Globalization: A Cautionary Tale

Most business leaders speak optimistically about the prospects of globalization, and for good reason. Globalization has fostered an increasingly interconnected world, with nearly $30 trillion in goods and services traded in 2013 alone. So, why do so many well-run companies fail in global markets? The author, an NYU Professor, says it's because executives fail to account for important differences between nations and to consider how those differences will generate operational risks. Using the 'cautionary tales' of IKEA in Russia, Walmart in China and Tesco in the U.S., he shows the importance of understanding the impact of 'institutional distance' when taking a business global.