Globalisation and Deglobalisation:
The Search for a New Strategic Direction

Globalisation versus protectionism – the big question

Has the COVID-19 crisis halted globalisation?  Is the world economy reverting from free trade to aggressive protectionism?  What will be the next trends and developments in your business?  What are the implications for your organisation?  How can you plan in conditions of major uncertainty?  There are positive and negative answers to these and many other questions that will shape the future.  The course “Globalisation and Deglobalisation – The Search for a New Strategic Direction” will put these and many other issues into a new context.

Globalisation has emerged as the most powerful force influencing business in the 21^st century.  It has affected every activity of organisations from basic research through product creation into post-sale customer support. The opening of markets and the rapid diffusion of information, knowledge and capability have combined to influence our assessment of business potential and the ways in which we do business.  However, we now perceive early signs of an economic and business shift away from the trend of the past 30-40 years towards a return to uncertainty and protectionism.  Therefore, all managers must assess the potential impact of the opposing global trends.  Some of these trends will continue this process; others will reverse it.

Every organisation is affected to some extent by the impact of globalisation on any aspects of its activity.  This is due not only to the natural processes of change in supply and demand but also to advances in science and technology; new legal and regulatory requirements; greater flexibility in organisational design; and, not least, international social, cultural and political relations – notably in communication systems.  We now understand and accept that globalisation is about much more than selling or purchasing relationships with multiple countries.

We are all beginning to experience strong positive and negative aspects of these developments and we are having to consider “deglobalisation” as part of strategic thinking and planning.  Globalisation can offer economies of scale, cost advantages, market access and many other benefits.  However, there is a different dimension, which we term deglobalisation.  For example, organisations face an increased risk of disruption to supply by increasingly complex systems.  Travel is severely restricted.  Economic nationalism is causing greater tension in international relations.  These are just some of the new challenges that are a direct consequence of the above changes in the business environment.

The highly controversial practice of “trade wars” is becoming more widespread – involving increasingly aggressive use of tariffs and quotas in controlling and regulating international trade.  Therefore, if companies are to take advantage of the new opportunities offered by globalisation and deglobalisation, they also need to have defensive elements in their strategies to cope with the emerging threats posed by protectionist forces.

All managers must be aware of the potential implications of the economic and political debate on this subject for every decision and every action faced by today’s managers and leaders.  This has led us to introduce this high-level management course entitled “Globalisation and Deglobalisation – The Search for a New Strategic Direction”.  The course is designed to offer an unrivalled opportunity for managers and specialists to (a) discuss and develop their understanding of this subject with other managers from a wide variety of organisations, and (b) exchange ideas and develop strategic and operational plans under the guidance of a highly qualified and experienced course leader.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What will influence the future of global business?

Globalisation is not a recent phenomenon.  It first started to see serious analysis in the mid-1970s.  The initial focus was on the gradual opening of markets and liberalisation of trade legislation, and therefore it is no surprise that the early analytical frameworks were for the most part adapted from marketing and organisational development.

Gradually the predominant influence of the marketing/sales dimension began to decline, in relative terms, from the early-1990s.  Issues of sourcing, operational location, corporate structure and finance started to emerge as equally significant characteristics of global business.  This broader perspective was developed in response to the decreasing influence of distance that is a consequence of readily available low-cost information technology and the consequent acceleration of the growth of internationally collaborative business relationships.  The catalyst of this change has been the impact of supply chain management on commercial relationships, resulting in increasingly interactive and complex international logistics systems.

The move towards a more holistic perspective on business development has shifted the emphasis away from production and supply of physical inputs of components, intermediates and sub-assemblies to a focus on their integration into finished offerings and the way in which suppliers interact with customers to enhance mutual value.  Now other input resources such as finance, knowledge, information, are managed in a global context.  This has been influenced to a great extent by the growth of integrated information and operational management systems and the consequent reduction in the cost of knowledge acquisition and inter-enterprise communication.  Not surprisingly, finance became the earliest sector to globalise as it is enabled substantially by developments in information systems.

All these factors have had a growing influence on organisational design and on business relationships between and within competing and collaborating players in a way that did not exist until the recent past.  This has made geographic boundaries less relevant in a business context, and therefore many modern organisations can be described as “homeless corporations”.  It also accounts for the rapid growth of alliances and joint ventures.

These developments are now making a powerful impact on every aspect of business – strategy, structure, organisation, culture.  However, the whole of this process has been severely disrupted by the COVID-19 crisis.  In the short term the main changes that affect business will relate to travel, healthcare costs, risk management and the widening gap between strong and weak economic institutions.  In this course we will examine in detail the changing dynamics of the global macroeconomic structure and project the likely longer-term development pattern of the major economic regions, countries and institutions.

What is the strategic relevance of globalisation?

The basic principles of strategy and strategic management do not change.  What is changing significantly is the different responses of the major players to the immediate impact of the COVID-19 crisis and the capacity of major players – nations, companies, institutions – to recover to a more normal pattern of economic and business development.

From a strategic perspective globalisation is still most usefully viewed as a transformational business process within which the supply chain concept and the integration of internal and external operational and managerial systems are gradually becoming the central issues affecting the capability of organisations to achieve profitable growth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now globalisation is above all aimed at acquiring new competencies that enable a company to utilise resources on an optimal basis, without regard for geography, to meet differentiated customer demand profitably and cost-competitively.  Put more simply, globalisation is not only about marketing and selling or sourcing and procurement.  Looking at globalisation as a process of acquiring and renewing competencies helps us understand how and why new forms of organisation are emerging to enable young companies to challenge, and defeat established high-profile competitors.  We also need to keep in mind that globalisation is not restricted to large companies – many large companies are not global; some medium-sized companies are.

However, there is another dimension that has begun to permeate strategic thinking, and this has been accelerated because of COVID-19.  The issue that has changed is whether decisions and activities are better executed globally or locally.  This is now described as “global localisation”, “glocalisation” or other similar new words.  It compels us to consider the aftershocks of the pandemic – uneven economic activity and recovery, increasingly tense international relations, plus greater unpredictability and economic turbulence.

The major issues and the course

In this rapidly changing environment, we will focus in detail on the following topics.

• Dealing with the opportunities of globalisation and the threats of protectionism
• Coping with geographical and cultural distance
• Locating and aligning centralised and devolved elements of operations
• Coordinating and controlling a distributed organisational structure
• Designing and managing complex multinational supply chains
• Managing the balance of national and global operations

The priorities for the course

In addressing the major topics identified above, our course “Globalisation and Deglobalisation – The Search for a New Strategic Direction” will enable managers to anticipate and plan for the impact of globalisation from a position of detailed understanding of leading-edge approaches to 21^st century business development.  The main priority is to focus on practical problems illustrated by examples of case experience and effective management practices.  Above all, the learning process will be enhanced by study and discussion of real-life projects in which the course leader has been personally involved.

To summarise: By attending “Globalisation and Deglobalisation – The Search for a New Strategic Direction” participants will be able to address the following priority management issues in team development with greater confidence.

• Developing effective teams for the changing reality
• Assessing and controlling risk in international development
• Leading the processes of multi-level innovation and change
• Designing and managing agile organisational structures
• Sustaining profitable growth in rapidly changing markets
• Learning how to “think global, act local”

Your invitation to this event

The course “Globalisation and Deglobalisation – The Search for a New Strategic Direction” is offered in several international business locations.  It is designed to enable managers and specialists to understand the direction of change and the emerging complexities of 21^st century business.  Attending this course will enable each delegate to benefit from the opportunities that are now available whilst avoiding the problems and risks that could arise in the rapidly changing post-COVID-19 business climate.

Please note that the course does not require a specialist knowledge of economics, but delegates need to have a lively interest in current business and social affairs to get the most from the course.

You can register online right now or request a paper registration form from us or just by calling us at +971 4 427 5400

For more information click here. Bookings are essential as places are limited.  To reserve your place, contact [email protected] or call +971 50 195 5668.  If you were on the waiting list from the last session, we have your details, and you will be contacted shortly.

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