The essentials of international marketing in the context of a UK-based Essay

The essentials of international marketing in the context of a UK-based firm, Directa Ltd - Essay Example The paper tells that the world today has become a global village. Information exchange can occur within a matter of milliseconds over thousands of miles. Technology has revolutionized every field, from arts and education to organizational management. It has also opened up new vistas of business management that were not plausible a few decades ago. One of the most important revolutions of globalization has been global marketing. Internationalization and global marketing strategies has not only garnered the attention of large corporations but small and medium sized enterprises are also considering marketing across national borders. This tends to highlight the role globalization is playing in the contemporary business arena. In order to comprehend the processes underlying and factors influencing global marketing, one needs to gain an insight into the operational dynamics of marketing on an international level. Moreover, marketing across borders is not limited to the domain of multinatio nal organizations, as was conventional few years ago. Globalization has offered businesses opportunities to expand its consumer base and to profit from international demand. Directa (UK) Ltd is a UK-based organization and deals with the distribution of industrial products. The company is located in the city of Essex and has a workforce of more than 80 people. It was established in 1971 and four decades since its inception, the company has become one of the leading distributors of tapes, signs, abrasives and adhesives along with other industry-related good and products. The company offers products from a number of leading brands such as 3M, Duracell and Velcro and has also launched its own products such as Deemark, a safety marking product, and Sparks, a PVC tape. The company has an online ordering service whereby customers can select from a range of more than 10,000 products and pay via SAGE. Moreover, the company has a functional ordering service on the phone too. Directa does not disregard its responsibility towards the environment and believes in sustainable business production. The company links up with Green Recycling Ltd and approximately 98% of the waste product is recycled. The company works in alignment with the Waste Electrical of Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive whereby it encourages the recycling and reuse of electrical equipment. For instance, Directa has launched a take-back scheme which encompasses recycling of used up batteries which are to be disposed otherwise by the customer (Directa, 2012). Previously the company was only a catalogue-only supplier. However as the business grew, the pressure on margins also rose (Jadu, 2012). This, coupled with flat sales, led the business towards a revision of the business model it employed. The issues highlighted, after the company heads and managers came together to discuss the progress of the company, included usage of the resources below an optimum level, lack of proper leadership to guide the grow th initiative and the boasting of sales by competitors by using internet for marketing. The company responded to this by setting up an e-commerce website that allowed customers to do business with Directa online. The marketing manager at Directa, Ciaran Crowley, was in charge of this initiative (Jadu, 2012). He not only focused on the use of warehouses and other resources of the company to develop new products but also realized the potential of telesales. Subsequently, an official website of the company was launched after considering a range of business frameworks and analyzing the organizational structure. Furthermore, the company spent time and resources not only developing,