International Marketing Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

International Marketing - Case Study Example He contended that a lot depends upon the differences in the extent of geographical location and the degree to which the company is centralized for decision making. International marketing is different from home-country marketing and the success or failure of the decision basically depends upon; International market situations happen to be multilevel in their decision focus, with a hierarchy of decisions from country assessment and performance measurement decisions through to more traditional marketing mix allocations and programs. For the purpose of this assignment we choose 'BARCLAYS BANK', a UK-based financial services group, with a large international presence in Europe, the USA, Africa and Asia. Barclays is one of the largest financial services companies in the world, In terms of market capitalisation. It has been operating for more than 300 years with more than 25 million customers and 118,000 employees in over 60 countries. Barclays origins can be traced back to a modest business founded more than 300 years ago in the heart of London's financial district when goldsmith-bankers provided monarchs and merchants money for funding their business ventures. John Freame and his partner Thomas Gould established one such in Lombard Street in 1690. The name Barclay became associated with the company in 1736, when James Barclay also became a partner. The company amalgamated with the London, Provincial and South Western Bank in 1918 to become one of the UK's 'big five' banks. By 1926 the bank had 1,837 outlets. The modern banking business though started picking up in 1925, with the merger of three banks - the Colonial Bank, the Anglo Egyptian Bank and the National Bank of South Africa to form Barclays international operations. This helped the bank in adding more business in Africa, the Middle East and the West Indies. Besides the banking operations the Barclays' group has business interests in a range of fields like fund/ capital management, investment advisors, insurance, etc. But for our study we'll limit ourselves mainly to the banking operations. Some of the historical milestones and salient features about the Barclays' operations are; Barclays acquired Martins Bank in 1969, the largest UK bank to have its head office outside London. In 1981, it became the first foreign bank to file with the US Securities and Exchange Commission and raise long-term capital on the New York market. Taking giant strides towards global acceptance Barclays listed its shares on the Tokyo and New York stock exchanges in 1986, thus becoming the first British bank to do so. In 2000 it took over the Woolwich, a leading mortgage bank and former building society founded in 1847. In July 2003 Barclays acquired the Banco Zaragozano, one of Spain's largest private sector banking groups, which was founded in 1910. Keeping pace with technological advancements Barclays started the telephone banking service Barclaycall in 1994 and later on-line PC banking in 1997. Barclays has also introduced