Going global is more complex than making a must-have product, writing a snappy jingle and shipping it worldwide, says Pervez Ghauri, Professor of International Business at Manchester Business School. While multinational companies such as Nike are used to standardising their operations and manufacturing goods in locations around the world, firms are also under pressure to respond to local markets. “They have problems in deciding how much global they should be and how much local they should be,” Professor Ghauri says. Very few can afford not to bow to local tastes, except perhaps companies such as Apple or Ikea that seek to drive the market and educate the customer, he says.

For PepsiCo, the drink and snack manufacturer, part of being a multinational company means launching products to cater for local tastes as well as acquiring successful brands in local markets to boost its portfolio. When it comes to training, the thinking is as global as its business strategy, says Jan Woods, the chief personnel officer for PepsiCo UK and Ireland. The company hires local talent who understand local consumers and encourages its staff to move around the world to broaden its cultural understanding and work experience. “We need executives who can be effective across many regions and cultures and different geographies and markets,” Woods says.

Globalisation is affecting firms in different ways. A competitive professional services firm is expected to support its multinational clients as they venture into new markets, says Colin Cook, the chief operating officer for KPMG Europe. “We have to try to make sure that we are at least where they are in the process of globalisation and, of course, we would like to be ahead... to be able to assist them on the ground.”

KPMG’s business in emerging markets is growing fast: combined revenues in Asia grew at twice the rate of the more mature practices last year. Last year KPMG in London also announced that it was merging with other member firms in Switzerland and Germany and in so doing becoming “an international firm with a global reach”, Cook says.

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