‘Global Marketing - A Decision Oriented Approach’

London Metropolitan University recently hosted Professor Svend Hollensen from the University of Southern Denmark who gave a lecture on "Global Marketing: A Decision Oriented Approach" and promoted his recent book of the same title.

Professor Svend Hollensen is a Ph.D. and associate professor of international marketing at University of Southern Denmark. Apart from his academic research Professor Hollensen worked both as international marketing coordinator and international marketing manager for Danish enterprises and as a business consultant for many multinational corporations and global organisations such as World Bank.

During the lecture Professor Hollensen pointed out that the decentralisation of companies is the best method of adapting to new markets, commenting that "Global marketing is all about adaptation and the ability to coordinate across the cultures. Companies need to find the balance between the global and local."

Other issues include value chain management, globalisation, national manufacturing clusters and red and blue ocean strategies.

Professor Hollensen discussed an example of this in the gaming console industry:

"The gaming console Nintendo Wii by Nintendo Ltd is the recent example of applying the blue ocean strategy. The company has been exploring gaming console industry by locating areas with less focus on and decided to become a leader in those. Within three years Nintendo Ltd market share grew from 11% to 46%."

Professor Hollensen argued that companies can remain competitive only by concentrating on their core functions such as management, employment and structure of the enterprise. "Managers still have an ethnocentric approach; they often follow their own culture when going global. More multicultural approach is required in order to be successful."

He also advised students how to excel at marketing telling them that "If possible, study abroad in a multicultural environment. As an industry professional listen to local experts - they provide excellent insights."

His book "Global Marketing: A Decision Oriented Approach" is a great source of knowledge on global marketing. By exploring areas such as internationalisation, entry strategies for new markets and global marketing programmes, the book demonstrates the work performance of worldwide professionals. Several brand case studies in the book, as well as video cases available on the Pearson website, add further insight to the debate.


Katarzyna Maj (with adaptations)