One of my favorite people (minds) on the planet and the person who coined the term “globalization” died at age 81: Theodore Levitt. The reason why Professor Levitt became such a force in my life was because in the ’80s — before any individual or company was thinking about going global — he turned me on to the importance of looking at the world as your market. He also knew how to deconstruct and solve problems by asking the right questions. Something to this day I still find myself doing. Here are some things I will remember the most about Levitt:
• Harvard Business Review — He holds the record with Peter Drucker for publishing the most articles in HBR.
• What turned me on to Levitt — “The Globalization of Markets” and five other great articles authored by HBR talents.
Using the term “globalization” in a 1983 Harvard Business Review article about the emergence of standardized, low-priced consumer products. He defined that globalization as the changes in social behaviors and technology which allowed companies to sell the same products around the world.