While it has been shown that a global marketing strategy should be viewed broadly and that a global marketing strategy does have significant impact on firms’ performance in global industries (Zou and Cavusgil 2002), the organizational processes, structures, and cultures that are necessary for successful implementation of a global marketing strategy have not been adequately researched in the literature. More broadly, there is a major gap in our understanding of the types of internal organizational resources that are conducive to implementing a global marketing strategy and that can lead to sustainable competitive advantages in the global market.

A major issue that needs to be investigated is what organizational processes that successful global competitors adopt to influence its foreign subsidiaries so that they can achieve global marketing standardization, coordination, and integration. Potential organizational processes may range from suggestion, inducement, request, to direction (Bartlett and Ghoshal 1989). It should be interesting to know which process is more effective and, perhaps more importantly, under what conditions a particular process may be effective for implementing a global marketing strategy. Researchers need to properly conceptualize various organization processes, define their relationships to global marketing strategy implementation, and design empirical studies to test such relationships.

Another major issue involves the organization structures that are conducive to global marketing strategy implementation. While centralization vs. decentralization and product division vs. geographical division have received some discussion in the literature, other dimensions of organizational structure have not been investigated adequately. For example, how a firm’s decision to enter into international joint ventures (or any other modes of foreign market entry) affects its ability to implement a global marketing strategy, and how various knowledge management systems relate to a firm’s ability to implement a global marketing strategy are among important issues to be researched.

Still another major issue in global marketing is the type of organization cultures that facilitates global marketing strategy implementation. Perhaps the strength of the organization culture is an important variable, or the content of the organization culture is more relevant. Researchers need to develop sound classification schemes for organization cultures, and link them to a firm’s ability to implement a global marketing strategy. Empirical research in this area is particularly scarce.

In addition to the aforementioned issues that relate to a firm’s internal organizational resources, research is also needed to identify various industry globalization drivers and the specific mechanisms through which a global marketing strategy can lead to competitive advantages for a firm. With quality research in these areas, a more complete theory of global marketing strategy can be expected in the future.

Bartlett, Christopher and Sumantra Ghoshal (1989), Managing Across Borders: The Transnational Solution, Boston: Harvard University Press.

Jain, Subhash C. (1989), "Standardization of International Strategy: Some Research Hypotheses," Journal of Marketing, 53 (1), 70-9.

Samiee, Saeed and Kendall Roth (1992), "The Influence of Global Marketing Standardization on Performance," Journal of Marketing, 56 (2), 1-17.

Shaoming Zou and S. Tamer Cavusgil (2002), "The GMS: A Broad Conceptualization and Measurement of Global Marketing Strategy," Journal of Marketing, 66 (4), 40-56.