Going Global - Acting Local: Siemens in the Chinese Electrical Market, 1904-1937

Abstract

The German electrical manufacturer Siemens has been active in the Chinese market since the 1870s and established its first office in Shanghai in 1904. Focusing on marketing, the paper analyzes Siemens' business activities in China in the period from 1904 to 1937, and argues that the company exemplified a strategy of "glocalization," i.e. combining global business objectives and local adjustments. At the same time, the growing importance of international markets affected the development of the company as a whole. Referring to the contributions of "product," "price, "place" and "promotion" to the enterprise's development, this paper emphasizes the close connection between marketing and internationalization.