Managing Global Expansion

At the Global Breakthrough and Expansion phase, expansion to new markets and increased pres-ence to existing markets continues with globalization degree 25-50% and sales in three continents (Gabrielsson & Gabrielsson, 2009b). As the firm matures and with the new fear of losing overseas markets, they establish their own sales office in the form of foreign direct investment in addition to relying on exports and partners (Hashimoto 2011, p.27). With the drive to achieve global break-through, firms will start to take on distant and challenging new markets thus coming across difficul-ties in cultural, legal, and localization aspects (Rönkkö et al., 2008).

Nowadays, businesses must think big. It is not enough to be the best in the city or even the country. The goal should be to go global and take advantage of the opportunities offered by the phenomenon of globalization and be part of the “global market”. This is rather ambitious but some companies have stepped out their country’s borders and have gained global recognition.

For the globalization of competitors, companies are aware that if they leave companies overseas too long without challenge or competition, their investments or foreign operations in the world market may be so solid that competition will be difficult. Therefore, they try to act quickly.

In order to develop a global strategy, the deep understanding of the term ‘globalization’ is very important for every company.

Globalisation is the internationalization of trade and often forces businesses to adopt new strategies for operations to suit different cultures and economies. The often easily saturated domestic market has triggered many large

Globalization may be defined as the integration of the world 's people, firms and government. In the modern context, globalization is usually the result of closer ties in international trade, known as bilateral trade agreements. The WTO and NAFTA are two examples of such bilateral trade agreements. With such agreements, cross-country investment increases. This increase in investment is aided by the increase in information technology and communications, which has undergone a significant advancement over the last two decades with the rise of the Internet and mobile telephony (Green, 2013). It is important to the business to expand; global expansion and globalization would a positive business decision to complete in this process due to the strategic goals and objectives the company possesses. Healthy growth can be accomplished by globalization of specific areas selected and determined through research of market and development of these areas outlined within.

Hennessey, (2011) indicates that historically, a number of companies have managed to break the challenges and stumbling blocks of international marketing and managed to flourish into different global markets. These are required now more than ever before as trade barriers are being eased and economies are opening up, while at the same time a number of emerging economies are promising tremendous growth potential. This issue could be vital for the survival of most organizations.

It is inevitable if firms increase their global operations because every country has something different to offer, something new, and without the current innovation being promoted to the market, the company will start to lose its edge on

Expansion is a risky step for any business to take. International expansion has potential to be devastating to a company; or, it can lead to success on an even grander scale. By placing Target in Mexico, specifically Mexico City to begin with, opportunities are created for both the company and the country to grow. This expansion makes sense for several key reasons. One reason is that Target has yet to expand out of the United States. After a failed attempt at moving into Canada, the company has not tried international expansion since. Wal-Mex is the only retail store in Mexico that offers similar products for similar prices, which leaves space for a store like Target. Wal-Mart and Target have also been known to do well in the same areas. Target

Hill, C. (2011). International business, competing in the global marketplace. (8 ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Irwin.

| As markets become more global, increased competition from foreign competitors puts pressure on firms to innovate.  Domestic companies may need to come up with more efficient means of production, and will also tend to compete through innovation to differentiate their goods and services.  As communication increases through the internet and global media, consumers will have more choices in making purchase decisions.  Competition will become fiercer and companies will need to find a competitive advantage through innovative processes and products.

In the business industry, if businesses want to export their goods and services to other countries, they must become familiar with and adopt international and global strategies. Consequently, there are three types of international and global business strategies. The first type is international, which entails conducting a significant amount of activities outside the home country, yet its focus remains on the home market (Fung, 2014). The second type is multinational, which consists of operating in multiple countries, yet the headquarters is in its home country, not to mention that the competitive advantage will vary by country (Fung, 2014). The third and final type is global, which is when the organization treats the whole world as one market and one source of supply, not to mention, that its competitive advantage is contingent of common brands, standardized products, and global scale production (Fung,

As discussed in Chapter 21 of our text book, any company that is looking to expand globally must make five key decisions. A firm must decide if: a) they really want to expand to the international market; b) they

The world offers significant business opportunities for every company, however, opportunities are accompanied by significant challenges for managers. Managing global operations across diverse cultures and markets represents a big challenge and opportunity for companies. To compete in the global market and be successful, companies must learn the strategies, policies, norms and technology necessary to conduct international business. The opportunities for global expansion are numerous, and attaining success is a matter of developing the right strategy to win local markets and its consumers.

As trade increases hyper-competition grows forcing organizations to go global. By a company going global it requires them to rethink strategy and reform (Ananthram and Pearson, 2008). Global organizational structure is the way a company aims to merge local preferences with global strategy. The definition of global strategy is “strategic choices that have the characteristics of being globally uniform or integrated,” (Yip et al., 1997) such as standardization of products, uniform marketing, and competitive moves, but all globally (Townsend et al., 2004; Zou and Cavusgil, 2002; Bayraktar and Ndubisi, 2014). Global strategic strategy is a way to adjust to globalization. Globalization is “the economic and social process by which economies and communities grow inextricably interdependent “(Jhirad et al., 2009). The recent financial crisis (Das, 2010), large amount of poverty, and climate change are all problems that show how the world is globally connected because all countries impact each other (Jhirad et al., 2009).