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Strategic opportunities at the intersection of globalization, technology and lifestyles

Sanjit Sengupta (PhD 1990, University of California, Berkeley, is Professor and Chair of the Marketing Department at San Francisco State University. He can be reached at sengupta@sfsu.edu)
Jakki Mohr (PhD 1989, University of Wisconsin, Madison, is the Jeff and Martha Hamilton Faculty Fellow and Professor of Marketing at the University of Montana‐Missoula. She can be reached at jakki.mohr@business.umt.edu)
Stanley Slater (PhD 1998, University of Washington, is a professor of marketing at Colorado State University. He can be reached at Stanley.Slater@?ColoState.EDU)

Handbook of Business Strategy

ISSN: 1077-5730

Article publication date: 1 January 2006

4622

Abstract

Purpose

In this article, we discuss four “hot” strategic opportunities for the next three‐five year time frame arising from globalization and technology trends and present frameworks that can help business executives leverage these opportunities.

Design/methodology/approach

The methods used include review and synthesis of the academic and popular business literature to identify trends, opportunities and managerial problems, and conceptual analysis and inductive generalization of frameworks as useful tools for managers to deal with those opportunities.

Findings

Companies across a wide spectrum of industries have to contemplate and position themselves with respect to the following four strategic opportunities. R&D outsourcing may seem attractive from a cost perspective but appropriate safeguards have to be negotiated so that a company’s intellectual property does not get appropriated. Digital convergence requires firms to think creatively about complementary products and services without straying too far from their core competencies. Identifying customer needs and emerging markets needs new tools and techniques to be embraced for gathering market intelligence. Finally new technologies and business models should stimulate companies to develop policies on digital rights management after balancing stakeholder interests and assessing the threat of disruptive innovations.

Originality/value

This article identifies four current strategic opportunities that global firms should be thinking about if they are not doing so already. It discusses the benefits and challenges of getting into these areas with new technologies, new partners and new business processes. As such this article will be of interest to senior business executives responsible for setting the strategic direction of their company. Careful consideration and exploitation of these strategic opportunities will yield significant payoffs for proactive firms.

Keywords

Citation

Sengupta, S., Mohr, J. and Slater, S. (2006), "Strategic opportunities at the intersection of globalization, technology and lifestyles", Handbook of Business Strategy, Vol. 7 No. 1, pp. 43-50. https://doi.org/10.1108/10775730610618602

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2006, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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