It used to be only select few Malaysian companies had the resources to venture abroad. Overseas ventures were a game only for the big players. Nowadays, going abroad is almost necessity for any Malaysian company looking for growth in profit. Malaysian companies are looking abroad to take advantage of the globalization following the rising labour costs and a limited domestic market ? Malaysia only has 22 million people compared to countries like India and China which each has more than 1 billion people. There is also another factor to be considered. Liberalization also forces open markets, giving more opportunities and competition around the globe in the spirit of globalization. Increasingly more foreign companies are coming to Malaysia hence the competition is also becoming more stiff in the domestic market.
Indeed the world has been seen "flattened" by the impact of globalization, that global leaders, global managers and businessmen see it as a scenario that may never go away. Whether we see it as a threat or an opportunity depends on how we are prepared to manage the circumstances that have been risen out of globalization. The competition between the nations is fierce too. Everybody now wants to be a biotechnology hub, a supply chain hub or a shared service hub. Malaysian companies face a two types globalization challenge. They need to defend their home turf against large corporations from developed markets, and beat them to neighbouring market offering significant growth and cost advantage. The challenge is formidable but the price of failure is global marginalization.
In a fast-changing globalised environment, the only way is growing competitive. For Malaysian firms to compete internationally, their leaders at every level must be aligned to ...