Question

Write a short 200 words on any one thing you learned this semester about international management. Try to pick an insight that you found truly interesting and make it something that looks at the big picture of international management or trade or globalization.

Answer 1

An insight that I found truly interesting was an insight that I picked up while listening to a retired CEO of a large multinational corporation. The retired CEO said that a company should focus its products on the consumer and this can be done by studying and listening to customers and innovating accordingly.

This insight can be used to look at the big picture of globalization. Several companies are selling their products in different countries across the world in their quest to become a global entity. Companies like GM, Ford, Apple, Dell, Samsung, Toyota, etc. are selling their products in several different countries. It is in this context that the insight mentioned in the first paragraph comes into picture.

Companies, in their quest to expand globally, should always listen to the customers first and then offer them with their products and services. This will enable companies to fully comprehend the needs and requirements of the customers and to ensure that their services and products are able to fulfil those needs and requirements in a systematic and tangible manner. If a company is able to do this then its products will be successful and if not then their products and services will fail.

Take for example the case of eBay. The company was highly successful in USA but it was not able to replicate its success in China. This was because eBay did not study and listened to Chinese customers and users and replicated its U.S. business model in China. This led to unique and specific needs of Chinese users remaining unfulfilled. Chinese users wanted to be able to see a seller’s online status and then wanted to communicate with the seller in an easy manner. This functionality was not provided by eBay. This need was recognized by a local Chinese player TaoBao. TaoBao became very successful while eBay proved to be a big failure in China.