InstructorManualtoMikePeng&KlausMeyer(2011):InternationalBusiness,CengageLearning.
Instructor Manual
Chapter 17: Marketing & Supply Chain Management
to accompany Mike Peng & Klaus Meyer: International Business, Cengage Learning
Prepared by Klaus Meyer
version February 2011
Introduction to the Topic
Learning Objectives
1. explain how companies may study consumer behaviour abroad
3. outline the triple As in supply chain management (agility, adaptability, and alignment)
5. discuss how resources affect marketing and supply chain management
7. draw implications for action
General Teaching Suggestions
This chapter introduces two closely related aspects of operations, marketing and supply chain
management. To initiate a discussion, you as instructor may ask your class, “How many of
you are NOT involved in selling?” Many will raise their hands but then you can point out that
all are involved and have been all of their lives it is just that some of their sales were not
successful.
Opening Case Discussion Guide
InstructorManualtoMikePeng&KlausMeyer(2011):InternationalBusiness,CengageLearning.
The opening case (Zara: Rewriting Rules on Marketing and Supply Chain Management)
covers a firm that seems to have violated most of the rules for marketing and supply chain
management except for one: it has found innovative ways to give the customer what the
customer wants. Its strengths include being able to rapidly respond to opportunities. The case
should inspire those who like to “think out of the box.”
Chapter Outline, Section by Section
Section 1: Understanding Consumers
Key Ideas
A key challenges for those selling internationally is to understand their customers abroad, and
to avoid blunders. A Financial Times (Oct 10, 2010) article nicely complements this section
and In Focus 17.1. It discusses similar techniques of anthropological consumer research used
Key Concepts
marketing
Efforts to create, develop, and defend markets that satisfy the needs and wants of individual and
business customers.
supply chain
InstructorManualtoMikePeng&KlausMeyer(2011):InternationalBusiness,CengageLearning.
Section 2: The Marketing Mix
Key Ideas
This section introduces the four P’s of marketing. If students have taken a marketing class
before, they are likely to be familiar with these concepts, and you should focus on applying
these concepts when competing in foreign markets.
Key Concepts
marketing mix
The four underlying components of marketing: product, price, promotion, and place.
multi-tier branding
A portfolio of different brands targeted at different consumer segments
price
The expenditures that customers are willing to pay for a product.
price elasticity
How demand changes when prices change.
place
The location where products and services are provided.
InstructorManualtoMikePeng&KlausMeyer(2011):InternationalBusiness,CengageLearning.
Section 3: Supply Chain Management
Key Ideas
Supply chain management concerns how to coordinate all the activities of a company’s value
chain. It incorporates the purchasing function and the distribution channel, but it critically
includes all the processes companies have to deliver products to customers at the desired
quality and at the desired time.
Key Concepts
distribution channel
The set of business units and intermediaries that facilitates the movement of goods to consumers
agility
The ability to quickly react to unexpected shifts in supply and demand.
adaptability
The ability to change supply chain configurations in response to long-term changes in the environment
and technology.
InstructorManualtoMikePeng&KlausMeyer(2011):InternationalBusiness,CengageLearning.
Section 4: Institutions, Marketing and Supply Chain Management
Key Ideas
This section discusses some example of local institutions creating constraints on marketing
Section 5: Resources, Marketing and Supply Chai Management
Key Ideas
Section 6: Debates and Extensions
Key Ideas
The first debate concerns the relative merit of market and relationship orientation.
The second debate concerns the positive or negative effects of a country of origin image.
Key Concepts
InstructorManualtoMikePeng&KlausMeyer(2011):InternationalBusiness,CengageLearning.
Section 7: Implications for Practice
Key Ideas
This concluding section emphasizes the need to study the relevant aspects of the local
Review Questions
Review questions are provided to students on the website accompanying the book. They
directly ask to summarize the material provided in the text. Instructors may also use the
questions to structure their lectures or review sessions.
Review Questions
(as provided to students on the website)
Material in the Book
1. Why are marketing and supply chain activities
intrinsically related in many MNEs?
4. Under which circumstances are respectively global
and local brands more suitable to reach a group of
consumers?
5. How can companies combine global brand appeal
and local touch?
Page 517 and Opening Case
Page 520-23, In Focus 17.2
Page 520-23
InstructorManualtoMikePeng&KlausMeyer(2011):InternationalBusiness,CengageLearning.
10. Why is adaptability important for supply chain
management, and how can it be achieved?
13. How do national and international institutions shape
marketing and supply chain management practices?
14. How do marketing and supply chain management
enhance a company’s resource and capability
profile?
Page 528
Page 530-32
Page 532-33
Critical Discussion Questions
At the end the chapter, we provide discussion questions that aim to stimulate students
thinking beyond memorizing the material learned in the chapter. They are designed to be
used at a basis for in-class discussions, group work, or individual assignments. Below,
provide some indicative answers of issues that may be raised in response to these questions.
Discussion Questions
(as provided in the book)
Indicative Responses
1. Consider a novel product (such
as a navigator or an iPad) and a
country you know very little
These students challenge students to demonstrate
their strategic thinking and argumentation, and
their ability to identify appropriate approaches to
InstructorManualtoMikePeng&KlausMeyer(2011):InternationalBusiness,CengageLearning.
the beaver. Does your country
have an official animal? If you
3. In Hollywood movies, it is
common to have product
placement (have products, such
as cars, from sponsored
companies appear in movies
without telling viewers that
4. You are a supply chain manager
at a UK firm. In 2010, a volcano
broke out in Iceland, disrupting
air travel across Europe. On the
one hand, you are considering
trying to reach and do some research as to
how those in that market perceive the
3. If you are a marketer, you may first wish to
do some “marketing research” before
deciding how to proceed. You may want to
first of all determine whether there is either
an actual ethical problem or at least
perceived ethical problem. (Many people
significant portion of your potential
customers who are not aware of product
placement and if research indicates that
they do regard it as unethical and their
perception could cause a greater loss of
InstructorManualtoMikePeng&KlausMeyer(2011):InternationalBusiness,CengageLearning.
who – in the long run – may be
able to delivery produce much
cheaper. Yet, your tightly
coordinated production cannot
which you and your suppliers work
together in helping to solve each other’s
problems and as a group do contingency
planning for events (flu, hurricanes,
Closing Case
The closing case provides further opportunities to apply ideas and concepts learned in this
chapter in a real world setting. The Closing Case for this Chapter is “Li & Fung” and focuses
on how Li & Fung build a business empire by taking care of other people’s logistics, thus
introducing recent developments in 3PL. Below are some indicative responses to the case
discussion questions.
Case Discussion Questions
(as provided in the book)
Indicative Responses
1. From a VRIO standpoint, what
distinguishes Li & Fung from
suppliers, buyers, and other
intermediaries?
2. Intermediaries such as Li &
Fung need to be paid. Why,
1. This question asks students to apply the
tools first introduced in Chapter 4 to
identify and assess the resources of Li &
Fung.
2. On the basis of question 1, students should
be able to explain how Li & Fund adds
InstructorManualtoMikePeng&KlausMeyer(2011):InternationalBusiness,CengageLearning.
Further Learning Activities
In addition to the cases and discussion questions provided in the book, instructors may want
to use any of the following activities to further engage students with the material.
1. Your company has developed a dominant global supply network that has contact with nearly
every country in the world. However, recent internal initiatives have encouraged managers to
reconfigure your company’s supply network to increase efficiency. As a part of this process, you
must use established logistics performance metrics to identify the country that has the highest
logistics competence on each continent (Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, and South
America). Prepare a report that indicates your recommendations and rationale for each continent.
What could explain the results of your analysis?
One resource which can be used is “Logistics Performance Index”. This website can be found
2. You are conducting an international survey concerning possible acceptance of a new leisure
activity: space tourism. One issue that can influence whether individuals in a country find this
new concept interesting is culture. Based on a data source that assesses culture around the world,
identify the cultural trait that could measure general acceptance of space tourism by country.
Then, determine which countries are ideal to target for commercialization. Be sure to support your
position thoroughly in the report provided.
One resource which can be used is “Geert Hofstede Resource Center”. This website can be
InstructorManualtoMikePeng&KlausMeyer(2011):InternationalBusiness,CengageLearning.
Further Readings
At the end the chapter, suggested further readings are provided. The primary aim is to
provide students a starting point for further work, for example when preparing a class
assignment or dissertation. These references also are recommended for instructors not
familiar with the topic and wishing to ‘get ahead of the students’ before lecturing on a topic.
1. J. Mangan, C. Lalwani & T. Butcher, 2008, Global Logistics and Supply Chain Management,
Chichester: Wiley – a textbook on the international supply chain part of this chapter.
3. D. Ricks, 2006, Blunders in International Business, 4th ed., Oxford: Blackwell – humorously tell the
story of mistakes made by international business people, mostly in the area of marketing.