Concepts of Globalization, Localization, and Internationalization

In today’s digital universe, banking systems provide the opportunity to purchase products, or services, and transfer money across the planet. Easy transportation speeds up and improves logistics, which contributes to the development of global trade. With the increasing level of wealth, consumers are exposed to products and services indigenous to other cultures through travel and media and buy them without hesitation. Thanks to social activities, agreements, or random reasons, people and even countries gain commercial specialties in specific fields and sell the contents, products, and services they produce in their specialties to the world. Countries identify themselves with specialties and gain popularity. For instance, Kenya’s popularity in black tea, Madagascar’s in vanilla, Canada’s in zinc, and Mexico’s in coffee and cotton enable them to globalize and export their products to the whole world.

It is possible to say that companies wanting to increase their profit margins proceed with specific strategies when putting their contents on markets in other geographies. The first of these strategies is localization, which intends to remove the unfamiliarity between the product and receiver and create a sense of familiarity through cultural elements.

Examples of Localization

• A German brand presents an extra discount on a website in Turkish market during sahur.

•A Middle Eastern country putting up Noel-themed collections in the Western market during Noel.

• A mobile application prepared in Turkish, changing the Latin alphabet to the Japanese alphabet.

• Making the writings from right to left on the Arabic website and from left to right on the Turkish website of the same brand

Internationalization

The second strategy is globalization, which is the exact opposite of localization. For example, a product on sale in a branch opened in Indonesia should be the same as the product on sale in Norway. Internationalization seeks commonalities; therefore, it differs from localization. Products are not adapted through the identification of the target culture’s elements; target cultures are adapted to the products.

Internationalization Examples

• A Swedish brand, IKEA, puts products in the same way and with the same concept on sale in labyrinth-like shops in all of its branches around the world.

• Starbucks sells coffee with the same taste in every branch, and the way the chairs and tables are placed in the shop that welcomes customers is the same.

• Brands like McDonald’s, Burger King, KFC are putting on sale the same foods with the same name in every part of the world.

Internationalization might seem like an easy strategy in practice because localization is not done. However, it may not be as easy as it seems to form a context between a Swedish meatball and IKEA in the minds of receivers from many different cultures. For instance, Burger King which has branches in so many parts of the world, going bankrupt in Burdur can be given as an example of the negative outcome of internationalization techniques, or products not being properly adapted to cultures.

Globalization

Globalization is more of a result than a strategy. As an outcome of localization or internationalization techniques, companies can trade on a global scale. While globalization is in relation to national economies and trading areas the countries are popular with, internationalization is in relation to the personal goals of companies and businesses; that is to say, here the aim is reaching and taking root in other markets. Organizations such as IMF, World Bank, WTO can be given as examples of globalization.

Sources:

https://www.adverbum.com/en/blog/globalization-internationalization-localization-translation