Journal of Logistics

JOURNAL OF BUSINESS LOGISTICS, Vol. 25, No. 1, 2004

1

GLOBAL PROCESS STANDARDIZATION: A CASE STUDY

by

Karl B. Manrodt

Georgia Southern University

and

Kate Vitasek

Supply Chain Visions

In the age of globalization, improving a company’s operational competitive advantage has

become a priority for many companies. One of the ways to achieve this objective is through internal

global process management and standardization.

Standardization is not a new concept; it has been a key ingredient for success for many firms.

McDonald’s seeks to serve its customers with the same quality product and experience, whether that

restaurant is located in Moscow, Idaho or Moscow, Russia. This requires standardized processes and

similar quality ingredients.

However, no firm can operate without taking into account various cultural or geographic differences. For instance, the menu in a McDonald’s in Tokyo is different than the offerings in Paris,

France or in the U.S. These issues are not the sole challenge of restaurants. Increasingly, as firms

become more global, their expectation is that their suppliers will be able to support them in the same

consistent manner that they did in the domestic market.

This, in short, is the dilemma facing firms today: How can processes be globally standardized

to meet the needs of a global market, while still taking into account various cultural and geographic

dimensions?

Using a case study, the research looks at process management of a global third party provider and

focuses on a systemic method for implementing and managing a broad scale and on-going process

management improvement project. The case study provides a method for understanding what

aspects of a process can be modified to the local market without impacting the robustness of the global

process and provides a method for continuous improvement.

The purpose of this exploratory study is two-fold. First, it is to describe the process used by a

transnational firm to...