The Digital Multinational

How multinational companies can use digital technology to compete in a world where business is driven by the forces of both globalization and deglobalization. Digital technology has put globalization on steroids; multinational companies now account for one-third of world GDP and one-fourth of world employment. And yet complicating this story of unchecked global capitalism are two contradictory forces. Even as advances in digital technology enable borderless markets, a new nationalism has emerged, reviving protectionism and railing against digital colonialism. In Key to success, Nambisan and Luo explain, is the notion of <tight and loose coupling< to characterize the relationship of the digital multinational to its global partners and subsidiaries. Identifying the tightness-looseness requirements of global business connectivity leads to successful business strategy. Drawing on real-world examples that include Burberry’s entrance into the Chinese market, Unilever’s AI-powered global talent marketplace, and the Vocal for Local movement in India, they develop a typology of global business contexts; discuss digital strategies for entering new markets, establishing digital platforms, managing globally dispersed activities, and pursuing innovation; and explain how these strategies can be part of a business leader’s toolkit. <The Digital Multinational< is an essential guide to competing in a business world driven by both globalization and deglobalization.

Auteur
Satish Nambisan, a globally recognized authority on innovation and digital strategy, is Nancy and Joseph Keithley Professor of Technology Management at the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University. He is the author of The Global Brain: Your Roadmap for Innovating Faster and Smarter in a Networked World and other books. Prior to his academic career, he was an executive at Unilever.

Yadong Luo is Emery M. Findley Distinguished Chair and Professor of Management at the University of Miami. He is the author of Global Dimensions of Corporate Governance and other books.