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The Context: What’s Changing

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Successful Global Leadership

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Abstract

Among the macro trends affecting global businesses are the rise of emerging markets, shifting demographics across and within countries, accelerating technological changes, continued globalization and trade, evolving organizational forms, and the changing nature of global assignments. Henson discusses the various organizational strategies used by firms to gain competitive advantage in light of these trends. Research indicates that one of these, the transnational strategy, will likely be the most viable for multinationals. Henson proposes several questions for organizations to assess the extent to which they are making progress toward implementing this strategy.

Globalization is no longer an option but a strategic imperative for all but the smallest corporations. (Gupta et al. 2008) (Reprinted with permission)

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Fortune Magazine, Fortune Global 500, August 1, 2015.

  2. 2.

    “The Gated Globe” in The Economist, October 12, 2013.

  3. 3.

    “The Pacific Age,” November 15, 2014, The Economist.

  4. 4.

    Economic Intelligence Unit: Economic Intelligence Unit. http://www.eiu.com/Handlers/WhitepaperHandler.ashx?fi=Long-term_macroeconomic_Forecasting-upto-2050.pdf&mode=wp&campaignid=ForecastingTo2050

  5. 5.

    “Demystifying the Market for Executive Talent in Asia,” Russell Reynolds Report, 2015: http://www.bain.com/publications/articles/eight-great-trillion-dollar-growth-trends-to-2020.aspx

  6. 6.

    http://www.ey.com/Publication/vwLUAssets/ey-megatrends-report-2015/$FILE/ey-megatrends-report-2015.pdf

  7. 7.

    “Megatrends 2015: Making Sense of a World in Motion,” E&Y Report: http://www.ey.com/Publication/vwLUAssets/ey-megatrends-report-2015/$FILE/ey-megatrends-report-2015.pdf

  8. 8.

    “Deloitte Globalization Survey: Preparing for the Next Wave in Globalization” by Deloitte University Press: http://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/es/Documents/estrategia/Deloitte_ES_Estrategia_Globalization-survey-overview-2014.pdf

  9. 9.

    Their web site (www.prb.org) contains very useful information on population statistics and trends.

  10. 10.

    “Hitting the Sweet Spot: The Growth of the Middle Class in Emerging Markets,” E&Y Report: http://www.ey.com/Publication/vwLUAssets/Hitting_the_sweet_spot/$FILE/Hitting_the_sweet_spot.pdf

  11. 11.

    The Rise of the Middle Class, Word Bank document by Augosto de la Torre and Jammele Rigolini.

  12. 12.

    “Burgeoning Bourgeoisie” in The Economist, February 12, 2009.

  13. 13.

    “The Great Eight: Trillion-Dollar Growth Trends to 2020,” Bain & Company, 2011: http://www.bain.com/publications/articles/eight-great-trillion-dollar-growth-trends-to-2020.aspx

  14. 14.

    “The New Demographics: How to Live with an Ageing Population,” The Economist, November 1, 2001.

  15. 15.

    “World Population Ageing 2013,” United Nations Report.

  16. 16.

    United Nations World Population Prospects (the 2004 revision).

  17. 17.

    http://esa.un.org/unpd/wup/FinalReport/WUP2014-Report.pdf

  18. 18.

    See http://www.russellreynolds.com/insights/thought-leadership/the-rise-of-the-chief-digital-officer

  19. 19.

    “The Pioneering Continent” in The Economist, April 25, 2015.

  20. 20.

    “The Gated Globe,” in The Economist, October 12, 2013.

  21. 21.

    Carol Matlack, “Putin’s Latest Target: More than 200 Russian McDonald’s,” Bloomberg Business Week, October 20, 2014.

  22. 22.

    Olga Razumovskaya, “McDonald’s Extends Reach in Russia,” The Wall Street Journal, August 24, 2015.

  23. 23.

    http://www.dhl.com/content/dam/Campaigns/gci2014/downloads/dhl_gci_2014 _study_high.pdf

  24. 24.

    http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=4528213

  25. 25.

    http://jalopnik.com/5981170/volvos-chinese-parent-geely-swoops-in-to-save-the-london-taxi

  26. 26.

    http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304213904579095061880118346

  27. 27.

    See “The CEO Pay Circus of 2013.” 2015. Yahoo Finance. Accessed August 26. http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/the-exchange/ceo-pay-circus-2013-214028626.html.

  28. 28.

    “Managing Complexity and Change in a New Landscape”: http://www.ey.com/Publication/vwLUAssets/EY_-_7_big_changes_to_asset_management_operating_models/$FILE/EY-Managing-complexity-and-change-in-a-new-landscape.pdf

  29. 29.

    “Research on the Strategy-Execution Gap”: http://www.strategyand.pwc.com/global/home/what-we-think/cds_home/the_concept/research-strategy-execution-gap

  30. 30.

    “Rethinking Emerging Market Strategies: From Offshoring to Strategic Expansion,” Deloitte Review, 2009: http://www.strategyand.pwc.com/global/home/what-we-think/cds_home/the_concept/research-strategy-exe

  31. 31.

    Peter Vanham, “Skills for Global Business,” March 11, 2013.

  32. 32.

    “McDonald’s to Speed Refranchising, Cut Costs” in The Wall Street Journal, May 4, 2015.

  33. 33.

    See Robert’s Hof’s article in Forbes, February 19, 2015.

  34. 34.

    “2014 Egon Zehnder Global Board Index”: http://www.egonzehnder.com/files/global_board_index_2014.pdf

  35. 35.

    Joann Lublin, “U.S. Businesses Get Global, But Boards Remain All-American,” the Wall Street Journal, October 1, 2014.

  36. 36.

    From an interview with Mr. Bozer, “How Coca-Cola Manages 90 Emerging Markets” by William Holstein, published November 21, 2011: http://www.strategy-business.com/article/00093?gko=f3ca6

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Rutgers Business School, Newark, NJ, USA

    Ramon Henson

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  1. Ramon Henson
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Henson, R. (2016). The Context: What’s Changing. In: Successful Global Leadership. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-58990-3_2

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