International and Cross-cultural strategy

Every action taken by an international firm has an impact in a local market. Whether local firms known it or not they are competing in international market for their goods/services.

If you are a small local petrol retailer, you are competing against big companies like Exxon, Shell etc.

If you are a small local store you are competing against the same, plus against other retailers.

24-hour opening, cafe & parcel services, these are examples of global companies developing a strong offering for a local market.

International strategy is about the pursuit of international advantage. The essence of international strategy is the exercise of options and opportunities arising from the existence of different skills and resources in different country markets.

International Strategy concerns the interplay between the your competitive advantage and the comparative advantage posessed by a country or region.


Effective international strategies are less about content than about understanding how to create the operational flexibility with which to benefit from uncertainty, risk and market imperfections. Ultimately it is the search for strategic flexibility - the skills and resources needed to coordinate your international activities, bearing in mind differing market, competitive, regulatory and political environments.

The concept is "managing across borders". MNC = Multinational Company. Your company may carry out no international activities but you can still be strongly affected by international trade and the strategies of people like Exxon etc. above.

When you expand outside your home country for the first time, everything you do becomes more complex. You will face more challenges. Risks are greater, problems are more numerous. An example is selecting markets for international expansion.

There are trade barriers, tariffs, import quotas, foreign ownership rules, differences in laws, planning regulations, infrastructure for distribution, language, currencies, exchange rates, cultures, consumer prefernces, political systems, legal systems and norms and standards of behaviour.

Should you adapt your products, management, or investment plans to take account of these differences? Yes, the harder question is how much? There are many fine judgements to be made.

So, strategic thinking happens within a dymanic context. We have covered that already. But international strategy exists within the most dynamic and complex context of all.