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

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

Book Description

Publication Date: March 21, 2008 | ISBN-10: 0470194405 | ISBN-13: 978-0470194409 | Edition: 2

Anil K. Gupta, Vijay Govindarajan, and Haiyan Wang are among the most distinguished experts in the field of globalization. In The Quest for Global Dominance they present the lessons from their twenty-year study of over two hundred corporations. They argue that, in order for a company to create and maintain its position as a globally dominant player, executives must ensure that their company leads its industry in the following four essential tasks:

• Identifying market opportunities worldwide and pursuing them by establishing the necessary presence in all key markets

• Converting global presence into global competitive advantage by identifying and developing the opportunities for value creation that global presence offers

• Cultivating a global mindset by viewing cultural and geographic diversity as an opportunity, not just a challenge

• Leveraging the rise of emerging markets especially China and India to transform the company's growth prospects, global cost structure, and pace of innovation

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.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass; 2 edition (March 21, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470194405
• ISBN-13: 978-0470194409
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 1 x 9.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #136,237 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #48 in Books > Business & Investing > Management & Leadership > Industrial

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

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 HALL OF FAMETOP 100 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format: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. Read more ›

5.0 out of 5 stars My Professor May 13, 2011

By Jozey

Format:Hardcover

Enjoyed the read during the semester. He really has some key insights on how to master an understanding of globality.