Globalization is about human beings
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by Olga Annushkina
SDA Professor of Strategic and Entrepreneurial Management
In the previous post we spoke a lot about differences related to doing business abroad. Different language, culture, economic and industrial structures, legal environment – all these barriers are forcing companies to the adaptation of their business models.
Research shows, however, that successful economic adaptation is not all. In our strategy courses we keep on arguing that companies are competing with their people rather than with products: “Management is about human beings”, said Peter Drucker. And people across the globe are managed with similar principles even if with different practices: “What managers do in West Germany, in Britain, in the United States, in Japan, or in Brazil is exactly the same. How they do it may be quite different.” Attention to people and society, people directly or indirectly linked to the company, is becoming crucial in achieving the sustainability of foreign operations, in particularly in emerging markets.