Redefining Global Strategy by Pankaj Ghemawat

Why do so many global strategies fail–despite companies’ powerful brands and other border-crossing advantages? Seduced by market size, the illusion of a borderless, “flat” world, and the allure of similarities, firms launch one-size-fits-all strategies. But cross-border differences are larger than we often assume, explains Pankaj Ghemawat in “Redefining Global Strategy.” Most economic activity–including direct investment, tourism, and communication–happens locally, not internationally. In this “semi-globalized” world, one-size-fits-all strategies don’t stand a chance. Companies must instead reckon with cross-border differences. Ghemawat shows you how–by providing tools for: assessing the cultural, administrative, geographic, and economic differences between countries at the industry level and deciding which ones merit attention; tracking the implications of particular border-crossing moves for your company’s ability to create value; and creating superior performance with strategies optimized for adaptation (adjusting to differences), aggregation (overcoming differences), and arbitrage (exploiting differences), and for compound objectives. In-depth examples reveal how companies such as Cemex, Toyota, Procter & Gamble, Tata Consultancy Services, IBM, and GE Healthcare have adroitly managed cross-border differences–as well as how other well-known companies have failed at this challenge. Crucial for any business competing across borders, this book will transform the way you approach global strategy.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Pankaj Ghemawat is the Anselmo Rubiralta Professor of Global Strategy at IESE Business School in Barcelona and the Jaime and Josefina Chua Tiampo Professor (on leave) at Harvard Business School. His Harvard Business Review article Regional Strategies for Global Leadership won the McKinsey Award in 2005.

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IT and the East by James Popkin and Partha Iyengar

The center of gravity in the technology world has shifted east. Today, India and China are churning out some of the world’s best-trained computer science and electrical engineering graduates. In both countries, consumer classes and domestic markets for technology have ballooned. Western high-tech firms are increasingly sourcing their products’ assembly from India and China. Meanwhile, indigenous Indian and Chinese companies are creating intellectual property and innovations that will compete with those same Western companies. In “IT and the East,” James M. Popkin and Partha Iyengar examine the vital questions these developments raise: What’s the long-term impact of high-tech outsourcing? How will innovation be managed in the future? Can Western firms compete in Asian markets while protecting key intellectual property? Will the innovation engine inexorably shift east? What would such a shift mean for Western countries currently driving innovation? The authors also discuss the emerging alliances between Indian and Chinese technology companies and outline the implications for Western businesses. Filled with extensive interviews with high-level executives, government officials, and academics from around the world, “IT and the East” is the first book to articulate the challenges that new business scenarios and capabilities in India and China pose for Western technology firms.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

James M. Popkin is a group vice president and Research Fellow in Gartner Research responsible for research content strategy in China, India and Korea. Mr. Popkin currently serves as senior advisor to the China Business Continuity Management Association. Partha Iyengar is Research Vice President at the Gartner India Research Center, where he researches areas such as Application Development and Global Sourcing. He is considered to be one of the most influential Analysts for Global Sourcing issues and is extensively quoted in the local, national and international press including the Economist, Wall Street Journal, Business Week and Time.

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Operation China by Jimmy Hexter and Jonathan Woetzel

China has matured as a market–and the game has changed. Yesterday, multinationals grappled with fundamental strategic choices: Do we go to China; Whom do we partner with; Where should we invest? Winning in China was all about achieving approval to enter the market, picking the right joint venture partner, and selling in the right few cities to the right customers. Execution didn’t matter as much as privileged access–through government and partner relationships. Today, China is teeming with multinational corporations (MNCs) and local competitors. Government is no longer the main driver of deals. Barriers to entry have fallen. Regulations are less of a factor. Partners are no longer required in many industries. Winning now depends on great execution: effectively and efficiently developing, marketing, producing, and channeling goods to customers, and growing and retaining a talent base. In “Operation China,” Jimmy Hexter and Jonathan Woetzel explain how you can achieve superior execution in China–through operations including talent management, product development, information technology, procurement, supply-chain management, manufacturing, and sales, marketing, and distribution. Based on over two decades of consulting experience for both local and multinational operations in China, and extensive research on what drives success in operating in China, this book helps you get your operations right in the new competitive arena defining China today.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Jimmy Hexter is a partner in McKinsey s Beijing office and the co-leader of McKinsey s Operations Practice in Asia. Jonathan Woetzel is a partner in McKinsey s Shanghai office and has published several books on China.

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How Countries Compete by Richard Vietor

As the world globalizes, countries compete for the markets, technologies, and skills needed to raise their standards of living. These strategies can make–or break–the government’s efforts to drive and sustain growth. In “How Countries Compete,” Richard Vietor sheds light on ways in which governments can best set direction and provide a healthy climate for a nation’s economic development and profitable private enterprise. Drawing on history, economic analysis, and interviews with executives and officials around the globe, Vietor provides concentrated examinations of different approaches to government facilitation of development. Individual chapters focus on the unique social, economic, cultural, and historical forces that shape governments’ approach to economic growth. Countries discussed include: China, India, Japan, Singapore, the United States, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and South Africa. Vietor challenges the widespread notion that, in market-driven economies such as the United States, a strong government can only hinder business success. A provocative resource, “How Countries Compete” offers potent insights into how the business environment has evolved in crucial nations–and what its trajectory might look like in the future.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Richard H. K. Vietor is the Senator John Heinz Professor of Environmental Management at the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration, where he teaches courses on the regulation of business and the international political economy.

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