It was Charles Darwin who once wrote: “It’s not
strongest of species that survive, nor most intelligent, but one most responsive to change”.Business survival in 21st century will depend on just how much firms are willing and able to compete in global marketplace. Where at one time international expansion was a “desirable” element for senior executives of mainly large corporations, firms of every size can now no longer afford to ignore consequences of remaining a domestic player. They realize that they must change, and accept reality of becoming an international player.
The big question now is not whether to go global, but when. And that poses an enormous challenge for every Chief Executive, President, Managing Director, Partner and Entrepreneur. The clear message is – make steps to take your company into new international markets, or risk erosion of your own domestic market share by foreign competition and face prospect of diminishing competitive advantage.
Of course, companies have been responsive to this reality. Many have succeeded, but many have also failed, realizing just how complex international expansion can be. On one hand, there are those executives who fear just thought of taking their company overseas – they believe they are a liability to their organization, and prefer to put off that task for another day, conjuring up any number of valid reasons as to why firm should continue to concentrate on domestic business. And on other hand there is overconfident executives who bullishly take their firm into new markets, come what may, and with simple philosophy that what works back home will surely be a recipe for success in new markets.
Both extremes clearly run risk of failure – one through fear and procrastination, and other, even worse, through blind arrogance. And in between these extremes there will be normal corporate politics, errors in judgment, long lead times to market, failure to win contracts, spiraling costs, an “us versus them” attitude between headquarters and local subsidiaries, and so on.
Faced with this level of complexity, what elements form an effective blueprint for ensuring business success in global markets? With increasing onus on small to mid-sized firms especially to go global, what is best recipe for efficient and cost-effective international expansion? If truth be told, there is no single recipe for success. Panaceas abound, and collective effort in recent years by academics, scholars, consultants and economic development agencies world over to provide solutions is there for all to see. The problem is that very few executives have time to really internalize wealth of information out there and apply that information in their everyday working lives.
