How do you build a global strategy?

To develop international, multinational and global business strategies, we're going to use the model below which identifies the main issues. We will then examine each part in more depth.

Essentially, the model begins by analysing the markets in which the company is already engaged - perhaps only in one country, perhaps in several but without a fully-developed international strategy. In addition, the company should also begin looking at the prospects around the world for its products or services - not in detail by individual country, but in general terms.

As a starting point, it's worth using some basic international data to analyse different countries. The type of data is shown in the two graphs on the right - economic data that explores the total wealth of some selected countries and the wealth per person for the same countries. There's not much doubt that the USA is the world's wealthiest country. However, the countries of the European Union - for example Germany, the UK and France - are not far behind individually. Importantly from an international trade perspective, the EU countries can be grouped together. This means that the European Union as a combined market would come much closer to the USA in terms of total wealth.

Although China has been catching up over the last few years in terms of total wealth, there are many more people in China than the USA - hence the wealth per head in China is substantially below that of that of the USA. These basic types of comparison are explored in more depth in the country selection film further down the page.

The next step is then to identify the company's resources for international expansion, especially those that have competitive advantage. For example, the company may have special patents or brands that can be used in international expansion. Again, we'll explore this in a more structured way shortly. It's only after this that a company should set its international and global objectives. Some companies may find this surprising - why shouldn't a company begin by setting out what it wants to achieve internationally? The reason for leaving objective-setting until now is that objectives need to be set in the realistic context of what opportunities exist in the market place and what resources the company possesses for its international expansion. To take a simple example, there would be little point in a car company setting a target for major expansion in the US car market in 2009 when that market is under such pressure. Equally, small computer services company may simply not have the resources for a global product launch, however attractive its service. It would be better to define its objectives more realistically. Having defined its objectives, a company can then begin to explore which markets around the world represent the best opportunities: usually called market entry and mode. At the same time, it will want to think about how it enters such markets - perhaps a product launch, perhaps a joint venture and so on. These two aspects are represented by the two circular arrows in the model above. We'll look in more depth at these issues later. Finally, whatever choice is made about market entry and mode, the company will wish to think about pricing, products, distribution and a whole range of other factors related to its international objectives. This is called developing the product or service offering and forms the last part of the model. On this website, developing the product offering is treated as a separate section for reasons of space. Importantly, there is an important aspect missing from the model - innovation and learning. The reason for leaving this out is to avoid over-complicating the basic development process. But we won't ignore these issues. We will cover them at the end.

Analysing the international markets and country choice

Here is a short film that summarises some of the basic factors in country choice. In practice, there are more factors involved than can be captured in a short film. The purpose of the film is to explain how an initial country choice can be made depending on some simple criteria.

As explained above, the film focuses on only two choice factors - country population and wealth - in developing international and global strategy. In practice, there are five main areas in analysing international opportunities: Customer demand in the main broad geographical areas: market size, growth and history - including special customers such as large multinationals already involved as customers in a particular region. These factors include, but go beyond, the population and wealth issues identified in the film. Competitors: local and international companies already in country markets, their market shares and basic facilities -what major competitive advantages do they have? International and regional infrastructures: what are the major costs involved in communicating, transporting and distributing in various parts of the world? Country politics and economic trends: some basic considerations only at this stage, such as political risk and economic growth - too much to analyse in depth at this stage. International trade barriers, tariffs and quotas: are there any major issues here that will support or block the market opportunity?

[Note: trade barriers, tariffs and quotas are defined in the first section above. 'What is Global Strategy?'] Conclusion: So what is the market opportunity? And where is it geographically?

Identifying the company's competitive and other resources

There are two main aspects to identifying the company's resources for international and global expansion: The reasons why the company wants to go international or global

Sustainable competitive advantages of the company in its home market prior to going global. These will form the bedrock of how the company will go international or global.

The following film explains the relationship between these two important factors. It's the first of three films in this section - split for technical reasons. The other two are introduced below.

Sustainable competitive advantages of the company: these are the advantages over competitors that cannot be easily imitated by others. They form the bedrock in strategy theory for the development of effective strategy. Unfortunately, they are easy to discuss in principle and more difficult to identify in practice. [For those with an academic background, they relate to the Resource-Based View, RBV, of the organisation - more in the Strategic Management section.] Essentially, the argument is that the competitive advantages possessed by the company in its home market should form the basis of its international expansion strategy. For companies already in international markets, they will wish to focus on those advantages that allow them to outperform their rivals. The next film explores in more depth the reasons why a company might wish to develop its international business. These will have a major impact on its international and global strategies. The third film examines in more depth the way that a company might develop its international business. Here's a checklist of some possible areas of competitive advantage for a company: Differentiation: unique features or attributes that set a company apart, such as a brand or special level of service Low costs: but these need to be translated into a customer benefit like lower prices than competitors Dominance of a part of a market, such as a market segment or niche High performance or technology - perhaps a patented process Quality - superior to rivals for example in performance or durability Service levels that are superior to rivals - perhaps in national coverage Network of relationships - people and business contacts that set the company apart Specialist technical skills and other areas of specialist expertise - sometimes called 'core competencies' Branding - from one country that might be extended elsewhere to other countries

Readers will note that I have not included some other areas of competitive advantage here like reputation, innovative capability and knowledge. The reason is that I suspect that these are more relevant to basic strategy development, rather than international strategy. These are outlined in the section on Strategic Management. But if they are relevant, include them! Other important resources related to going global: much of strategic management literature is obsessed with competitive advantage. In practice, any organisation attempting to expand beyond its home country will need a wide range of other resources that are not better than rivals but just as important. For example, a decent distribution network for a product may be no better than rivals but will be essential in selling the product. Perhaps the most important resource is the human resource - don't underestimate the knowledge, skills, time and personal sacrifices that are needed for good results. Conclusion: So what resources do we need and where will they come from?