Sensitivity to global problems and needs

Even if the domestic environment is not at the front of a global trend, domestic users can be more sensitive to global problems and needs than potential adopters in countries where the problem is more advanced. This sensitivity of demand cam push domestic firms into a global perspective and increase its ability to meet global problems before firms in other countries. For instance, consumers in a country can be sensitive to the effects of worldwide climatic change even if their domestic environment is not affected as much compared to other countries. Other exanples are wildlife protection, wood cutting in the tropics and pollution of raw material extraction. In Germany, consumers (as well as politicians of all political 

Rather, the characteristics of political instruments that are more transferable internationally are offered for example by Rose (1993). 

The term dual-use is often used for products that are designed for the military but can be used in civil applications as well. Robust design is a term suggested by Urban and Hauser (1993, p. 350) for design concepts that can be used for a variety of potential uses and under a variety of conditions. For instance, baking powder mix is a product that can be used under a variety of national environmental conditions (climate, oven temperatures, altitude). 

The pressure for export can come from local users, suppliers, financial sources and other national institutions. Some customers pressure producers to develop globally successful and not idiosyncratic solutions if they can expect lower prices of an innovation that can be exported, even if the idiosyncratic version would technically fit their own environment better. Pressure can come from multinational firms that demand technical solutions that can be used in their foreign affiliates or headquarters as well taking advantage of intra-firm economies of adoption. 

Although the size of a local market has been denoted as necessary for the lead function of a market (Ohmae 1995), a strong world-market orientation of firms often results from the small home market which does not suffice in amortising the investment in R D and is therefore more export oriented (Walsh 1988). This is the case, for instance, for Swiss, Dutch and Swedish firms. For instance, Sweden s Ericsson developed a public-telephone switch for the home market but included features that made it easier to subsequently adapt it to other markets (Bartlett, Ghoshal 1989, p. 25 Pehrsson 1996, pp. 104-130). Another explanation is that it could simply reflect the traditional export commitment of local firms, as is the case in Germany. 

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