Managing disruptive external forces in international marketing

Purpose Disruptive external forces can bring businesses to a standstill and make their strategic plans obsolete overnight. COVID-19 exemplifies such a disruptive force, which has caused worldwide havoc and ongoing disruption in many sectors of the economy, while concurrently providing great opportunities for others. The goal in this study is to examine the experiences of firms that have been impacted by a prior disruptive force, offer five theoretical lenses for framing and examining such events, and provide a set of axioms based on the research findings. Design/methodology/approach The authors used a qualitative approach involving five short international marketing case studies of firms based in South Korea and Taiwan. These nations and firms were selected on the bases of their overall judicious navigation of the conditions presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors gathered information about these firms through primary sources of information (personal and remote interviews as well as other communications), which the authors augmented with information from secondary sources. Findings The results indicate that external forces can bring both opportunities and threats to firms' international marketing strategies. The authors found that two strategies help firms cope with managerial issues associated with both the demand and the supply sides in successful firms in these nations: (1) leveraging opportunities presented by the pandemic through the successive introductions of new product and (2) the expansion of both the domestic and international markets. Research implications The research provides five theoretical lenses to articulate the impact of disruptive external forces on international marketing strategies. Practical implications The research offers thirteen demand and supply side axioms for marketing managers involved in international business (e.g. exporters, importers, MNCs) to cope with disruptive external forces, like COVID-19. Social implications Disruptive external forces, such as the pandemic, have enormous impact on firms and consumers alike. This research aims to limit the negative impact of future disruptions by engaging in contingency planning and added resilience, through which firms may continue to function and, to a large extent, consumers are able to acquire the necessary goods and services to maintain their quality of life. Originality/value The authors attribute the quicker response of these firms to their agility in managing the market impacts related to COVID-19 and to their prior conditioning in their respective geopolitical spheres. The authors summarize the findings in a set of nine supply side and a set of four demand side axioms.