Standardization and adaptation in multinational corporationsapplied study on Samsung’s marketing mix strategy

Resumo

International marketing is the process of planning and conducting transactions across borders to create exchanges that satisfy the objectives of individuals and organizations (Czinkota & Ronkainen, 2006). The standardization approach understands markets as homogeneous and defend that the key to succeed is the ability of the company to standardize goods and services (Buzzell, 1968). On the other hand, the Adaptation Method highlights the difficulties in using a standardized approach and support the tailoring and adaptation to fit in the “unique dimensions” of international markets (Thrassou & Vrontis, 2006). The purpose of this study is to determine how multinational companies apply their marketing strategy based on standardization and adaptation approaches in different countries. To achieve this purpose, a qualitative study of the international marketing mix strategy of Samsung, in four different countries (Brazil, China, France, and United States of America) was made. The methodology is divided in two different phases: secondary and primary data collection. The secondary data: (a) gathered information about the countries chosen and perform a CAGE Distance Framework analysis, (b) highlighted the main points of the mobile industry sector with a market share, Product Lifecycle and Porter’s five forces analysis, and (c) studied Samsung Marketing Mix (Product, Placement, Promotion and Price). The primary data, was based on qualitative interviews with Samsung employees, native people from the analyzed countries, and clients to get a different perspective and better understand the company’s reality. The study concludes that Samsung applies both strategies: standardization and adaptation. In other words, at the same time the company standardize their core competencies and characteristics, it adapts some of its strategy to fit the culture of the other countries. The strategy that seems to have more adaptation is Promotion, while Product, Placement and Pricing have the same overall strategy with some adaptation to fit the countries profiles and requirements. All in all, the company and its brand are known by the advanced technology and innovation, that perception can be found in a consistent way throughout the world due to a success application of their marketing mix in different countries. Finally, the conclusion is aligned to the literature review studied and contribute to the International Marketing and Standardization and Adaptation field, as it brings a practical and applied study on a well-known company.

Ficha do documento

Tipo

Dissertação

Ano

2020

Instituição

Fundação Getulio Vargas

Fonte

Repositório da FGV

Idioma

Inglês

Acesso

Acesso aberto

Identificador

oai:repositorio.fgv.br:10438/29092

Palavras-chave

International marketingStandardization and adaptationMarketing internacionalPadronização e adaptaçãoSamsungAdministração de empresasMarketingEmpresas multinacionaisNormalizaçãoSamsung (Firma)