Redefining Global Strategy: Crossing Borders in A World Where Differences Still Matter

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Introduction

MY FIRST INTERNATIONAL case-writing experience, in the early 1990s, had me visit a Pepsi plant in the strife-torn Indian state of Punjab. Given the political environment—a low-grade civil war—many workers were militants who arrived at the plant each day toting their AK-47s. Pepsi had set up a system whereby these could be checked in and then retrieved at the end of a shift. Absolutely no AK-47s inside the building, the HR director explained forcefully—introducing me to the large differences with which international business must contend.

This sense of differences has been sharpened by the years I have spent since then working on globalization and global strategy. As a result, instead of focusing on market size and ...