Going International: A Practical, Comprehensive Template for Establishing a Footprint in Foreign Markets

Despite abundant success stories of companies going global, many are content to stay in their domestic market or practice limited expansion. But as hundreds of millions in Brazil, Russia, India, and China join the middle class in the coming decades, firms must capitalize on this opportunity. This article, by a former senior manager at The Gillette Company, discusses the iSMARTE framework — a comprehensive four-stage method for leaders to gain the know-how to establish a footprint in foreign markets. 1) The first stage, conceptualize international business, comprises three steps: do a business size-up, define international business (including recognizing the realities of globalization), and de-mystify international business (including dispelling myths around the risk of international markets). 2) The second stage, embrace new markets, comprises two steps: assess the international opportunity and outline the international opportunity. 3) The third stage, construct the plan, comprises two steps: lay out strategic principles (like classifying markets and defining the strategic approach) and design the architecture. 4) The fourth stage, commercialize the international opportunity, comprises three steps: get local, lower the microscope, and gain a local foothold.