Chapter 1 Introduction 1.1 Purpose and Research QuestionHow should we conceptualise the business world around us? How should we assess and evaluate the strategy of companies? What are the winning strategies for those companies who have consistent success over the years? All of these can be concluded as one single research question in this dissertationWhich global strategy wins out?---A Calori analysis on 18 sectors of Fortune 500 companies. Thanks to numerous Calori-base strategic studies which conduct by the University of Edinburgh, sectors includes telecommunication, consumer good, oil, banking etc., has provided a perfect cluster of study for reflecting the old studies and possibly by using Caloris(2000) theory to identify a pathway for becoming globally successful companies (Khor,2003; Salgado,2002;Somaraju,2004;Wilkinson,2001 etc.). This article would firstly classify the top 500(Fortune.com) companies into 9 categories, update the previous studies and analyses performance changes across the set of categorisations , and adapt the typologies and analyse performance differences cross the whole set of the categorisations. And then use longitudinal method to compare their performance. The article will also take the global concentration of the industry and scale of economy into account. After the comparative study, we might see how this approach can yield strategic insight and make recommendations at an early stage in internationalisation. The other possible outcome of the research is to identify a most profitable strategy configuration and make suggestions for companies operational improvements.

Chapter 2 Literature Review2.1 Literature Review This section reviews literature that applied to support the dissertation. As the dissertation is in the area of globalisation, strategy and configuration of international strategy, this first part would draw on the definition and debates on globalisation, and then goes to the definition of strategy, finally continue on the discussion of Calori et al(2000) and Bryan et al(1999)s configurations of international strategy. 2.1.1 Definitions & Arguments for Globalisation According to Havel(2007), scholars studying globalization often express the perspective towards globalisation is that there is no generally accepted theory. Under this background, several competing stream of theories can be found. As Held&McGrew(2007) articulates that there is no singular account of globalisation has acquired the status of orthodoxy. It is no wonder to find all of them has certain political implications, therefore the views they hold are somewhat biased(Havel,2007). Sceptics mainly include Rugman,A. ,Ghemawat,P., Thompson,G. and Hirst,P. They have shown a consensus view that the process of internationalization is globalization, i.e. the cross-border movement of capital as well as labour, the growing interaction between economy and societies between countries(Ghemawat, 2007; Rugman,2001; Hirst et al,2009). Based on this argument,

globalisation is a continuation and extension of the existing concept instead of a new phenomenon. Applying to this rule, the growing trade from the industrialised countries to their dependents or colonies since the 19th century marked the prime age of internationalisation (Field et al, 2008). Rugman(2004) has defined globalisation as a myth that never really occur .He asserts in his The Regional Multinationals that the main cause of globalisation is the activities of multinational enterprises(MNEs) act regionally, e.g. regional triad(the EU, Japan and USA) and not globally. He states that political factors and institutional organisations reinforce business at a regional level rather than at a multilateral one as required by his globalisation standard (Rugman,2004). Rugman does not seem to agree that globalisation has been happening in the real world, he support his hypothesis by providing the statistics taken from manufacturing and production. Likewise, Ghemawat used quite specific aspect of society and demonstrates with statistics that claim his argument that we live in an era of semi-globalization at most. Here are some quotes: Only 3% of people live outside their country of birth Only 7% of rice is traded across borders Air travel is restricted by bilateral treaties (Source: Ghemawat,P. 2007. Redefining Global Strategy. Harvard Business School Press) Ghemawats(2007) noted that it is necessary to see what the world really is and never underestimate the differences across countries, and this is the key for global strategy. However, there are some scholars hold completely different views in this debate. Kenichi Ohmae(1990) has noted that due to the removal of border and other constraints, the integration of global economy has been accelerated and characterised as strong globalisation. Ohmae(1985) argues that the globalisation is dominated by a triad power, which accounts for large share of the international trade. Each of these regions has strong complementary products which enhanced the global production and consumption. Yip(2003) has confirmed the trend of globalisation by providing further insight into the forces that drives globalisation. Yip also argues that the comprehension of Competitive global forces could help a company to identify the key success elements in a global industry or market.Potential for Globalisation

Cost

Government

2.1.2

Definition for Strategy The growing movement towards internationalization has pushed industry across national boundaries, and brings about both opportunities and new threats. In order to interpret the business and environment in an national/international basis, strategy issues have been raised up(Leotiades,1985). Corporate strategy rooted in the theory of Igor Ansoff, Peter Drucker and Kenneth

Market

Globalisation Drivers (Source: adapted from Yip,G.S. 2003.Total Global Strategy II,2nd ed.,Pearson Education.)

Andrews, they have identified what business the firm is in and what business it should be in. It deals with the changes in firms business and address the firms existing business(Lynch,2006).The recent research on corporate strategy has focused on the relationship between the firm and its external environment( see figure 1.1) below: Authors Andrews(1965) Definitions Strategy is the pattern of objectives, purposes or goals and major policies and plans for achieving these goals stated in such a way as to define what business the company is in or is to be in and what kind of company it is or is to be. To use an engineering term, the strategic problem is concerned with establishing an impedance match between the firm and its environment or, in more usual terms, it is the problem of deciding what business the firm is in and what kind of businesses it will seek to enter. Strategy formulation therefore involves the interpretation of the environment and the development of consistent patterns in streams of organizational decisions. Strategy refers to the formulation of basic organizational missions, purposes, and objectives; policies and program strategies to achieve them; and the methods needed to assure that strategies are implemented to achieve organizational ends. The institutional sphere deals essentially with the relationship between the organization and its environment. This is the area of corporate strategy. The basic characteristic of the match an organization achieves with its environment is called its strategy. The essence of formulating competitive strategy is relating a company to its environment.

Ansoff(1965)

Mintzberg(1979)

Steiner Miner(1977)

and

Bowman(1974)

Hofer and Schendel(1978) Porter(1980)

(Sources: Christensen,C.R.,Andrews,K.R. and Bower,J.L. 1973.Business Policy: Texts and Cases. Homewood,III.: Irwin,R.D.,p.107. Ansoff,H.I. 1965. Corporate Strategy. New York, McGraw-Hill,pp.5-6. Mintzberg,H. 1979. The Structuring of Organizations. Englewood Cliffs,N.J. Prentice-Hall. p.25. Steiner,A. and Miner,J.B. 1977. Management Policy and Strategy. New York:Macmillan. 1977. P.7. Bowman,E. Winter,1974. Epistemology, Corporate Strategy and Academe,Sloan Management Review. p.35. Hofer,C.W. and Schendel,D. 1978. Strategy Formulation: Analytical Concepts. St.Paul: West Publishing Co., p.6. Porter,M. 1980. Competitive Strategy. New York: Free Press, p.3. )

2.1.3 Classification of international strategies Whether concentration is taking place globally has remain a controversial issue(Krauland et al,1989). Leonidou and Katsikeas (1996) has noticed the market concentrators tend, basically, small scale firms tend to outsource and increase their percentage on overseas sales, which

echoes to people who asserts that concentration is essential for gaining market share internationally. While others may see the globalisation, merge & acquisition (M&A) as destroying shareholders value (Fuller&Stopford,1992). The traditional route for internationalisation is moving from domestic to regional, then multinational, eventually going globalised, according to the competitive advantages(Penrose,1959). In practice, Ghemawat(2007) has proposed a model in terms of the distances between countries along a variety of Cultural, Administrative/political, Geographic and Economic(CAGE) dimension to identify the key concerns in globalisation regardless of border. Bryan et al(1999) has proposed that companies engaged in two fundamentally different midgame strategiesintegrator and specialist strategy. Each of them responds to one of the two types of industry reshuffling that symbolise the alteration economy. The two mid-game strategy typologies deal with more globalised industries, for companies has potential to be in winner in the end-game of globalisation. Bryan et al(1999) argues that in transitional stage, a company can either be an integrator, countries like the USA or clusters of economically-cooperated unions like the EU have advantage in eliminating the geographic barriers by merging or acquiring with companies in neighbouring market. The other approach is to focus on the key competence and differentiation, become specialist eventually. As the globalisation continues, as advantageous mid-game player, global shaper will continue to use their valuable asset to shape the global industries(see Figure 1).

SpecialistsBecome world-class in areas of specialization Leverage intangible capital scale Gain intangibles-based access Generate high returns,but capture small piece of profit pool High ROE with little book equity growth

ShapersDominate "slivers" Become intangible-heavy and capital-light Capture increasing returns and arbitrage opportunities High ROE and book equity growth

Geographic IncumbentsLack world-class skills Access and scale advantages limited to geographic region Geographic advantages erode Low ROE and low book equity growth

Geographic IntegratorsGain access to customers and scale effects Gain advantage through cross-geographic arbitrage Earn lower returns,but larger share of total profit pool Constant ROE with high book equity growth

Fig.1 (Source: Bryan, L., Fraser,J.,Oppenheim,J. and Rall,W. 1999. Race for the World: Strategies to Build a Great Global Firm. First Edition Edition. Harvard Business Review Press.)

As aware of the overlaps between Calori et al(2000)s four types of world-wide players and four international challengers and the Bryan et al(1999) four typologies in identifying the international strategies, the shaper strategy is complementary. Although Calori et al (2000)

has mentioned country-centred player or Bryan et al(1999)s geographic incumbents, neither of them have come up with a classification of local player. In principle, these two categories are very much nationally focused. Calori et als configurations which describe firms with a worldwide geographic scope are: Quasi global players; transnational restructurers; worldwide technology specialists; global luxury niche players. Four of them have a wide geographical scope, but only quasi-global players and the transnational restructurers are featured as seeking market share. These four are keener on cost efficiency, along with any differentiation advantages. Quasi global players have relatively narrow segment scope. They are characterised by a specific process of internationalization and competitive strategy based on differentiation. Transnational restructurers tend to have broad segment scope, a portfolio of brands and focused on the extension of core competences by taking over foreign companies. The strategy for global shapers are tend to be more innovative-based, they often set up the benchmark for the industry and trigger the change in the whole industry. The other four configurations describe firms are international challengers, which includes continental leaders, opportunistic international challengers, geographical niche players, and country-centred players. The first two clusters adopt an offensive strategy, which aims for leadership and expansion. The latter two are more defensive. Therefore, geographical niche players tend to extend to a homogeneous set of countries, or territory may correspond to an area of cultural and economic influence. Companies fall into this group often adopt a moderate strategy towards internationalization. They seem to have growth ambitions but only extend to homogenous geographical zone, usually not beyond one continent (Calori et al, 2000). My study is to test if the international configuration approach can yield a critical assessment for global players, to see if the most successful companies in the planet have a win-all strategy or not. Moreover, the other possible outcome of this study is to find out the globalisation and its effect across all major industries.

Chapter 3 MethodologyThe methodology that applied to answer the research questions will be discussed here. Firstly will brief research theory and strategy; and followed by demonstrating tools and methods in classification and data analysis. The constraints of the study and ethical issues are covered in the end. 3.1 Overview In terms of research approach, there are two types: deductive and inductive. Table 1.1 gives a clear comparison between the two. Fundamental differences between quantitative and qualitative research strategies Quantitative Principal orientation to the role of theory in relation to research Deductive; testing of theory Qualitative Inductive; generation of theory

Epistemological orientation Ontological orientation (Source: Bryman and Bell,2011)

Natural science model, in particular positivism Objectivism

Interpretivism Constrctionism

Related to quantitative methods, the process of deductive method could be viewed as follows:

Theory

Hypotheses

Data Collection

Findings

Hypotheses Confirmed or Rejected

Revision of Theory

(Source: Text from Bryman and Bell,2011) Echoing to the literature review, the research purpose of this dissertation is to identify which strategy can help top 500 companies win out. Based on the theory presented above, a deductive approach is suitable for conveying the research. 3.2 The Selection of research philosophy and approach ,Research feasibility and research design As Bryman &Bell(2011) noted, quantitative and qualitative are the two different groups of research approach. In business research method choosing, normally either use a single data collection technique and corresponding analysis procedures(mono method) or use more than one techniques(multiple methods)(Saunders et al, 2009).

(Source: Saunders et al,2009)

However, according to Curran and Blackburn(2001), single research study tend to use multiple methods more within business and management research nowadays. Since research philosophy determines the choice or research approach and time frame, the research philosophy for each

approach will be discussed here. 3.2.1 Quantitative research approach Quantitative approach holds the positivism philosophy, which regards the world is constituted of observable and measurable facts (Thomas, 2003). Muijs(2010) articulates that quantitative research is explaning phenomena by collecting numerical data that are analysed using mathematically based methods(in particular statistics). As Tashakkori and Teddlie(2003) argues, multiple methods are useful if they could provide better outcome in terms of solving the research question. Given to the nature of this project , it needs lots of quantification in the data collection and analysis in international strategy, therefore, quantitative approach is chosen as the research approach instead of multiple methods. Schiffman and Kanuk(1997) stated that the deductive approach is entailed with quantitative approach, which aim to test the existing theory and sophisticated statistical analysis for testing the hypotheses. It suits the project well, since the research hypotheses can be tested through this way. Moreover, the use of secondary data has provided the project with enormous sample size. As Saunders et al(2009)s theory, quantitative research needs a large size of sample to develop generalization. Therefore, quantitative approach is feasible for my research since I can get access to the online database of Thompson One Banker and Fortune 500.com.

3.2.2 Qualitative research approach In the opposite, qualitative research are likely to be connected with words instead of statistics(Bryman and Bell, 2011). As Saunders et al(2009), qualitative research is generally used as the synonym for data collection or analysis which uses or generates non-numerical data. The qualitative methods are applied to apprehend cause and implications of a particular social setting by investigating the individuals interpretation of the social reality rather than numerical data (Bryman and Bell,2011). The epistemological orientation of which is interpretivism, which claims the nature is socially constructed, subjective and changeable(Thomas, 2003). This method of data collection and analysis is always conducted through personal experiences and observations (Anderson, 2010). As for the benefit of this unstructured approach, Saunders et al(2009) noted that the advantages includes the use of open-ended questions and the flexibility of getting answers from the participants(use how and why). Qualitative method is widely used in decision making process and organizational learning (Anderson ,2010). However, universities and business schools are often oppose the use of qualitative approach and listed them as second-rate(Gummesson,1999). Although the quantitative approach has provided statistical strategy analysis, some focus in specific industry or case study will be need in the later stage. Due to the obstacle of accessing to the companies database, it is not feasible in this stage for me to carry on a qualitative method. Acknowledged by Smith (1981), quantitative and qualitative data collection techniques and analysis procedures both have its merits and weaknesses. Apparently, the result of this research may be affected by the chosen method, and it is impossible to ascertain the nature of this effect (Saunders et al,2009). In order to offset the differences due to the usage of methods, a mixed usage of the methods is necessary (Saunders et al,2009). But at this stage, quantitative method is

applied, if it is possible to get access to some companies, the rest of the research may include the case study (qualitative method). 3.2.3 Research Design Due to the nature of the research, a longitudinal design is applied. Pettigrew(1990) has emphasized that longitudinal study is important in understanding organizations as a way of providing data on the mechanisms and processes through which changes are created. In order to find out if there is any change in the strategies of top 500 companies and examine if there is a strategy that could win in the market consistently, longitudinal design is the suitable choice. 3.3 Methods of data collection 3.3.1 Secondary Data Heaton(1998) has defined secondary data as the existing data which collected for the purpose of study, with the purpose of pursuing a research interest which is different from that of the original work. Secondary data consists of three different sources: documentary data, survey-based and multiple-resource data(Saunders et al, 2009). This study used the documentary data, from an extensive range of industry reports, academic journals and websites. To get an overall picture the top 500 companies global strategy, collecting and analysing secondary data comes as the most efficient and applicable way. Firstly, the cost for individual researcher or small institution to undertake that big scale of companies financial performance and strategies is impossible, and secondary data comes easy and low-cost. Secondly, the secondary data are available for time-constraint situation. Moreover, secondary data provides more reliable sources and larger data base because they have been collected by either companies themselves or professional companies. Last but not least, as longitudinal design requires historical data, secondary data provides an excellent and convenient approach (Belcher et al,1996). However, there are some drawbacks of secondary data. The most obvious downsize of it is that the data are collected for other purpose, which may differ from your research (Stewart and Kamins, 1993). Secondly, the data provided by business consulting firms may be very expensive and difficult to acquire (Saunders et al., 2009). Therefore, it is necessary for researchers to combine primary data with secondary data, or try to find the secondary data which has been collected for the similar purposes. As for the expense, the public companies and authority institutions usually provide free data and the quality is guaranteed. 3.3.2 Statistical Techniques Excel spread sheet is used to analyse and classifying the financial data. 3.3.3 Classification of the Data Having collected the data from Fortune.com(2012), we first categorise and analyse the performance of the most successful companies of all time, for which we could obtain the data from Thompson One Banker. The data from Fortune 500 come from the July 25, 2011 issue, of

these top 500 companies, 133 were American, 68 were Japanese, 35 from France, 34 from Germany, 30 from the United Kingdom and the rest from Europe and other continents. The companies selected were categorised according to the theoretical dimension proposed by Calori el al(2000)(as in table 1). Some adaptation may apply due to the different nature of the industry. For example, the worldwide specialist was defined as technology-based, while in industry like consulting, insurance, it may be adapted to certain specialisation. Table 1. International strategic configurations (Adapted from Calori et al, 2000 and Leknes&Carr,2004) Countr y-centre d place(1) Geogr aphic niche player s(2) Oppor tunisti c intern ational challe ngers( 3) Home countr y and a few countri es. Market share/ market covera ge Few segme nts Conti nental leader s(4) Globa l luxury niche player (5) World -wide specia lists(6) Quasiglobal player s(7) Transn ational restruc turers( 8) Global shaper s(9)

Geogra phic scope

Home country, Gain market share

Segmen t scope

Narrow

Set of countri es formin g a homog eneous territor y. Gain market share Relati vely narrow

All key countr ies in a contin ent. Gain marke t share

All key countri es

All key countri es. Wide covera ge

All key countri es. Gain market share

All key countrie s. Wide coverag e and market share

All key countri es, wide covera ge

Relati vely large

Narro w,high priced segme nts Licens ing and franchi sing Homo geneo

Narro w segme nt

FDI policy/e ntry model

Variable

Mainl y organi c growth Homo geneo

Variabl e

Standa rdisatio

Homoge neous

Variabl e

Mainl y organi c growt h Relati vely

Franch ising

Narro w,but concer ns mass market Mainl y organi c growth Homo geneo

Large,m ost busines s segment s Most entry modes,f requent M&A Heterog eneous

Narro w,but concer ns mass market Organi c or franchi sing

Homo geneo

Heavy standar

n

us

Interna tional integra tion of value chain activiti es

Dependi ng on sector. Domesti c focus

Depen ding on sector. Global sourci ng

Variabl e

homo geneo us Global sourci ng

us

us

us

disatio n Global sourcin g, vertical integrati on Global supply chain manag ment

Often manuf acturer control led. Produc tion in home countr y

Often vertica l integra tion

Global supply chain manag ement

After gathering the information, we closely look into a number of countries which enjoy a large presence in overseas operations, and the main determinants of geographical scope. Besides, we also closely examine their key performance ration, such as return of capital employed, pre-tax profit margin and revenue, year-by-year/average overall. 3.4 Methods of Data Analysis 3.4.1 Methods of analysing quantitative data The secondary data associated with the research question will be used for developing mathematical expressions that could describe the objectives, constraints and other relationships that exist in the problem ( Anderson et al, 2010). Then we will use one or more quantitative methods to analyse the problem and make suggestion on the quantitative aspects of the issue. All the secondary data collected were served for international strategy analysis. The primary usage of the data will be firstly classified according to the configuration of Calori et al (2000). The general procedure of the approach as bellow:

Data Collection

Measurement

Coding

Analysis Procedures

(Source: Bryman,A.&Hardy,M. , 2009. Handbook of Data Analysis. Paperback Edition Edition. Sage Publications Ltd.) 3.4.1.1 Industry Analysis The classification of Calori et al(2000) for 15* sectors are shown in Table 2. Only 215 of categories are reasonably applicable. Transnational restructurer and Opportunist international

challenger seem to be the most successful ones, account for 25.58% and 21.86% respectively. Table 2. Categorisation of 500 companies( Incomplete yet, see *note) Country -centred place(1) Geog raphi c niche playe rs(2) Oppor tunisti c intern ational challe ngers( 3) Conti nenta l leade rs(4) Glo bal luxu ry nich e play er(5 ) World -wide specia lists(6 ) Quasi -globa l player s(7) Transn ational restruct urers(8) Glob al shap ers(9 )

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

Alumin ium Industr y Bankin g Industr y Compu ter Industr y Consul ting Industr y Consu mer Goods Industr y Beauty Industr y Clothin g Industr y Grocer y Industr y Retail

Industr y 10. Insura nce Industr y 11. Pharm aceutic al Industr y 12. Constr uction Industr y 13. Steel Industr y 14. Oil Industr y 15. Teleco mmuni cation Industr y Count

21

11

47

12

4

8

28

55

29

(Source: Fortune 500, 2011; Thompson One Banker, 2011) (*Note: Due to time constraint, the detailed classification on each sector will be completed in the next few months; only 15 sectors listed here, due to the time constraint, 3 more will be added in the later study)

Then followed by global shaper and quasi-global player, each is around 13.5%. The country effect, which has been noted by Calori et al(2000) in manufacturinghalf of the US/UK and Chinese firms are tend to be country-centred players, with more than 50% of their market at home. While the firms from continental Europe seems more unlikely to fell into this category. It is understandable since the US has such a huge domestic market. Sagner(2010) has classified these firms as category killers. In classifying the companies, we notice that there are some firms shows more than one characteristics of one category. For example, Tesco and Metro have utilised a range of retail formats across sectors like clothing, software, banking etc., the international strategy is blurring. However, some companies have not been very constant in one category; they make changes time to time according to their performances in the market. Marks&Spencer was defined as a continental leader back in 2004, while the failure in global expansion and the radical change executed by the newly-pointed CEO has made it as country-centred strategy rather than

continental leader. Vodafone, by contrast, has since rapidly moved towards a global strategy, positioning itself as a premium player in all major continents and key countries.

3.4.1.2 Averaged performance statistics by type of strategy In order to compare the influence of all 9 international strategies, here we use return on capital employed and average sales growth. Figure 3 shows the average sales growth. It indicates that country-centre play may experience some downfall before gaining the real global market share.

Average ROCE16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 -

Figure 2

Average Sales Growth %12 10 8 6 4 2 -

Figure 3

ROCE displays a similar pattern. In fact, country-centred player can be very profitable. As seen from the graph, it beats every other strategy, and the average ROCE is satisfactory as well. Quasi-global player perform worst in terms of annual sales growth, together with Worldwide specialist. Regards to ROCE, Quasi-global players are slightly better in this figure, having scored higher than the average level. Worldwide specialists still perform badly in ROCE, only reached 5.8%. The performance of Geographic niche player is the poorest in this ranking, show only 3% in ROCE ratio. In other extreme, Global shaper performs extremely well in terms of ROCE, their ROCE has nearly doubled the average figure; while the performance is not consistently good in annual sales growth (6%). For all category, the relation between annual growth and average ROCE are positive, the only exception is Quasi-global player. 3.5 Limitations The limitations of the methods come from constraints of time, financial support. Firstly, the time for dissertations is only 3-4months, which is very limited for convey such a big project. The companies and strategies analyses and classification needed in the project is massive and time-consuming. Secondly, since some companies financial performance data are confidential and only available in some consulting firms, it is very expensive to acquire. Third, managers or whom may concern on applying this strategy, need to consider whether such analysis can really support the managerial or strategic decisions. Further investigation on the applicability is needed, especially for this fairly new point of view. Although the analysis consists of top 500 listed companies from the Fortune magazine, it may still not represent the whole general trend of the whole industry. Fourth, the data acquired from secondary agencies, it may have some flaws and affect the whole analysis. 3.6 Ethical consideration There are four ethical principles in business research as shown in bellow:

Whether there is harm to participants Whether there is a lack of informed consent Whether there is an invasion of privacy Whether deception is involved(Source: Diener and Crandall, 1978 cited in Bryman and Bell, 2011:128)

The secondary data of this study were mainly from Thomson One Bank, and also from Fortune 500(Fortune.com, 2012). Firstly, the secondary sources come directly from the business school premium information source, which has full copy-right. Secondly, there is no harm to the data provider. All of the academic work here will not be used as commercial way. And the data will be kept only in users computer. Any benefits or harms of the project will inform the secondary data provider. All in all, my study has level-1 approval from the University of Edinburgh without any

ethical issues. 3.7 Feasibility of the study Either sophisticated or inexperienced researchers, research feasibility is so much higher if they have rigor and passion for the chosen field(Rubin&Babbie,2010). One of the biggest issue in this research is the broad database. In order to get the clear picture of the corporate strategy across border and sectors, the Fortune 500 list and the database of Thompson One Banker are used here. The data for the Calori et al(2000) classification here include 10 years of the companies performance and strategy in order to carry on the trend study. According to Rubin&Babbie(2010), it is a common mistake for most inexperience researchers to formulate these idealistic, far-reaching goal. While under the supervision of my supervisor, also the enourmous related previous research, it is feasible to convey such a complicated study. Rubin&Babbie articulated in their book that another common issue for researchers is the time & budget limit. Due to the short length of the program, it only allows less than five months to finish the whole research process. Again, the cost of collecting primary data is expensive and time-consuming. In short, the only way to make the research more feasible is applying secondary data and a clear time schedule ( Figure 3). Time April May June Content Literature review, data collection and classification Data classification Data analysis(Framework, model etc., longitudinal studies, case-study if the access is possible Writing up the dissertation, finish the first edition Final edit and check, hand it in by 19th,Aug

July August

Last but not least, the research ethic problem (see from 3.6). This study does no harm to individual and company, and it has been approved by my supervisor Professor Chris Carr.

Chapter 4 ConclusionThe aim of this project is to find out a win-out strategy from analysing the Fortune top 500 companies. Although the Caloris framework has been developed on the basis of manufacturing industry (study of Mars/Nike/Coke), the framework has proved to be applicable to many other sectors. We also found it is helpful to combine McKinseys global shaper configuration(Bryan et al,1999). Overall, the configuration performance analysis(CPA) based on Caloris(2000) international configurations, combined a bit with the McKinseys configuration, has proved as a great analytical tool. The outcome of the analysis is effective, and has great contribution to the strategic decision of multinational companies in various sectors. The analysis also have indicated a contradictory view towards some traditional hypothesis, arguments such as Bhagwati(2007) have articulated that

the defence of globalisation. The long term consistent global winners have the ambition on all countries from all continents, and they usually have long-term commitment in markets with many regional incumbents. Also, their corporate culture is strong, flexible and innovative. Those factors are characteristic and secrets of success.

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