Eastern European marketing systems and Western marketing research voids: A research agenda
Abstract Starting with detente, there has been a marked improvement in North American trade with the U.S.S.R. and other Eastern European countries. This trend is predicted to continue at an accelerating rate in the years ahead. Despite this, trading and business systems of these countries are not likely to alter much. In most cases, planned purchases are going to continue, although the intensity may vary. Public policy makers in these countries decide well in advance what type of products or services they are going to purchase, because their purchases must conform with the goals of the annual foreign trade plan and the allocations of foreign exchange available for that particular purchase. Most aspects of Eastern European markets and marketing practices are not well known by North American company managers dealing with these countries. In most cases, lack of information about these markets often leads to misunderstanding and, hence, lost opportunity. The purpose of this article is to determine the critical research voids in an effort to facilitate the expansion of North American-Eastern European trade. To this end, a four-step procedure is proposed to pinpoint areas of research for immediate attention.
U.S. Role in East-West Trade: An Appraisal
This article reviews major factors involved in U.S. participation in East-West trade, including centralization and the structure of decision making in Eastern Europe, tariff and nontariff barriers, and the significance of financing and the level of debt in the Socialist countries. It also examines ways of ascertaining market potentials, new forms of trade, such as industrial cooperation and countertrade arrangements. It concludes with an assessment of outstanding issues in the future development of East-West trade.
U.S. Participation in East-West Industrial Cooperation Agreements
The article summarizes and interprets basic statistical findings regarding the magnitude and pattern of U.S. industrial participation in the USSR and Eastern Europe under so-called East-West industrial cooperation agreements. The findings are based on the authors' survey of U.S. firms, conducted on behalf of the U.S. Department of Commerce.