The CAGE Distance Framework identifies Cultural, Administrative, Geographic and Economic differences or distances between countries that companies should address when crafting international strategies.[1] It may also be used to understand patterns of trade, capital, information, and people flows.[2] The framework was developed by Pankaj Ghemawat, a professor at the University of Navarra - IESE Business School in Barcelona, Spain.[3]
The impacts of CAGE distances and differences have been demonstrated quantitatively via gravity models. Such models "resemble Newton's law of gravitation in linking interactions between countries to the product of their sizes (usually their gross domestic products) divided by some composite measure of distance."[2]
Components
The table[4][5] shown below provides more detail on each of the CAGE categories, and how they can manifest themselves depending on whether one is comparing a pair of countries or looking at one in isolation. One of the distinctions between the CAGE Framework and other country analysis frameworks is its inclusion of bilateral as well as unilateral factors.[1]
Cultural Distance
Administrative Distance
Geographic Distance
Economic Distance
Country Pairs (Bilateral)
Different languages
Different ethnicities; lack of connective ethnic or social networks
Different religions
Lack of trust
Different values, norms, and dispositions
Lack of colonial ties
Lack of shared regional trading bloc
Lack of common currency
Political hostility
Physical distance
Lack of land border
Differences in time zones
Differences in climates / disease environments
Rich/poor differences
Other differences in cost or quality of natural resources, financial resources, human resources, infrastructure, information or knowledge
Countries (Unilateral / Multilateral)
Insularity
Traditionalism
Nonmarket/closed economy (home bias vs. foreign bias)
It helps to pinpoint the differences across countries that might handicap multinational companies relative to local competitors.[1]
It can shed light on the relative position of multinationals from different countries. For example, it can help explain the strength of Spanish firms in many industries across Latin America.[1]
It can be used to compare markets from the perspective of a particular company. One method to conduct quantitative analysis of this type is to discount (specifically, divide) raw measures of market size or potential with measures of distance, broadly defined.[1]
Ghemawat emphasizes that different types of distance matter to different extents depending on the industry. Because geographic distance, for instance, affects the costs of transportation, it is of particular importance to companies dealing in heavy or bulky products. Cultural distance, on the other hand, affects consumers’ product preferences. It should be a crucial consideration for a consumer goods or media company, but it is much less important for a cement or steel business.[1]
To facilitate quantitative analysis based on the CAGE framework, Prof. Ghemawat has developed an online tool called the CAGE Comparator. The CAGE Comparator covers 163 home countries and 65 industries, and allows users to customize the impacts of 16 types of CAGE distance.
Professor Ghemawat recommends using the CAGE framework together with the ADDING Value Scorecard and the AAA Strategies.[6]
References
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Cases about Redefining Global Strategy, Pankaj Ghemawat and Jordan Siegel, Harvard Business Review Press, 2011, Chapter 2
1 2 World 3.0: Global Prosperity and How to Achieve it, Pankaj Ghemawat, Harvard Business Review Press, 2011, pp.54-60
1 2 Redefining Global Strategy: Crossing Borders in a World Where Differences Still Matter, Pankaj Ghemawat, Harvard Business School Press, 2007, p.41
↑ Distance still matters. The hard reality of global expansion., Pankaj Ghemawat, Harvard Business Review, 79, no.8, 2001, p137-147
↑ Cases about Redefining Global Strategy, Pankaj Ghemawat and Jordan Siegel, Harvard Business Review Press, 2011, Chapter 1
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