Stonehouse et al. (2004)

Management > Global Strategic Management > Lectures > Independent Research > Stonehouse et al. > The Drivers > Resource-based approach > The Resources > The macro-environment > global/transnational strategy > Global strategies

Global strategies

There are three global strategies:

Generic strategies and competitive positioning - as a source of competitive advantage (configure value-adding activities effectively)
Knowledge and resource/competence-based - capabilities as a source of sustained performance (focus on firm itself, collaboration with suppliers etc.)
Co-ordination and integration of geographically dispersed operations in pursuit of global competitiveness (resource-based and competitive positioning approaches complement each other)

Knowledge/Competence/Resource-based strategies

See Prahalad and Hamel (1990), who focus on core competences as a global strategy. It is referred to as the "inside-out" approach.

Collaborations are recommended, as they allow partners to focus on a small number of competences and raises barriers to other competitors, while enabling access into new markets.

Knowledge needs to be managed, as it is tacit as well as explicit, and a business needs to become a "knowledge-centric", creating a continuously learning environment.

Organisational learning can either be single-loop (adaptive) or double-loop (generative)

A knowledge-centric firm can help deal with differences in cultures, languages and political issues in various countries.

Firms with knowledge-based core competences need to be able to build and leverage new competences in order to adapt to the changing environment. Core competences can be exploited in multiple countries, where new resources can be found to strengthen existing capabilities. In addition, value-adding activities can be reconfigured to enhance core competences.

Strategies - Generic/Competitive positioning