There are different categories of participants in International Marketing. Important categories are the following: Private Firms. The bulk of the international transactions are carried out by private firms - MNCs; other large firms, and SMEs.
Multi National Company’s
MNC’s account for a large part of the international marketing. About one third of the international trade is estimated
to be intra-company transfers, i.e., trade between affiliates or divisions of the MNC’s located in different countries.
Besides, they market large quantities of products to international customers.
Other Large Firms
Besides MNC’s, there are a large number of large firms active in international marketing. Although, they do not qualify
to be regarded as MNC’s, many of them have manufacturing and other operational facilities in foreign countries.
SMEs
Small and medium enterprises also play a very significant role in international business. A very large number of
them do considerable business abroad. There are many in this category which is hundred per cent or primarily
export oriented. In the case of USA and Germany, the largest exporting nations, more than half of the exports are
contributed by small firms. About 35 per cent of India’s exports come from village and small industries.
Public sector undertakings
In several countries, public sector also plays a very important role in foreign trade. State trading was the rule in the
communist countries. State trading was prominent in socialist countries. Even in some of the mixed economies like
India, state trading had an important place. There was substantial canalisation of foreign trade of India {a canalised
item can be exported/imported only by a public sector undertaking}. The liberalisation has very significantly
reduced the role of state trading. The share of canalised items in the total business of state trading agencies like
STC and MMTC has substantially come down. They now have to do business mostly on their own, like private
trading corporations.
Besides, the state trading agencies, a number of public sector undertakings do significant international trade, like
marketing their products and buying their requirements. Trading Companies There are, many trading companies,
including public sector (like STC and MMTC), which are specialised in foreign trade. They are merchant exporters,
(i.e., those which export products manufactured by other firms). Trading companies in countries like Japan do very
huge volumes of trade. A large number of individuals also do international marketing.
One of the very significant contributions of the worldwide web and the internet is the empowerment of individuals
and small firms to start business and to expand their business horizon. They are now able to easily access information
from throughout the world and get into direct contact with buyers/sellers globally.
