Are you enjoying globalization yet? The surprising implications for business

Abstract

Purpose

Globalization is changing the nature of competition and value creation in ways more subtle and fundamental than simply cost. By incubating scores of new business models that can unseat established companies, globalization is creating opportunities for new value creation and highly profitable growth at the two ends of the value chain – new customer connections at one end and new models of innovation at the other. This article discusses globalization and the changing nature of competition and value creation.

Design/methodology/approach

Provides a viewpoint of globalization and the changing nature of competition and value creation.

Findings

For many companies, the most powerful moves will be to take advantage of university alliances and global talent sourcing. Every company today, large or small, has to draw the global map of the key talent pools for its business, whether that talent consists of software programmers, machinists, biotechnologists, materials scientists, cinematographers, financial analysts, medical technicians, call center operators, or electronics engineers. The key point is to spend more on the highest‐impact activities. One way is to practice the “open innovation” approach as described by Henry Chesbrough of the University of California at Berkeley, which advocates building on the innovations of others. There is tremendous leverage in shifting your thinking from “not invented here” to “invented elsewhere, monetized here.”

Originality/value

Firms that follow the approach advocated in this paper may gain an advantage in value creation by concentrating not on being the first to deploy a technology but on being the best at designing and using their information.

Citation

Slywotzky, A., Baumgartner, P., Alberts, L. and Moukanas, H. (2006), "Are you enjoying globalization yet? The surprising implications for business", Journal of Business Strategy, Vol. 27 No. 4, pp. 23-32. https://doi.org/10.1108/02756660610677100