Implications of Globalization for International Business Strategy: A Multi-Sectoral Approach

Much of the debate on the alleged evils and merits of globalization has been based on after the fact argument. This paper takes an approach that globalization has implications for international business strategy and delve into these implications. The paper utilized library survey, which analyzed the available literature on the implications of globalization on international business strategy. The appropriateness of this method to the study was the ability to review a wide variety of secondary literature that is relevant to the research area. In this regard, four empirical cases were selected using Purposive sampling technique which enabled the researchers to select cases that had the desired information or the required characteristics that were useful in achieving the objective of the study. Content analysis method was used in view of the qualitative nature of much of the data collected. Findings indicate that globalization and especially the entry of Chinese firms significantly changed market contexts in Brazil. Brazilian executives responded to changes in market contexts by shifting from production to customer orientation, building brand equity, developing new products, and differentiating offerings. Further, the rapid spread of globalization and enormous developments in information technology (IT) has led to dramatic changes in the business environment and business education needs to be responsive to these changes. Moreover, the results confirm that the globalizing internationals, i.e. companies that first internationalize after the domestic period and then globalize their operations outside the domestic continent, develop towards standardized product strategy alternatives, wider product assortment and advanced product categories and that corporate real estate needs to develop new capabilities to support global business strategies. These include flexibility, network organization and managerial learning capabilities. The study contributes to the literature by showing that globalization has implications for international business strategy and that only those businesses that are able to appropriately respond to the global changes will be able to survive and flourish in the long term. Findings from this library survey can provide useful theoretical and strategic insights into how MNCs can cope with pressures emanating from globalization