The Digital Multinational: Navigating the New Normal in Global Business

by Satish Nambisan, Yadong Luo, Conny Braams (Foreword by)

Overview

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 The Digital Multinational, management experts Satish Nambisan and Yadong Luo examine how companies can adopt a dual strategy to cope with this new normal: harnessing the power of digital technology while adapting to the geopolitical realities of particular markets.

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780262046329
Publisher:	MIT Press
Publication date:	02/15/2022
Series:	Management on the Cutting Edge
Pages:	264
Sales rank:	1,051,774
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

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.

Table of Contents

Series Foreword ix
Foreword by Conny Braams xi
1 Globalization in Transition in the Digital Age 1
2 Digital Global Business Connectivity 27
3 Connecting with Global Markets and Customers Digitally 49
4 Connecting with Global Partners, Platforms, and Ecosystems Digitally 71
5 Connecting with Foreign Subsidiaries and Managing Global Activities Digitally 91
6 Connecting with Global Innovation and Knowledge Digitally 109
7 Internationalizing Business Models Digitally 129
8 Global Entrepreneurship in the Digital Age 141
9 Managing Risks in Digital Global Business 155
10 Digital Intelligence and Digital Resilience: Putting Digital Global Business Connectivity into Practice 175
Acknowledgments 195
Notes 199
Index 217

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“There is no doubt digital is changing our lives. And yet, just when we thought we’d seen it all, during the pandemic we saw an even faster pace of transformation across all walks of life. I highly recommend this insightful book to leaders across the globe as they navigate the new normal.”
—Harit Talwar, Chairman of Consumer Business, Goldman Sachs
 
“In this thought-provoking book, Nambisan and Luo offer fresh conceptual and practical insights on how multinationals can manage the tensions that arise from globalization and deglobalization using digital strategies. You will come away with a clear understanding of the best options for your company to compete in the global arena. A superb book!”
—Vijay Govindarajan, Coxe Distinguished Professor, Tuck School of Business, Dartmouth College; Executive Fellow, Harvard Business School; New York Times and Wall Streeet Journal best-selling author
 
“There are digital thinkers and globalization thinkers, but the topics are rarely found together. Nambisan and Luo have united them in this great book, which will allow decision-makers to balance the two most critical business trends of our age.”
—Thomas H. Davenport, Distinguished Professor, Babson College, and Fellow, MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy; author of The AI Advantage and Competing on Analytics
 
“A very comprehensive and thoughtful book on how multinationals use digital technology to internally connect with their operations and activities as well as externally connect with their customers, markets, suppliers, and partners to balance globalization and localization.”
—Jagdish N. Sheth, Charles Kellstadt Professor of Business, Goizueta Business School, Emory University
 
“The Digital Multinational provides an essential update to international business concepts and frameworks for our increasingly digital world. Combining powerful concepts and rich examples, this book is essential reading for all those involved with international business.”
—George S. Yip, Emeritus Professor, Imperial College Business School; author of Total Global Strategy and China’s Next Strategic Advantage

“The intersection of globalization and the digital world have created massive opportunities and unique obstacles. In The Digital Multinational, Nambisan and Luo explore the new normal and offer strategies and real-world examples to succeed as a global business. An important read!”
—Andrew Wilson, Chief Digital Officer, Microsoft

Gold Axiom medal, International Business / Globalization category, 2023