6.6 Points to Remember

1. Managers sometimes assume that what works in their home country will work just as well in another part of the world. The result in most cases is failure. Why? Because the assumption that one approach works everywhere fails to consider the complex mosaic of differences that exists between countries and cultures.
2. With a few exceptions, the idea of an identical, fully standardized global value proposition is a myth, and few industries are truly global. How to adapt a value proposition in the most effective manner is therefore a key strategic issue.
3. Value proposition adaptation deals with a whole range of issues, ranging from the quality and appearance of products to materials, processing, production equipment, packaging, and style.
4. A useful construct for analyzing the need to adapt the product or service and message (positioning) dimensions is the value proposition globalization matrix.
5. One way around the trade-off between creating global efficiencies and adapting to local requirements and preferences is to design a global product or communication platform that can be adapted efficiently to different markets.
6. Globalization pressures have changed the practice of product development in many industries in recent years. Today, a majority of global corporations have engineering and development operations outside of their home region.
7. Many companies now have global supply chains and product development processes but few have developed effective global innovation capabilities. Increasingly, however, technology access and innovation are becoming key global strategic drivers.
8. A core competency in global innovation—the ability to leverage new ideas all around the world—has become a major source of global competitive advantage.