CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
The
level of societal development determines the market system that operates in
that society. The society has been developing from simple to complex and
marketing has also developed from barter to global. Before the introduction of
money, people were exchanging goods for goods. Barter system of marketing was
associated with numerous problems including valuation and double coincidence of
wants. The introduction of money as a medium of
exchange and a measure of value solved the problem of barter and paved way for
specialization and international trade: provision of services including
transportation, communications, insurance, agency, retailing, wholesaling,
advertising, warehousing and financing emerged to facilitate marketing. During
the industrial revolution, domestic and international (import and export) trade
became very popular but were associated with problems including trade
restrictions, import and export licensing, pricing, producers and product
information, price discrimination and so on. While domestic trade concerns
exchange of goods and services within the confines of a country, International
trade is about exchange of goods and services between countries. For example, a
trade between Ghana and Nigeria is an international trade while that between
Lagos and Abuja is a domestic trade.
Global
marketing is marketing on a worldwide scale reconciling or taking commercial
advantage of global operational differences, similarities and opportunities in
order to meet global objectives. The emergence of computers and the internet
have reduced the world to a global village where producers and customers can
just log onto the internet to interact and exchange goods and services.
ICT stands for information and communication technologies and is
defined, for the purposes of this primer, as a “diverse set of technological
tools and resources used to communicate, and to create, disseminate, store, and
manage information”. These technologies include computers, the internet,
broadcasting technologies (radio and television), telephone, interactive multimedia systems, and digital telecommunications. The
emergence of the new information and communication technologies (ICTs) has
dramatically altered theoretical and practical assumptions about the role of
communication technologies in development. The new information and
communication technologies (ICTs) are widely perceived as major tools for
kick-starting ailing economies and consequently assist developing societies
`catch up' with the developed world, including those groups that have been lost
out of the mainstream of development.
To what
extent do the new ICTs facilitate marketing activities?.
ICT
have become the fastest growing part of the World Wide Web (WWW). Used properly,
the Internet can be a powerful source of competitive advantage in global
markets and an increasing number of companies are developing Internet-based
strategies to support overall business development.
This
led to a proliferation of commercial sites which remain the fastest growing
part of the Net today. Commercialization resulted in a major clash of cultures
between original users (mainly researchers), who emphasized the free exchange
of information, and new, corporate users emphasizing the commercial
opportunities available.
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
There
is no doubt that ICT has transformed international businesses. Although the
majority of users are still based in developed countries (the USA in
particular), the use of ICT has become truly global in scope. Connectivity has
increased rapidly in both developed and developing countries.
The
use of ICT has facilitated the connection between end-users and producers
directly, and this has reduced the importance of traditional intermediaries in
international marketing (i.e. agents and distributors).
Secondly, ICT strives better in an environment where
there are good infrastructural development like good educational system and
steady power supply and so on, as witnessed in the developed nations. But for
the developing nations that lack these basic infrastructures (good educational system,
steady power supply and good telephone system), the development and use of ICT
posses a serious challenge to the development of global marketing practices.
In Africa, ignorance is a major obstacle to the
appreciation and use of ICTs while the educated and literate individuals may be
faced with the poor economic situation in their countries and individual
socioeconomic problems that make it difficult for them to acquire ICTs when
needed. In Nigeria, for example, to acquire a computer/modem, ISP subscription
and telephone line would require the total annual income of a graduate.
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
To determine how ICT substantially improves
communications with actual and potential customers, suppliers and partners
abroad.
To determine how good educational system, steady power
supply and other infrastructure could impact positively on the use of ICT in
global marketing.
To determine how ignorance about the importance of and need for ICT affects its use and
how apathy makes the rich not to use ICTs.
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
1 This
study will help marketing practitioners and academias understand that the
culture of ICT is an efficient new medium for conducting worldwide market
research. For example, gaining feedback from customers and tracking individual
customer behaviour etc.
2.
The traditional intermediaries in marketing
(i.e. agents and distributors) will need to begin offering a different range of
services so that the value-added by them will no longer be principally in the
physical distribution of goods but rather in the collection, collation,
interpretation and dissemination of vast amounts of information. The critical
resource possessed by this new breed of “cybermediary” will be information
rather than inventory.
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
THE ROLE OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGIES (ICTS) IN DEVELOPING SUSTAINABLE TOURISM - CLICK HERE TO SEE IT
CHAPTER THREE
RECOMMENDATIONS:
Based on the details and articulations of this
seminar paper and the review of the works of other writers, the following
recommendations were made:
·
There should be ICT support for use by SME’s, and consumers, including those
in remote areas, by providing easy and low cost access to ICT solutions.
·
There should always be organised regular consultative meetings and
sharing of knowledge with other destinations in order to define appropriate ICT
strategies and implementation plans and timetables.
Conclusions
ICT is an absolute necessity for taking part in
today’s global economy and as such the role of ICT in the emerging global
market cannot be overemphasised. ICT has also been credited with the potential
to integrate world economies thus demolishing the barriers created by time and
distance. It equally makes easier the trade in goods and services and
encourages investment as well as the creation of new sectors of enterprise, new
revenue streams and ultimately new jobs. There is a clear gap in the research
of ICT in the globalisation of firms. A rich fund of literature exists on the
technical side of ICT and information systems in firms. From a management
perspective, there is almost no explicit research on the influence of ICT on
the globalisation of firms. There are assumptions that ICT facilitate a faster
internationalisation and the emergence of “born globals”. However, an explicit
observation and explanation of ICT influences on globalisation processes is
still missing. Future research could provide some transparency in this field.
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