Marketing meets Web 2.0, social media,and creative consumers: Implications for international marketing strategy

The 21^st century has brought both opportunities and challenges in our global, boundaryless world. Importantly, managers face a dynamic and interconnected international environment. As such, 21^st century managers need to consider the many opportunities and threats that Web 2.0, social media, and creative consumers present and the resulting respective shifts in loci of activity, power, and value. To help managers understand this new dispensation, we propose five axioms: (1) social media are always a function of the technology, culture, and government of a particular country or context; (2) local events rarely remain local; (3) global events are likely to be (re)interpreted locally; (4) creative consumers’ actions and creations are also dependent on technology, culture, and government; and (5) technology is historically dependent. At the heart of these axioms is the managerial recommendation to continually stay up to date on technology, customers, and social media. To implement this managerial recommendation, marketers must truly engage customers, embrace technology, limit the power of bureaucracy, train and invest in their employees, and inform senior management about the opportunities of social media.     

Interview: Leadership,global management,and future challenges: An interview with Peter Brabeck‐Letmathe,chief executive officer of Nestlé SA

The interview with Peter Brabeck‐Letmathe, Chief Executive Officer of Nestlé S.A., focuses on three core business concepts: Nestlé's leadership style in today's global environment, the importance of Nestlé's core values, and some future challenges to Nestlé. Nestlé's ideal leaders are dynamic, multicultural, and open‐minded; they continuously seize the opportunities that a changing environment offers. Nestlé's Basic Management and Leadership Principles are the foundation upon which changes are enacted and implemented. Nestlé's organizational structures are tailored to facilitate business in many different product categories. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.