Building a Global Strategy for Your Business
Clarke Ricks
School of Business, Liberty University
BUSI 690: Policy and Strategy in Global Competition
Dr. Hicks
April 6, 2021
Building a Global Strategy for Your Business
No matter where in the world you live, you’ve probably experienced or heard of some
of the top global brands like Apple or Amazon. Whether you’re interacting with these
companies in Canada or Cambodia, your experience is more similar than it is different in
terms of products, website, mobile app, and look and feel.
That’s because these companies employ a global strategy as their model for
international expansion — one that prioritizes standardization across different markets.
For many companies, a global strategy is the endgame. It means you’ve “made it”
because you don’t have to worry about the whims of specific market pressures or
competition — you’ve grown to the point where that doesn’t matter. Here’s what a global
strategy looks like in practice.
What is a global strategy?
With a global strategy, the world is your market.
Rather than approaching each country as its own market with different tastes and
preferences, companies employing globalization standardize as many elements as possible,
including colors, messaging, and operational models. As a result, the top global brands are
instantly recognized in any country.
Take Apple, for example. They’re one of the most successful examples of a global
strategy. Think about the iPhone — you may be reading this on one right now! The
keyboard may be slightly different to accommodate a different language (depending on
accents and alphabetical characters), but otherwise, the layout, functionality, colors, and
buttons are the same no matter where you purchase in the world.
Choosing a global business strategy gives you several advantages:
A global, standardized brand that is immediately recognizable
Economies of scale deliver a more efficient process and operations
One product line with minimal changes makes it easier to streamline operations and
scale faster
Competitive advantage across a global market
However, there are some trade-offs companies make by pursuing such high global
integration:
Gambling on the brand equity and international appeal
Requires global footprint and recognition to be successful
Competing with local brands that already have established market share
Consumers demand transparency in supply chain and global operations
Localization and translation (don’t worry, we can help with that!)
Of all the strategic models available, a global strategy has the highest global integration
and the lowest local responsiveness. This means the focus is operating with the most
standardization possible and optimizing supply chain management, so there’s one brand,
one suite of products, and one message from a central headquarters. There may be local
offices or manufacturing sites in foreign markets, but everything rolls up to a corporate
hierarchy in the domestic market that determines everything down to the size and shape of
the smallest button.
But a global strategy isn’t the only answer to international expansion. In fact, it’s not
the best model for everyone at every stage of growth. Most brands employing a global
strategy standardize their business slowly over time after moving through one or more of
these business models below: International strategy: Usually the first type of international
expansion a business undergoes, this strategy focuses on imports and exports, keeping most
of their operations in their home country. Think about luxury goods like wine, caviar, or
cheese as an example of this kind of business strategy — where the region of origin is a
significant part of the product’s appeal in the first place.
Multi-domestic strategy: Multi-domestic businesses take a local-first approach for
every decision and use entirely different sales, marketing, and product strategies based on
the specific companies they’re operating in, creating country-specific brands in a portfolio.
Many food and wellness brands like Johnson & Johnson, Frito-Lay, and Nestle use this
strategy.
Transnational strategy: Transnational businesses coordinate local subsidiaries in
international markets with one central or head office in their local market. This model is the
most similar to a global strategy in that there is one overarching brand and decision-making
body for strategic management but it takes a local-first approach with specific marketing,
localization, and product campaigns. Companies like McDonald’s and Coca-Cola are experts
at this strategy.
5 global strategy examples from top companies
A successful global strategy model focuses all of its energy on global integration,
delivering one overarching brand that looks, feels, and operates cohesively regardless of the
market. While not every global company is the same, many of the most successful sell
products and services that have universal appeal or are easily customizable to individual
users, rather than the market, like software.
Take five of the most successful multinational companies (MNC) in the world:
1. AMAZON
One of the largest companies in the world, Amazon operates in 58 countries and
reaches more than a billion people online every day. The leading e-commerce company in
every country except China (where Alibaba is #1), you can see Amazon’s ever-present
“smile” on trucks and packages — and enjoy same-day shipping — pretty much everywhere.
2. SPOTIFY
Spotify uses a hyper-personalized approach to individual users based on their music
preferences and tastes rather than across markets. While some music may not be available
in every country due to licensing and legal issues, you can generally browse over 1,000
different genres from more than 1.2 million artists around the globe.
3. DISNEY
It’s a small world, after all. Whether you’re visiting parks in Shanghai or California, you’ll
be able to experience the same magic. Disney’s team works to make sure it’s as globally
inclusive as possible for movies, merchandise, and television shows, with only minor
changes if needed based on audience feedback (say, for the title of a film).
4. IKEA
IKEA uses subtle tweaks based on the target market, like specific measurements,
adjusting for plug types or electricity needs, and dimensions. But overall, IKEA furniture is
the same Swedish engineering for small spaces that require customers to put it together
themselves — and you’ll still be able to browse their large blue-and-white warehouses in
every country they operate.
5. APPLE
Since releasing the original Mac in 1984, Apple rose to dominance for its sleek lines,
clean interface, and easy-to-use software. Globally, Apple’s technology is the same (with a
few minor changes) wherever you go. Considered one of the biggest global brands today,
Apple operates in over 175 countries worldwide with more than 100,000 employees.
Why you still need localization, even with a global strategy
Even though a global strategy is the least concerned with local responsiveness, that
doesn’t leave you off the hook for localization. Even some of the most successful
international brands still use localization and translation services.
While they may not change their product specifications, invest in market-specific
imagery, or operate with local company managers or offices, global
