Globalisation

Introduction

The term ‘Globalisation’ is extensively used to illustrate a range of economic, social, political and cultural changes that have shaped the world over the past half-century. In general, globalisation can be described as the process through which the world is becoming increasingly interconnected due to immense expansions in trade, cultural exchange and financial flow (Guttal, 2007). It is crucial for any individuals and organisations be aware with their global surrounding as globalisation is continuously moulding the world, with trades and information being constantly exchanged.

This report will evaluate the interrelationship between the globalisation of markets and marketing, development of world trade and the global economic development, through which brands and companies are taking advantage of globalisation in order to increase their market share through out the world. It will then identify the stakeholders and beneficiaries of globalisation.

Globalisation of markets and marketing

Vignali (2001) describes globalisation as a process through which marketing strategies are developed as thought the world is a single entity. According to Jain (1989), globalised brands and organisations achieve this by standardising their products, prices, promotional programs and distribution channels across national borders. Therefore, marketing mix variables, such as packaging, product characteristics and labelling are usually homologised by the organisations. Thus, the main purpose of standardisation is to create marketing strategies that can work in different countries and cultures to promote a product.

Vrontis et al. (2009) noted that most multinational organisations adopt standardisation of marketing because consume wants and needs do not vary significantly across national borders, as the world is continuously becoming similar in term of customer requirements and environmental factors regardless of geographical location, consumers usual have the same demands. Companies such as Toyota, Nestle, McDonalds and KFC are good examples of global marketers who have successfully implemented effective marketing mix elements to create global marketing programs.

Levitt (1983) has identified how globalisation has enables the soft drink companies, Coca-Cola and Pepsi, to becomes highly successful through standardising their products even though different regions around the world have different taste buds and preferences. He further stated that standardisation of the marketing mix and the creation of a single strategy typically offers global organisations significant cost benefits in marketing and economics of scale. But more importantly, companies want to globalise is to expand their market share, beyond the opportunities provide by their local markets (Lopez and Fan,