Bartlett and Ghoshal framework

In today’s competitive market environment, businesses are forced to formulate strategic approaches to remain relevant in the market (Bartlett and Sumantra). This report gives a detailed analysis of the various stages that business firms go through to meet the objectives of doing business at international levels. Bartlett and Ghoshal are the pioneers of a model that business firms can adopt to meet the rising demands of customers. The model is called the Bartlett and Ghoshal Model, and it describes strategic options for businesses that want to manage international operations. It is argued that customer preferences are constantly changing, hence the need for business firms to keep up with the pace (Bartlett and Sumantra). The positions are global, transnational, international and multi-domestic (Verbeke). It is exciting to note that the four positions are based on the combination of the two pressures as discussed in the following sections.

The Global Strategy Firms adopting the global strategy have a high pressure of succeeding in global integration and low pressure for local responsiveness. The global strategy fosters firms to focus on meeting global needs rather than focusing on local responsibility. It is argued that attaining the largest shares in a global market is of critical importance because it helps business firms to remain relevant against the competitors. It is argued that the most successful firms are at the forefront of investing in global recognition. The two major firms in the global position are the Pfizer and CAT. The former is a pharmaceutical firm that operates worldwide making supplies of drugs to different health care. The latter deals with designing and developing machines. A shared characteristic between the two firms in the global network of distributing the end products to the customers.

Transnational Strategy The firms operating in the transnational strategy are faced with two high pressures. The firms ate forced with the need to achieve global integration by distributing the products to a global scale. The firms are also forced to meet the needs of the local market. It is important to note that getting pressure from both the local and global scale creates an intense pressure that forces the firm's top managers to develop strategic ways of creating a balance between the two (Bartlett and Sumantra). The global integrations create the need for product standardization to a certain extent to achieve global integration. Unilever is a great example that falls within the transnational section. The firms operate both on a global and local scale trying to meet the overall customer needs at different levels.

It is intriguing to realize that firms in the transnational position focus on creating a balance between the global and local markets. Like the firms in the global position, the transnational strategy presents a higher technicality regarding the international human resource. The process of recruiting individuals to provide a workforce for global and local marketing is demanding. Also, a distinguishing factor is the little relative adaption of products to the local needs and global integration (Rugman, Alain and Quyen). Importantly, activities relating to the value chain of the company are performed at the headquarter with little or no delegation to the partners in business. For instance, the branding of products is solely dependent on the top-level managers at the headquarters regardless of the local needs. It is argued that international strategy is mainly suitable for monopolistic firms that face no competition.

It is essential to note that competition is a critical factor that helps to shape the economy and determine. An assessment reveals the ease of the firms in managing the international human resource. The department is majorly responsible for the for the workforce management at the headquarter. It is intriguing to realize that international firms depend on independent distribution channels that have no human resource management relationship with the firm producing the products. The workforce management is the responsibility of the human resource department of the of the partner firms. The case of the two discussed firms that have adopted the international strategy implies smooth management of employees. It is essential to realize the strategy is highly affected by other prevailing factors such as culture, believes and values of people (Rugman, Alain and Wenlong).

The strategy is supported by the fact that the multi-domestic firms value less centralized structures. The decentralized structure gives an opportunity for the subsidiary companies to develop strategies for meeting local demands. It is essential to note the branches of a multi-domestic firm operates independently and autonomously depending on the needs of the local markets. The strategy has a low global integration pressure due to the absence of the goal to achieve global objectives regarding marketing the products to the clients. As such, firms require strategic identification of the local needs and working towards meeting the needs. It is argued that customers are likely to be more loyal to firms that enable customers to meet their objectives using minimal efforts and cost. The multi-domestic strategy also impacts the international human resource of the firms.

Contrary to the earlier discussed approaches in global, transnational and international strategies, the multi-domestic strategy calls for a diverse and massive involvement of the human resource department. It is essential to note that having a decentralized structure means that most activities are completed at the subsidiary level. Momaya. Competitiveness of firms: review of theory, frameworks and models. Bartlett, Christopher A. and Sumantra Ghoshal.  Managing across borders: The transnational solution. Peng, Mike W. Denis YL Wang, and Yi Jiang. An institution-based view of international business strategy: A focus on emerging economies.  Journal of international business studies 39. Rugman, Alan, Alain Verbeke, and Wenlong Yuan. Greidanus. The end of the opportunism vs trust debate: Bounded reliability as a new envelope concept in research on MNE governance.  Journal of International Business Studies 40.