Globalization - Opportunities for Business

This paper is based on Globalization - Opportunities for Business. In the context of business, it refers to the transition of a company from having operations in only one country to having operations in multiple countries. The need for globalisation is driven by companies' fight for survival and pressure to maintain and expand their position in their domestic markets. This encourages businesses to innovate and seek opportunities in foreign markets in order to improve their competitive advantage and expand their business activities beyond domestic borders.

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Running header: GLOBALIZATION
Globalization
Institution Affiliation
Author Name

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Introduction
Globalization in the context of business refers to the change a business takes from being
associated with holding operations in only one specific country, to having business operations in
multiple countries. In globalization, products, technologies, information, and even jobs are traded
beyond national borders and social cultures. The need for globalization is driven by companies’
fight for survival, and pressure to preserve and increase their hold in their domestic markets. This
pushes businesses to innovate and seek opportunities in foreign markets to improve their
competitive advantage and expand their business activities beyond domestic borders (Ritovska et
al, 2014).
Globalization is driven by factors such as; political changes in the international scene that
create more market opportunities for business, developments in technology that allow rapid
sharing of information, the realization of opportunities in the international market, development
of more markets in the global space, need to reduce expenses in scaling operations and acquiring
raw materials, and competition in the domestic market and from foreign companies (Ball et al,
2001). The change in dynamics from participating in global markets calls for management of
these companies to develop and implement strategies that act as the foundation of coordination,
and integration of these companies into the global market scene and gain a competitive
advantage (Ritovska et al, 2014).
Globalization policy
Bayer is a German international investment organization that runs Bayer Crop Science as
a subsidiary department. Bayer Crop Science aims at using the world’s limited land resources in
producing sufficient feed, raw materials and food for the ever-expanding world population. The

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division is actively taking part in agricultural innovations, going as far as developing apps to help
farmers access knowledge on climatic conditions, crop information, and providing expertise in
using drones to monitor farm conditions (OpenStax, 2019). As of 2012, the division had one of
its units, Global Public and Government Affairs (GPGA), spread across different countries.
GPGA is tasked to monitor and proactively comply with local policies in each country's
government. The divisions were operated as independent units, with each unit operating a
regional strategy. The result was Bayer Crop Science did not quickly adapt to policy changes in
different countries across the world, as they did not receive critical policy priority information on
time.
The company decided to adopt a more global strategy with its GPGA units in 2013
(Townsend, Coen, & Watson, 2017). Lisa Coen was tasked to research a strategy that would
make the GPGA division of Bayer Crop Science “a truly global organization” (OpenStax, 2019).
This resulted in Coen adopting a network of global units instead of the traditional hierarchical
management to increase collaboration within the organization. The interaction with important
stakeholders led her to discover the regional units had a deeper understanding of public policies
that would be of great value to the organization.
Other strategies for globalization
McDonald's India’s product range is an example of a global company adapting a local
strategy in their desire to provide for customer needs in the local Indian market. Indian locals
have a taste and preference for vegetarian products. In the country, cows are sacred animals and
are used in religious ceremonies. Therefore McDonald's could not offer their famous beef and
pork hamburgers. Instead, they had to sell their burgers stuffed with potatoes and peas (the
McAloo Tikki); the McVeggie – beans, onions, carrots, and green peas burger; and the McSpicy

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Paneer, burger made of India’s cheese, paneer (McDonald’s, n.d.). This was a marketing move
to avoid offending the local customers by violating their cultural and national values.
The company only offers chicken meat (McChicken) and fish at its restaurants, adapting to the
locals consumption habits. Furthermore, the locals prefer spicy foods, prompting McDonald's' to
offer products adapted to this preference such as McSpicy Chicken and Masala Grill Chicken
(McDonald’s, n.d.). Different cultures across the world have different responses to
advertisements and promotions and it is important to customize the operations of the company to
fit the local market appropriately (OpenStax, 2019).
The local strategy adopted by McDonald India would not have worked for Bayer Crop
Science as the organization needed to respond quickly to changes in policy and the learning
opportunity discovered by Coen would not have been possible if the operational GPGA units had
remained independent.
Recommendations on globalization
Companies consider going global for two reasons (Ansoff et al, 2018);
i) Needs in operations; companies might need raw materials that are cheaply available
beyond their borders, seek to take advantage of equipment and technology available,
or find a market for their excess produce.
ii) Strategic requirements; organizations may need to find new channels of growth
following stagnation and saturation in their domestic market, or diffuse changes in
environmental factors and find more competitive advantage and profits.
Therefore, Bayer Crop Science considers a global strategy due to the need to manage the
reaction of their GPGA units to changes in policy across different countries. The adopted

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approach of a global network of units was the best strategy. The strategy ensured the company
was able to coordinate with local stakeholders to improve the response of the organization to
these policy changes. This enables the organization to consider the changed policies and adjust
their operational policies appropriately into the local market in the various regions seamlessly
and in time. The organization also devoted its resources to aid and finance the research for the
strategy, resulting in the stakeholders having more cooperative and collaborative approaches to
managing their public policies. The strategy also results in improved efficiency in managing
resources by removing duplication of resources for each national unit of the division.
The strategy of networked units also results in significant personal development for the
key stakeholders in the organization. The strategy ensures the leaders adapt to different values
across different cultures and develop flexible thinking in the line of duty. The leaders are also
required to respond quickly to changing needs. The strategy defines that the stakeholders move
around across the global units which improve the cohesion among stakeholders and therefore
instill a sense of global responsibility for the success of the whole organization, instead of the
success of each independent unit.
Using this strategy, Bayer Crop Science should significantly improve its chances of
succeeding in overseas markets. The company will obtain the benefit of improved knowledge on
policy, improved cross-border relationships, and cost savings in running national units across
different countries. The company will also proactively conform to legal considerations in
different countries by having the information at hand for adaptation into their business policies
and processes.

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Conclusion
The global company is currently a regular phenomenon, with businesses looking to take
advantage of the opportunities provided by the international business space. The decision to
invest beyond national borders is a sensitive issue that requires a comprehensive strategy to adapt
successfully to local markets in international markets. Companies need to maintain their
competitive advantage by cutting costs in production while still developing standard quality
products. Companies basically choose from three strategic frameworks; global strategies, where
company operations are managed similarly in all staged units worldwide, regional strategies
where the multinational venture adapts its business processes to the needs of each region, and a
localized strategies where the company adapts its policies and processes to the market in the
target country. These strategies have their advantages and disadvantages unique to each, and
these depend on the characteristics of the company and the country. Aside from the corporate
strategies, management personnel also need to develop necessary skills and personal qualities
that will successfully enable them to manage global business operations. Globalization creates
more opportunities for business by reducing barriers to business development and opens up more
of the world’s markets to the business.

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