Going Global While Staying Domestic

Going global without compromising your businesses most important characteristics can be difficult and tricky but it doesn't mean that it is impossible. There are many advantages to going global such as increased opportunities for wealth, access to additional markets and drawing on skilled labor in other parts of the world. However, this doesn't mean that everyone desires to lose their sense of identity and methods of doing business.

There is a possibility that many organizations can go global with some aspects of their business while retaining a local identity and culture on other aspects of their operations. For example, a local company could open up an e-commerce site for their local business and still retain the high wages, benefits and terms of employment that are important for local workers (Egels-Zanden, 2007).

The Internet has become one of the easiest ways for companies to gain global exposure while still maintaining local operations embedded in domestic culture. Each country has its own skill set in terms of those general abilities brought forth by culture and some organizations may be able to consider the advantages of these local abilities (Championing the cause, 2007).

For example, American's can be seen an innovative people of which local companies can draw market advantages from (Bandyk, 2007). It is these hometown advantages, positive work cultures, and domestic skills that many organizations want to retain. In a global environment it can be difficult to perpetuate a local culture that is bombarded with competing ideologies.

Let me give an example of a small software company that is based in Detroit Michigan. The owner and his 10 workers enjoy developing software for local businesses and solving their needs. However, with the decline in the Michigan economy many of these businesses related to manufacturing and the automotive field have begun to cut back on investments in their operations and some have even moved out of the area.

This organization decided to open up a much stronger website that allows for more interaction with potential customers, the ability to complete much of the work online and develop a stronger marketing position. Within two years they were able to regain what they have lost in the local market and added an additional 10% to their overall revenue. This was possible because the company turned global while still retaining a local workforce and culture.

Bandyk, M. (2007). Keeping America' edge in innovation. U.S. News & World Report, 143 (15).

Championing the cause...(2007) Championing the cause of practical learning. Educational Journal, 106.

Egels-Zanden, N. (2007). Evaluating strategies for negotiating worker's rights in transnational corporations: the effects of codes of conduct and global agreements on workplace democracy. Journal of Business Ethics, 76 (2).