Journal Article

Crossing Cultures, Learning to Export: Making Houses in British Columbia for Consumption in Japan

Hayter, Roger, Reiffenstein, Tim, Edgington, David W.

2002

Overview

In this article, trade is conceptualized as a cultural as well as an economic and political process. In this view, exporting connects market intelligence with production intelligence on either side of national, typically cultural, borders. These connections frequently imply alternative, mutually influencing, forms of communication and learning that have various implications for local development. A model of relational market intelligence is outlined as a way of understanding this dimension of exporting. The model integrates production and market intelligence while emphasizing alternative pathways of learning and communication. It is applied to the newly emergent trade that features the export of houses from British Columbia to Japan. Within an extended case-study research design framework, information is based on interviews with manufacturing firms and related organizations in British Columbia. Implications for local development in British Columbia are noted.

• Publisher: Routledge,Blackwell Publishing Ltd,Clark University,Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subject: Bgi / Prodig / Borders / British Columbia / Business structures / Canada / Commerce / Commercial forests / Commercial production / Commodities / Communication / Competitive intelligence / Consumers / Consumption / Cross cultural studies / crossing cultures / Cultural differences / Culture / Design / Economic aspects / Economic relations / Economics / Export-import trade / Exports / Free trade / Geography / Geography of markets and trade services / Houses / Housing / Human geography / Industries / Intelligence / International trade / Japan / Japanese culture / Learning / learning processes / Manufacturing / Market / Mercantilism / North American Free Trade Agreement / Political economy / Small & medium sized enterprises-SME / Social aspects / Suppliers / Timber / Trade