Remember ‘Globalisation Unravelling’ – one of my top ten trends for 2010? Here’s a nice example. According to the Times newspaper, McDonald’s in Britain is “listening more to local consumers:.something McDonald’s has sought increasingly to do around the world.” Moreover, “there are now signs that other multinationals are trying to boost their fortunes globally by emulating McDonald’s in stressing and accentuating their localism.”

Other cited examples include Starbucks that has been experimenting with locally designed stores and Tesco who are adopting a more local approach to overseas expansion. It’s not just food companies and retailers though. I was recently in a meeting with someone who worked with Toyota and he used the phrase “Multi-local’ in reference to their strategy. Or how about a feature in the current issue of Strategy + Business magazine (US) on Back shoring (similar to my own re-sourcing trend).

Looks like the future might be local.

Article links: See comments below.
Thanks for Penny for this btw.