????周五，在2013年財富全球論壇“進軍全球市場戰略”分會場，主持人杰奧夫?科爾文【《財富》雜志高級編輯】一開場就向臺下的觀眾提出了兩個問題。首先，你們中有多少人在國際公司工作？大多數聽眾舉起了手。第二，你們中有多少人所在的公司渴望國際化？其余人都舉起了手。

????但是，這場分會最出人意料的收獲是什么？全球化這個想法想法不一定總是件好事。推進需要審慎。

????巴塞羅那IESE商學院的全球戰略教授潘卡基?格瑪沃特指出，很少有公司能夠真正做到業務覆蓋全球每個角落；除了可口可樂(Coca-Cola)，很難再想出第二家。格瑪沃特表示，大約90%的美國跨國公司運營覆蓋不足20個國家，即便是在有業務運營的國家，可能也只是在一、兩個重要城市。

????比如，百威英博啤酒集團(Anheuser-Busch InBev)在全球24個國家有辦事處，但CEO薄睿拓表示，他的公司不必無所不在。為什么？主持人科爾文問到。非洲有10億人口，天氣炎熱。聽起來像是一個賣冰鎮啤酒的好地方。

????“因為我們信奉專注，”薄睿拓說。非洲市場正在增長，但沒有像中國這么快，且人才稀缺——戰線拉得太長，“到最后只會收獲寥寥。”

????前家樂氏(Kellogg)CEO卡羅斯?古鐵雷斯曾在小布什時期出任美國商務部長，他的很大一部分工作就是幫助美國公司進行海外擴張。他分享了兩點經驗。第一，擴張進入印度和中國這樣的大市場時下可能很流行，但通常更明智的做法是先拓展離本國較近的市場。事實上，格瑪沃特指出，60%的美國公司首次向海外擴張時會選擇加拿大。

????古鐵雷斯的第二點經驗是：和前美國國務卿瑪德萊娜?奧爾布萊特一樣，他推崇那些“走錯市場做對事”的公司。“常常有這樣的情況，如果你去了一個其他人不敢去的國家，”古鐵雷斯以家樂氏早年的南美市場經驗為例。“堅持20年后，你會發現，自己已經擁有了巨大的優勢。”

????古鐵雷斯認為，海外運營的最大挑戰是“跨越文化鴻溝”，但這在建設強大公司文化時也會成為一項巨大的優勢。早年他在家樂氏工作時曾被派遣到加拿大，讓古鐵雷斯郁悶的是，沒人問起他之前在墨西哥的工作情況。他想，他們可能先入為主地認定，一個發達市場沒有什么可以向一個欠發達市場學習的。“除了文化好奇，再沒什么溢美之詞,”古鐵雷斯表示。“盡量把它打造成為公司文化的一部分，這樣，人們就能感到自己的重要性。”（財富中文網）

????譯者：早稻米

????At the start of Friday's session on global go-to-market strategies at the 2013 Fortune Global Forum, moderator Geoff Colvin asked the audience for two shows of hands. First, how many of you work for global companies? That covered most of us. Second, how many of you work for companies that aspire to be global? That covered everybody else.

????And yet -- the surprising takeaway from this session? Going global is not always a good idea. Proceed with caution.

????Pankaj Ghemawat, professor of global strategy at the IESE Business School in Barcelona, pointed out that very few companies really do operate in every corner of the globe; apart from Coca-Cola (KO), it's hard to think of one. According to Ghemawat, about 90% of U.S. multinationals operate in fewer than 20 countries, and even in countries where they do have a presence, they may be in only one or two key cities.

????Anheuser-Busch InBev (BUD), for instance, has offices in 24 countries worldwide, but CEO Carlos Brito says his company doesn't need to be everywhere. Why aren't you in Africa? Colvin asked him. It's a billion people, it's hot. Sounds like a good place to sell cold beverages.

????"Because we believe in focus," Brito said. Africa is growing but not as fast as China, and talent is scarce -- stretch it too thin and "at the end of the day you accomplish little."

????When former Kellogg (K) CEO Carlos Gutierrez was U.S. Secretary of Commerce under President George W. Bush, a big part of his job was helping U.S. companies expand overseas. He shared two lessons. One, it may be fashionable to expand into huge markets like India and China but it's often smarter to start closer to home. In fact, Ghemawat noted, 60% of U.S. companies entering foreign markets for the first time begin with Canada.

????Gutierrez's second lesson: like former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, he admires companies "that do great business in bad zip codes." "Very often if you go to a country where others are fearful to go," Gutierrez said, citing Kellogg's early experience in South America, "20 years down the road you'll find you have a tremendous advantage."

????According to Gutierrez, one of the greatest challenges of operating overseas -- bridging the cultural gap -- can also be a great advantage in building a strong company culture. When he transferred to Canada early in his career at Kellogg, Gutierrez was dismayed that no one asked him about his experiences at his prior posting in Mexico. He thinks they probably assumed that a developed market had nothing to learn from an underdeveloped market. But "there is nothing more flattering than cultural curiosity," Gutierrez said. "To the extent you can make that part of your company culture, it goes so far toward making people feel important."