1. Discuss in detail four cultural influences that influence an organisation operating overseas. How has technology changed the landscape for organisations operating overseas? Throughout your response, refer to one example?
2. The concept, ‘Think Global, Act Local’ is often highlighted within the context of globalisation. Discuss in detail what this concept refers to, and why it`s important to the success of global organisations. Throughout your response, refer to two examples?
3. Operating throughout many countries presents staffing challenges for managers. Identify and discuss three of these challenges. How can managers ensure that staff receive the appropriate level of training as part of a global workforce?
From the onset it is important to underscore the fact that for international business to succeed in the global market they have to incorporate the prominent strategy recognized as ‘think global, act local.’[1] This term is believed to have been founded by Hazel Henderson a n environmental economist from Canada.[2] However, another school of though believes that David Brower, the founder of ‘Friends of the Earth’ was the first to use the term in 1969.[3] As if the term was not concise enough, some Japanese academics decided to christen the term ‘glocalisation’.[4] Business directors have been encouraged to embrace global perspectives while conducting their operation in their local environments. While the term ‘think globally; has been easily understood and interpreted by different scholars in international business the term ‘act locally’ has been notoriously difficult to understand and find sense in it.[5] However, managers of companies may think globally by having a global mindset and philosophy that guides their local actions. Acting locally implies that the companies have to implement the global strategies in their thoughts at the local base of operation. This paper will discuss the meaning and application of the term ‘think global act local’. Although, the interpretation of the term varies among various scholars, fundamental to this paper is a critical analysis of its importance to the success of global organizations and ion particular to McDonald’s and Coca-Cola.
Globalization has been viewed as the ability of business to transcend their national boundaries with the goal of satisfying the needs of the consumers.[6] It is the expansion of economic and political activities from a centralized national perspective to a global perspective.[7] In other words in thinking globally can be defined as applying global standards to an organization. Globalization is achieved through political and economic liberation. Therefore, managers of global organizations are encouraged to shift from a domestic mindset that inhibits the growth of the firms to a global mindset. Coca- Cola is one of the largest global companies that has embraced global standards and has a global mindset that has seen its products being distributed across several boundaries. McDonald’s is another fast growing global company that is now having its product being sold in many countries across the world. It has been argued that having a global mindset may increase the life of a product where the market of product may be declining in the domestic area. A global orientation helps multinational corporations (MNC) to increase their production level and this gives them the advantage of economies of scale.[8]
It has been argued that the need to explore new markets and reach more consumers has led to the internationalization and thus this concept has been achieved through applying a global perspective in global business entities. Thinking globally has led to a surge in interdependence among states, business firms and people.[9] A Global mindset has been largely attributed to the free movement of goods, ideas, and knowledge across territorial boundaries of states; technological advancement and the growth of the digital media activities such as internet and the social media; and the reduction in the barrios to trade and low trade tariffs across borders.[10] It has been contended that thinking global requires a rigorous commitment to international marketing. Coca cola has embraced advanced technology in its international marketing activities and this has made it grow in the global market. Global organizations are thus encouraged to be more global not by treating the foreign market as secondary by looking at the world as a single market.[11] The global organizations must strive to ensure that they are anchored on structures that conform to the international environment so that can gained a competitive advantage.[12]
Thinking Global influences cultural change as has been demonstrated by the growth of global media organizations. There has been surge in the global consumer culture because organizations have applied global standards and have thus surpassed the local products and services because they have offered quality yet cheap goods and services.[13] The global consumer culture will continue to grow if global organization embraces globalization in philosophy, perception and innovations. The growth of MacDonald’s has made many consumers prefer fast foods because they are relatively cheap. International consumers have replaced their local junk meals they consume with cheaper option such as MacDonald’s pizza and burgers. This shows a shift in culture. It is imperative to note that thin king global also helps the organizations to grow and expand beyond the borders of their organization. Global markets in the developed countries must focus their attention on the opportunities that exist in the emerging economies. Thinking globally will help the global organizations in the developed countries to identify and pursue such opportunities that exist in the emerging economies.[14] It can be concede that global business organization may also think globally by applying the marketing mix principles on an international scale.[15] The product, price, place and promotion are the key elements of marketing mix elements propounded by McCarthy.[16] Global organizations should integrate these elements with international consumer demands. Coca cola has integrated theses marketing mix elements and the company has successfully sold many of its products in many countries across the globe. McDonalds has also applied the marketing mix elements to a in the global perspective and it has also been able to develop other new products as the need for healthy foods increases.
It is abundantly clear that certain product from a multinational company may not do well in a certain country and may do well in another because of cultural differences. As such global industries must act locally by adapting to the cultures exposed in in different nations. Localization is thus closely related to the culture of a community. Acting locally in the globalization perspective has the superficial appearance of putting more attention on the local activities in the hoist country although applying global strategies at the same time. This may be entirely true; however for a global organization acting locally may imply that the firm should fit its activities to suit the specific demands of each location that the firm exists. Mac Donald has easily achieved this element of the term by ensuring that its product suits the specific market that its outlet is located in. Some countries prefer some flavors and dislike others and thus the company has flexibly adjusted its menu to satisfy the needs customers in particular locations. In the multinational corporations (MNC) acting locally implies that the employees in the different locations that the firm is located have to ensure that the brand of the products meets the same quality.[17] It is apparent that acting locally is important for global organizations to attain consistency in their brand production. Because the most of the business activities of global organizations occur in regional blocks it may be difficult to homogenize the entire product, although acting locally to suit the demands of the local market may be work in its favor.[18] It can be stated that for the global organizations in the developed market to succeed in the emerging market economies, they have to act locally in a manner that will satisfy the specific needs of the emerging market population. This is majorly because the needs of the consumers in the developed markets may differ with those of the developing markets. Global automobile companies may produce specific type of vehicles for a particular geographical location. It may be argued that attaining a common strategy across all the locations that a global organization has its outlets may not be feasible because of impediments such as regulations and preferences.[19]
The nerve of the reasoning behind acting is locally is the creation of standardized products by global organization for specific markets and considering the need of particular flavors.[20] It has been argued that acting locally helps the global organization to meet the variation in demand across the global market.[21] It is vital that the global organization should also have the priorities of the global in their mindset for them to be successful in the global market.
They idea inherent in the concept of glocaliszation is that global organizations should be global but at the same time act locally. A global organization should thus aim at adapting to the local environment that it is set in in whole striving to remain global. Presently, many multinational corporation exhibit characteristics of both globalization and localization although there are some who are caught in between the horns of dilemma on which if the two they should select. McDonalds has successfully applied both globalization standards and localization because of the nature of the business. It is worth noting that there are global companies that have been successful through the application of globalization only and not changing their nature of their products. They have successfully sold their products uniformly across all the markets in the world. Coca- Cola Company is an example of a company that has not acted locally in the sense of making new products for specific market but it has uniformly sold its products in all the markets in the world. In advertising, the argument has been whether they should be they should be consistent across all globe or they should be fitted to apply locally.[22] Some companies have chosen to create particular advertisement for certain locations while some have done both local and standardized advertisements. Coca cola has been using uniform advertisements in all the countries that it is located. McDonald’s on the hand has created specific advertisements for particular location and this has successfully worked in their favor and to the favor of the consumers.
Conclusion
It can be concluded that the strategies that are applied by global organization must manifest the differences in the market. From the analysis in this paper, it can be observed that while globalization and localization are important, global organizations should consider other political and environmental factors that may influence the success of their entities when considering to expand the entities in more markets.
References
Barry. T, and Mike. N, The World’s Business Cultures and How to Unlock Them’ London Thorogood, 2007,P 3
Claudio. V, ‘McDonald’s: “think global, act local” the marketing mix,’ British Food Journal, No. 2, 2001, pp. 97-111.
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Fletcher. D, ‘ Learning to “think global and act local”: Experiences from the small business sector. Education & Training, 42(4/5) , 2000, P 211-220.
‘Friends of the Earth’. FOE mourns death of founder. Organizational press release, 2007, https://www.foe.co.uk/resource/press_releases/20001107132336.html. (accessed January 2017)
Gary. J, ‘ Think Globally, Act Locally’ 2016 https://www3.ul.ie/ulearning/html%20files/global%20hrm/pdfs/Think%20Globally%20Act%20Locally.pdf (accessed January 2017)
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May. A, ‘Think globally – act locally! Competences for global management.’ Career Development International, 2(6) ,1997, 308-309.
Maynard. M, From global to glocal: How Gillette’s SensorExcel accommodates to Japan.” Keio Communication Review, No. 25, 2003, pp. 57-75.
McCarthy. J, ‘Basic Marketing: A Management Approach,’ Irwin, Homewood, 1975, p. 98.
Ohmae. K, `Managing in a borderless world”, Harvard Business Review, 1989, pp. 152-61.
Oliver. R, New rules for global markets. Journal of Business Strategy, 21(3) ,2000, 7-9.
Onkvisit. S, and Shaw. J, “Glocal” advertising: Think global, act local. American Marketing Association. Conference Proceedings , 2002
Parnell. J, ‘Reassessing the “Think Global, Act Local” Mandate: Evaluation And Synthesis, Serbian Journal of Management, 2006, P21 – 28
Robertson. R, ‘Globalization, social theory, and global culture,’ London, Sage, 1992.
Robertson. R, ‘Glocalization: Time-space and homogeneity and heterogeneity.” In Featherstone. M, Lash. S, and Robertson, R. (eds.), Global modernities. London: Sage, 1995, p 23-44.
Robertson. R, “Comments on the ‘global triad’ and ‘glocalization’”. In Inoue, N., (ed.), Globalization and indigenous culture. Tokyo: Kokugakuin University, 1996, Pp. 217-225.
Rugman. A, ‘Viewpoint: The myth of global strategy.’ International Marketing Review, 18(6), 2001, 583-588.
Sims. T, ‘Corn Flakes clash shows the glitches in European Union,’ Wall Street Journal, 2005, pp. A1,A9
Taylor. W, “The logic of global business”, Harvard Business Review, 1991,pp. 90-105.
J. Parnell, ‘Reassessing the “Think Global, Act Local” Mandate: Evaluation And Synthesis, Serbian Journal of Management, 2006, P21 – 28
D. Fisher, ‘Think local, act global!’, 2007. https://www.origin.to/global.html. (accessed January 2017)
‘Friends of the Earth’. FOE mourns death of founder. Organizational press release, 2007, https://www.foe.co.uk/resource/press_releases/20001107132336.html. (accessed January 2017)
R. Robertson, ‘Glocalization: Time-space and homogeneity and heterogeneity.” In Featherstone. M, Lash. S, and Robertson, R. (eds.), Global modernities. London: Sage, 1995, p 23-44.
G. Kefalas, ‘Think globally, act locally. Thunderbird’ International Business Review, 40(6), 1998, P 547-562.
R. Robertson, ‘Globalization, social theory, and global culture,’ London, Sage, 1992.
W. Greider, ‘One world: Ready or not: The manic logic of global capitalism.’ Simon & Schuster, New York, 1997.
D. Fletcher, ‘ Learning to “think global and act local”: Experiences from the small business sector. Education & Training, 42(4/5) , 2000, P 211-220.
J. Martin, and H. Robert, ‘Paradoxes of Culture and Globalization’ London: SAGE, 2008,
T. Barry, and N, Mike, The World’s Business Cultures and How to Unlock Them’ London Thorogood, 2007,P 3
K. Ohmae, `Managing in a borderless world”, Harvard Business Review, 1989, pp. 152-61.
W.Taylor, “The logic of global business”, Harvard Business Review, 1991,pp. 90-105.
R. Oliver, New rules for global markets. Journal of Business Strategy, 21(3) ,2000, 7-9.
A. May, ‘Think globally – act locally! Competences for global management.’ Career Development International, 2(6) ,1997, 308-309.
V. Claudio, ‘McDonald’s: “think global, act local” the marketing mix,’ British Food Journal, No. 2, 2001, pp. 97-111.
J. McCarthy, ‘Basic Marketing: A Management Approach,’ Irwin, Homewood, 1975, p. 98.
J. Gary, ‘ Think Globally, Act Locally’ 2016 https://www3.ul.ie/ulearning/html%20files/global%20hrm/pdfs/Think%20Globally%20Act%20Locally.pdf (accessed January 2017)
A. Rugman, ‘Viewpoint: The myth of global strategy.’ International Marketing Review, 18(6) ,2001, 583-588.
T. Sims, ‘Corn Flakes clash shows the glitches in European Union,’ Wall Street Journal, 2005, pp. A1,A9
R. Robertson, “Comments on the ‘global triad’ and ‘glocalization’”. In Inoue, N., (ed.), Globalization and indigenous culture. Tokyo: Kokugakuin University, 1996, Pp. 217-225.
M. Maynard, From global to glocal: How Gillette’s SensorExcel accommodates to Japan.” Keio Communication Review, No. 25, 2003, pp. 57-75.
S, Onkvisit, and J. Shaw, “Glocal” advertising: Think global, act local. American Marketing Association. Conference Proceedings 2002
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