The epic economic and political transformation of Eastern Europe in 1989 has not been accompanied by sudden changes in underlying cultural values or managerial attitudes. As a result, the marketing concept in organizations is in a state of flux. This means that companies are wrestling with identifying their markets and with catering to their old and new customers. Thus, both marketing research and marketing strategy are in the process of evolution. Many studies of Eastern (or: Central) Europe focused on the region and on various macroeconomic forces. A few case studies have appeared discussing and dissecting individual companies. This paper takes a different direction: We look at four Hungarian enterprises in four distinct industrial sectors.
Significant coverage of the dramatic events in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union has elevated the interest in doing business in these areas on the part of business people, government officials, and consumers alike. The importance of this activity to both the once controlled economies and the United States can not be overstated. One mechanism for achieving this business activity - joint ventures - is the focus of this article. All aspects of using research to examine U.S. joint venture activity in Hungary is discussed with particular respect to the resultant joint venture being a good mechanism for entering other markets in Eastern Europe, the Soviet Union, as well as the European Community.
The central thesis of this paper is that a perspective is needed in introducing new products and services in "hot areas" such as high technology. Artificial Intelligence has been around since the mid-1950s, but has remained largely an academic research pursuit. Then in the 1980s, its best-known subfield, expert systems (ES) --more correctly: knowledge-based systems-- came into its own with high expectations. But predicted growth rates of around 60% per annum soon gave way to pessimistic scenarios of small increases in revenue from commercial applications. Neither the optimists nor the pessimists proved to be right. As we enter the 1990s, the market is nearing $200 million/year in the USA