Authors: Olavi Uusitalo
Key words: standardization, adaptation, car industry, safety
ABSTRACT
Standardisation vs. adaptation of the marketing mix in foreign markets has been one of the key
research areas in international marketing since the late 1960s. The main interest has so far been
focused on the products. The product element seems to have been the most standardised and
distribution the most adapted element.
The goal of this study is to analyze the limits of standardisation in marketing. We look at the
limit from the point of the safety aspect. Is it ethical to standardise by bargaining the safety of a
small customer group? The empirical part of the study focuses the standardisation of the jack
used for tyre change on passenger cars. The car industry is one of the most competitive
industries in the world. The industry has modularised and standardised the components and
large assembly parts of the car.
The car industry has outsourced their products for several decades by having high purchasing
power. Most passenger cars on the market are equipped with spare tyre, jack and basic tools for
emergency tyre changes. However, there is a limited size segment of customers mainly in the
North, who change all tyres twice a year by themselves due to harsh winter conditions.
Outsourced low quality jacks provided by Ford for their model Mondeo have collapsed during
the work and caused their users great risks of injury. We argue that the product safety risk
should be taken into account in standardisation literature.
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Conference: Glasgow, Scotland (2011)