Globalization

Globalization is a term that refers to the establishment of worldwide operations and the development of standardized products and marketing.   The global strategy necessarily treats all countries similarly, regardless of their differences in cultures and systems. Problems often result, such as a lack of local flexibility and responsiveness and a neglect of the need for differentiated products. (pg. 221) An example of effectively using the global strategy is to form strategic alliances. Firms are going global faster by forming alliances with rivals, suppliers, and customers. The rapidly developing information technologies are spawning cross-national business alliances from short-term virtual corporations to long-term strategic partnerships. (pg. 221)

Regionalization strategy is one in which local markets are linked together with a region, allowing more local responsiveness and specialization. Top managers within each region decide on their own investment locations, product mixes, and competitive positioning; in other words, they run their subsidiaries as quasi-independent organizations. (pg. 221) An example of effectively using the regionalization strategy is, by “acting local,” firms can focus individually in each country or region on the local market needs for product or service characteristics, distribution, customer support, and so on. (pg. 230)

|Companies that use Globalization & Regionalization Strategy                                           |
|                                                          |     |     |     |     |                  |
|Adidas                                                     |     |     |     |     |                  |
|Philips                                                   |     |     |     |     |                  |
|Sony                                                       |     |     |     |     |                  |
|Panasonic                                                       |     |     |     | ...