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Global Marketing Management
Article in Journal of Global Marketing · September 2009
DOI: 10.1080/08911760903022556
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Somjit Barat
Pennsylvania State University
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Somjit Barat
Assistant Professor of Marketing
Pennsylvania State University
1 Campus Drive, Mont Alto PA 17237
(717) 749 6207
email: sub26@psu.edu
BOOK REVIEW
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GLOBAL MARKETING MANAGEMENT FOURTH EDITION. Massaki Kotabe, Kristiaan
Helsen 2008. John Wiley and Sons, Inc. 682 pages; ISBN 978-0-471-75527-2, $54.84
(softcover).
The biggest challenge of writing a textbook on global marketing is to decide from where to start.
We live in a continuously evolving and highly complex marketplace. A strategy that is
applicable for one country or business may not necessarily be applicable for another.
Nonetheless, textbooks on global marketing are available a dime to the dozen, because it is a
very relevant issue for every country and a majority of large organizations. Obviously not all of
such books in the market are up to the mark. But what make the Global Marketing Management,
4th ed. (by Masaaki Kotabe and Kristiaan Helsen) different from the rest of the crowd are its
presentation, breadth of topics, orientation and examples provided to illustrate the major topics
addressed.
The authors’ pedagogical orientation is laid out through a flowchart in the preface.
Additionally, their interdisciplinary perspective offers the credibility required to author a global
marketing text of this caliber, the only casualty of such a venture being its daunting size! Given
the quality, size and the expanse of materials covered in this book, however, it is surprisingly
affordable. Finally, I feel that the authors have done a commendable job of differentiating their
product from those of others, and have explained in concise terms how their book can come in
handy for readers across disciplines. Clearly, this book is a valuable asset both for the
practitioner and the global manager, as well as a good resource for the library shelves.
The first five chapters are basically devoted to laying the groundwork, bringing the
novice up to speed and delineating the importance of understanding the concept of
‘globalization’. In the process, the authors talk in details about the basic premise of globalization
and its different facets (chapter 1), and the various environmental factors that shape the pace and
type of globalization, such as economic (chapter 2), financial (chapter 3), cultural (chapter 4) and
political/legal (chapter 5). Some of the discussions that really stood out in this section of the
book were as follows: the numerical example on comparative vs. absolute trade (p. 24),
emerging economies featuring China, India and Russia (p. 82), different political systems
especially in view of the current politico-economic turmoil (p. 152), and a wide range of hot
topics such as social pressures (p. 164), terrorism (p. 168), and green marketing (p. 175). I also
found case 5-1 (featuring Coke in India) very interesting and relevant.
Chapters 6 (Global Marketing Research) and 7 (Global Segmentation and Positioning)
cover topics that are understandably similar to the ones in regular principles of marketing or
marketing research textbooks. Topics include problem formulation, secondary and primary data,
focus groups and questionnaire design (Chapter 6) and features of ‘ideal’ market segment,
examples of positioning, and bases of segmentation (Chapter 7). Nonetheless, I feel that the level
of classification of consumer culture positioning is a bit too stretched.
The next three chapters (8, 9 and 10), are devoted to global strategies. Chapter 8 starts off
with some excellent examples on Dell, Volvo, Wal Mart as well as a wide array of geographies
covering India, Japan and the US. I particularly like the definition of ‘global strategy’ (p. 253)
because of its all-encompassing -- and yet, comprehensive nature. The topic of first-moveradvantage (p. 259) is also very relevant from a strategic standpoint; however, I am not sure how
well the case study on Ford and GM (p. 279) will go down with the readers, given the current
state of the automobile sector. The discussion on first-mover-advantage is logically carried over
in Chapter 9. I specifically like the step-by-step taxonomy (p. 285), which serves as a handy tool
for the both the expert and novice alike. The chapter concludes with a note on exit strategies (p.
309), which is sometimes hard to find in regular textbooks. Chapter 10 focuses on global
sourcing strategy, which is similar to ‘outsourcing’—a term that is discussed at the end (p. 341).
This chapter opens with a brief discussion of the concept of global sourcing strategy, its extent
and complexity (p. 320) and is followed by delineation of the five most recent trends in this field
(p. 324). ―The World at a Glance (M-1 through M-12) is an excellent tool for the reader to brush
up his/her knowledge of the global stage. In my opinion, such nifty features clearly suggest that
the authors tried their best to make this book a one-stop shop for the beginner and experienced
user alike.
Global policy decisions such as new product development (Chapter 11) and marketing
products and services (Chapter 12) are discussed in the next two chapters. Chapter 11 opens with
a discussion of the most popular product strategies, even though the line between product (or
communication) ‘extension’ and ‘adaptation’ sometimes can get blurry. In Chapter 12, the
exhibit on how McDonald’s has adopted its brand to suit global tastes and preferences makes
interesting reading (p. 390) and successfully illustrates the critical concept of masscustomization.
The subsequent chapter on Global Pricing is, in my opinion, one of the more difficult
chapters to follow. The reason might be absence of a demand-supply based model in explaining
the concept of price. Moreover, Chapter 13 is replete with a flurry of new terminologies and
concepts – sometimes an intimidating thought for an inexperienced reader!
In today’s constantly evolving business scenario, one cannot overemphasize the
importance of cultural effects on promotions and advertising. Chapter 14 (Communicating with
the World Consumer) clearly lays out the agenda in its introduction. I found Malaysia’s
Advertising Code of Ethics (p. 458) particularly interesting in this respect. The next section
citing some children’s advertisements (p. 459) was equally entertaining to read. However, I
wonder why the authors chose to ignore any discussion on publicity/public relations under
‘Other Forms of Communication’ (p. 463). Chapter 15 (Sales Management) reinforces many of
the topics discussed earlier e.g. impact of culture on sales management, cross-cultural
negotiation strategies etc.
Chapter 16 (Global Logistics and Distribution) is, in my opinion, one of the most important
chapters in the book and I almost wish that it were included earlier! Logistics is an indispensable
function of business and yet, does not often receive the kind of attention it deserves. This chapter
introduces some of the fundamental concepts such as global logistics, physical distribution etc.,
which are followed by more ‘hardcore’ concepts such as modes of transportation, warehousing
and inventory management and third party logistics. The concluding section of this chapter
includes topics such as e-commerce and retailing. But I would love to see a discussion on B2B,
B2C, C2B, C2C and m-commerce in the next edition, simply because these constitute an
indispensable part of today’s commerce.
Chapter 17 (Export and Import Management) somewhat blends well with the concepts of
relative and absolute advantage introduced in Chapter 1. The authors emphasize the importance
of global trade even for any country of the world. Given the current financial scenario, I would,
however, prefer to see more emphasis on financial aspects of export-import, such as forex,
international banking regulations, securities market, risk hedging and analysis etc. Chapter 18
(Organization and Control of Global Marketing Operations) starts off with a discussion of
SWOT analysis, followed by a detailed outline of the external and internal factors affecting the
firm’s global strategies (similar to that of Chapter 8).
The book concludes with what is arguably one of the most ‘happening’ topics—the
Internet. Chapter 19 (Global Marketing and the Internet) provides some broad statistics,
countrywise usage and penetration rates—which, I think, are very important issues to get a
perspective on adoption of the Internet. Unlike in many of the other books, this chapter does not
necessarily paint an overly rosy picture of the potential of the Internet. The concluding section—
the grand finale, enlists 35 case studies with detailed pedagogic discussion of each.
Overall, I would give this book a **** rating, if I were asked to. There is no question in
my mind about the quality, depth and relevance of content. The only concern (if any), as I
mentioned at the outset, is the size of the book. The authors might find it difficult to market it to
college students who make every attempt to get away by putting in the least effort.
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