Hi, in your opinion what is the most appropriate international business strategy for logistics businesses during a pandemic Coronavirus? I mean from four strategies such as Global strategy or transactional strategy or international strategy or multi-domestic strategy?
That's a very good question! Let me try to give you my perspective in two ways: First of all, I believe that a global Logistics business needs a "global" or "trans-national" strategy, as there is a lot of pressure to keep cost low in order to stay competitive. And overall, I believe that businesses like DHL, Fedex, DB Schenker, etc. follow a "global" approach, as branding is standardized, and also systems are fully integrated and are steered / governed centrally (at least as far as I know - if anyone has better insights, please correct me). However, as you ask specifically about the COVID pandemic, I do think that there is a short-term pressure for local adaptation, simply driven by differences in local regulations, regional lock-downs, etc. I know this answer does not come very timely (my apologies), but hope it still helps those who might have similar questions...
Great question! I would say VW largely follows a "Global Strategy": From what I can see there is limited pressure for local adaptation, while competition is high - and so is the pressure to stay cost-competitive. This also makes sense to me, as VW is a global brand, with high brand recognition world-wide. Having said that, one aspect to highlight is that - while using a (largely) unified global brand, Volkswagen DOES differentiate the positioning of its brand in different markets. Here in Thailand, for example, VW positions itself as a foreign upscale brand (in line with Audi, BMW, ...), with high pricing respectively. In Germany, on the other hand, I would categorize VW more in the "mass" segment. So - while the brand usage follows a global strategy, Volkswagen manages to benefit from higher margins in markets where it can positions its VW brand as a premium brand. Not sure that helps...?
That's a very good question... I'm of course not an insider, but "outside-in", I would say they use a mix: Alibaba itself (the B2B commerce business) is definitely global. On the B2C side, they have Lazada in Southeast Asia (not using the Alibaba name) and various channels in China (not using the Lazada name), so this would be something like multi-domestic. I'm thinking whether you could call Taobao as "transnational"? (probably it is more accurate to call it "global", as the direction is clearly driven out of the Headquarters in China, even though local teams seem to pursue their own tailored strategies). Does that make sense?
That's a very good question! One trend that I have been observing over the past few years is that there is increasing pressure for companies to be more adaptive in their approach to local markets - i.e. to move their internationalization philosophy more towards the right side of the 2x2 matrix (Transnational Strategy, Multi-Domestic Strategy). I wouldn't necessarily link it only to the pandemic, but I think even pre-COVID consumers have become much more sophisticated in how they think about brands, and personalized approaches to marketing and communication are almost a basic expectation already. That could be one explanation why this pressure towards the right seems to be there. Again - this is just my observation as a practitioner, and happy to be challenged on this, but I think a classic "purist" Global Strategy is more and more difficult to implement...
Very good & educative vid for my masters class, thx for the presentation
very good and clear
Thanks for this explanation...!!
Excellent course, very helpful. Thanks
Thank you so much - much appreciated indeed!
thank you for sharing. Very informative.
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That's very nice, thank you so much for the kind feedback!!
Hi, in your opinion what is the most appropriate international business strategy for logistics businesses during a pandemic Coronavirus? I mean from four strategies such as Global strategy or transactional strategy or international strategy or multi-domestic strategy?
That's a very good question! Let me try to give you my perspective in two ways:
First of all, I believe that a global Logistics business needs a "global" or "trans-national" strategy, as there is a lot of pressure to keep cost low in order to stay competitive.
And overall, I believe that businesses like DHL, Fedex, DB Schenker, etc. follow a "global" approach, as branding is standardized, and also systems are fully integrated and are steered / governed centrally (at least as far as I know - if anyone has better insights, please correct me).
However, as you ask specifically about the COVID pandemic, I do think that there is a short-term pressure for local adaptation, simply driven by differences in local regulations, regional lock-downs, etc.
I know this answer does not come very timely (my apologies), but hope it still helps those who might have similar questions...
Thanks
Whats the best strategy for Volkswagen ?
Great question!
I would say VW largely follows a "Global Strategy": From what I can see there is limited pressure for local adaptation, while competition is high - and so is the pressure to stay cost-competitive.
This also makes sense to me, as VW is a global brand, with high brand recognition world-wide.
Having said that, one aspect to highlight is that - while using a (largely) unified global brand, Volkswagen DOES differentiate the positioning of its brand in different markets. Here in Thailand, for example, VW positions itself as a foreign upscale brand (in line with Audi, BMW, ...), with high pricing respectively. In Germany, on the other hand, I would categorize VW more in the "mass" segment.
So - while the brand usage follows a global strategy, Volkswagen manages to benefit from higher margins in markets where it can positions its VW brand as a premium brand.
Not sure that helps...?
thank you
Thank YOU for watching! :)
What strategy does Alibaba used?
That's a very good question... I'm of course not an insider, but "outside-in", I would say they use a mix: Alibaba itself (the B2B commerce business) is definitely global. On the B2C side, they have Lazada in Southeast Asia (not using the Alibaba name) and various channels in China (not using the Lazada name), so this would be something like multi-domestic. I'm thinking whether you could call Taobao as "transnational"? (probably it is more accurate to call it "global", as the direction is clearly driven out of the Headquarters in China, even though local teams seem to pursue their own tailored strategies).
Does that make sense?
Which strategy do you think fits the situation of the post-pandemic? based on your experience and why?
That's a very good question! One trend that I have been observing over the past few years is that there is increasing pressure for companies to be more adaptive in their approach to local markets - i.e. to move their internationalization philosophy more towards the right side of the 2x2 matrix (Transnational Strategy, Multi-Domestic Strategy). I wouldn't necessarily link it only to the pandemic, but I think even pre-COVID consumers have become much more sophisticated in how they think about brands, and personalized approaches to marketing and communication are almost a basic expectation already. That could be one explanation why this pressure towards the right seems to be there.
Again - this is just my observation as a practitioner, and happy to be challenged on this, but I think a classic "purist" Global Strategy is more and more difficult to implement...