TABI.EI GOVERNMENT CODES OF PRACTICE IN VARIOUS COUNTRIES

TABI.EI GOVERNMENT CODES OF PRACTICE IN VARIOUS COUNTRIES

COMPULSORY

REGISTER

REGISTER OF

MPs DECLARE MUST DECLARE

COUNTRY

REGISTER OF

OPEN TO THE

INCOMPysiIARES

INTEREST IN

FREE RlTZ

No Germany

Assets

No

No

No

No Italy

Yes

Yes

No

No

No Spain

Income

Yes

Yes

No

No United Kingdom

Yes United States

Yes

Yes

Yes

NOTE: ''Gifts over §250 nut acceptable.

y100,000. After this, a new term entered the foreign ones, marketers face a great dilemma. Japanese political vocabulary, seijijuhai or 'poli­

Should they follow St Ambrose's advice to St tics rotten to the point of disintegration'.

Augustine: 'When you are at Rome live in the Such large­scale 'crony capitalism' has much

Roman style; when you are elsewhere live as they to do with the meltdown of the Tiger economies

live elsewhere'? Or should they behave like a saint? in the late 1990s. 'Indonesia is in the most invidi­ ous position,' said Chris Tinker, regional econo­

SOURCES; The loading quotation is from 'An open letter to

mist at ING Bering in Hong Kong. 'Crony capitalism

chose unnerved by the little judges', by MEP Thierry Jean­

and pressure from the president's children, with Pierre Terry; other sources are Terry McCarthy, 'It's not graft,

just duty anil obligation', /ndependenl (27 October 1994),

privileged business interests, have held back

p, 16; 'Hands up all those hit by sleaze', The Economist

economic restructuring, causing massive capital

(29 October 1.994), pp. 49­51; 'The sour taste of gravy', The

flight.' Meanwhile Indonesia's annual per­capita

Kconvmist (5 November 1994), p. 50; Alix Christie and Julie

consumption declined from US$1,200 to 8300;

Read, 'fraud crusader gears up for a fight, 7'hu European

stook­market capitalization went from $118 bil­

(11­17 November 1994), p. 11; John McBeth, 'Ground zero',

lion to Sl7 billion; and onSy 22 of the country's For Eastern,­Economic Review (22 January 1998), pp. 14­17.

See also a series of five special reports on 'Asia in Crisis'

286 publicly listed companies remained solvent.

published in the Financiul Times between 12 and 16

When selling to governments, especially

January W98.

Vesper's activities get it closely involved in its customers' operations. The company has a three­year contract for the Ministry of Defence's Record Data Centre and has a five­year contract to operate maritime services craft for the Royal Air Force. Not had for a company sold by British Shipbuilders to a management team in 1985 for £18.5 million ­ in 1994

the company's value was $236 million. 25

Many companies that sell to the government are not so marketing oriented as Vosper Thornycroft for a number of reasons. Total government spending is deter­ mined by elected officials rather than by any marketing effort to develop this market. Government buying has emphasized priee, making suppliers invest their effort in technology to bring costs down. When the product's characteristics are specified carefully, product differentiation is not a marketing factor. Nor do adver­ tising or personal selling matter mueh in winning bids on an open­bid basis.

More companies now have separate marketing departments for government marketing efforts. British Aerospace, Eastman Kodak and Goodyear are examples.

300 • Chapter 7 tiwsmess Markets and Business Buyer Behaviour

These companies want to co­ordinate bids and prepare them more scientifically, to propose projects to meet government needs rather than just respond to govern­ ment requests, to gather competitive intelligence, and to prepare stronger communications co describe the company's competence.