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Most electronic market (e‐markets)‐based research that has been undertaken has primarily focused on the design and development of systems to support electronic trading within national boundaries and it has been implied that conducting business through this medium is beneficial to the organisation. The purpose of this paper is therefore to examine the relative significance of economic, social, political and cultural factors and their interconnections in the transition to global e‐markets.

The paper uses an interpretive case study as this facilitates an understanding of how globalisation constructs affect the transition of organisations to the global market environment.

The case study has found the need for organisations to address a wide range of issues if they are to benefit from participation in global electronic marketplaces (e‐marketplaces). The development of information communication and technologies (ICT) has been viewed as a primary factor in the reduction of transaction costs and one which allows for a greater number of suppliers in electronic markets. A large supplier base is seen as an advantage by some since it improves the bargaining position of the buyer. Dealing closely with a small number of suppliers may reduce transaction costs and risk, but such costs and risks have been significantly reduced by the development of internet based e‐marketplaces where the market absorbs a high proportion of both. In the case study, an organisation moving to the e‐market because of the advantages of significantly reduced transaction costs has been seen.

The literature adoption of global procurement platforms stresses the economic benefits. However, few studies have examined the social, cultural and political factors that are part of the globalisation trend and how these impact on companies trying to make a transition to global procurement strategies. In this paper, it is revealed that the trend toward globalisation fuelled by ICT is affected by a complex array of economic, social, political and cultural factors. The economic benefits of globalisation cannot be fully realised without consideration of the social, political and cultural issues.

Studying the cultural dynamics of expatriate amateur theater in Brussels, the purpose of this paper is to investigate multicultural marketplace development in global cities.

The paper performs an interpretive analysis of the expatriate amateur scene from an ethnographic perspective, combining observations of rehearsals and performances, in-depth interviews with actors, directors and audience, and secondary data.

The fluidity of global cities allows their inhabitants to engage in creative processes of cultural experimentation, performing a continuous back-and-forth movement between hybridization and pluralization. The former creates enough homogeneity for the expatriates to feel targeted; the latter ensures a level of cultural diversity necessary to satisfy their cosmopolitan aspirations.

The paper points to the important role of global cities for cultural experimentation. Such cities are not only an interesting market for culturally diverse products, but also experimental hubs. Managers willing to address multicultural marketplaces might target these markets with dynamic cultural offers that ensure a balance between rendering a product globally appreciated and recognizable, and maintaining a cosmopolitan appeal for consumers in search of diversity.

Drawing on global cities as markets in continuous reconstruction and subject to cultural experimentation, the paper turns the attention of the research community to the collective, reflexive, and experimental aspects of symbolic consumption. It shows how arts and cultural products represent valuable contexts for international marketing research, providing original insights into market dynamics and cultural experimentation.

Although a great deal of research has focused on global marketing strategy development and implementation, little research has focused on the global marketing managers charged with the responsibilities of developing and implementing such strategy. The aim of this paper is to develop a model that identifies a set of soft skills that have the ability to increase the effectiveness of global marketing managers in making the tactical adaptations necessary to develop and implement global marketing strategy in an increasingly complex and dynamic marketplace.

A conceptual model is developed with coinciding propositions.

The model developed theorizes that the ability of global marketing managers to make tactical adaptations to the firm's global marketing strategy (and thus enhance performance) is driven by the soft skills of tacit knowledge, experience, learning, unlearning, intuition, self‐confidence, flexibility, prioritization of problems, working under pressure and ambiguity tolerance.

The model highlights the specific soft skills that firms can work to foster in their global marketing managers and educators can work to incorporate within a curriculum. Through the development of these soft skills within a firm's global marketing managers, the firm can achieve a competitive position within the marketplace.

This study is one of the first to conceptualize a specific set of soft skills that enhance a global marketing manager's ability to make tactical adaptations to the firm's global marketing strategy by which the firm can be more competitive. As such, this study provides for a better understanding of how soft skills relate to the development and implementation of global marketing strategy and how firms can be more competitive by not only employing unique human capital, but by developing global marketing managers who are more effective at adapting to constantly changing global market conditions.

Outlines effective corporate strategy‐marketing strategy relationships in the context of a behavioural segmentation framework for competing in the global marketplace. Evaluates standard, local and regional market strategies in conjunction with cost‐based, customer‐based and innovation‐based corporate strategies. Highlights key corporate strategy‐marketing strategy combinations in a global strategic marketing decision tree. These combinations enhance an organization’s ability to compete effectively in global consumer markets. Utilizes corporate examples to emphasize the effectiveness of these combinations. The premiss of this paper is that corporate strategy drives marketing strategy. Concludes that by recognizing the complex interrelationships between corporate and marketing strategy, organizations may achieve global strategic competitiveness.

Despite the changing conditions worldwide, some global luxury brands have attained strong performance levels, and perhaps it is their globalness that keeps them resilient. Since the global luxury market is comprised of customer segments with relatively homogeneous needs, wants and motivations, achieving a global luxury brand positioning will help mitigate the negative consequences of economic crises, regardless of the market in which a luxury brand operates. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

A survey instrument was administered to a sample of 200 professionals located in a European country where none of the global brands cited in the paper are originating. The country was also selected on the basis of its propensity to have local luxury brands in competition with the global brands in each of the categories tested. The survey was conducted during the peak of economic crisis in Europe.

This study provides evidence that brand globalness may be a major value creating factor, and thus a source of competitive advantage for luxury brands competing in the global marketplace. Another question addressed by this study is should the luxury brand modulate the message projected in the media away from luxury and closer to quality or other stimuli less associated with luxury in order to avoid luxury shame. All these are questions addressed by this imperial study to investigate how the brand globalness influences consumer perceptions in global recessionary times.

The proposed research formulates an empirical study of the underlining effects of what is referred to as “glocalization” in the literature on the luxury positioning. This study provides evidence that brand globalness may be a major value creating factor, and thus a source of competitive advantage for a luxury company competing in the global marketplace.

The transformation of US manufacturing, led by computer‐integrated manufacturing (CIM) systems, has already begun to take root. This article examines the potential benefits to firms which understand and can exploit CIM technology to its fullest extent. Because CIM simultaneously provides high product variety with low costs, conventional assumptions about competitive strategy and organisation design need reevaluation. As companies must work with increasingly scarce capital, human resources and time, CIM becomes an attractive option not only for highly capital‐intensive industries such as automobiles, but also for fast‐changing areas such as textiles, fashion design, and consumer appliances. CIM combines the benefits of economies of scope with the scale economies traditionally garnered only with large, rigid and dedicated factories. Success with CIM and other new manufacturing technologies depends on new organisational designs and incentives that foster fast innovation and cross‐functional integration. CIM′s promising role in transforming the manufacturing firm into a service business across many different industries will spur many US firms′ efforts to enter a global marketplace.

This article is an edited version of the presentation given by Ward Klein at the 2004 International Business Conference sponsored by the Boeing Institute of International Business at Saint Louis University’s John Cook School of Business. Over 300 guests listened to his comments and participated in a Q&A at the conclusion.

Globalization has created an intense competitive environment. As a result, achieving competitive advantage has become the core argument in international management. Some scholars have argued that the development of global leaders is critical (Osland, Bird, & Mendenhall, 2006; Yukl, 2009), while others believe that the global mindset is the key to strategic advantage (Black, Morison, & Gregerson, 1999; Jeannet, 2000; Javidan, 2008). In this paper, we present a review of both literatures (i.e., global leadership and global mindset) to highlight that today's dynamic marketplace requires a shift in thinking. We conclude by drawing attention to existing gaps in these literatures, and shed light on an emerging integrative model of global leadership and mindset.

Even if they meet their energy needs in a multiplicity of ways, EU member states are united in their commitment to environmental technology. Europe is a leader in the research and development of new energy sources, as well as the refinement of existing ones. As energy supply becomes a global trade, Europe’s energy‐efficient technology is in tune with the new environmental consciousness. Now it is up to Europe’s politicians to support its energy industry in exporting green power where it is most urgently needed – the developing world.

We study the performance attributes of an international production form that is designed for success in an increasingly global marketplace‐global product design and development. We find that firms elicit higher returns from their global product development when they compete in strategic complements than when they compete in strategic substitutes. These firms are most likely to compete in strategic complements if they have higher free cash flows, but are most likely to compete in strategic substitutes if they are more dominant in their industry. Importantly, global product development reduces cost largely via variable cost reduction. Moreover, we find that global product development contributes to the firm’s growth potential when pursued in conjunction with high multinationalism, aggressive competitive strategy, and high cost saving.