Financial times

World business newspaper.

HONDA

The global company

D Expressing degrees of meaning

Complete these sentences with the adverb or phrase used in the text

1 For many years Ford's products differed....sharply..... from region to region.

2 Individual countries had................... of autonomy.

3 Honda grew................... from its early days as a motorcycle manufacturer.

4 For many years Honda was run very................... out of Japan.

5 The use of multi-disciplinary teams allowed development work at Honda to take place................... in different parts of the company.

6 Honda expects its four regions to become................... self-sufficient.

7 No other car maker has................... of foreign output as Honda.

Over to you

1 You have been asked by the board of a multinational car maker to present the case for a 'glocalisation' strategy, as described in the article. Prepare a presentation or write a report to give your arguments in favour of this.

2 You are members of the global strategy team of US Motors, an American multinational car maker. The company currently has production units in the UK, Germany, France and Spain for the European market But with the opening up of the markets in Central and Eastern Europe, you are considering whether to set up a production unit in Poland. Hold a meeting to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of this strategy, and try to come to a decision.