Koç University Graduate School of Business (Turkey)
City:
Istanbul, Turkey
Topic & Description:
From Local to Global: Concepts, Frameworks, and Analytical Tools Necessary to Develop an Effective Global Strategy
Globalization has changed the dynamics of business irrevocably. Today’s companies must operate on a much larger scale and in an environment of global competitiveness where product development, market needs, customers’ targets must take into account multiple cultures, collaborations and regional developments. Even for companies that do not intend to “go abroad,” the entry of foreign companies into their home markets makes a better understanding of global strategy a necessity if not a requisite for survival. The goal of this course is to introduce you to concepts, frameworks, and analytical tools necessary to develop an effective global strategy. There will be case studies and a presentation by student group teams on companies visited.
Accommodation & Travel:
Accommodation & Travel Information
Contact:
Başak Yalman (byalman@ku.edu.tr)
Yasemin Soydaş (ysoydas@ku.edu.tr)
Most nights during the Habitat III conference this week, the historic city center of Quito is closing its roads, and people are lining the streets for a light and street festival. When the conference ends, though, the city will return to normal, with few tourists in the area after 8 p.m. and even fewer locals wanting to stay out at night or even live in the area.
Global Network students toured the area—a UNESCO World Heritage site with cathedrals and colonial Spanish architecture—on October 18 with city officials to assess how to attract private investors and businesses that are suitable for residents.
“It’s the crown jewel of the city,” David Jacome Petit, the city’s chief resiliency officer told students. “It’s beautiful, but instead of a growing population, they’re leaving. When you have a place that receives millions of people per year as visitors, but then no one who wants to live there, it’s dying.”
Natives of the area are indeed leaving the city center, with an estimated 10,000 having moved away in the past eight years. The problem is multifaceted: the older homes are harder to maintain; complicated regulations keeps recently constructed housing unavailable to potential homeowners; a decades-old stigma about safety drives away potential investors and residents; and access to grocery stores, laundromats, and other services is limited at night.
Another challenge is cultural. Ecuadorian families are tight-knit and family communication carries weight, one city official told students, meaning that when parents remember the city center as a place riddled with petty crimes decades ago, they often warn their children to stay away, even if crime has fallen, city officials said.
Caleb Thomson, a Master of Advanced Management student at Yale SOM, said his team will consider financing models and other incentive programs to attract younger people to the area. A publicly financed program that provides up to half of the costs to renovate homes in the area has successfully transformed 1,000 of the nearly 5,000 homes in the region, so there might be other incentive models that could also attract private investors, he said.
“Parts of the city center are incredible and vibrant with restaurants and shops, but other parts have been less well-developed,” Thomson said. “I think it really gives us a great opportunity to help define a future vision for the center.”