Alan Zimmerman

Implementing international qualitative research: techniques and obstacles

While it is well accepted that good research is essential to developing the most effective international marketing strategies, until recently many warned that using qualitative techniques was fraught with pitfalls. However, no study had been completed which describes the use of various qualitative techniques in specific markets. This preliminary study, based on interviews with 39 experienced market research managers, shows that most qualitative techniques are used in nearly every one of the 17 countries included. International researchers interviewed are well aware of the cultural problems they may face in completing international qualitative research. These cluster around relations with the in‐country research firm, reactions of respondents and interpretation of data. In this study, they offer specific strategies they use to overcome these problems: patience and sensitivity in developing working relationships with the local firm and meeting the needs of respondents and first‐hand in‐country experience.

Protecting Intellectual Property Rights: The Special Case of China

China is the largest source of counterfeit goods. Both U.S. and European Union customs statistics put the Peoples Republic of China at the top of the list of pirated product seizures. Along with the remarkable growth in the Chinese economy and exports has come the growth of counterfeit product production and distribution throughout the world. To present a full picture of the many intellectual property rights (IPR) protection problems in China this article reviews Chinese history and traditional attitudes toward individual ownership of IP under Confucianism and communism. Finally, the article presents a view of the current enforcement of IPR rights in China describing the major difficulties encountered by rights owners.

Undergraduate Business Education in the People's Republic of China

Abstract Adaptation to the Market Economy The Peoples Republic of China is transforming its economy to a market-driven focus. A key aspect of this is the conversion and elimination of state-owned enterprises. To do this requires a mass education program for enterprise managers. The approach to change examined in this study is based on curriculum internationalization models. This paper examines the needs perceived by potential employers for university graduates. Conclusions are based on in-depth interviews held in and around Shanghai as part of a City University of New York-Shanghai University cooperative program.

Evidence of Managerial Response to the Level of Consumer Complicity, Pirate Activity, and Host Country Enforcement of Counterfeit Goods: An Exploratory Study

The major findings of this exploratory research are that a firm’s level of market commitment through future investments will increase in strategically important markets, regardless of high consumer complicity to purchase fake goods; that companies will employ additional anti‐counterfeiting tactics in markets with a high level of pirates and a high degree of enforcement of its intellectual property rights; and that companies employ a standardized approach of anti‐counterfeiting tactics targeted at consumers.

Fair shares: A preliminary framework and case analyzing the ethics of offshoring

Much has been written about the offshoring phenomenon from an economic efficiency perspective. Most authors have attempted to measure the net economic effects of the strategy and many purport to show that “in the long run” that benefits will outweigh the costs. There is also a relatively large literature on implementation which describes the best way to manage the offshoring process. But what is the morality of offshoring? What is its “rightness” or “wrongness?” Little analysis of the ethics of offshoring has been completed thus far. This paper develops a preliminary framework for analyzing the ethics of offshoring and then applies this framework to basic case study of offshoring in the U.S. The paper following discusses the definition of offshoring; shifts to the basic philosophical grounding of the ethical concepts; develops a template for conducting an ethics analysis of offshoring; applies this template using basic data for offshoring in the United States; and conducts a preliminary ethical analysis of the phenomenon in that country, using a form of utilitarianism as an analytical baseline. The paper concludes with suggestions for further research.

High-Tech Outsourcing: A Benefit-Cost Framework

Is international outsourcing “efficient” or merely a redistribution of resources from one economic sector to another? This paper looks at this question from the perspectives of: (1) economic theory, which abstracts away from institutions and towards generalized incentives; (2) management theory, which focuses more on institutional issues that economic theory tends to ignore; and (3) a combined perspective within a benefit-cost analysis framework. The paper argues that an evaluation of outsourcings impacts requires determining how the practice affects overall size of economic output and equity across sectors and countries. A benefit-cost template is developed for considering these questions more systematically.

The impact of buyer perceptions and situational factors on internet usage

The internet is rapidly gaining prominence in business-to-business marketing. As a result, there is a strong need to understand the role that it plays in inter-firm relationships. This paper addresses this issue by examining internet usage from the perspective of industrial buyers. We draw upon conceptual material, as well as a survey of 100 industrial buyers, to examine factors that may affect a buyers likelihood of using the internet. The findings suggest that an industrial buyers likelihood of using the internet is affected by the buyers perceptions of value and trust, as well as situational factors such as product type, decision stage, and the buyers overall internet experience. These findings have implications for how industrial marketers design their websites and integrate their internet strategies with their more traditional marketing programmes.

Illicit trade in the tobacco sector

This chapter focuses on the illicit trade in tobacco products and particularly key elements of this illicit trade that include 1) the scale of the global illicit tobacco trade and its nature (notably, the distinction that can be drawn between source and destination markets); 2) the various types of illicit tobacco products; and 3) the nature and characteristics of the illicit tobacco trade. A discussion of the recognized sources and destinations of illicit tobacco trade; the criminal gangs behind illicit tobacco trade; the use of packaging as a deterrent to counterfeiters; the role of tax stamps; and the use of Internet sites for distribution is provided. We also present the principal factors contributing to illicit trade in tobacco; specifically: 1) consumer affordability of tobacco products; 2) the profit incentives available to illicit traders; 3) the fact that criminal penalties are low and disproportionate to profit incentives; 4) consumer complicity; 5) the significance of the location of certain countries; and 6) tobacco as the “ideal smuggled product†. Although many of these issues are worthy of individual reports in their own right, analysis at that level of detail is beyond the scope of this chapter.

Fair Shares: A Framework for Analyzing the Ethics of Offshoring

Much has been written about the outsourcing phenomenon. Most authors have attempted to measure and/or minimize its effects or show that “in the long run” the benefits will outweigh the costs. Many authors have described the best way to manage the outsourcing process. But what is the morality of offshoring? What is its “rightness” or “wrongness?” Little analysis of the ethics of offshoring has been completed thus far. This paper develops a preliminary framework for analyzing the ethics of offshoring. The first section of this paper following this introduction discusses the meaning of the terms ethics, morality and fairness. The second section looks at data for offshoring in the United States and conducts a preliminary ethical analysis of the phenomenon in that country, using a form of utilitarianism as an analytical baseline. The third section provides conclusions and suggestions for further research.