Introduction

In the last decade or so, several developing countries have been adjusting their economies through economic reform policies whose impact on the markets and consumers are significant. For example, the rapid changes in the international markets and their ever growing importance to firms of all sizes mean that local firms are now forced to compete with the foreign firms that take advantage of relatively low investment costs and to increase their global presence through strategic international alliances. Firms make decisions to enter foreign markets on the basis of the market development prospects and expansion of local economies. Falling trade barriers and the advent of new technologies suggest that local firms have to work harder and smarter to stay ahead of growing competition. In response to such changes taking place in markets, it is logical to expect that the arrival of foreign firms forces local firms to either adopt foreign business paradigm or face the prospect of extinction. For instance, local firms now have to resort to innovation, technology upgrades, and customer service in addition to paying attention to activities such as market orientation, ethical issues, changing lifestyle, and consumer behavior, and so forth.