The Quest for Global Dominance: Transforming Global Presence into Global Competitive Advantage, Second Edition

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Exploiting Global Presence

The question is not whether the global company adds value. It is whether it adds more than it simultaneously subtracts.

—Tony Jackson¹

Marks & Spencer, the venerable British retailer, started its global expansion in the early 1970s when it entered Canada by setting up a joint venture with Peoples Department Stores, a Canadian retailer, and later acquiring a controlling stake in Peoples. In the mid-1970s, the company opened stores in France and later expanded into Belgium and Ireland. The global expansion continued in the 1980s with entry into the United States by acquiring Brooks Brothers, the upscale clothing retailer, and Kings Super Markets, a food retailer. Through its established outlets in Japan, the Brooks ...