(BQ) Part 2 book "Global marketing management" has contents: Global pricing, communicating with the world consumer, global marketing and the internet, marketing strategies for emerging markets, export and import management, global logistics and distribution,.and other contents. | r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r 10 GLOBAL PRODUCT POLICY DECISIONS I: DEVELOPING NEW PRODUCTS FOR GLOBAL MARKETS r r r r r r r C r r r r r r r r r r r r r HAPTER OVERVIEW 1. GLOBAL PRODUCT STRATEGIES 2. STANDARDIZATION VERSUS CUSTOMIZATION 3. MULTINATIONAL DIFFUSION 4. DEVELOPING NEW PRODUCTS FOR GLOBAL MARKETS 5. TRULY GLOBAL PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT A cornerstone of a global marketing mix program is the set of product policy decisions that multinational companies (MNCs) constantly need to formulate. The range of product policy questions that need to be tackled is bedazzling: What new products should be developed for what markets? What products should be added to, removed from, or modified for the product line in each of the countries in which the company operates? What brand names should be used? How should the product be packaged? serviced? and so forth. Clearly, product managers in charge of the product line of a multinational company have their work cut out for them. Improper product policy decisions are easily made as the following anecdotes illustrate: 1 Ikea in the United Ikea’s foray in the United States was plagued with teething problems. Stores were in poor locations. Ikea stubbornly refused to size its beds and kitchen cabinets to fit American sheets and appliances. Bookshelves were too small to hold a television set. Bath towels were too small and too thin. Customers bought vases to drink from, as glasses were too small. Sofas were too hard. Dining tables were too small to fit a turkey for Thanksgiving. Ikea’s system of self-service and self-assembly puzzled Americans. Prices were too high. Ikea remedied the situation by adapting the product line, choosing new and bigger store locations, improving service, slashing prices. Some of the changes that Ikea made in the . have since been introduced in Europe. For instance, softer sofas have become a great hit in .
