Cultural Factors

The study will focus on analysing International and Global Marketing opportunities with the help of economic, cultural and political factors in the developing countries present in the Asia Continent. This essay proposes the group acronym of Asian developing countries SICM which stands for Singapore, India, China, and Malaysia. SICM is a combination of countries having a more diverse culture. All the countries have a different culture, economy, and political condition, but these countries are leading international and global marketing hub not only in Asia but other parts of the world. This research will help to analyse and provide an explanation for the growth opportunities in SICM countries in the next decade from various cultural, economic and political factors.

All the countries present in the group acronym SICM is leading nations in Asia and have a diverse culture. Culture is defined as social behavior, customs or ideas shared and practiced by a significant social or people (Kubat and Swaminathan, 2015). Asia is a most densely populated continent in the world. In which India and China are the most populated countries of the world. Asia has a great diverse culture of the rest of the world. Due to Asian cultural diversity, various traditions and customs are followed in the continent and within the country. Religion and language are significant elements of culture. Languages, mainly spoken in all over Asia are Chinese, Hindi, Arabic, Bahasa, Sinhala, and Urdu (IUCN, 2018). Then also, varieties in language do not hamper the international trade. Most of the companies operating across Asia adopt the local style and transform according to the culture of the foreign country. The products and services manufactured by multinational organizations are according to the foreign country. China is one of the countries which produces every product according to the Indian Festivals.

Most of the companies expand their business globally through mergers and acquisitions where they can avail the facilities of the parent company and reach directly to the customers without getting affected by country’s culture. But it does not mean that multinational organization neglects the importance of religion in conducting business globally. The Hofstede Cultural Dimensions can well understand the cultural factors within the perspective of international and global marketing. The six cultural dimensions aspects on a similar scale help to analyse the culture and have great relevance to international and global marketing (Cleverism, 2018). The Chinese organization has a great opportunity due to great power distance with Malaysia and Singapore. China Telecom is working well in Singapore under the FBO license, which is a subsidiary of China Telecom Global. The company understands the importance of collectivism over individualism which states that people of Singapore want to be closely related with other culture and welcomes multi-ethnic organizations (Company Profiles and Reviews – JobStreet.com Singapore, 2018). China Telecom also considers the multiple opportunities in Telecommunication in Asia. The countries like Malaysia and Singapore focuses on long-term orientation over short-term orientations which are inclined strongly to gain knowledge and participate in growth prospects. India is a multi-ethnic and multi-religious country which has opened its gate for global trade after post liberalization and builds several connections worldwide to promote businesses. Tata Corporation operated its international business worldwide for decades. In China, Tata Consultancy services have joint ventures with other Chinese companies and provide delivery as well as consultancy services (tata.com, 2018).

Economic Factor

The employees in these respective companies are adapting and appreciating mixed cultural and believe in cooperation, caring, and modesty. According to Hofstede Cultural Dimensions, uncertainty avoidance defines the degree to which persons in culture are not at comfort with vagueness and ambiguity (Demmler et al., 2018). Under SICM, Malaysia and Singapore are small countries that perceive India and China as a global trade leader in Asia and can help to boost the economy, trade, social, security, and technology. There can be an increase in international and global marketing in the next decade for the reason that SICM people are not a restraint for multinational organizations to operate a business in one other country. Asia covers about 37% of the world population. SICM are a combination of countries having a more diverse culture. Malaysia is a multi-ethnic country as a name suggest mini Asia that welcomes multinationals who are willing to promote trade and embrace citizens by providing employment. Singapore promotes meritocracy that confirms optimist potential growth irrespective of religion, race, social and financial background. The companies like TATA and China Telecom understands the dimensions of Hofstede cultural dimensions and employing it to enter the global market. Language and Religion is not a barrier for SICM and companies like TATA consultancy view Diffusion of Innovations, a theory of internationalization as an entry strategy in the SICM international market through examining at what extent the distinct culture can adopt new technology and ideas.

Economic factors of any country comprise of various factors such as Gross Domestic Product, Gross National Product, population, exchange rates, consumer confidence, trade agreements, economic cycle, inflation, employment rate, and consumer purchasing power etc. For international and global marketing, an organization focused on economic factors which have a direct impact on business failure and success — the financial circumstances of any country effect multinational organization strategy of offering products or services or how customers are targeted (Yenokyan et al., 2014). Foreign country economy and economies of the target market have an influence over international marketing strategies — the natural frugality effects how multinational organizations will approach customers whereas the monetary framework of the foreign country confines multinational organizations capacity to manufacture, transport and allocate merchandise through price and monitoring restrictions. Domestic and international fiscal circumstances play an important role in framing the global marketing strategy (Arslan and Roudaki, 2017).

SICM countries are major economic constituents of Asia, which supports international and global trade. Asia is a densely populated and biggest continent in the world. It is a mix of the world’s most developed economy like Japan, China and a less advanced economy like Nepal, Indonesia etc. There is a huge variation in the economy of Asia. The level of income decides the economy in Asia in different Asian countries (Britannica, 2018). China has a second, larger minimal GDP all over the world. Due to the great economic success of Singapore in the ’80s, China has opened its gate for international trade. It moved from state socialism to capitalist or private ownership. China is a mixed economy surrounded by command economy and showed continuous growth in recent decades by approx. 7% (The Balance, 2018). In past decades, India has shown significant economic growth. It has become the sixth largest economy by nominal gross domestic product. After the post-liberalization era, India has opened its gate for international trade and encouraging multinationals to invest in India. India has a long-term economic growth due to its investment policies, young population, and incorporating in the global economy (Smallbusiness.chron.com, 2018).

The young generations are a future economic growth prospect for any country. The level of education and literacy rate also decides an economic growth. Singapore and Malaysia have a financial tie-up where Singapore is a major trading companion of Malaysia, and on the other hand, China is a prime trading companion of Singapore. With so much of close economic relations among SICM countries, there has the huge prospect of multinational organizations to invest in SICM. The agriculture growth also measures economic growth. Asia is one of the biggest producers of agriculture products. Agricultural technology has enhanced the cropping techniques and help to boost Asia economy. The ratio among population and agriculture tends to be always high. Then also countries like India and China is fulfilling the needs of their community and also exports the various kinds of agro products and equipment (CNBC, 2018).

The country’s economic approach towards the foreign country for trade and commerce affects an international marketing strategy. Singapore is a free market economy. It is highly developed and become a more open market for foreign countries. Singapore is enjoying trade relations with over 189 countries worldwide (En.portal.santandertrade.com, 2018). The Chinese company, Huawei is the second largest smartphone producer after Samsung in all over the world. It also provides information and communication infrastructure and solutions. It operates in 170 countries by different marketing strategies. In India, Huawei targets the youth to sell smartphones and apply an Eclectic paradigm, a theory of internationalization by John H. Dunning to avail the benefits of location, production, and internationalization advantages. In Malaysia, Huawei wants to change its brand image and promote it as a local brand only for Malaysians. The top smartphone companies in Singapore are Sony, LG, Apple, and Asus etc. Huawei smartphones are not so popular in Singapore. Huawei applies an uphill task penetrating strategy to slowly leverage the yearly increase in sales of smartphones (Chan, 2018). In the next decade, SICM has a huge growth prospect for international and global organizations because of the continuous growth of Asia as well as SICM economy.

Politics and government of any country play an important role in international and global marketing. The administrative situation in global trade is based on political influences and administration actions in an external market that can expedite otherwise hamper a corporate capability to trade deeds in the overseas market (Schuster and Keith, 1994). There is always a political risk when doing business in foreign markets. A high degree of uncertainty hampers a business success. In the long run, political instability in any country reduces an international investment and affects an economy at large. Strict governments are generally responsible to no one, comprising the law. It is less uncertain to run trade-in republics and statutory dominions, a dominion with a structure that guards the community and focuses the sovereign to the decree of the commandment, than in nations with strict governments (Moon, 2012). SICM has potential key markets for international and global markets for the reason that, the government is supporting and promoting the foreign multinational organization to conduct business in the home country.

China has a mixed economy, which is combined with a command economy. It has a centralized system to control over the economy, yet give authorities at the state level to deal with local issues. China has an authoritarian control but promotes international business with ease of trade, subsidies, government support, labour support, and infrastructure support (Eoi.es, 2018). India is also a mixed economy where central and state government controls and support the trade. The new-fangled improvements directed to stress-free international business and venture, inflation monitoring actions, denationalization, levee improvements, and deregulation. Recent developments through special economic zones to support and promote infrastructure, economy, employment, education, health, and social growth encourage foreign marketers to invest in India. Singapore and Malaysia had a trade and political relations from the beginning when Singapore had separated from Malaysia in 1965. Singapore had shown tremendous growth in the last three decades and become the largest trading partner of Malaysia. The government fully care the foreign multinational organization to conduct business and to provide the necessary infrastructure and public support (Ganesan, 1991).

The political support of SICM countries to promote international trade has been increasing in recent years by providing necessary infrastructure, social, and tax reforms to foreign companies. The political factor of any country influences the economic system. OYO Rooms have originally been one of the largest Indian hospitality companies which are operating its business globally including China, Singapore, and Malaysia. OYO Rooms follow the EPRG approach for entry in international trade and apply an ethnocentric approach where home country India is given more importance in the initial stage of business. It offers budget hotels in other countries under polycentric approach and views each country is unique. The operations of OYO Rooms are conducted online, but every country has given importance, and it’s little to do with the parent company (Bhasin, 2018). OYO Rooms make an effort to offer the best deals in foreign countries by promoting its business according to the foreign country. OYO Rooms are now making individual pricing policy, according to the foreign country hotels and support hotels or services like regional-centric organization. To expand its business in the future to other international markets, OYO Rooms should follow the geocentric entry approach to convince international customers in collaborations with other service providers. With the ease of doing business with the help of technology, geographic separation does not matter. Online companies are flourishing with the help of government support. Conclusion As a part of Asia, SCIM countries have a tremendous potential for international and global marketing through a large population of prospect customers, SICM countries highest purchasing power parity, tax reforms for foreign organizations, special economic zones for foreign investment. With the help of government support, favourable economic support, and customers’ purchasing willingness towards foreign companies, multinational organizations have a great scope and ease of doing business in SICM countries. Thus, SICM countries have a great potential for International and Global Marketing in coming decades.

The political support of SICM countries to promote international trade has been increasing in recent years by providing necessary infrastructure, social, and tax reforms to foreign companies. The political factor of any country influences the economic system. OYO Rooms have originally been one of the largest Indian hospitality companies which are operating its business globally including China, Singapore, and Malaysia. OYO Rooms follow the EPRG approach for entry in international business and apply an ethnocentric approach where home country India is given more importance in the initial stage of business. It offers budget hotels in other countries under polycentric approach and views each country is unique. The operations of OYO Rooms are conducted online, but every country has given importance, and it’s little to do with the parent company (Bhasin, 2018). OYO Rooms make an effort to offer the best deals in foreign countries by promoting its business according to the foreign country. OYO Rooms are now making individual pricing policy, according to the foreign country hotels and promote hotels or services like regional-centric organization. To expand its business in the future to other international markets, OYO Rooms should follow the geocentric entry approach to convince international customers in collaborations with other service providers. With the ease of doing business with the help of technology, geographic separation does not matter. Online businesses are flourishing with the help of government support.

Conclusion

As a part of Asia, SCIM countries have a tremendous potential for international and global marketing through a large population of prospect customers, SICM countries highest purchasing power parity, tax reforms for foreign organizations, special economic zones for foreign investment. With the help of government support, favourable economic support, and customers’ purchasing willingness towards foreign companies, multinational organizations have a great scope and ease of doing business in SICM countries. Thus, SICM countries have a great potential for International and Global Marketing in coming decades.

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