Global marketing is one of the most exciting fields of business. With the emergence of China, India, Vietnam, Dubai, and other unlikely candidates for global pre-eminence, many people and many companies around the globe now believe in the basic soundness of globalization and free trade. Of course, there are clearly countries, companies, and people who have been shortchanged by the globalization process and who, not surprisingly, demand redress. While terrorism cannot—and, fortunately, is not—condoned by anybody sane, at least the antiglobalization activists are raising issues that the global marketer needs to pay attention to.

But there are other challenges as well. Global marketing is very demanding professionally. This goes for managing it or learning about it, and also for teaching it. It requires not only a good grasp of marketing principles and an understanding of the global environment, but also how the two interact—that is, how the environment impacts the applicability of the marketing principles. Good marketing might be good marketing everywhere—but this does not mean it is necessarily the same.

The challenge when writing a text in global marketing is how to avoid being overwhelmed by all the curious and amazing differences in the marketing environment in foreign countries. These differences make things fun and enjoyable—but also frustrating, since after a while it is difficult to see if any progress has been made. It is hard to see the forest for the trees. The key is to focus on the marketing decisions that have to be made—and then deal with those environmental factors that directly impact those decisions. This is the approach taken in this text. It discusses the complexities of global marketing and clarifies the managerial roles involved, without getting bogged down by the many environmental issues that are only marginally relevant.