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Globalization and Localization

  • 1.  Globalization and Localization

    Posted 09-08-2006 12:04

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    Please excuse cross-postings of this announcement
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    Digital Economy Forum 2006
    Smith School CIBER
    University of Maryland
    5-6 October 2006

    "The world's needs and desires have been irrevocably homogenized. This makes the multinational corporation obsolete and the global corporation absolute." (Theodore Levitt, HBR, 1983)

    Ted Levitt's 1983 seminal article offered corporations the vision of a "global" world, a world with converging consumer tastes and preferences, and exhorted them to standardize their products, distribution, and marketing across all countries. Globalization offered corporations the advantages of scale economies, efficiency, and higher profitability.

    However, as domestic competition and the power of local markets grew, it became imperative for firms to cater to the needs of customers in local markets by adapting their products and marketing strategies to each market they served. And, developments in technology and management practices (e.g., translation software, CNC machines, and mass customization) facilitated the localization of products, marketing, operations, and strategy. In the last 10-15 years, this also led to the emergence of a localization industry.

    Today, firms interested in global markets must contend with the intertwined logics of globalization and localization. Many espouse the "think global - act local" mantra, but relatively few actually achieve it. Implementing the twin goals of being global and local at the same time requires advanced strategic thinking and the latest technology solutions for localization.

    The Digital Economy Forum 2006 brings together, for the first time, strategy and localization-industry experts from academia, business, and government to explore the different facets of globalization and localization.

    Intended for b-school professors, executives, and localization-industry professionals, the Forum offers the opportunity to explore research possibilities in the globalization-localization domain and to interact with fellow attendees and leading experts from University of Maryland, Wharton, IBM, Verisign, World Bank, and the Localization Industry Standards Association of Switzerland (among others).

    We would welcome your participation in the Forum. For more information, please contact CIBER Director Vinod Jain (vjain@rhsmith.umd.edu) or visit: http://www.lisa.org/events/2006maryland/

    Best regards,

    Lisa Barnard, MBA, MS
    Assistant Director, Center for International Business Education and Research
    Robert H. Smith School of Business
    University of Maryland
    College Park, MD 20742
    Tel: (301) 405-9575