Abstract
In today's markets, international trends represent a large part of exchanges. In most cases, companies act on an international level: they try to sell their products all over the world in order to find new opportunity markets. They expect to find competition-advantaged resource providers on foreign countries. Besides, their interests for international purposes oblige them to take a huge implication in international business. By setting up their activities in several countries, they may employ local workforces, cope with local systems (legal, social, cultural), and participate in the world-scaled trends of businesses.
Taking over the famous sentence popularized by S. Walter, companies now "Think Global, Act Local". The fact that firms are completely participating in the globalized business tends to demonstrate that "global" is a source of revenue and is generating wealth. However, in several cases, companies may be encountering some disadvantages and important issues while being in the world-scaled economy.
Intercultural stakes appear to be one of the most important factors of company international implementation. In some cases, intercultural problems may appear and strongly jeopardize companies. For example, due to intercultural issues, Accor Hotels (a French leading housing company) decided to close two Hotels in French Antilles (in 2002) because of local staff behavior, strongly incompatible with tourism quality of services.
In other cases, intercultural situation may, according to several organizational analysts, be a generator of wealth. Intercultural idea sharing bears the possibility to bring a different way of doing business, working together.
In all cases, whether it proves to be a success or not, all companies working under global conditions have to cope with intercultural stakes.
GSK is a British-American company functioning in pharmaceuticals, was born from the merger between GlaxoWellcome (US) and SmithKline Beecham (GB).
The company today represents the second largest pharmaceutical institution in the world. Corporate research & development drives the growth of this multinational.
This international company is currently financially hosted by the LSE (London Stock Exchanges). It is the result of multiple mergers and acquisitions. Nowadays, GlaxoSmithKline continues to base its development on external growth: In 2001, GSK bought Block drugs, a New Jersey-based company specialized in dental care.
GlaxoSmithKline more recently took on an important role in controlling the H1N1 pandemic flu, as the company developed and manufactured a flu vaccine.
The corporate portfolio of medicines of GSK currently covers several domains: Anti infections, CNS (Central Nervous System), respiration, internal medicine, oncology, and vaccines. The company has also part of its activity dedicated to healthy food products and "over-the-counter" medicines.
GlaxoSmithkline strategy is to take a relevant position in several health care activities: core medicines (dedicated to physiological hazards), paramedicines and surgery-related medicines and services. The GSK Group wants to become an umbrella company of health care markets.
Tags: GlaxoSmithkline strategy,"Think Global, Act Local", SmithKline Beecham, "over-the-counter" medicines
