Levi’s success turns on its ability to fashion a global strategy that does not stifle local initiative. It is a delicate balancing act, one that often means giving foreign managers the freedom needed to adjust their tactics to meet the changing tastes of their home markets. In Brazil, Levi’s prospers by letting local managers call the shots on distribution. For instance, Levi’s penetrated the huge, fragmented Brazilian market by launching a chain of 400 Levi’s only stores, some of them in tiny rural towns. Levi’s is also sensitive to local tastes in Brazil,