Replies

Exerpt From the Conclusion

What quadrant is best? This will depend on the specific situation, but it is possible to offer some practical strategies for managers who want to increase their company’s international revenues and profits. Five of the most useful lessons learned are these:
1. Do not assume an integrated global market. There is more to strategy than Quadrant 1. Instead, be prepared to design strategies that take into account regional trade and investment agreements such as NAFTA or the single market of the EU. Also learn to deal with different cultures and become “nationally responsive” when necessary.
2. Design organization structures for Quadrants 3 and 4 which recognize triad-based internal know-how capability and develop network organizational competencies, rather than always rely on international divisions or global product divisions, in Quadrant 1.
3. Develop new thinking and knowledge about regional business networks and triad-based clusters and assess the similar attributes of triad competitors, rather than always developing pure global strategies. The foreign market is not always the same as your home market.. Make alliances and foster cross-cultural awareness in your senior managers.
4. Develop analytical methods for assessing regional drivers of success rather than globalization drivers because the former may be more useful in the future in gaining and holding market share.
5. Encourage all your managers to think regional, act local - and forget global!

I skimmed the paper. Authors seem to be pushing a long-winded idea that many multinational enterprises (or large businesses with consumers outside their domestic market locations) are running into some resistance on the consumer demand side as of late. That most trade takes place with one of three regions, amongst the member states of those regions. And, that a successful long-term (or, perhaps, just a fad strategy) would be to have the businesses focus in just their particular region so that they wont have to differentiate their products so much.

The paper is loaded with examples of specific businesses, the struggles they either currently face or have faced, and, in some cases, their successes.

Business and Business Management is boring stuff compared to (free market) Economics.