Overstating the flatness of international commerce

According to Pankaj Ghemawat, professor of global strategy at IESE Business School in Barcelona and professor of business administration at Harvard Business School, globalization is a major economic force to be reckoned with--but the idea that borders don't matter at all in commerce has been overstated in business literature. In his book, Redefining Global Strategy: Crossing Borders in a World Where Differences Still Matter (Harvard Business School Press, September 2007), he suggests that too many organizations depend on strategies that presume that complete global integration can be achieved. Thus, too much emphasis is placed on international standardization. While it is important to take advantage of similarities across borders, it is also critical to address differences. Technologies and standards may enable connectivity and collaboration at a distance, but it is an exaggeration to believe that we have achieved the "death of distance."

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