhouse effect, the loss of biodiversity, and ocean pollution—cannot be
addressed by nations in isolation.”
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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 03 - History and Geography–The Foundations of Culture
7. Pick a country and show how employment and topography affect marketing within the
country.
8. Pick a country (other than Mexico) and show how significant historical events have
affected the country’s culture.
9. Discuss the bases of world trade. Give examples illustrating the different bases.
The basis for world trade is the differences between countries. One of these differences is the
difference between people. Different heritages have resulted in the development of certain unique
10. The marketer “should also examine the more complex effect of geography upon general
market characteristics, distribution systems, and the state of the economy.” Comment.
11. The world population pattern is shifting from rural to urban areas. Discuss the marketing
ramifications
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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 03 - History and Geography–The Foundations of Culture
12. Select a country with a stable population and one with a rapidly growing population. Contrast
the marketing implications of these two situations.
Library Project
13. “. . . world trade routes bind the world together . . .” Discuss.
14. Discuss how your interpretation of Manifest Destiny and the Monroe Doctrine might
differ from a Latin American’s.
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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 03 - History and Geography–The Foundations of Culture
15. The telegraph, telephone, television, satellites, computer, the Internet, and mobile phones have all
had an effect on how international business operates. Discuss how each of these communications
innovations affects international business management.
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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.
i For an interesting discussion of aspects of Japan’s political, economic, and social life that helps to explain how Japan is today and why it is like that, see:
Duncan McCargo, Contemporary Japan, (New York: Palgrave Macmillan 2nd edition, 2003).
ii For centuries, Japan sought isolation from the rest of the world refusing to trade or become involved in any way. When Commodore Perry sailed to the
Land of the Rising Sun , Japan was opened to the West. Treaties, signed with the United States, Britain, Holland, Russia, and France, extended jurisdiction
onto Japanese soil and limited the country’s right to impose taxes on imports. According to one account, these unequal and humiliating treaties had much to
do with shaping Japan’s goal to make itself the West’s industrial and military equal. For an history of the period see Ann Graham Gaines, Commodore
Perry Opens Japan to Trade in World History, (Berkeley, Heights, NJ: Enslow Publishers, Inc., 2000).
