ABSTRACT
Do you remember when you last spent some time in a foreign country? Did you observe how the business practices, social norms, values, regulations, marketing channels, languages, and opportunities all changed? Global leaders can’t help but notice these differences as they move from place to place. They know that while their world is in many ways “borderless,” in many ways it is far from it. When crossing national, cultural, and language boundaries, they confront a fundamental challenge, as a Walmart executive we interviewed pointed out: “One of the biggest obstacles we face when traversing country markets is learning to get the right mix at the right time, learning and relearning what each area really wants.”
