Global Marketplace

Chapter 15

The Global Marketplace

1. Key Concepts

The international trade system

Economic, political-legal, and cultural environments

• Explain how the addition of the World Trade Organization as a functioning body has changed the nature of international commerce.

• The NAFTA and EU regional free trade agreements have benefited both North America’s and Europe’s trading partners. But not all affected groups support these trading pacts. What are some of the concerns raised by groups opposed to such regional trade arrangements? What is your position—are you for, against, or uncertain?

• The United States has a trade restriction on Cuba. Is this restriction a tariff, quota, or embargo? To what extent does this trade restriction allow U.S. businesses to export their products to Cuba?

• Find five examples of international products that you regularly buy. Have these products been customized for you? Is the producing company following standardization or adaptation in each case? Explain.

• Pick a country, other than your own, and write a report on the economic, political-legal, and cultural environments present in that country. Discuss the differences and the similarities with the United States. What marketing opportunities do you think are present? Which cultural or business traditions are keys to understanding the environment of the country and its consumers?

• Define the following terms: tariff, quota, embargo, exchange controls, and nontariff trade barriers. Explain the role played by these terms in international trade.

2. Key Concepts

Deciding whether to go international

Deciding which markets to enter and how to enter them

• Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of direct investment in a foreign market. Name two foreign markets where a household appliance manufacturer would be interested in investing, and two foreign markets where it would have no interest in...