6 ideas
The US, Europe and Japan together hold the bulk of the world's purchasing power, technology and educated consumers. Ohmae argues a company must be an insider in all three, with real presence, product development and brand in each, because a rival established across the Triad can use its scale to win in any single market.
Once consumers can see through media and travel what products and prices exist elsewhere, governments can no longer protect inefficient domestic producers without voters noticing what it costs them. Information creates this border erosion, not treaties, and it shifts power from states that control territory to consumers who choose freely.
Managers should look at the world from a position equally distant from every major market, not outward from headquarters. That view shows how home-country bias warps resource allocation, product design and attention toward the domestic market, leaving distant customers underserved.
A truly global company acts as a local citizen in each key market. It builds local R&D, manufacturing, management and customer relationships so buyers see it as a domestic firm, not a foreign exporter. This lets it respond to local tastes while keeping the scale benefits of a global operation.
Consumers in the rich economies increasingly share preferences, lifestyles and expectations of quality and value, shaped by common media and income levels. The result is a class of 'Californianized' customers who care more about the best product at a fair price than about its national origin, which rewards companies that serve them without regard to borders.
Rising fixed costs in R&D, distribution and brand-building make it impossible for one firm to cover every Triad market alone. Ohmae argues companies should form alliances that share fixed costs and give access to partners' markets and capabilities. These partnerships should be managed like marriages that need mutual commitment, not like transactional contracts judged on control or equity share.