Developing and computing the global marketing strategy performance index (GMSPI)

Abstract

The purpose of this paper was to develop and compute the global marketing strategy performance index (GMSPI) to measure the performance of multinational corporations from Zimbabwe. The GMSPI is a compound statistic that measures the superior performance of multinational corporations in global markets using the viewpoints of the global marketing strategy. According to Brandmaier, Prindle, McArdle, and Lindenberger (2016) and Hair, Sarstedt, Hopkins, and Kuppelwieser (2014), an index is a composite statistic that measures and ranks the construct of interest based on multiple indicators. For this study, the construct of the index was performance, and this was measured by the indicators/independent variables. This called for operationalizing the research findings into a standard index that could be adopted and implemented to facilitate the ease of evaluation of the superior performance of organisations based on global marketing strategies. Five variables, namely the dimensions of global marketing strategy, choice of marketing, standardization or adaptation, configuration-coordination, and the integration perspective were used to measure performance. In the current study, 274 employees of multinational firms from Zimbabwe participated in the survey. Stratified random sampling was used to select the population. A questionnaire was used as a data collection tool in this study. A five-point Likert scale was used. Quantitative data were analysed through inferential and descriptive statistics. Data were entered and initially analysed in SPSS 24.0. Descriptive statistics were incorporated into charts and tables. Categorical principal component analysis (CATPCA) was used in conducting the exploratory factor analysis, using varimax as the rotation method. The structural equation model (SEM) approach was used to further analyse the result and test the five hypotheses. The study established that the performance of Zimbabwean multinational corporations in international markets was weak standing at 42.25%.