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This paper examines the behaviour of Japanese pharmaceutical corporations in the light of recent merger activity, questioning strategic momentum theory given the particularly significant influence of culture on the decision‐making process in this market. The international performance of Japan’s pharmaceutical industry has been poor; therefore, we examine the regional orientation of the top global pharmaceutical TNCs, inquiring as to why there has not been greater convergence among Triad countries. Irrespective of cultural differences, this industry has been slow to respond to international macro change, but mergers, acquisitions, and other convergence strategies are now being observed.

The aim of the paper is to present an overview and an assessment of the challenges and opportunities for businesses that emerge from the greater diversity and complexity in doing marketing in the expanding EU.

The paper examines how marketing issues have emerged, progressed and diversified with the process of EU enlargement.

The paper argues that marketers' perceptions of marketing in the EU have changed with the market expansion of companies in the new EU accession states. From first being seen externally as a protectionist fortress, marketing in the EU has emerged internally at least as a protector of diversity across its current member states.

The paper is a reflection on the changing nature of marketing and the new priorities of companies in their marketing strategies and tactics in the largest single regional integration bloc in the world.

The purpose of this paper is to illustrate Michael Thomas's concept of civic professionalism and social trusteeship as a future alternative to the current marketing profession's code of conduct and to put this in the context of climate change and ecological sustainability as a model for firms everywhere.

Review of the marketing profession's responsibility towards society, communities and the ecology of the planet in the twenty‐first century in the light of climate change.

The hypothesis for the paper emerges as: whether it is possible for Chinese firms to embrace the needs of twenty‐first century global ecological sustainability in meeting their own economic requirements for development and financial prosperity.

Limited secondary research and primary research that is also limited in terms of scope.

As we move into an era of Chinese economic supremacy, we marketers must face up to the responsibility we have towards balancing the progression of global economic development (and selling goods and services in global market systems) with our responsibility towards our cultural systems and the global ecological system (the global ecosystem), the home of all our economic wealth.

To extrapolate lessons and opportunities for firms from developing economies as they move towards global domination of world economic markets and, suggest strategies for sustainability that they can, and should, adopt.

The paper presents a theoretical framework for a global strategy for sustainability, and provides a vision of marketing responsibility that embraces civic professionalism, social trusteeship and a strategy for sustainability.

This paper seeks to review the internationalisation strategies of Japanese and Singaporean firms within the context of Dunning, Hymer and Rugman.

The literature pertaining to culture, environment and Asian management is reviewed and the question is posed whether the management style is changing in response to global market convergence. The study used a mail questionnaire to explore the FDI factors deemed motivational for Japanese and Singapore managers.

The paper finds that managers need to consider the impact that environment and culture exerts on the decision‐making process as corporations expand their international reach.

One approach to explaining the theory as to why firms expand and perform at different speeds could be to suggest that the cognitive rationale that drives management thinking is environmentally dependent. This would appear plausible given that when the way in which managers make decisions across countries of the same region are compared, differences in thinking do occur. This then exerts an effect on the internationalisation paths pursued by firms.

This research questions the suitability of a “one size fits all” approach to internationalisation given the cultural variables that exist between markets. This builds on the literature that examines the suitability of market convergence but at the same time enables the evaluation of the extent to which Asian managers are driven by market capitalism theory at the organisational level.

The purpose of this paper is to offer an introduction and background as well as a narrative to the development of an economic, social, technological and cultural phenomenon that has been sweeping across national frontiers since first being identified by Theodore Levitt in 1983.

The approach is to trace theoretical development but there is lack of a consensus on this subject and so the perspectives of key authors in this area are reviewed alongside each other to test for signs of possible convergence.

Globalisation is a set of processes rather than just one. The practice is different from what the authors may have expected in that sales of the leading multinationals are not global but regional. Organisational forms reflect differences in strategic thinking with less uniformity being necessary or imposed. Individuals today recount their daily tasks in terms of using the names of global brands or products as nouns and verbs in everyday language. Attitudes towards globalisation are constantly changing. Equally, globalisation continues to evolve.

What is presented here is an overview of the literature as it applies to international trade where globalisation was earlier hoped to bring an economic rescue to billions of people and liberate them from poverty. Marketing, organisational behaviour, risk assessment and strategic decision making all have important roles to play here and so further research is required to monitor a new global trading situation.

It is hoped to contribute to further thought, discussion and conceptualisation of research in this area. The idea of globalisation and regionalisation is not new but the prevalence of this phenomenon in our daily lives is striking.

As the concept has advanced and developed, more studies have been made of this phenomenon and from different perspectives. Here, it is hope to recount those different perspectives as well as reach certain conclusions as to where it has reached and how far it may be expected to reach.