Global Business Strategy

* This publication is in Japanese. An English translation is not available.

Helping Japanese companies achieve true globalization

In the first decade of this century, the global economic environment has seen tremendous changes. The most significant is the rise of emerging countries. The share of global GDP accounted for by developed nations such as Japan, the United States, and European countries has dropped from almost 80% in 2000 to about 60% in 2010. I estimate that this share will fall to around 50% by 2020 and to about 40% by 2030. Meanwhile, emerging countries such as China, India, and Brazil are increasing their market presence. In terms of population, the picture of a global economy centering on developed nations in which those countries that represent 10% of the population generate 90% of the wealth is disintegrating. It is becoming increasingly important for global companies to develop business strategies to adapt to this new era.

This book systematically summarizes the business strategies of global companies that are addressing the rise of emerging countries. While in the past, textbooks on international management and global business theory were mainly based on developed countries, this book is characterized by a primary focus on strategies for emerging countries, where the business environment is quite different from that of developed nations. Among these emerging countries, it discusses China and India, believed to be the two chief economic powers of the 21st century, and contains case studies on companies operating in these countries to allow readers to get a sense of how business fields differ from those in developed nations such as Japan.

Also, instead of a narrow discussion of how overseas businesses differ from domestic businesses, the book's content focuses on the concept of an overall business strategy for an enterprise that aims to become a true global company that draws on all of its management resources, both domestic and overseas. For quite a few Japanese companies, more than half of their sales come from overseas markets, and their overseas subsidiaries hire significantly more employees than their domestic ones. However, their governance structure is still centered on the head office in Japan and is generally far from an optimum global management organization that takes advantage of diversity in countries where they have expanded. Echoing my belief that it is crucial for Japanese companies to improve their business organizations on a global scale, given the fact that the main business battlegrounds have moved from Japan to overseas, emerging countries in particular, the book is called Global Business Strategy.

I hope this book helps Japanese firms to make a significant leap forward in becoming true global companies.