The Quest for Global Dominance: Transforming Global Presence into Global Competitive Advantage [Hardcover]

Vijay Govindarajan (Author), Anil K. Gupta (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0787957216 | ISBN-13: 978-0787957216 | Publication Date: August 6, 2001 | Edition: 1

The current transformation of isolated state-dominated economies into market-driven globally integrated economies is creating business challenges and opportunities around the globe. Over the last ten years, these authors have studied over one hundred global corporations through a variety of research methods and here distill their findings into four essential goals that executives must achieve in order to transform a company into a global success: Identify and pursue opportunities in key markets. Convert global presence into global competitive advantage. Cultivate a global mindset in order to recognize and exploit good ideas wherever they arise. And constantly reinvent the global game by creating value for customers. Case studies involving Yahoo!, Wal-Mart, and other global players show how the authors' findings can be applied in real-world situations.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this rousing call to arms, the authors business school professors at Dartmouth and the University of Maryland, respectively lay out three persuasive reasons why corporations need to increase their global presence. First, global opportunities and threats can appear anywhere, so it's best to be firmly entrenched worldwide; second, simply having a "foreign" office doesn't count as a true global presence; and third, success around the globe means hiring the most talented people available to fuel what the authors call your "knowledge engine."

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Review

In this rousing call to arms, the authors--business school professors at Dartmouth and the University of Maryland, respectively--lay out three persuasive reasons why corporations need to increase their global presence. First, global opportunities and threats can appear anywhere, so it's best to be firmly entrenched worldwide; second, simply having a "foreign" office doesn't count as a true global presence; and third, success around the globe means hiring the most talented people available to fule what the authors call your "knowledge engine." (Sept.) (Publishers Weekly, August 6, 2001)

"Rich with stories, lessons and concepts, The Quest for Global Dominance is a blueprint for companies that wish to keep pace with the advance of globalisation today..." (Business Monthly, September 2001)

"...this is a very practical and highly readable book." (Economic Outlook & Business Review, November 2001)

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass; 1 edition (August 6, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0787957216
• ISBN-13: 978-0787957216
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,535,115 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Text on Globalization, February 3, 2002

By 

Roger E. Herman (Greensboro, NC USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Quest for Global Dominance: Transforming Global Presence into Global Competitive Advantage (Hardcover)

If you're looking for a detailed book on globalization that has the qualities, depth, and approach of a college textbook, here it is. The book was written by two professors who met, and discovered a synergy for writing, while they were students at Harvard. They've developed a style that presents their points in a well-organized fashion, with sufficient illustration and documentation to validate the authors' points. The examples they use are well-known companies that have achieved global dominance; now we know how they did it-with plenty of information and understanding between two covers of a modern book.

The book is organized into nine chapters, each strong enough to be a stand-alone publication on its own. We start with Rising Up to the Global Challenge and then move into Building Global Presence. Appetites whetted, we now get a comprehensive case study: Lessons from Wal-Mart's Globalization. Exploiting Global Presence comes next, followed by a chapter on Cultivating a Global Mindset. This is primary theme of the book; it's a mindset that enables dominance.

Chapter 6 gets into some how-to: Building a Global Knowledge Machine, sharing vital information and understanding across national boundaries and cultural divides. The authors then concentrate on the Dynamics of Global Business Teams and Changing the Rules of the Global Game. The final chapter is Globalization in the Digital Age, keeping us right up-to-date and reminding the reader that this topic is real and "present" in today's organizations. A bibliography and two indices follow the footnotes section.

The ordinary lay reader will have trouble with this book. It is an academic work. However, for senior executives, marketing professionals, and students of globalization, this book will be a treasure. Those involved with graduate education in business should not miss this book. It will be valuable reading for self-growing executives engaged in executive MBA programs, giving them solid knowledge and insight to apply in their real world of global growth and dominance.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars How to establish global presence, then achieve and sustain a competitive advantage, April 17, 2008

By 

Robert Morris (Dallas, Texas) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Quest for Global Dominance: Transforming Global Presence into Global Competitive Advantage (Hardcover)

As Jeffrey Garten explains in the Foreword, this recently published Second Edition offers "not only updates, not only new examples, and not only a more confident analysis. There are three entirely new chapters." Given all that has happened since the first edition (2001), these are indeed welcome additions. Anil Gupta, Vijay Govindarajan, and Haiyan Wang focus on four tasks essential for any company to emerge and stay as the globally dominant player within its industry:

1. "One, people must ensure that their company leads the industry in identifying new marketing opportunities worldwide and in pursuing these opportunities by establishing the necessary presence in all key markets."

2. "Two, people must work relentlessly to convert global presence into global competitive advantage."

3. "Three, people must cultivate a global mindset."

4. "Four, in developing global strategies, people must take full account of the rapid growth of emerging markets, in particular the rise of China and India."

As the co-authors would be the first to acknowledge, it is quite easy to offer prescriptions such as these. Presumably they agree with Thomas Edison: "Vision without execution is hallucination." After briefly but precisely identifying the "what" of "transforming global presence into global competitive advantage," the authors devote the bulk of their attention to explaining the "how." They intended that their book be broad in its coverage of issues relating to the creating and exploiting of global presence, and, that each chapter would focus on a specific action-oriented issue such as building global presence, cultivating a global mindset, or the dynamics of global business teams.

While citing real-world initiatives by several dozen exemplary companies (e.g. Cisco Systems, FedEx, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Ikea, Marriott, Microsoft, Nucor, Procter & Gamble, and Wal-Mart), the authors address key questions, issues, and challenges such as these:

Which five imperatives drive the pursuit of global expansion?
Under which conditions are alliance-based entry modes more appropriate?
Under which conditions is accelerated global expansion more appropriate?
When location decisions are made, which criteria should be considered?
Which four factors drive the speed with which to cultivate a global mindset?
What are the most common barriers to effective and efficient knowledge transmission?
How to maximize knowledge accumulation and mobilization?
What are the primary reasons for the failure of a global business team (GBT)?
How to overcome communication barriers within a global organization?
What are the major benefits to be gained by early globalization?
What is a "two-track strategy" and why should it be executed in both China and India?

Gupta, Govindarajan, and Wang are to be commended on the wealth of information they provide and, especially, on the rigor of their analysis of that information. All three are pragmatists. What has worked for other global companies that have transformed their global presence into global competitive advantage? What lessons can be learned from those initiatives? In this context, I am reminded of what Peter Drucker once observed: "We spend a lot of time teaching leaders what to do. We don't spend enough time teaching leaders what to stop. Half the leaders I have met don't need to learn what to do. They need to learn what to stop." All of the observations and suggestions that Gupta, Govindarajan, and Wang include throughout their narrative share a single purpose: To guide and inform the process by which correct decisions can be made, decisions that will address what not to do as well as what to do. Although their book is a "must read" for C-level executives in companies that seek to transform their global presence into competitive advantage, I think it should also be read by C-level executives in other (non-global) organizations that are within the supply/value chain of those companies.

I also highly recommend Friedman's aforementioned The World Is Flat 3.0, Victor Fung, William Fung, and Yoram (Jerry) Wind's Competing in a Flat World, C.K. Prahalad's The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid, Kenichi Ohmae's The Next Global Stage, and Operation China co-authored by Jimmy Hexter and Jonathan Woetzel.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must-Read For Savy International Business Executives, August 20, 2001

By 

Matthew Boland (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Quest for Global Dominance: Transforming Global Presence into Global Competitive Advantage (Hardcover)

After reading this book, I went back and looked at the large library I amassed while attending The School of International & Public Affairs at Columbia University and I realized that no book in my entire collection taught me as much about global business as "The Quest for Global Dominance." It is engagingly written and so full of substance, I can't think of a more fun way to learn how to shelter your company from the adverse effects of "globalization" while remaining exposed to its enormous upside potential.