Adaptation is Key

This is a preview of my new book, Global Business: Positioning Ventures Ahead to appear with Taylor and Francis in June of 2010. I will be posting little snippets from the book every once in a while. I encourage you to read, comment, share, and your thoughts to the comment section. And look for the book in June.
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Firms expanding into additional global markets must tackle distribution systems, pricing, and address a wide range of ethical issues such as legal systems related to monitoring pollution, maintaining safe work environment, copying of technology or trademarks, and coping with demands for bribes.As the 2008 attacks in Mumbai show, terrorism continues to pose a risk. 
Terrorism can be a threat to plants and their people or, more likely, will have an impact on a manufacturing supply chain. A company’s ability to master these challenges will present it with potential for new opportunities with significant rewards.

International marketing is also leading to a shift in corporate processes. It is easier – and more important – than ever to gather, manipulate, analyze, and disseminate information. As a result, products can be produced more quickly, obtained less expensively from sources around the world, distributed at lower costs, and customized for individual customers and clients. Just a decade or so ago, we would have thought it was impossible for a company to produce computer motherboards, monitors, and software in different countries, assemble the computer in yet another nation, and sell it in still other markets. Today, the computer industry depends on this model to survive.