Toward an Understanding of Managing Local Adaptation of Practices2

As globalization accelerates, firms across countries increasingly adopt so-called “advanced practices” created by global market leaders (e.g., Six Sigma, Total Quality Management (TQM), and process reengineering). Such practices tend to create value for firms both from the superior techniques they deliver and from the legitimacy their adoption confers in the global market. However, it is also true that the implementation of a new practice is often difficult as it may require drastic changes in an organization’s mindset, culture, and actions (Klein & Sorra, 1996; Reger, Gustafson, & Mullane, 1994). The difficulty becomes greater when a firm adopts a new practice from overseas, due to contextual differences between the environment in which a practice originated and the one in which it is adopted (Kostova, 1999). Facing such difficulties, firms often adapt a given practice to make it work better in their own unique environment. Therefore, it is critical for these firms to understand how they can manage the adaptation process effectively in order to obtain better implementation outcomes.