Redefining Global Strategy, with a New Preface: Crossing Borders in a World Where Differences Still Matter

Why do so many global strategies fail–despite companies’ powerful brands and other border-crossing advantages? Seduced by market size, the illusion of a borderless, flat world, and the allure of similarities, firms launch one-size-fits-all strategies. But cross-border differences are larger than we often assume, explains Pankaj Ghemawat in Redefining Global Strategy, with a New Preface . Most economic activity–including direct investment, tourism, and communication–happens locally, not internationally.

In this semi-globalized world, one-size-fits-all strategies don’t stand a chance. Companies must instead reckon with cross-border differences. Ghemawat shows you how–by providing tools for: assessing the cultural, administrative, geographic, and economic differences between countries at the industry level and deciding which ones merit attention; tracking the implications of particular border-crossing moves for your company’s ability to create value; and creating superior performance with strategies optimized for adaptation (adjusting to differences), aggregation (overcoming differences), and arbitrage (exploiting differences), and for compound objectives.

In-depth examples reveal how companies such as Cemex, Toyota, Procter & Gamble, Tata Consultancy Services, IBM, and GE Healthcare have adroitly managed crossborder differences–as well as how other well-known companies have failed at this challenge. Crucial for any business competing across borders, this book will transform the way you approach global strategy.