Why international growth has to start locally – Management Today
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Why international growth has to start locally
How many times have you left a global strategy meeting feeling confident about the plan, only to watch it struggle when it hits local markets? If you’re leading international growth for a multinational organisation, this frustration might feel all too familiar.
We’ve sat in countless boardrooms where executives grapple with the same fundamental question: how do we drive consistent growth across international markets, without losing the local understanding that makes us competitive in each?
The challenge isn’t finding the perfect balance – it’s recognising that the question itself might be wrong.
Many multinationals are prone to approach international growth as a choice between global consistency and local relevance. Could the real opportunity lie elsewhere? When strategies fail to take root locally, this may not imply that they’re fundamentally flawed. In our experience, the oversight stems from the fact they haven’t been designed to work with local realities.
Companies that consistently succeed internationally don’t necessarily have better strategies. They’ve developed better ways of helping those strategies work in practice, market by market. They’ve learned to provide structure without rigidity – offering local teams frameworks that guide decision-making while leaving room for market-specific adaptation.
This can be called a “replicable growth model”. It’s like providing every market with the same navigation system but allowing each team to choose their route based on local conditions.
Striking the right balance between replicability and adaptation is far from easy. Take a company operating in both Indonesia and Germany. How should the global team look at the performance of each? In Indonesia, success for FMCG companies often hinges on building relationships with thousands of small traditional trade outlets through local wholesalers – a process that’s relationship-heavy, requiring patient, consistent engagement. In Germany, you’re probably negotiating with sophisticated retail chains expecting detailed joint business plans and advanced category management. Should these markets really be using the same commercial playbook?
Thoughtful market segmentation (considering your internal setup and external market realities) can unlock approaches that feel obvious in hindsight but transformative in practice. Traditional trade-dominated markets often need focus on wholesaler relationships and must-carry lists. Modern-trade markets tend to demand sophisticated key account management and perfect in-store execution. The approach remains consistent, but the application changes greatly.
At their core, most international growth challenges relate to people. When asking local teams about failed global initiatives, it’s rare to hear complaints about the strategy itself: it’s frustration over strategies that don’t acknowledge local market expertise, or initiatives perceived as additional reporting rather than helpful tools.
So what if your local teams aren’t resistant to change, rather resistant to change that doesn’t value their understanding of their market? Successful multinationals position their global teams as value-adding partners rather than reviewers. Instead of saying “here’s what you should do”, they’ve learned to say “here’s how you can figure out what to do better.” Local teams adapt the approach to their market while global teams provide frameworks and facilitate cross-market learning.
Sustainable international growth rests on attention to factors that often get overlooked in implementation planning.
Role clarity between global and local teams is essential – global provides frameworks, local owns adaptation and execution. But equally important is what we might call “active transformation governance”: regular check-ins, site visits and peer exchanges that maintain momentum rather than just measure it.
Another winning factor is the power of building genuine global communities around growth initiatives. When local leaders are trained in common approaches and can share experiences across markets, the transformation becomes collaborative rather than imposed.
Perhaps most critically, talent strategy and growth strategy need to be connected. The companies that succeed identify high-potential local leaders to champion transformation, instead of trying to manage change entirely from HQ.
The biggest international growth opportunities aren’t always about new territories or new products – they’re about doing what you already do, but better, together and at scale.
When you create genuine comparability across markets, patterns emerge. You might discover that your Mexican team achieves significantly higher distribution coverage than your Brazilian team in similar traditional-trade environments. Suddenly, you have a best practice worth exploring. What might your organisation learn if it could see international performance through a truly comparable lens?
To accelerate international growth, the focus may need to look beyond just building a better global strategy. On reflection, do you have the right capability to execute strategies effectively across multiple markets?
Companies that succeed internationally have learned to turn global frameworks into local victories – systematically, repeatedly and profitably. They’ve recognised that this may not necessarily be a strategy challenge. It’s a transformation challenge demanding as much attention to people and processes as to markets and margins.
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Augusto Ribeiro
Augusto Ribeiro is a partner at Integration and has been working since 2003 in the Marketing & Sales practice. Augusto built a solid international experience, leading and implementing strategic Marketing & Sales projects in industries ranging from Consumer Goods through Construction & Property Development to the Financial Industry, especially in the Private Equity sector.
Bruno Torres
Bruno Torres is an senior manager at Integration and has worked in the Marketing & Sales Practice since 2017. Prior to Integration, Bruno worked as a software developer in Canada. At Integration, he has mostly participated in go-to-market strategies in various industries, including pulp & paper, agro, B2B services, steel, consumer goods, hygiene & beauty, [...]
Daniel Lentfer
Daniel Lentfer is a senior manager at Integration and has been part of the Munich Office since 2016. Daniel leads Integration’s Marketing & Sales area in Europe. His experience includes growth strategies, distribution, go-to-market, market & customer segmentation, key account management, business planning and many related topics. Prior to Integration, he worked as a political [...]
Guido Solari
Guido Solari is a partner at Integration and the head of our LATAM offices. Guido joined the company in 2006 and is part of the Marketing & Sales Practice. He has carried out over 250 projects across Latin America, North America and Europe, serving clients in the areas of mass consumer goods, agribusiness, pharmaceuticals, media [...]
Ian Matiussi
Ian Matiussi is a senior director and joined Integration in 2010 and now has over a decade of experience, working in our Marketing & Sales Practice. Comfortable with a wide range of topics in this area, he is especially known for his expertise in strategic marketing initiatives such as Market Scans, Go-to-Market and Commercial Policy. [...]
Jonathan Ezban
Jonathan Ezban is a senior director at Integration and has been working since July 2011 in the practice of Marketing & Sales. Prior to Integration, Jonathan was an Analyst at The Friedman Group, where he developed projects related to Sales Budgets for retail companies in Mexico. Within Integration, we can highlight his experience in Market [...]
Jorge Gomes
Jorge Gomes is a senior director and a highly experienced professional in our Finance & Management practice having joined Integration in 2008. Jorge has travelled to countries around the world in support of our clients, leading projects related to revenue management, strategic planning, M&A and more. He has a well-rounded experience having completed multiple projects [...]
Lucas Cristo
Lucas Cristo is a senior manager within Integration’s Finance & Management practice and has been working in the company since November 2017. His project experience includes go-to-market review, strategic planning, organizational redesign, M&A’s, and cost reduction. Lucas holds a degree in aeronautical engineering from Universidade de São Paulo, where he graduated in 2017. He also [...]
Luis Bernal
Luis Bernal is a director in the Marketing & Sales Practice. Originally from Columbia, Luis is an entrepreneur at heart, and has worked in several start-ups in Colombia, receiving his MBA from IPADE. He has accumulated international consulting experience whilst working across the United States, Mexico, Caribbean and Central America, Colombia and Brazil in industries [...]
Paulo Guimarães
Paulo Guimarães is a senior manager in Marketing & Sales, working in the company since October 2014. His experience includes projects related to strategic planning, go-to-market design, market sizing, commercial model & structure revision, financial simulation, due diligence and commercial policy in sectors such as technology, durable & nondurable consumer goods, infrastructure, private equity and [...]
Quentin Girard
Quentin Girard is a partner and has worked in our São Paulo Office since 2013, specializing in Finance & Management projects. He has led engagements across a wide array of countries in Europe, South America and Central Asia. His primary experience includes projects related to Route to Market, Cost Efficiency, Cost-to-Serve and Strategic Roadmap Design, [...]
Roger Saltiel
Roger Saltiel is a partner at Integration and has been working since 2002 in the Marketing & Sales practice. Considered an authority in the Indirect Channel and Partner Relationship Management (PRM), he is a member of the Associação Brasileira de Atacadistas e Distribuidores (ABAD) [Brazilian Association of Wholesalers and Distributors], working in the leadership of [...]
Vinicius Olivo
Vinicius Olivo is a director and brings a broad and deep understanding of our Marketing & Sales solutions since having joined Integration in 2011. He supported leading national and international organizations in Retail and Consumer Goods in building sustainable competitive advantage. His project experience ranges from Go-to-Market models, Market Scans, Customer Segmentation, Category Management and [...]
- On 18 November 2025
