Own the Future: 50 Ways to Win from The Boston Consulting Group

Part II

Global

Tip O'Neill, a prominent Irish American politician of the twentieth century, once quipped that “all politics is local.” This century's corollary might be that “all business is global.” Almost any sizable business needs to be global to succeed.

However, many business leaders in mature markets are unprepared for the demands of creating global businesses. The growth markets of today and tomorrow—China and India, but also parts of Southeast Asia and Africa—take many leaders outside their comfort zone: they demand new business models, new products and services, and new mind-sets. What worked in Munich is unlikely to work in Mumbai.

We now live in a world in which everyone from everywhere is competing for everything: customers, capital, talent, raw materials, intellectual property, and brand loyalty. Chapter 6, “Globality: The World beyond Globalization,” describes how multinationals are going up against nimble competitors from new economies that understand what it takes to succeed in these new markets.

We call these competitors global challengers when they are both fast growing and fast globalizing. Global challengers understand how to create products and services for consumers who have lower incomes than consumers in the West but similar aspirations and optimism about the future. They know how to overcome the distribution and infrastructure bottlenecks that can frustrate multinationals accustomed to smooth roads and steady utility service. In Chapter 7, “The New Global ...