Mirage of Global Markets: How Globalizing Companies Can Succeed as Markets Localize, The

Chapter 7. The Organizational Challenge of International Marketing

As has been argued throughout this book, the central tension in international marketing is between the desire of international companies for consistency and simplicity on the one hand, and the complexity and heterogeneity of markets on the other. While markets are fragmenting, companies are consolidating. In managerial terms, this is the challenge of attempting to capture simultaneously the benefits of scale (mostly in terms of operations and management systems) and the benefits of local responsiveness (in terms of customized offerings to different sectors of the market). This is at heart an organizational challenge—after all, it is relatively easy for an organization to operate ...