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services. How do the preferences change from culture to culture? Find ways to connect with the end
users. If you sell pharmaceuticals, talk with patients and physicians. If you market consumer
products, go into the local stores. If you deliver professional services, meet the decision makers on
their own turf. Look at what competitors are doing and how they are similar, different, priced. Spend
time understanding the big players in the different markets that you serve. What is your competitive
advantage? How does your strategy or position differ from that of your competitors? Stay in front of
these key differentiators.

11. Don’t understand global business? Figure out the rules of the global business game. Distill
your understanding of how global business operates to personal rules of thumb or insights. Write
them down in your own words. An example would be “What are the drivers in marketing across
countries and cultures?” One executive had 25 such drivers that he continuously edited, scratched
through, and replaced as more up-to-date thinking emerged. Use these rules of thumb to analyze a
business you know something about. Then pick two organizations that have achieved clever global
strategies, one related to yours and one not. Study what they did, talk to people who know what
happened and see what you can learn. Pick a particular business function—such as foreign
exchange hedging or product distribution—and develop an understanding of how these functions
work internationally or impact the country in which you are interested.

Want to learn more? Take a deep dive…
Bersin, J. (2013, April 23). The world is not global, it’s local. Forbes.
Farzad, R. (2013, August 29). Explaining the pain in emerging markets. Bloomberg Businessweek.

Maurer, R. (2013, August 22). International assignments: Who’s going where and why? Society for
Human Resource Management (SHRM).

Job assignments
• Study an international trend, product, service, or process, and report back on how it relates to current
issues and impacts future possibilities for your organization.
• Work on a project that involves travel and study of a global issue, and then present strategic
implications to management.
• Take an extended overseas assignment that will deepen your international knowledge and scope.
• Lead or work with a cross-functional project or action learning team made up of nationals from a
number of countries, making global connections and seeing how the pieces fit together.
• Become a volunteer for six months or more for an outside global organization in which you’ll
collaborate and have direct communication with people from different backgrounds or cultures.

Take time to reflect…

If you don’t know much about other parts of the world…
…then widen your horizons. In today’s world, brilliant ideas and disruptive competition can come
from everywhere. Step beyond your borders. Become a global citizen.

© Korn Ferry 2014-2015. All rights reserved. WWW.KORNFERRY.COM

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