Globalization trends render the task of revisiting the nature
of the marketing organization within international companies
an imperative. In this study, we view global marketing
organizations (GMOs) as contemporary ventures that seek
scale economies in response to the opportunities and threats
posed by the global marketplace using strategies of worldwide
integration and coordination. Our main focus is to
obtain a better understanding of the performance consequences
of extending the scope of the company across borders.
Such an understanding is compelling at least for two
reasons. First, globalization drivers are increasingly more
critical in all types of industries, instilling a sense of urgency
among senior managers to internationalize their organizations.
Second, senior company leaders are under increasing
pressure to develop globally integrated strategies to achieve
efficiency and rationalization across their geographically dispersed
subsidiaries. As such, the challenge of internationalizing
the firm is not in obtaining a homogeneous type and
quality across markets but rather in finding the best balance
between local adaptation and global optimization (Samiee
and Roth 1992). Often, this implies a need to formulate and
implement coordinated moves across major country markets.
Such a strategy would require managing country operations
interdependently, exploiting scale economies in allfertilization, and cultivating a global mind-set within the
organization (e.g., Yip 2003).
processes, seeking worldwide coordination and cross-