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ABSTRACT
As Globalization defined? a modern term used to describe the changes in societies and the world economy that result from dramatically increased international trade? foreign direct investment and cultural exchange. Today competition comes from a vast number of countries around the world. As a result? international management that is the process of applying management concepts and techniques in a multinational environment is rapidly gaining importance. The multinational managers are to carry out Walmart's business objectives and goals overseas. Therefore? a multinational manager will have different tasks and handle different situations that a local manager would not have to engage in. This project will analyze the tasks and challenges that these international managers face when their firms outsourcing their operations across their local borders. The major components that work out their management objectives and procedures are heritage and communal institutions. Culture is important as every country has a distinctly different beliefs? values and attitudes. Social Institutions play an equally important role in influencing behavior as it performs the role of moderator in the business environment. This research paper investigates some of the aspects that managers encounter and what they should do when outsourcing. The steps of choosing the environmental (region? and or continent) to outsourcing are also researched in this project paper. The strategies and challenges as political environment and cultural challenges are also analyzed in this project. The results show that countries are indeed culturally different? though the gaps have narrowed considerably since Hofstede's (1991) study. Furthermore? the results indicate significant differences in the interpretation of the markets assessments factors between different countries. In addition? Businesses in general experience a wealth of issues that affect their ability to conduct business and remain successful. This is even more so the case with worldwide business. This research will also analyze external forces to Walmart that decide whether a business is successful or fails and in particular? financial and political forces have some of the greatest impacts on Walmart. The intent of this paper is to discuss these forces and show specific examples of what many industries can experience when operating on a global scale/trade that were brought up by Ball and Minor (2009) study.
Table of Contents
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION4
Background of the problem6
Research questions8
Purpose of the Study8
CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW10
Introduction10
Global business strategy11
Cultural challenges24
What are the Drivers to Globalization?27
The effects of Globalization29
CULTURE IN INTERNATIONAL MARKET31
Fear43
Resilience43
Human Loss43
Trade restrictions46
The Wal-Mart Effect49
Consumer Behavior51
CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY54
Research Method54
Literature Selection Criteria54
Search Technique55
Theoretical Framework55
Qualitative Research55
CHAPTER IV: RESEARCH FINDINGS56
How different are the political/economic systems among countries around the world?56