are less threatened with conciliation but, unfortunately, neither side is bound to a conciliation settlement, as would be the case under arbitration. 14. Differentiate between conciliation and arbitration.
The main difference between conciliation and arbitration is that neither side is bound to a conciliation settlement as would be the case under arbitration. Conciliation can be either formal or informal. Informal conciliation can be established by both sides agreeing on a third party to mediate. In China, formal conciliation is conducted under the auspices of the Beijing Conciliation Center that assigns one or two conciliators to mediate. If
agreement is reached, a conciliation statement based on the signed agreement is recorded. Although conciliation may be the friendly route to resolving disputes in China, it is not legally binding so an arbitration clause should be included in all conciliation agreements. Experience has shown that having an arbitration clause in the conciliation agreement makes it easier to move to arbitration if necessary. For companies doing business in China, settlement of disputes should follow four steps; first informal negotiation; if this does not work, conciliate, arbitrate; and finally, litigate.
14. Assume you are a vice-president in charge of a new business-to-business
e-commerce division of a well-known major international auto parts manufacturer. A) A cyber squatter has registered the company name as a domain Web name. What are your options to secure the domain name for your company? B) Discuss the steps you should take to ensure worldwide protection of your domain name. Existing law is vague or does not exist for such issues as the protection of domain names, taxes, jurisdiction in cross-border transactions and contractual issues. Countries are
beginning to draft legislation to deal with myriad legal questions not clearly addressed by current law.
Companies need to ensure their domain names are protected in all countries where they intend to maintain country specific Web sites. Unless a domain name is registered in a specific country, a company faces a costly battle to regain its use if another party has registered it. If a cyber squatter has registered a domain name a company wants, the only alternative is to buy it back or sue if it infringes on the company’s intellectual property or some how damages a company’s reputation. Toymaker Hasbro recently brought a successful action against an adult entertainment Web site, ―candyland.com.‖ Hasbro markets a game for children called Candy Land, although not directly infringing on its trademark, the courts deemed it to be damaging the reputation of Hasbro and its children’s game. The Web address now takes you directly to a Hasbro site.
If a business has taken steps to properly defend its brand names, trade names or product names and properly registers them, it greatly enhances its ability to defend against
improper use of the name by a third party. Steps can be taken to secure trade names and trademarks through an international program of trademark registration that would be tied into registration of domain names. Countries that recognize intellectual property will generally refer to those laws to resolve disputes. In Germany, for example, regional and local courts have held that reserving and using an internet domain that infringes third party rights (e.g., the party's duly registered trademark) is prohibited and that the courts
have jurisdiction over any such infringement if the domain name can be duly accessed in Germany.
The U.S. has taken a giant step to develop laws for dealing with domain name pirates by passing the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act, a formal policy for protection of trademark owners. It facilitates action against domain name squatters if the domain name infringes on a trademark or personal name.1 Julia Roberts, the movie actor, was one of the first to sue under this law to regain the use of ―juliaroberts.com‖ registered by a cyber squatter.
Nevertheless, laws covering domain names remains uncertain and the rush to register domain names by third parties will continue. Registering a domain name offers the best protection in countries like Singapore where the law stipulates that the first person to
register a domain name, whether the rightful owner or not, will be given exclusive right to its use. If there is any dispute, the parties will have to seek resolution in a Singapore court. Companies must protect against the use of domain names that infringe on its intellectual property, threaten its reputation or confuse the public. They should be mindful that if they do not register their desired domain name first, the only recourse is to purchase the right or go to court.
15. Discuss the issues of a website being sued for libel for information posted on the site.
The United States has taken a giant step in dealing with domain name pirates by passing the Anti-cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA) and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) established a structure through the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) in which anyone registering a domain name with complying registries has to agree to dispute resolution. This is known as the Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP). Neither the ACPA nor the UDPR provide failsafe ways of recovering a domain name once it has been cybersquatted.
A study indicated that protection is needed for geographical names, ethnic groups and pharmaceutical substances, all of which have been appropriated by CSQs. These abuses will continue unless preventive steps are taken. Agencies like the ACAP, DRS, and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) are useful, but, besides being costly, they only address disputes involving sites using names that are trademarked and have commercial value or are so well known they have common law trademark rights. Even though protection from cybersquatters is not perfect, if a business has taken steps to properly defend its brand names, trade names, or product names and properly registers them, it greatly enhances its ability to defend against improper use of the name by a third party. Countries that recognize intellectual property will generally refer to those laws to resolve disputes.
Most country’s courts are inclined to assert jurisdiction over online activity, where it originates, so long as harm is experienced locally and the sense is that the party responsible either knew or ought to have known that the harm was a likely consequence of their actions. Most agree though that the laws that are expressly designed to apply not just in a single country but worldwide are necessary to untangle the legal hassles that are occurring.
16. Discuss the motives of a cybersquatter. What resources does a company have to
defend itself against a cybersquatters.
Unfortunately, the ease with which Web names can be registered and the low cost of registering has led to thousands being registered. Cybersquatters (CSQ) buy and register descriptive nouns, geographic names, ethnic groups, pharmaceutical substances and other similar descriptors and hold them until they can be sold at an inflated price. For example, a cybersquatter sold http://www.themortgage.com/ for $500,000; the record price paid so far is $7.5 million for the domain name http://www.business.com/. If a cybersquatter has registered a generic domain name that a company wants, the only recourse is to buy it.
Another ploy of CSQ is to register familiar names and known trademarks that divert traffic from intended destinations or to sell competing products. eBay, the world’s largest online auction house, was embroiled in a dispute with an entrepreneur in Nova Scotia who registered http://www.ebay.ca/, thus forcing the U.S. company to use http://www.ca.ebay.com/ for its newly launched Canadian website until it was successful in regaining the use of http://www.ebay.ca/; both web addresses now go to the same site. CSQ register a well-known brand or trademark that misdirects a person to the CSQ’s site or to a competing company’s site. For example, an adult entertainment website registered http://www.candyland.com/. Hasbro, the toy company, markets a game for children called ―Candy Land‖. Disturbed by the thought that customers might end up at an adult entertainment site, Hasbro wanted to have the site vacated. They had the option of suing to have it removed or to buy the domain name. Hasbro elected to sue and, although the adult website was not directly infringing on its trademark, the courts deemed it to be damaging to the reputation of Hasbro and its children’s game. The Web address now takes you directly to a Hasbro site.
In addition to CsQs hijacking trademarks, personal names and other intellectual property, lawsuits involving libel, defamation, and product liability, are creating legal quagmires for Internet users. Consider a case involving Dow Jones and an Australian industrialist over an allegedly defamatory article that appeared on one of the U.S.-based Dow Jones’ publication’s web site. The plaintiff sued Dow Jones, the web site owner as as the author of the article. Dow Jones argued that the suit should be tried in a New Jersey court, where its servers, the point of publication, are located. The Australian argued that the suit should be brought in Australia because that is where his reputation had been damaged. Australian law favors plaintiffs, whereas in the U.S. the First Amendment Rights demand a high burden of proof in libel cases. Australian courts sided with the plaintiff
It is easy to imagine many situations where the actions of companies or information posted on a site can lead to a law suit when Internet content is unlawful in one country but not in the host country. For example, an American studio that makes a movie with nude scenes could be prosecuted in a country that bans nudity in movies. Not only would the movie studio be libel but the Internet service provider could be liable for material posted on its Web site. Writers and publishers could face libel suits in countries with restrictive laws of free speech where weak or nonexistent free speech protections are tools to intimidate and censor. Internet
publishers or individual web site owners fear they can be sued for defamation from any or many jurisdictions, merely because their articles can be downloaded where ever in the world. Lawsuits involving libel, defamation, and product liability cause companies to voluntarily restrict their web site to selected countries rather than leave themselves open to legal action. The Internet is not a libel-free zone.
Chapter 8 Developing a Global Vision Through Marketing Research
Marketing research
The systematic gathering, recording, and analyzing of data to provide information useful in marketing decision making.
International Marketing research
The systematic gathering, recording, and analyzing of data to provide information useful in international marketing decision making.
Multicultural research
Involves countries that have different languages, economics, social structures, behaviour, and attitude patterns
Research process
A set of six steps which defines the tasks to be accomplished in conducting a marketing research study. These include problem definition, developing an approach to problem, research design formulation, field work, data preparation and analysis, and report generation and presentation.
Primary data
Data collected specifically for the particular research project.
Secondary data
Data collected already by some other agency, such as government statistics, NGO statistics, etc.
Quantitative research(定量研究)
? Usually a large number of respondents
? Respondents answer structured oral or written questions using a specific response format
(such as yes/no) or to select a response from a set of choices
? Responses can be summarized in percentages, averages, or other statistics
Qualitative research(定性研究)
? If questions are asked, they are almost always open-ended or in-depth
? Seeks unstructured responses that reflect the person's thoughts and feelings on the subject. ? Qualitative research interprets people in the sample
? Qualitative research is helpful in revealing the impact of sociocultural factors on behavior
patterns and in developing research hypotheses
Back translation
In which the questionnaire is translated from one language to another, and then a second party translates it back into the original, and the two original versions are compared. This process often pinpoints misinterpretations and misunderstanding before they reach the public.
Parallel translation
It is used to overcome the inaccurate translation, in which more than two translators are used for the back translation; results are compared, differences discussed, and the most appropriate translation selected.
Decentering
It is a hybrid of back translation, which is a successive process of translation and retranslation of a questionnaire, each time by a different translator.
Expert opinion
the key in using expert opinion to help in forecasting demand is triangulation, that is comparing estimates produce by different sources.
Analogy(类比)
assumes that demand for a product develops in much the same way in all countries as comparable economic development occurs in each country.
2.Discuss how the shift from making \entry\decision to \operation\
? General information about the country, area, and/or market ? Information to forecast future marketing requirements
? By anticipating social, economic, consumer, and industry trends within specific markets or
countries
? Specific market information used to make and develop marketing plans
3.Discuss the breadth and scope of international marketing research. Why is it generally broader in scope than domestic marketing research?
? ? ? ? ?
Economic and demographic climate
Cultural, sociological; and political climate Overview of market conditions
Summary of the technological environment Competitive situation
4.What is the task of the international marketing researcher? How is it complicated by the foreign environment?
5.Discuss the stages of research process in relation to the problems encountered.
? Define the research problem and establish research objectives
? Determine the sources of information to fulfill the research objectives