Companies that compete in the global environment usually face two types of competitive pressures: a) pressure for cost reductions and b) pressures to be locally responsive: These two sometimes place conflicting demands on a company. One way a company may choose to reduce costs is to manufacture a product or service as a standardized ("one size fits all") item for the global marketplace, so as to minimize production costs. On the other hand, a company wanting to (or needing to) be sensitive to local markets may need to "differentiate" its products in order to satisfy local pressures.

Discuss what these "pressures" may be. Use examples of companies you think may be doing this with the products they market.