Standardize, Adapt, or Glocalize? A Qualitative Study of Glocalization Commitment across Multinational FMCG Companies in Indonesia
(2026) MGTN59 20261Department of Business Administration
- Abstract
- The Indonesian Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) market ranks among the world’s largest consumer markets, with one of the highest annual growth rates worldwide, and a consumer base of more than 200 million. Despite its size and potential, the market is notoriously challenging to navigate, as it contains a unique combination of strong local traditions, Islamic religious practices, and price sensitivity. These conditions demand thorough adaptation for multinational companies; one that does not always align with their own tendency to standardize operations across markets. The conflicting approaches, therefore, require compromises in the form of a contingency approach, which combines both standardization and adaptation on a case-by-case basis.... (More)
- The Indonesian Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) market ranks among the world’s largest consumer markets, with one of the highest annual growth rates worldwide, and a consumer base of more than 200 million. Despite its size and potential, the market is notoriously challenging to navigate, as it contains a unique combination of strong local traditions, Islamic religious practices, and price sensitivity. These conditions demand thorough adaptation for multinational companies; one that does not always align with their own tendency to standardize operations across markets. The conflicting approaches, therefore, require compromises in the form of a contingency approach, which combines both standardization and adaptation on a case-by-case basis. The contingency approach is implemented through glocalization, which refers to sets of practices that combine aspects of “globalization” and “localization”. In this research, glocalization was analyzed through its degree of commitment across four practices: product-, marketing-, sales and distribution-, and regulation-based glocalization, in four multinational FMCG companies operating in Indonesia. The degree of commitment was divided into low, medium, and high, using an adaptation of the Uppsala Internationalization Model.
The findings identified a glocalization pattern that leaned toward a high degree of commitment in product-, marketing-, and regulation-based glocalization, and a medium degree in sales and distribution-based glocalization. In most cases, these higher levels of commitment were pursued to gain local acceptance, while also utilizing opportunities unavailable within the companies’ global operations. Despite that, several factors also limited how far these adaptations could be implemented. In some cases, these limits were set deliberately, such as when products for middle- to high-end consumers were standardized to maintain a premium image. In others, the limits were less deliberate; coming from business structures that allowed little adaptation to local values, or from international regulatory requirements imposed for health-focused products. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9231295
- author
- Budiputra, Aqshal Raihan LU and Zahra, Ghinaya Fairuz LU
- supervisor
-
- Martin Blom LU
- organization
- course
- MGTN59 20261
- year
- 2026
- type
- H1 - Master's Degree (One Year)
- subject
- keywords
- Glocalization, Uppsala Internationalization Model, Fast Moving Consumer Goods, Indonesia
- language
- English
- id
- 9231295
- date added to LUP
- 2026-06-29 14:37:32
- date last changed
- 2026-07-01 01:42:35
@misc{9231295,
abstract = {{The Indonesian Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) market ranks among the world’s largest consumer markets, with one of the highest annual growth rates worldwide, and a consumer base of more than 200 million. Despite its size and potential, the market is notoriously challenging to navigate, as it contains a unique combination of strong local traditions, Islamic religious practices, and price sensitivity. These conditions demand thorough adaptation for multinational companies; one that does not always align with their own tendency to standardize operations across markets. The conflicting approaches, therefore, require compromises in the form of a contingency approach, which combines both standardization and adaptation on a case-by-case basis. The contingency approach is implemented through glocalization, which refers to sets of practices that combine aspects of “globalization” and “localization”. In this research, glocalization was analyzed through its degree of commitment across four practices: product-, marketing-, sales and distribution-, and regulation-based glocalization, in four multinational FMCG companies operating in Indonesia. The degree of commitment was divided into low, medium, and high, using an adaptation of the Uppsala Internationalization Model.
The findings identified a glocalization pattern that leaned toward a high degree of commitment in product-, marketing-, and regulation-based glocalization, and a medium degree in sales and distribution-based glocalization. In most cases, these higher levels of commitment were pursued to gain local acceptance, while also utilizing opportunities unavailable within the companies’ global operations. Despite that, several factors also limited how far these adaptations could be implemented. In some cases, these limits were set deliberately, such as when products for middle- to high-end consumers were standardized to maintain a premium image. In others, the limits were less deliberate; coming from business structures that allowed little adaptation to local values, or from international regulatory requirements imposed for health-focused products.}},
author = {{Budiputra, Aqshal Raihan and Zahra, Ghinaya Fairuz}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Standardize, Adapt, or Glocalize? A Qualitative Study of Glocalization Commitment across Multinational FMCG Companies in Indonesia}},
year = {{2026}},
}