Tasha Haight

Professor Shapero
International Management
October 20, 2014
Chapter 8
Although economic and political imperatives are very important to multinational
corporations, the quality imperative seems to be the most important in the coming decades.
Political imperatives are country-based, making it good for the country the MNC is in, but each
country would have a different one. Economic imperatives, based on cost leadership,
differentiation, and segmentation (Economic Imperative 279) is also important to MNCs, but
the fact that the quality imperative strives to meet or exceed costumers expectations and
continuously improve products or services (Quality Imperative 281) make it the most important.
People want more and better products. While the other two imperatives are good, the quality
imperative is best.
These imperatives may be implemented after a company scans the environment they plan
on doing business in. Two key areas of consideration that must be addressed while scanning the
environment are the market industry and regulatory environment. It is good to be aware of what
products are rising and falling in the marketplace and to know ownership or property rights
within an area and also what kind of employment practices are exhibited in a region
(Environmental Scanning 286). Through effective environmental scanning, the MNC is sure to
be a success.
Many pharmaceutical companies such as GlaxoSmithKline seem to be using the Global
Strategy approach in their progress. While they are global integration is high on their radar,
national responsiveness seems to not be as important. Price competition is a major factor in the
pharma industry, as they are trying to provide to low-income families who may not be able to
afford higher costing drugs. They are using the base of the pyramid strategy to target these low
income families, and if the market turned out to be a bust the company would go under.