Globalization - Opportunities for Business

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Running header: GLOBALIZATION
Globalization
Institution Affiliation
Author Name

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GLOBALIZATION
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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GLOBALIZATION
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