Article Review
In this article, Wilkie and Moore are quick to explain that globalization is not a new concept. However, the technological and communication advancements that have been realized across the world have increased the level of business interactions between different territories worldwide. This article effectively captures the idea that as a result of globalization, marketing strategies within different firms and companies have had to adapt to the needs of the global market instead of relying on the traditional domestic markets that were based in their parent countries. Due to the changes that have faced the body of marketing, Wilkie and Moore claim that streams of publications and literature have flocked the academia as different marketing researchers seek to explain the period shifts that have been witnessed in the field of marketing. Different scholars have seemed to come up with the same line of thinking and claims.
One central idea that seems to resonate with many marketing practitioners and scholars is the idea that the coherent body of marketing has been evolving over time. The transformation of the body of marketing has not been rapid, but has involved periodic shifts that have been experienced within different time ranges (Hassan, 1994, p.56). Marketing researchers have come up with the concept of the “4 eras of Marketing Thought.” This article effectively discusses these four evolutionary stages of the body of marketing. Many of these researchers argue that the pre-marketing era can be traced to the days of Ancient Greece. According to this article, the idea of the role of government in improving market outcome was derived from the Greeks.
In addition, the Greeks were also able to come up with the idea of market competition and marginal cost. Though this claim may be substantiated through scholarly sources, the fact remains that there were other civilizations that existed before ancient Greece. The fact remains that civilizations such as Ancient Egypt were already participating in long distance commerce before Ancient Greece came to being. However, it is a noble idea that marketing strategies of profit maximization can be traced to ancient civilizations such as ancient Greece. The coming of the industrial revolution is considered to be the era when the field of marketing was founded. With the increased level of production due to the mechanization of economies such as in Europe, there was a need for many nations to device ways of marketing their goods and services to other nations and continents. This explains the reason why many Europe powers had numerous colonies in continents such as Asia, Africa, and the South America. The satellite nations in these continents were sources of a ready market for the manufactured goods in European countries. However, for the continuity of the production process, there was a need for continued supply of raw materials from these colonies so that the growing demand of manufactured products can be adequately met.
Wilkie and Moore effectively capture the events that surrounded the inception of the field of marketing. It is evident from the claims paused in this article regarding the marketing distributions that there was no particular continent that could survive without economic interact with other territories. This is because no continent could be able to afford the required raw materials, labor, technology, and the required market for the finished goods. This integration between nations and continents with regards to marketing has played a key role in shaping globalization in its current form. Wilkie and Moore argue that since the 1980s, there have been new challenges to the business environment. Many firms and companies have been forced to restructure and re-engineer better ways of profit maximization and at the same time adequately meeting global demand. In the contemporary, many business units have been forced to relocate overseas as a result of stringent environmental regulations and high taxations that have been subjected to different companies across many nations (Pride, 2006, p.34). The topic of offshore outsourcing has been a center of controversy in many nations across the world. Scholars have argued that many manufacturing jobs have been shipped overseas. It is important to realize that the offshoring of manufacturing businesses to other nations and continents leaves many unskilled workers unemployed (Sheth, 1988, p.61). The jobs that are left in many western nations have been high skilled jobs that require higher levels of skill and education. This has increased the economic gap between skilled and unskilled workers.
This accounts for the social stratification that has been witnessed in many western nations such as the United States (Sandhusen, 2000, p.27). This means that Wilkie and Moore article effectively explains some of the marketing challenges that have resulted in most of the controversial socio-economic debates that characterize our societies today. In addition, Wilkie and Moore not only explain the changes in marketing strategies over the years, but they also use historical evidence to substantiate their claims. The use of interdisciplinary evidence and facts to strengthen the claims within this article increases the article’s credibility. It is also clear from this article that with the increased liberalization of economies especially in the developing world, there might be other future paradigms and shifts that might be witnessed in the field of marketing.
References
Hassan, S. S., & Kaynak, E. (1994). Globalization of consumer markets: structures and strategies. New York: International Business Press.
Pride, W. M., & Ferrell, O. C. (1989). Marketing: concepts and strategies (6th ed.). Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co.
Sandhusen, R. (2000). Marketing (3rd ed.). Hauppauge, N.Y.: Barron's.
Sheth, J. N., & Gardner, D. M. (1988). Marketing theory: evolution and evaluation. New York: Wiley.
