Emerald

In conventional international business literature, the marketing and transport functions are either ignored or assumed to be governed by the same factors that determine production. An attempt is made to introduce the integration that is long overdue. The factors which determine the decisions of location and internalisation are examined, and analysis is made of the important role played by information flows in the planning of an integrated channel system. The conclusion is that simplistic categorisations are too crude, and that an integrated treatment, recognising the interdependencies and cost implications of each function, is essential for a complete conceptualisation of the foreign market servicing decision.

Reports the findings of a study conducted among 135 Bulgarian consumers, examining their perceptions of products from five Asian Pacific countries. The most common source of information for evaluating these products was experiential knowledge, coupled with opinions from friends. Among the country origins investigated, products made in Japan appeared to be liked most, while Indian products received the most negative comments. Japanese products were also ranked first in terms of overall assessment, followed by products from Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia, and India. In general, consumer demographics did not play a serious differentiating role in the evaluation of products from these countries. With respect to specific product dimensions, Japanese goods were also rated more highly than those of other countries, the only exception being on price and credit facilities. Finally, in assessing particular categories of products made in Asia Pacific, Japan again received the highest ratings. Some conclusions are drawn from the study findings, as well as managerial implications.

Countertrade is a widely prevalent mode of trading among Eastern bloc nations. Countries and companies which wish to export to them can gain a strong competitive edge by incorporating a willingness to countertrade into their product offering. This article reports findings regarding the perceptions of benefits and problems held by British executives whose companies do practice countertrading with Eastern bloc customers. It also sheds some light on why the incidence of East‐West countertrade appears to be inaeasing.

Technological innovation is a major competitive input that directly translates into long‐term competitive advantage. Presents the results of research that examines innovative activity by country, based on several measures of technological performance. The patterns of inventiveness reported reflect present product development activities that will in the future directly impact the ability of a country to bring unique and high value‐added new products to market. Develops a taxonomy that suggests that there are distinctively different patterns of inventiveness by country. Discusses marketing implications of the taxonomy and proposes future research.

The relationships between organisational characteristics, export marketing strategy, and export performance are examined. Based on a nationwide survey of United States exporting firms, it is shown that exporters who are committed to exporting and are formally trained in international business tend to sell directly to final end‐users, utilise their own export department, and charge higher prices for products exported than for sales in the domestic market. In turn, such exporters tend to perform better financially.

Explores the demand and supply side factors likely to affect international branding strategies with particular emphasis on the European market. The study of the European confectionery industry highlights some of the major factors and issues in the debate regarding the development of the standard European brand and concludes that strategic variety is likely to be the accepted feature of the branding strategies of the different players based on varying degrees of standardization and adaptation of the various elements.

Reviews and synthesizes the literature addressing the concept of strategic orientation and examines the relationship between strategic orientation and export success. Uses survey data from experienced export managers to test the relationship between proactive and reactive strategic orientations and success in exporting empirically. Key dimensions of a proactive strategic orientation are found to be significantly correlated with export success.