International marketing requires players to recognize and understand the international diversity exhibited by consumers. While running an international business, it is important for both the buyer and the seller to do a comprehensive background check about the country they would like to trade in to minimize the conflicts. In this case, the two countries involved have cross-cultural and intercultural differences calling for the understanding of both. Global marketing involves the interaction of many cultures, therefore, calling for the need to compare the different marketing systems of each country.
In this dispute, each state can claim to be right giving its own reasons on why their particular law should be applied. The United States has a legal system that is different from that of Germany. The U.S has the Common Law while Germany has in place the Civil Law. With these different legal systems in place, the results will be different if either is used to solve the case.
In such an international business dispute, the laws of one of the concerned party will be applied. Jurisdiction will be determined through clauses present in the contract, “where the contract was entered into,” and “where the provisions of the contract were entered into” (Dalgic, 2006).
If this case were to be tried in the United States, the seller would win because of the fact that the buyer did not clearly specify the kind and quality of goods desired. The German ordered pork livers but did not specify if they should have been from the male or the female pig. On the other hand, if the German courts tried this case, the seller would as well win considering the same fact that the buyer did not clearly specify the type of product he wanted to order.
The buyer could also appeal citing that the product did not meet the country’s standards so that they could be consumed by its market. In such a scenario, mediation between the two parties would be the best option to settle the dispute.
The dispute would have been eliminated before it could occur if the buyer had done a background investigation on the seller. The contract and other legal documents involved should include a “jurisdictional clause” to help to deal with case disagreements that arise (DiMatteo and Maurer, 2004). For example, a clause that states the origin of the product and the law to govern any questions may result from the agreement.
The courts in the US would have complete jurisdiction to try any conflicts that may arise under the agreement.
A customary merchantable quality product should be able to meet the customary standards of the particular buyer country. The US felt that the goods were of merchantable quality for they were suitable for the purpose they were expected to satisfy without reducing the price. On the other hand, Germany considered that the product did not satisfy the expected need for the customer only wanted livers from a male pig. Even though the livers can be suitable for export to certain regions, not all countries will be suited, for example, Germany in this case.
SRC has influenced the culture of the buyer to respond in a certain way associated with German culture. In international business, there are different cultural environments, thus a certain SRC may bring about disputes (Steinman and Deshpande, 2000).
References
Dalgic, T. (2006). International Marketing Blunders Revisited: Some Lessons for Managers. Journal of International Marketing, 4 (1), 81-91. Web.
DiMatteo, L and Maurer, V. (2004). The Interpretative Turn in International Sales Law: An Analysis of CISG Jurisprudence. International Law and Business, 1 (1), 299. Web.
Steinman,C and Deshpande, R. (2000). Beyond market orientation: when customers and suppliers disagree. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 28 (1), 109-119. Web.