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The books of NCERT are very helpful for the IAS exam, UPSC exam and all other types of competitive exam as the movement of competitor companies to compete worldwide rather than purely nationally, and their ability to develop global strategies. The extent of international student homogeneity is a central issue affecting the economics of all industries and therefore the most viable strategies of firms competing within those industries. While there has been a clear trend towards world trade liberalization and the freer international movement of capital and technology, the books for IAS thesis that competitive arenas are becoming more global is more questionable. The belief in student homogeneity is controversial and probably overstated. In many sectors, significant differences still exist between groups of students across national market boundaries and it has been argued by managers and academics alike that the differences both within and across countries are far greater than any similarities. Secondly, there has been a growth of intra-country fragmentation, leading to increased segmentation of domestic markets. Thirdly, developments in factory automation allowing flexible, lower-cost, lower-volume, high-variety operations are challenging the standard assumptions of scale economy benefits by yielding variety at low cost. It can be argued therefore that such an approach to global strategies is oversimplified, focusing on the benefits of standardization when the emphasis internationally is more complex, often encompassing global, regional, and local approaches simultaneously. A contingent approach has long been recommended to allow flexibility between the two extremes of full global standardization and complete local market responsiveness. Indeed, the two may be used simultaneously to achieve the advantages to be had from global structuring of part of the product/service offering, whilst adapting or fine-tuning other parts of the same offering to closely match the needs of a particular local market. This process of combining the advantages of both global and local operations has become known as 'globalization'. The experience of Kentucky Fried Chicken, an American international fast food chain, illustrates the point. After its initial entry into the Japanese market, soon realized the need of books for UPSC to make three specific changes to its international strategy; first, the product was of the wrong shape and size, since the Japanese prefer morsel-sized food; second, the locations of the outlets had to be moved into crowded city eating areas and away from independent sites; third, contracts for supply of appropriate quality chickens had to be negotiated locally, although provided all technical advice and standards. Following these adaptations of product and site has been successful in Japan. Similarly, McDonald's hamburger restaurants now serve Teriyaki burgers in Tokyo and wine in Lyon. Each of these local market adaptations of the core offering was critical to success, with the global strategy remaining unchanged in its essentials. It is debatable therefore to what extent these companies are pursuing 'global' or 'regional' strategies. Whether competitive drivers are thought to be global, regional, or national has considerable implications for a company's post-acquisition policy. A perception that the company's competitive arenas are global, or at least regional, in scope should encourage it to integrate acquired companies to ensure their maximum conformity and contribution to a common strategy. By contrast, a perception that the company's competitive arenas are nationally or even intra-nationally segmented is consistent with a policy of low post-acquisition integration in order to allow the new subsidiary to extend the company's competitive portfolio into a market and area of competence distinct from its existing ones.
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