T1 Definitions

Let’s THINK about our basics, then…

In principle, it is always a good idea to define the terms we are using [especially, by the way, in your ‘Rapport de Stage’ – so the reader can be sure in your Introduction he/she has understood exactly what you are intending to do].

There other good reasons for doing this:

1.  we make decisions based on what we believe is the case, not necessarily upon the facts/the reality.
2. what we understand and believe can vary from reality because of the influence of culture, personal values, quality of information, education, experience etc
3. I am sure that you can do even better than the experts and their textbook definitions…. and I would like you to prove to yourselves that you really can!  Actually, you NEED to be better than your teachers and to challenge what they/we say and write if you want your ‘corner’ of the world to improve.

So, basically, the words themselves are less important than what we understand by them.

[An example for you from your colleagues studying heritage, museums and archives.  When it comes to discussing concepts of ‘Preservation’ and ‘Conservation‘ they often disagree violently:

• some take Preservation to be a system and process in which Conservation plays a modest but important part
• some take Conservation to be a system and process in which Preservation plays a modest but important part

Result: they can be using the same words but talking at cross-purposes!  They even had a conference at Harvard about this very issue and the learnèd Profs couldn’t agree – but at least they now know how, why, where and upon what they disagreed!]

So – now we need to get down to defining out terms in a comprehensive, NARRATIVE form in English :

1. ‘Nation/national’  –> ‘Inter-National’
2. ‘Culture / cultural’  –> ‘Inter-Cultural’
3. ‘Marketing’
4. International/Intercultural Marketing’. [Also, can/should we use International Marketing and Intercultural Marketing as synonyms or might their be subtle differences between them that stop us from using them interchangeably?]

How are we going to do this?

1. Consider the WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, WHY and HOW of each term. [NB. most definitions tend to concentrate on the ‘what‘, but without the other aspects it doesn’t tell us much. Academic authors tend to make this mistake. You won’t – you will cover all the key questions and produce something meaningful!]
2. We will do this in multiple teams and share and combine our ideas BUT FIRST, I want each individual to take one of the first three terms as allocated and THINK through their own WWWWW&H.  NO INTERNET or TEXTBOOKS allowed!!
3. Then, in your teams, construct a NARRATIVE definition for the term you have been allocated.  No bullet points – a narrative – a paragraph or three if necessary. Again, NO INTERNET or TEXTBOOKS allowed!!   We will then share these with the rest of the group – so be prepared to read them out and critique them.
   
4. Once you have a definition you feel answers all the WWWWW&H questions, do some research online – what do the ‘experts’ or ‘recognised definitions’ have to say?  Is your definition better? Is there anything you need to add?
5. Use what you have researched online to refine your team’s version and produce a ‘definitive definition’ which you will present orally to your colleagues.
   

THEN….

OK. Now we are confident with the terms ‘Culture/inter-cultural’, ‘nation/inter-national’ and ‘marketing’, let us have a ‘go’ at threading these together to make a comprehensive definition of:

International/intercultural Marketing

We should be able to do this via a group brainstorm and then consider the evident implications of this for our studies and professional careers across all business functions.  We will put the result online for future use.

So – this may have seemed pretty ‘basic’ to start with – but I suspect you will agree that it has opened up matters no end.

To accentuate this very point: the need to understand and recognise inter-cultural differentiation, one only has to look at Robert McNamara’s parting autobiographical gesture to the world: ‘The Fog of War‘ concerning his time as Secretary of Defense during the Vietnam War:

1. 11 reasons for the tragedy which was the Vietnam War (and how many have inter-cultural misunderstanding at the root – I make it a good half – you?)
2. Extract from the documentary film: ‘The Fog of War‘

If one can lose millions of lives in prosecuting a war where people make every attempt to calculate actions and reactions to the n‘th degree – how much easier is it likely to be to lose money in international business where lives aren’t on the line……………………………….?