1.
Marketing is
the process or business activity that include two parties, the
buyer and seller. These parties give something of value and receive
something of value in the process of marketing. Marketing involves
the interaction of different aspects together to achieve the
marketing goal. These aspects include technology, media, customer
experience, creative technologist and marketing management.
Marketing covers advertising, public relations, promotions and
sales, market research etc.
International marketing involves carrying out marketing
activities in global market. The three reasons why companies need
to research their international markets are: -
- To know the cultural aspects of the country - Culture plays
important role in international business. . Global firms need to
understand the culture of foreign countries before doing business.
Culture of people in different countries influence their buying
decision. This contributes to the success of the product or
service.
- To know the needs and preferences of the target market -
Customer preference is very important factor to consider as it
directly impacts the sales and profits. If a company sell its
products that did not match with customers’ needs and wants, then
it impacts sales. For example - People in America prefer to buy
vacuum cleaner rather than wet cleaning mop. So if a successful
Indian organization plans to sell mop in America, then the product
will not attract American customers.
- To get knowledge about different barriers - Language is one of
the barrier for international business. It is very important for
business to consider all legal aspects and laws of the country.
Research on international markets give clear picture about
political barriers, economic barriers and geographical
barriers.
2.
Outsourcing
refers to contracting the business activity to the third party in
order to save cost. The business activities that can be outsourced
include payroll, accounting, etc.
Outsourcing is of two types. They are:-
- Back office outsourcing - this include internal business
function and organization services.. Example- billing.
- Front office outsourcing - this include customer service and
deals with customer interaction.
The three factors that a firm should consider when making
outsourcing decision are: -
- Cost saving
and time saving - Business should consider whether
outsourcing business process to the third party would provide cost
advantage or not. In order to perform particular activity,
organization needs to recruit, train, develop employees with
specific skills which require both money and time. Outsourcing this
activity to third party will help the organization to save money
and time and to utilize the same on core business. Example -
company outsourcing the telemarketing to third party who are expert
in this field.
- Technology -
The decision to outsource should also be made by analysing the
technology of vendor. Advanced technology would help in improving
the quality of service because of the latest technology integrated
in business process. This makes the organization efficient and
effective. Example - company outsourcing market research activity
to the third party which use latest technology to provide fast and
accurate results.
- Human
resource - Proper analysis of human resource is
important to understand whether they are well-trained to execute
the outsourced tasks successfully. The third party perform that
particular task that has been outsourced by the organization as
they have the skills that is required to fulfill that specific
business activity. Since they are expert in this field, it will
help in improving the speed and efficiency of the process. Example
- helpdesk service are being outsourced to provide fast and quality
service to the customers.