The importance of glocalization in the internationalization of a business

Abstract

In this more and more globalizing world, much of the expansion within the global business environment takes the form of implementation of a product, service, organization or new market to a new country or region into the enterprise’s ongoing operations. Here, for the global managers, the importance of the knowledge of diverse cultures and the ability to successfully interact with others outside their own culture is critical to the overall success of the internationalization. Various scholars have theories about interculturalism, intercultural communication, cultural recognition and their implementation in the global business. In this study we will firstly define these concepts, and their meaning in internationalization of a company. Moreover, we will realize a case study about The Walt Disney Company’s internationalization, and how these concepts have been executed in their internationalization process. In order to get more heterogeneous results, finally we will carry out four in-depth interviews with internationalization managers of four different companies producing different products, services or experiences to different target markets, internationalizing to different countries or regions. With these interviews, we want to better understand the role of cultural recognition and glocalization in the internationalization of a company, and its importance in different business areas.